Optimum recovery

Troubled IT company Optimus has undertaken a restructuring program aimed at bringing it back on par with the industry's elite. The firm is focusing on the production of desktops, laptops and servers and hopes to eventually make it into the top three domestic IT-equipment producers. However, obtaining working capital is proving a serious problem for the firm.

"We are suffering from a lack of capital," said Piotr Lewandowski, the company's president, going on to claim that the company would sell three times more computers if it had enough working capital. He said that even zł.10 million would be a big help to the company, and a working capital of zł.20 million could result in sales at a level of zł.200 million. In 2006, the firm's total sales amounted to zł.140 million, but only zł.49.3 million of this was earned in H2 of the year. 

Lewandowski claims that issuing shares would be the best way to obtain the much-needed capital, stating, "not carrying out an issue [last November] was detrimental to the company," he says. However, Optimus' main shareholder, entrepreneur Zbigniew Jakubas, is against the idea.

The president hopes to raise some money from the IPO of Zatra, a company in which it has a 45-percent stake. Lewandowski expects the debut to take place between Q2 or Q3 of this year and hopes that it could bring in zł.10 million. "It will be important to have the shares of a listed company - it will help us get the required resources," Lewandowski said. He also indicated that Optimus may raise capital from bank loans.