Bermuda-registered satellite communications company that listed shares on New York's Nasdaq index on Friday, still needs as much as $2.5 billion and could sell more shares in the next 12 months, Chief Financial Officer Norman Lindsay said in an interview.

"There will be, I guess, an equity offering in the next 12 months,'' Lindsay said. "But against the senior bank debt it would be relatively small.'' London-based ICO plans to be the third company, after Iridium LLP and Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd., to launch a satellite service to provide global coverage for phone, fax and other communications services. It raised $690 million Friday through a $120 million share sale and $570 million offering of senior unsecured notes.

The new capital brings ICO's total funding to just short of $3 billion.

Lindsay said the company will raise more through senior bank debt, a high-yield or convertible bond offering and a share sale.

"The company has approximately $2.25 billion to $2.5 billion to raise and already we have plans to do so in terms of a variety of instruments,'' Lindsay said.

ICO sold 10 million shares at $12 a share Friday, well below the company's initial plan to sell 20 million shares at $15 to $19 a share. Lindsay blamed "choppy'' market conditions for the scaled-back offering.

Lindsay said the company, which had already raised about $2 billion from about 20 backers, aims to have an evenly split debt-to-equity ratio.

ICO, which expects to have its system of 12 satellites in place and operating by August 2000, hopes that its third-place entry into the market will enable it to benefit from the marketing efforts undertaken by Iridium and Globalstar ahead of them, Lindsay said.

Demand for satellite-based communications, which will cover a far greater portion of the world than existing mobile- telephone services, is also supposed to be about double what the three providers combined will be able to offer, Lindsay said.