Eircom is continuing roadshows in Europe ahead of the initial public offering of its shares later this week.

Indications so far are that the offer will be more than twice oversubscribed, with strong interest reported in presentations in the US and to domestic investors.

The pricing of the shares will be decided by the company and its advisers on Thursday, with the grey market - or trading in advance of its official listing - due to commence on Friday. The company has indicated that the shares will be floated at a price of between €1.48 and €1.75.

The interest from investors has led some market sources to speculate that the float will take place somewhere in the middle of this range, or slightly higher. However, this decision will not be made by the company until all the roadshows are completed and nervous market conditions in the wake of the Madrid bombings may lead to some caution in striking the final price.

The main attraction for institutional investors is the strong yield being promised on the shares. At a price in the middle of the indicated range - around €1.62 - the yield in the first year would be an attractive 6.8 per cent.

However many private investors, who had to subscribe €40,000 or more to participate, will be hoping for an initial "bounce" in the share price, which would allow them to take some profits.

Eircom will raise about €830 million from the flotation, with €300 million in fresh equity and the balance going to existing shareholders.

Belgacom, the Belgian telecoms operator, will join the market on March 22nd, offering a lower yield - around 5.5 per cent at the mid-point of its indicative price range - but with existing exposure to the higher growth mobile market.

Investors were reported as saying yesterday that the planned sale of 39 per cent of Belgacom, which is expected to be one of the largest European listings of 2004, was expected to have won enough market interest to prompt the group to set a price towards the higher end of its range.