Preliminary Parmalat report shows €14.3bn debt

Troubled Italian group Parmalat said today that according to a preliminary restatement of the company's 2002 and 2003 accounts by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC),the group had a net debt of €14.3bn at the end of September, compared to the €1.8bn reported previously by the company.

According to PWC, Parmalat's sales in the first nine months of 2003 totalled €4bn, compared with a previously reported €5.3bn. For the 2002 full year, sales totaled €6.2bn, compared with a reported €7.7bn.