New CFO Brings Proven Turnaround Expertise and Pledges to `Restore Financial
Integrity to Adelphia'
COUDERSPORT, Pa., March 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Adelphia
Communications Corporation (OTC: ADELQ) announced today that it has named
Vanessa Ames Wittman, the former Chief Financial Officer at 360networks, as
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Wittman will
oversee all fiscal matters at Adelphia and will report directly to Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer William T. Schleyer.
Ms. Wittman brings a combination of financial skills and turnaround
expertise to her new role as Adelphia's CFO. While Chief Financial Officer at
the Canadian-based network services firm, 360networks, she played a major role
in helping that company successfully emerge from Chapter 11 in the United
States and CCAA protection in Canada. 360networks emerged from bankruptcy
protection in November 2002 after restructuring both its balance sheet and
operations.
In announcing the appointment, Mr. Schleyer said, "Vanessa is a great
addition to the executive team at Adelphia. She not only has the industry
expertise to help restore the Company's fiscal health and integrity, but she
also possesses the knowledge and skills to help us chart our future on a sound
financial basis. With her background in finance and corporate development,
Vanessa brings a wealth of experience that will be vital as we continue to
work to bring Adelphia out of bankruptcy."
Ms. Wittman said, "This is an exciting opportunity to help rebuild
Adelphia and strengthen the Company's fiscal foundation. I greatly appreciate
Bill Schleyer's confidence in my commitment to restore financial integrity to
Adelphia, and I look forward to working with him and the rest of the Adelphia
team to help restructure Adelphia."
Background of Vanessa Wittman
Vanessa Wittman has a broad range of executive experience in financial
management and corporate development. As the former Chief Financial Officer
at 360networks, she led that company's restructuring efforts to successfully
emerge from bankruptcy protection. Ms. Wittman had initially joined the
company as Vice President of Corporate Development, and was responsible for
overseeing all M&A activities, as well strategic analysis.
Prior to joining 360networks, Ms. Wittman served as Senior Director of
Corporate Development at Microsoft, and had earlier been CFO of the wireless-
services company Metricom, Inc. She also spent four years as a corporate
finance associate in the media group at Morgan Stanley & Co.
Ms. Wittman holds a BS/BA in Business Administration from the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School
of Business in Charlottesville, VA.
About Adelphia
Adelphia Communications Corporation is the fifth-largest cable television
company in the country. It serves 3,500 communities in 32 states and Puerto
Rico, and offers analog and digital cable services, high-speed Internet access
(Adelphia Power Link), and other advanced services.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Financial and Operating Data
As a result of actions taken by the Rigas management of the Company: (a)
the Company has not yet completed its financial statements as of or for the
year ended December 31, 2002 and does not anticipate timely filing of its
Annual Report on Form 10-K as of and for the year ended December 31, 2002; (b)
the Company has not yet completed its financial statements as of or for the
year ended December 31, 2001, or received its independent public accountants'
report thereon or filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"Commission") its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2001; (c) the Company's former independent public accountants, Deloitte &
Touche LLP, suspended their auditing work on the Company's financial
statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2001 and withdrew their
audit report with respect to the year ended December 31, 2000; (d) the Company
has not yet completed its financial statements as of and for the three months
ended March 31, 2002, June 30, 2002 or September 30, 2002, or filed with the
Commission its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31,
2002, June 30, 2002 and September 30, 2002; and (e) the Company expects to
restate its financial statements for the years ended December 31, 1999 and
2000, and its interim financial statements for 2001 and possibly other
periods. Effective March 4, 2003, the Company hired a new Chief Executive
Officer and President and Chief Operating Officer. The new Chief Executive
Officer replaced the interim Chief Executive Officer who, along with other
members of the current management team, took control of the Company in
May 2002. Current management has retained new independent auditors and begun
the preparation of new financial statements for the periods in question; as a
result of certain actions of prior management that the Company has previously
disclosed, the Company is unable to predict at this time when such financial
statements will be completed. In addition, current management believes that
the public information provided by prior management on other matters of
interest to investors, such as the Company's rebuild percentage (the
percentage of the Company's cable television systems that the Company believes
have been upgraded to current standards), was unreliable. As a result, the
Company anticipates that it may have to supplement the financial and other
information contained in this Form 8-K and that such supplemental information
may be material.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This document includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act")
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
"Exchange Act"). All statements regarding Adelphia Communications Corporation
and its subsidiaries' (collectively, the "Company's") expected future
financial position, results of operations, cash flows, restructuring and
financing plans, business strategy, budgets, projected costs, capital
expenditures, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and
objectives of management for future operations and statements that include
words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect,"
"intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and other similar expressions are
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are inherently
uncertain, and readers must recognize that actual results may differ from the
Company's expectations. The Company does not undertake a duty to update such
forward-looking statements.
Actual future results and trends for the Company may differ materially
depending on a variety of factors discussed in the Company's filings with the
Commission, including its recently filed Current Reports on Form 8-K, the most
recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, the Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2000, and the most recent prospectus supplement filed under
Registration Statement No. 333-64224, under the section entitled "Risk
Factors" contained therein. Factors that may affect the plans or results of
the Company include, without limitation: (a) the Company's filing of a
petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code; (b)
the results of litigation against the Company including the recently filed
civil complaint by the Commission and the potential for a criminal indictment
of the Company; (c) the effects of government regulations and the actions of
local cable franchise authorities; (d) the availability of debtor-in-
possession financing and surety bonds to support the Company's operations; (e)
the results of the Company's internal investigation and the matters described
above under "Cautionary Statement Regarding Financial and Operating Data"; (f)
actions of the Company's competitors; (g) the pricing and availability of
equipment, materials, inventories and programming; (h) product acceptance and
customer spending patterns; (i) the Company's ability to execute on its
business plans, to provide uninterrupted service to its customers and to
conduct, expand and upgrade its networks; (j) technological developments; (k)
matters relating to or in connection with the bankruptcy filing and
proceedings of Adelphia Business Solutions, Inc.; (l) changes in general
economic conditions and/or economic conditions in the markets in which the
Company may, from time to time, compete; (m) the movement of interest rates
and the resulting impact on the Company's interest obligations with respect to
its pre-petition bank debt; and (n) the delisting of Adelphia Communications
Corporation's common stock by Nasdaq. Many of such factors are beyond the
control of the Company and its management.
SOURCE Adelphia Communications Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.adelphiacom.com
CONTACT:
Eric Andrus, Adelphia Communications
Corporation, +1-877-496-6704
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