Swissmed sets out ambitious expansion plans - but will the bourse respond?

"We have prepared a development strategy and we asked the market to provide us with part of the funds for its implementation," said the company's president, Roman Walasiński. The strategy is to be implemented in three stages. By the end of 2006 Swissmed plans to concentrate on strengthening its position in the Pomorskie voivodship through the expansion of its network of health-care centers and acquiring a network of medical partners i.e. doctors and medical teams who will provide basic medical care and perform medical diagnosis. Then the company plans to replicate this operation in Warsaw, Kraków and Poznań. "Within the coming seven years we intend to build at least three hospitals. The first one will be built in Warsaw by 2009. They will be surrounded by a network of medical partners and local health-care centers," said Walasiński. The share issue will also provide capital for the construction of an IT system that will integrate the network of medical partners and health-care centers with the company's hospital in Gdańsk and will increase Swissmed's working capital. The funds from the share issue will not be sufficient to finance all the investments, and the firm plans to make up the shortfall with mortgage loans. (Parkiet, p. 5) E.B.