04:33 20Nov2001 RSF-Platt's: Enron sees cash drain, warns on survival

New York (Platts)--20Nov2001/533 am EST/1033 GMT Enron filed Q3 financials late Monday, revealing a huge cash drain, despite last week's $1.5-bil asset-backed infusion from merger partner Dynegy. Enron said its cash Friday had fallen to $1.2-bil, even with the Dynegy payment three days earlier, $550-mil drawn on a new bank line last week and $3-bil drawn on existing lines earlier this month to pay off $1.9-bil of commercial paper. Enron blamed operating costs, trade settlements and collateral deposits paid to trading partners. Enron said it expects $800-mil soon from asset sales and got another $440-mil bank line Monday. But it warned it might not be enough to keep its investment-grade credit rating or restructure debt coming due. That could have a "material adverse impact on Enron's ability to continue as a going concern," it warned.