Shares in Alcatel Alsthom SA fell to a year low yesterday in reaction to articles in German newspapers suggesting further trouble at Alcatel SEL AG, which had already pulled down the group’s first half results: industry sources said the works council of Alcatel SEL will meet today and information over the health of the German unit could be given then – German papers suggested that the company might decide to close one or two factories and that it could shed 3,500 jobs in a restructuring – the company is said to have run in to difficulties with its biggest customer, the state telephone company Deutsche Telekom.
