In addition, there were structural problems related to the debt covenants and there were major tax problems.

But at that level, the company may be beginning to bump up against its debt covenants, analysts said yesterday.

A loan restructure was planned for 2011 when Endemol was expected to breach its debt covenants.

The debt covenants were an equally important problem.

"How many investors are out there who have no idea about these debt covenants and how important they are?"

If they take too big a write-off there could be a problem with the debt covenants.

The company said it had begun talks with its creditors to waive its debt covenants, and was optimistic about reaching an agreement.

Unfortunately, $120 million is not impressive when the company's debt covenant says it must maintain a net worth of at least $150 million.

A late filing could be a problem for the company because of rules about debt covenants.

First, Ames's lenders declared the retailer in default on certain debt covenants.