Szeptel to make further attempt at raising funds through new share issue

The smallest telecommunications company on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), Szeptel, will make a further attempt this week to raise zl.235 million through the sale of an additional 7.95 million shares. Although the share price has not been officially disclosed yet, market analysts expect it to be zl.30. The issue will take place despite the failure of a previous attempt by Szeptel in April to raise funds from the markets, and despite bourse failures in the past two months of two major companies, Arena.pl and ZA Pulawy. According to its own calculations, Szeptel will have to obtain from outside sources some zl.760 million within the next five years to finance its ambitious expansion plans. Eighteen months ago the company announced that it intended to construct its own core data transmission network, using $100 million obtained from the markets and credits. More recently, Szeptel said it had drawn up plans for investing zl.834 million by the year 2005. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B4) M.T.