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People have asked me 'Who's running the business?' Well we are but at nights and the weekends

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People have asked me, 'Who's running the business?' Well, we are, but at nights and the weekends."It has been a gruelling experience, not least because the cash call hangs in the balance and, if it fails, Mr Howard could find himself out of a job. Cookson's share price stands only marginally above the 25p price of the rights issue, which is not underwritten. And there have been rumblings of discontent from some shareholders that they are being asked to back the same management who were responsible for the group's £750m of debt, built up through a £1bn acquisition spree.During the darkest days, when Cookson shares fell as low as 19.5p, Mr Howard has found his Christian faith a comfort "I do [find it a comfort] in good times and bad That's the beauty of faith," he says "It can be a lonely experience in management. And we've had a number of redundancies, salary freezes and people getting no bonuses which have had an impact on a lot of families. But we have done what we believed were the right things to do."Mr Howard, 49, is known for holding regular faith meetings in his London offices and adds that "meditation and prayer are part of my life". He attends the International Community Church near his home in Weybridge, Surrey, though he does not align himself with any particular denomination.

Instead, he describes himself as "a follower of Jesus".Whether he is relying on faith, hope, or charity in the run-up to the rights issue is open to debate but the former lawyer is confident. "We have every reason to believe it will be a successful issue," he says, sticking resolutely to the script.This view is supported by last week's statement that 45 per cent of the group's equity base had given written indications that they will take up their rights. But Mr Howard points out that the real level of support may be much higher. "There are a number [of institutions] that simply don't do this in writing.

The US funds certainly tend to be that way."Even so the fund-raising remains finely balanced, though Mr Howard says a modest shortfall would not present a serious problem. "If we raised, say, 70 per cent of the money it would go a long way to reducing the [debt] problem," he explains. "And we do have other options such as small disposals and some redundant property that could be sold. But some people have been saying that if the rights issue fails than the company will have to be put into liquidation That's not so.

Shareholders shouldn't feel that if they don't support this [the fund-raising] then they are going to lose all their money That's not the case The business will still grow and prosper. It would just grow more quickly if the rights issue succeeded."Supporters maintain that the business is in better shape since a corporate restructuring by Mr Howard, who became chief executive four years ago after starting out as the group's main lawyer in the United States. He slimmed the group down but bulked up in areas like ceramics and electronics with big deals. Unfortunately they were financed with debt rather than equity and signed at the peak of the boom.The result was that a £159m profit in 2000 turned into a £25m loss last year, devastating the share price in the process. Cookson's sectors, such as providing electronic components for printed circuit board makers and ceramics for steel furnace linings, have been miserable and the group's significant US exposure has worked against it too.Mr Howard says the business has worked hard to put itself back on track Cookson is now breaking even and is cash generative And it claims it has good relationships with its bankers. "We aren't in breach of our covenants and we don't anticipate that we will be."Explaining why Cookson decided not to underwrite its cash call, Mr Howard says: "The decision to not underwrite was certainly not to save a few bob. Our shareholder register is 25 per cent US funds who don't participate in sub-underwriting [where institutions, often a company's existing shareholders, underwrite a fund-raising for a certain fee].

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