SHARES in radio telecommunications group Ionica collapsed

yesterday after the troubled company announced it was seeking a new equity investor to ease funding problems.

As the group's shares spun almost 60% lower to end at 35p - a far cry from its 390p flotation price last July - Ionica warned that any new strategic investor could herald ''a significant dilution'' in current shareholder interests.

Cambridge-based Ionica has #90m cash left but at the rate at which it is exhausting the funds, analysts believe that reserve will be

depleted by November.

To compound the problems, the company has been unable to

convince banks to allow it draw on its #300m facility, partly because it appears unlikely that it will meet targets of winning 195,000

customers by the end of the year.

It has a 43,000-strong customer pool.