Nortel Networks, the troubled Canadian telecoms equipment supplier, is more likely to be broken up than to emerge intact from bankruptcy protection, according to analysts.

“I am not expecting Nortel to emerge from bankruptcy, I think there will be a full break-up,” says Ping Zhao, a credit analyst with New York-based CreditSights, who tracks Nortel. “From the minute that Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection, revenue probably started to decline dramatically.”