Euro sales not halved, says WorldCom

Troubled carrier WorldCom has rejected reports that sales have halved since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last month.

WorldCom European chief Lucy Woods was said to have informed senior staff of the figures in a conference call.

But the telco has now said the call was to all staff, and that "contrary to news reports today, sales [have] not fallen by the quoted 50 per cent".

According to the Financial Times, Woods also said that the firm was struggling to win new contracts and that parts of its European operations might have to be sold.

But this has been dismissed by WorldCom. "Europe remains a core part of operations," a spokeswoman said. "We have no indicators that the historical sales dip in July and August is any worse than in any other year," she added.

The spokeswoman said the figures could well have come from a disgruntled employee. "There's always someone with an axe to grind," she told vnunet.com.

Worldcom has said some 450 employees in Europe will be made redundant but has not yet detailed its plans.