Fiat expects to face a liquidity crunch in a year if it does not lengthen a bank loan and it plans a new debt issue, asset sales and cost cuts to keep funding a recovery plan, a newspaper reported on Saturday. Milano Finanza quoted a report drawn up by Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne which said the industrial group would launch $2 billion worth of asset backed securities and sell its truck financing arm for 2 billion euros.
It also outlined plans to save 610 million euros this year, including cutting 20 percent of jobs in its sales department, slashing advertising by 19 percent, saving more on purchasing materials and snipping research costs.
The plan, which MF said would be shown to Fiat's creditor banks soon, also touched on more radical cuts such as possibly closing two car plants in southern Italy and shutting down the Lancia brand, the smallest of Fiat Auto's three marques.
Fiat declined to comment on the report but said a plan presented last year showed Fiat would have liquidity until 2008.
Fiat is still struggling to pull clear of its worst ever crisis despite having sold various profit-making subsidiaries, cut thousands of jobs and launched a plan to boost car sales, which account for about 42 percent of group revenues.
The truck-to-robotics group expects to break even at operating level for 2004, with analysts forecasting a 30 million euro profit, according to Reuters Estimates. But cash-burning Fiat Auto is not due to return to profit until 2006.
MF quoted Marchionne's report as saying Fiat had little more than 13 months of liquidity left if it did not extend the terms of a 3 billion euro bank loan that was signed in 2002 and must be repaid in September or be converted into equity.
If the loan were extended, as is widely expected, Fiat would have 17 months of liquidity, the report said.
Last year, ratings agency Standard & Poor's said Fiat would not return to positive free cash flow until 2006 and that its refinancing risk would increase towards the end of 2005.
MF said Fiat planned to sell the financing arm of Fiat's bus and truck subsidiary Iveco for about 2 billion euros to foreign banks, mirroring a 2003 deal when it sold Fiat Auto's credit unit Fidis to banks to cut debt.
Another 500 million euros would come from smaller asset sales and $2 billion would be raised by an ABS, possibly backed by loans to vehicle buyers, to be launched by the third quarter.
Last year, company sources said Fiat was considering issuing a bond but an ABS would be cheaper as Fiat has a non-investment grade rating and, with its future still in the balance, would probably have to pay a high yield on a straight bond.
Fiat's future depends mostly on its 106-year-old car unit Fiat Auto, which is 10 percent owned by General Motors.
Fiat has an option to sell the carmaker to GM from January 24 but the two groups are locked in dispute as to whether it is still valid. Media have said GM could pay its way out of the put but the matter is increasingly expected to go to court.
MF said Marchionne's plan included a case study of closing car plants in Sicily and Naples but concluded it would be too expensive in financial and sales terms to be viable. It would also be unpalatable to the government which is battling an 8.1 percent unemployment rate and would lose Fiat state subsidies.
The MF report also said the Lancia marque could be shut down or used only to produce luxury versions of Fiat branded cars.
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