Stock analysts on Monday declared Canwest Global Communications shares "worthless" and advised investors to avoid them.

A Reuters report says Canwest must pay $30.4 million (US) in interest to its lenders by Tuesday. Otherwise, investors could demand $761 million owing them.

"Given the significant liquidity challenges facing the company, we see no residual value in the shares of Canwest," BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Casey wrote in a note to clients.

Other analysts were equally pessimistic. Reuters quotes National Bank Financial analyst as saying, "We see no compelling reason to own, let alone buy Canwest shares, which we would continue to avoid."

GMP Securities analyst Jason Jacobson is equally negative. Reuters quotes him as saying his target price on the shares is zero.

At 11:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, Canwest shares were trading at 30.5 cents, down 1.5 cents. Canwest's 52-week high was $4.77.

At 1:00 p.m. PST, Canwest was down 8 cents to 24 cents, its 52-week low.

Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.