The troubled telecommunications company Stentor plc is expected to show losses of around £6.5 million today when it releases its annual results for the year to March last. These figures are considerably higher than the original forecast of £4.5 million by its former brokers.

The company's perilous financial state will be further underlined as the results are expected to show that Stentor had to get two loans of £6 million from private sources in the summer to help it to continue trading. Repayment of these loans is imminent.

Under Stock Exchange rules - Stentor is quoted on London's AIM - the company was to file its results yesterday. However, it emerged late in the day that the results would not be posted until today.

It is thought the company's cumulative losses have increased from more than £8 million in March to in excess of £14 million and its liabilities are understood to be approaching £10 million since its formation three years ago. It is expected to tell shareholders that it does not have sufficient funds to finance its working capital requirements and that immediate action must be taken.

It is known that in recent months Stentor has been negotiating with overdue creditors, seeking special payment terms. It has also sought short-term loans.

Stentor, whose chief executive is Mr Patrick Cruise O'Brien, son of Mr Conor Cruise O'Brien, never really managed to make an impact on the Irish market. It was to list on the Nasdaq but this never happened.

Today's results should include a reference to events surrounding this. It is thought that the fees incurred in the aborted attempt to list could be as high as £750,000.

It is understood that the auditors qualified the company's annual results on the basis that there are fundamental uncertainties about the Stentor's viability as a going concern.

In its first financial year, it emerged that Stentor's turnover was a mere £126,000. However, the year to end of March last should show a substantial increase, to around £1.4 million. Current revenues are thought to be approaching £400,000 a month.

The company will probably argue that it can still do a deal with a party which would be prepared to assume its debts. NTL, which owns Cabletel in Northern Ireland, has been mooted as a possible buyer, but the company would not comment yesterday.

If Stentor is bought, it will be cold comfort for shareholders as very little will be offered for the company. Around 10 million shares are in circulation and these were suspended on Monday at 28.5p sterling. The shares were also suspended earlier this year pending an announcement about a reverse takeover deal. This never happened and when trading resumed the shares had fallen from a high of 195p sterling to 60p.

On Monday, following a newspaper reports at the weekend, which contained several previously unpublished details of Stentor's finances, the shares were again suspended, but not before the price had plummeted.

A Stentor executive would only say last night that the company's preliminary results would be on Reuters screens today.