First International Telecom Corp (FITEL, 大眾電信) is short NT$200 million (US$ 6.37 million) in cash, but plans to raise NT$1 billion by the end of October, a company executive said yesterday.
“The company’s method of fundraising is by issuing 200 million shares of the company’s A-share stock at NT$5 per share,” FITEL chairman Charlie Wu (吳清源) said on the telephone yesterday.
Wu said between four and five “major shareholders have already shown interest, but they still need to seek approval from their boards because they represent publicly traded companies.”
Wu said he was confident the cash would be raised by the October deadline.
First International Telecom offers Personal Handy-phone System (PHS) handsets. The company claims that PHS mobile devices are healthier for users than GSM and GPRS phones, while providing high-speed wireless Web access.
FITEL is backed by a lineup of shareholders that includes FIC Group (大眾集團), Shin Kong Group (新光集團) and Taiwan Secom (中興保全), the company said on its Web site.
Concerns about the company’s solvency arose after it missed a debt payment of NT$109 million to Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) last Friday.
On Wednesday, the company held a press conference at the request of the National Communications Commission to explain why it had not met its short term obligation of NT$40 million — NT$20 million in government royalties and NT$20 million in channel usage fees — to the government.
The company has applied twice to the NCC to pay the amount by installments, but both requests were rejected.
Wu said he hoped that this time, after examining the firm’s financial data, the commission would approve the request by the middle of next month.
The company has over 1.03 million customers with between NT$350 million and NT$400 million in monthly revenues, or NT$20 million in net profit.
“Cash flow is tight, but still manageable. We anticipate all financial obstacles to be removed by the end of October,” Wu said.
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