Nortel Report on Audit Sends Shares up 13%

Investors breathed a sigh of relief and sent shares of Nortel Networks Corp. soaring 13% after the telecom equipment supplier said its audit of 2003 results did not turn up any nasty surprises.

Nortel, mired in an accounting scandal and required by securities regulators to issue biweekly updates, stuck to its forecast that an earnings restatement would see it halve 2003 net income of $732 million.

Shares of Brampton, Canada-based Nortel rose 53 cents to $4.76 on the New York Stock Exchange.