This is not the company delivering new news to the market. It is a declaration for SEC purposes of a risk factor and is not new news

Marconi spokesman

The shares fell 5.25p to 13p after the company warned that the terrorist attacks in the US had increased uncertainty in the markets it operates in.

"After our 4 September trading update was published, events arising from the tragic terrorist destruction of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on 11 September have increased the general uncertainty in our markets," the company said in a report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

"There can be no assurance that the action we announced on 4 September will be sufficient to offset the decline in group sales or that we will be able to achieve our forecasts for the six months ended 30 September, 2001," the report said.

Worthless?

The almost 30% fall in Marconi's share price on Monday means the company's stock is worth only marginally more than what extremely pessimistic analysts said last week.

"Marconi is unlikely to survive unless a major rescue package is provided by a strategic backer," the investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said in a note to clients.

While the bank gave Marconi shares a target range of between zero and 10p, the upper estimates were "purely diplomatic", a source told BBC News Online at the time.

Excessive reaction

At Monday's share price, the whole company is valued at just �363m.

A Marconi official said the market's reaction to the report had been excessive.

"This is not the company delivering new news to the market. It is a declaration for SEC purposes of a risk factor and is not new news."