Subject: Enron dismisses doubts


Business/Financial Desk; Section C  Enron Tries To Dismiss Finance Doubts By FLOYD NORRIS  10/24/2001  The New York Times  Page 1, Column 5  c. 2001 New York Times Company  Enron has ample access to cash, the company's chief executive said yesterday as he assured investors that there was no need for additional write-offs stemming from unusual financing activities.
In a conference call with investors that was hastily scheduled after Enron's stock plunged on Monday, the chief executive, Kenneth W. Lay, strongly defended the company's chief financial officer and said there was no conflict of interest involved in transactions that the Securities and Exchange Commission was looking into.
But he refused to go into detail on the transaction that Enron made with partnerships run by Andrew S. Fastow, the chief financial officer.
In addition, Mr. Fastow, while declaring that Enron ''expects to continue to have sufficient liquidity to meet normal obligations,'' declined to answer any questions about it.
The conference call, which began just as trading opened on the New York Stock Exchange, at first seemed to be reassuring investors.
Within minutes of the beginning of the call, the share price rallied to $23.25.
But it soon began falling, and ended the day down 86 cents, at $19.79.
The day's low of $19.62 was the lowest since Jan. 12, 1998, and was down 78 percent from the high set by the stock in the summer of 2000.
Until recently, most investors focused on the company's reported operating earnings, which showed good results as it became a leading player in energy markets.
But the focus has shifted to a series of transactions, some involving off-balance-sheet financing.
One, involving partnerships controlled by Mr. Fastow, led to a $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder equity that raised concern last week and led to S.E.C.
inquiries that the company disclosed on Monday.
One of the company's strongest supporters has been David Fleischer, an analyst at Goldman, Sachs.
But he told Mr. Lay on the call yesterday that Enron had to be more forthcoming with information.
''There is an appearance that you are hiding something,'' he said.
After the call, Mr. Fleischer expressed disappointment.
''They've engaged in a number of transactions that one wonders about, and that are hard to understand,'' he said in an interview.
''They have not been as forthcoming in explaining them'' as is needed, he said.
But he said he was still recommending the stock.
''I don't think accountants and auditors would have allowed total shenanigans,'' he said.
''In the absence of total shenanigans going on at this company, there is tremendous value here.''
Mr. Lay cited the S.E.C.
inquiries as a reason for not discussing details on the transactions involving the partnerships that were controlled by Mr. Fastow.
But he emphasized that both he and the company's board ''continue to have the highest faith and confidence in Andy.''
Mr. Lay said that auditors from Arthur Andersen had carefully reviewed Enron's reporting in conjunction with another off-balance-sheet vehicle, called Marlin.
That company owns one-third of Azurix, an Enron subsidiary that owns Wessex, a British water utility.
The auditors ''have determined there is no write-down required,'' he said under questioning by Richard Grubman of Highfields Capital Management, a money management firm.
Mr. Grubman said that Marlin owed almost $1 billion on debt that was guaranteed by Enron but had no assets other than the Azurix stake.
Noting that Enron had paid about $300 million to buy a third of Azurix from public shareholders and had since taken write-downs on its investment in Azurix, Mr. Grubman asked why the company was not setting up reserves to cover its exposure on that debt, which under a complicated arrangement could end up being satisfied through the issuance of Enron shares.
Mr. Lay said that no action was needed but declined to address details.
Eventually he cut off Mr. Grubman.
''I know you're trying to drive the stock price down, and you've done a pretty good job of it,'' Mr. Lay said.
''But let's move on to the next question.''
Mr. Fastow said the company was having no problem issuing commercial paper and had $1.85 billion in such debt outstanding.
He said it was backed by $3.35 billion in bank lines of credit, of which $1.75 billion will expire next May if it is not renewed.
Mr. Lay said he was sorry about ''the misunderstanding'' that resulted when his brief mention of the $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder equity in a conference call last week was not noticed by some analysts.
That reduction would have been apparent if the company had released its balance sheet with the earnings report, but it did not.
He said the company would consider releasing balance sheets with earnings reports in the future, but made no promises.
The large reduction in shareholder equity did not affect reported earnings, and so was not in the earnings release.
But it raised concerns that some of the sophisticated financing techniques used by the company might be effectively keeping losses off the earnings statement.
The S.E.C.
is expected to look into whether the accounting for that transaction was correct.
After one questioner on the call said it would be easier to understand Enron if it released financial statements for the special purpose vehicles that were set up to enter into such transactions as Marlin, Mr. Lay said the company ''will look into providing'' such statements.