Sprint Corp. said on Friday it has strong liquidity and a fully funded business plan for the rest of the year and beyond, countering market rumors of a cash crunch that sent its stock down more than 25 percent on Friday.

Contrary to the rumors, Overland Park-based Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. long-distance telephone company, said it had not drawn against any of its bank credit lines and had no plans to do so.

It said it has about $1.85 billion in total liquidity, including about $650 million in cash, a loan facility backed by its directory publishing business and a credit line backed by the accounts receivable at its wireless business.

Those funds exceed the company’s expected cash requirements of about $550 million in the second half of 2002, Sprint said.

Shares of Sprint on Friday plunged to $6.65, their lowest level in more than 14 years, on rumors that the company would not have enough money to pay off debt, analysts said. After the company’s announcement, the stock closed at $7.05, down $1.95, or 21.67 percent.

Shares of Sprint PCS Group, the wireless unit of Sprint that trades separately, tumbled 70 cents, or 18.9 percent, to close at $3.00 on the New York Stock Exchange.

“People are playing on the liquidity fear issue,” said Patrick Comack, analyst with Guzman & Co., adding that the concerns are unfounded.

“They have $450 million in debt maturing this year, and they should have zero cash burn right now, and they have $648 million in cash. There’s no debt problem,” Comack said.

Greg Gorbatenko, telecommunications analyst with Loop Capital Markets, agreed.

“They went through their liquidity line by line (in their earnings conference call) and everything looks fine from a liquidity standpoint,” Gorbatenko said.