WorldCom Expected to Create ‘Tracking’ Stock

WorldCom Inc. is expected Wednesday to detail a broad restructuring that the company said would address the deteriorating market for traditional long-distance and focus on the company’s healthier Internet and data service businesses. Like AT&T; Corp. announced last week, WorldCom is expected to create a separate “tracking” stock for long-distance to distinguish that struggling business from the rest of the company. WorldCom is the nation’s second-biggest long-distance provider after AT&T.; WorldCom’s quarterly report released last week was in line with the company’s and Wall Street’s estimates but showed unpaid bills by customers took a $405-million bite out of its pocketbook. Notably, voice revenue grew only 2% to $2.58 billion compared with the third quarter of 1999. Last Wednesday, AT&T; outlined a plan to break itself into four separate pieces, undoing a series of costly acquisitions designed to make the company a one-stop shop for telephone, television and Internet services. On Friday, WorldCom stock rose 31 cents to close at $22.06 on Nasdaq, and AT&T; ended at $22, up 19 cents, on New York Stock Exchange.