Ahead of its AGM on Feb 19, German license trader-producer Helkon Media has announced that its credit lines with the Hamburg-based Vereins- und Westbank AG and Cologne's Stadtsparkasse Koeln has been transferred into a syndicated loan giving the company additional funds of Euros 20m.

The new arrangement is part of a package of restructuring measures instigated by the Helkon management last autumn - its financial debt at the end of the last financial year amounted to Euros 177.9m - and will enable the company to cover its operational costs as well as reduce its bank liabilities by the end of 2002.

In addition, Helkon plans to obtain approval at tomorrow's AGM for changing Euros 25m of shareholder's loans into equity.

Private bankers Merck Finck & Co estimate that the figures for the first six months of Helkon's current financial year will come in at Euros 110.1m and an EBIT of Euros 10.3m. Earnings per share (EPS) is expected to pan out at Euros 0.34 "which indicates a slight profit in the second quarter as the first was Euros 0.33".