KGHM goes credit hunting for Telefonia Lokalna Dialog

Polish copper and telecom firm KGHM Polska Miedz says it plans to take out a z?.800 million six-month loan for its subsidiary Telefonia Lokalna Dialog (TLD). The syndicated loan, which KGHM representatives said will be organized by state-owned bank PKO BP, is to be spent on refinancing the subsidiary's debts of euro 150 million and expansion of operations at TLD, which provides fixed-line telecom and Internet services. Ma?gorzta Skorska, a spokeswoman for TLD, said that the company is looking to increase its subscriber base to 250,000 by the end of 2001. At the end of 2000, the company had 117,000 subscribers. Similar to the previous year, the company plans to spend about z?.420 million on development this year. TLD finished 2000 with a preliminary loss of z?.161 million. After buying 50% of TLD shares at the end of 2000 from Polskie Sieci Energetyczne and Tel Energo, KGHM has obliged itself to find an investor for TLD within 2 years. It is still unknown who that might be. (Reuters, Prawo I Gospodarka, p.10) A.D.