FRANKFURT -- Metallgesellschaft AG Chairman Kajo Neukirchen said the German conglomerate's huge losses in fiscal 1993 continued into the fiscal first quarter of this year.
But in his first major public appearance since taking over in December, Mr. Neukirchen made a strong bid to restore public confidence in Metallgesellschaft and pave the way for a shareholders meeting in Frankfurt tomorrow, at which management will seek approval of a 1.4 billion-mark ($818 million) capital increase.
"We have to start from the ground up," he said, adding that management is still in the process of figuring out what needs to be done. He also pleaded with the public not to "hang the bearer of bad news."