MILAN, March 11 Reuters Telecom Italia39;s TIM proforma net debt following its planned landline network sale will rise to about 7.5 billion euros 8.2 billion this year, the company said after a special board meeting to analyse a market rout of its shares.

TIM held an extraordinary board meeting on Sunday, after the presentation of its threeyear strategy prompted the biggest daily fall in its shares on record.

The sale of TIM39;s most prized asset is a key plank of CEO Pietro Labriola39;s efforts to cut its debt load and refocus the group around its services business.

However, net cash flow is expected to be around zero in 2025 and about 500 million euros in 2026, the former phone monopoly said in a statement on Monday.

Shares rose around 1 in early trade, bucking a 0.8 drop in Milan39;s bluechip index.

Debt has long been seen as one of the factors holding back TIM, along with tough competition in its home market.

Analysts had on Thursday pointed out that the forecast debt level of the venture emerging from the disposal of the company39;s domestic fixed line network, which TIM expects to complete in the middle of this year, was above market expectations.

The group39;s proforma net debt after the sale of the grid was at about 6.1 billion euros at the end of last year.

That compares with an actual reported adjusted net debt figure of 25.6 billion euros.

The additional disclosure TIM provided after its shares plunged 24 on Thursday showed that even after the grid…