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Kuwaiti oil minister Sheikh Ali
al-Khalifa al-Sabah said OPEC was producing well below its oil
output ceiling and this would help prices move higher,
according to a Kuwaiti newspaper interview.
The al-Rai al-Aam newspaper quoted him as saying OPEC was
pumping 2.4 mln barrels per day (bpd) less than its 15.8 mln
bpd ceiling, while consumers were drawing down their petroleum
stocks at a rate of 4.5 mln bpd.
As long as OPEC maintains its output curbs, demand for its
oil will rise in April and May, Sheikh Ali said, adding that
Kuwait was strongly committed to its OPEC quota.
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Earnings per one stg of deferred stock 41.7p vs 34.9
Div 11.5p making 19.0 vs 16.0
Turnover 1.95 billion stg vs 1.63 billion
Pretax profit 174.1 mln vs 125.6 mln
Tax 49.4 mln vs 34.9 mln
NOTE - Company's full name is Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Navigation Co Plc <PORL.L>
Net operating costs 1.77 billion stg vs 1.51 billion
Share of profits of associates 21.1 mln vs 37.9 mln
Operating profit 206.3 mln vs 154.2 mln
Investment income 1.7 mln vs 3.6 mln
Net interest payable 29.5 mln vs 29.2 mln
Employee profit sharing 4.4 mln vs 3.0 mln
Minority interests 2.5 mln debit vs 2.4 mln debit
Extraordinary items 29.8 mln credit vs 0.1 mln credit
Group operating profit includes -
Service industries 40.7 mln vs 34.4 mln
Passenger shipping 19.5 mln vs 13.1 mln
Housebuilding, construction/development 50.1 mln vs 30.0
mln
Container and bulk shipping 43.8 mln vs 34.4 mln
P and O Australia 6.6 mln vs 9.4 mln
Banking nil vs 7.7 mln
Investment property income 45.6 mln vs 25.2 mln
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China's summer grain harvest may be good
despite a serious drought because the State Council (cabinet)
has spent one billion yuan on irrigation and other anti-drought
work, a Hong Kong newspaper said.
Wen Hui Bao said the drought, which has affected Shanxi,
Hebei, Henan and Shandong the most, has eased with March rains
in south China and March snowfall in the north and as some new
irrigation projects have come into use.
"If the drought does not worsen, there is hope for a bumper
harvest," it quoted experts of the Ministry of Electric Power as
saying. They gave no figures.
The 1986 summer grain harvest was a record 93 mln tonnes,
up from 92 mln in 1985, out of a total 1986 grain harvest of
391 mln. The 1987 target is 405 mln.
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Shr 47.1p vs 37.7
Shr fully diluted 42.2p vs 33.6
Div 11p vs 7 making 16 vs 10
Turnover 1.83 billion stg vs 1.76 billion
Pretax profit 115.3 mln vs 81.3 mln
Tax 30.5 mln vs 16.2 mln
Retail profit -
B and Q 45.5 mln vs 33.1 mln
Comet 17.4 mln vs 11.9 mln
Woolworth 38.7 mln vs 17.6 mln
Other 4.6 mln loss vs 600,000 loss
Property income 49.4 mln vs 48.0 mln
Net interest payable 31.1 mln vs 28.7 mln
Extraordinary debit 16.0 mln vs 29.1 mln
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<TMOC Resources Ltd> told shareholders
not to accept Santos Ltd's <STOS.S> 4.00 dlr a share takeover
bid pending advice from Macquarie Hill Samuel Corporate
Services, its corporate advisor.
It said in a statement the Santos bid was below the
underlying value of the shares as assessed by Macquarie Hill
Samuel at between 4.08 dlrs and 4.72.
TMOC, formerly the Moonie Oil Co Ltd, said the valuation
was made in response to an earlier and still current bid of
2.55 dlrs a share by <Elders Resources Ltd>. Elders Resources
holds 19.9 pct of TMOC's 62 mln shares.
TMOC said it did not know Elders Resources' response to the
bid or that of its other major shareholder the <Australian Gas
Light Co>. The latter has a 10.5 pct stake in TMOC.
<Avalon Corp> of the U.S. Has a 17 pct stake in TMOC
through an option agreement.
Santos, which is 15 pct owned by Elders Resources,
yesterday said its bid valued TMOC at 248.5 mln dlrs.
TMOC said today this was not a premium over the share price
before the bid and that TMOC had traded at up to 4.06 dlrs a
share in the last two weeks.
TMOC said in the statement that the bid was unsolicited and
that Santos had only a 3.07 pct stake despite paying up to four
dlrs a share on-market.
TMOC has oil and gas interests and pipelines which
complement the operations of Santos, the major Cooper Basin oil
and gas producer.
TMOC shares today closed five cents up at 4.15 dlrs on
turnover of 182,000 shares while Santos, due to release its
profit result today, rose eight cents to 4.50 dlrs on volume of
245,000 shares.
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Industrial holding company Williams
Holdings Plc said it was bidding 542.2 mln stg for the ordinary
shares of building products and packaging group Norcros Plc.
The offer would be made on the basis of 29 new Williams
shares for every 50 in Norcros, or 432.7p a share
Norcros shares firmed to 410p at 0914 GMT from a close last
night of 397p.
A statement by Williams said it was confident of the merits
of the proposed merger and it had therefore taken care to
propose from the outset the right terms, including a full cash
alternative.
The offer will include a partial convertible alternative
under which shareholders would receive up to a total of 205.69
mln new second convertible shares in Williams instead of their
ordinary share allocations.
The offer for Norcros preferential shares offers one
Williams preferential share for each one of Norcros, for a
value of 130p each and a total of 2.9 mln stg.
Last week Williams reported that pretax profits for 1986
rose to 22.9 mln stg from 6.3 mln.
Speculation about a bid for Norcros had been circulating in
the market for several months, dealers said. Initially it
centred on <Bunzl Plc>, which once held a 2.6 pct stake, then
switched to Williams when it began accumulating shares.
Earlier this year, Williams suggested holding talks with
Norcros on a possible merger but was rebuffed by Norcros which
replied that any benefits that could be achieved could also
result from normal trading.
In the six months to end-September, Norcros reported a rise
in pretax profits to 20.14 mln stg from 18.55 mln on turnover
that lifted to 311.82 mln from 303.91 mln
Williams Holdings began expanding from 1982 when it had a
market capitalisation of around one mln stg. A series of
acquisitions in the next four years has pushed its
capitalisation up to around 380 mln.
The convertible offer would be on the basis of four
Williams convertibles for every Norcros share, worth 428p a
share. The cash alternative would offer the equivalent of
400.2p a share.
The announcement of the bid pushed Williams share price
down to 733p from last night's close at 750p.
Williams said it held a total 850,000 shares in Norcros, or
0.7 pct, while an associate held a further 1.99 mln or 1.6 pct.
There was no immediate response from Norcros.
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Shr 37.0 cents vs 60.0
Final div deferred vs 11 cents (1985 full year 20.0)
Pre-tax 171.05 mln vs 239.97 mln
Net 88.67 mln vs 144.04 mln
Turnover 400.42 mln vs 506.51 mln
Other income 85.44 mln vs 71.04 mln
Shrs 238.99 vs same.
NOTE - Final div deferred for tax advantage until after
July 1 but not expected to be less than nine cents (interim
seven). Net after tax 82.38 mln vs 95.92 mln, depreciation and
amortisation 93.29 mln vs 76.19 mln, interest 90.94 mln vs
116.49 mln, minorities nil vs loss 10,000 but before
extraordinary loss 6.49 mln vs loss 53.40 mln.
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The dollar is expected to decline further
in coming days as scepticism mounts about the effectiveness of
last month's Paris accord to stabilise currency exchange rates,
senior foreign exchange dealers said.
Following its fall today to a record 148.40 yen, dealers
said they expect the dollar to establish a new trading range of
147 to 150 yen before the market again tries to push it down.
Behind the latest dollar fall lies the belief that last month's
accord was no longer enough to stop operators pushing the
dollar down, the dealers said.
"The recent remark by U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker
that the Paris accord did not set any target ranges for major
currencies has cast a shadow on the agreement," said Koji
Kidokoro, general manager of Mitsui Bank Ltd's treasury
division.
He said the market interpreted this as indicating the U.S.
Would favour a weaker dollar and it had little intention of
intervening to support the currency.
"This eliminated the widespread market caution against
possible joint central bank intervention," Kidokoro said.
Dealers said the dollar had gathered renewed downward
momentum and that Bank of Japan intervention alone could hardly
contain a further slide in the currency.
They said the central bank bought between one to 1.5
billion dlrs today, including direct purchases through brokers,
and yesterday it might have bought a small amount of dollars
through the U.S. Central bank in New York.
Most dealers said they doubted the U.S. Federal Reserve
would intervene on its own account to support the dollar, but
some said this might occur if the dollar fell much below 148
yen.
"If the dollar drops to that low level, it could reduce the
flow of foreign capital into U.S. Securities, which the
Americans don't want," said Haruya Uehara, chief money market
manager of Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corp.
He said the dollar may return to around 152 yen next month
when corporations reduce their dollar sales after they close
their books for the 1986/87 business year ending on March 31.
But dealers said the longer-term outlook for the dollar
remained bearish. This was due to the lacklustre performance of
the U.S. Economy, the continuing U.S. Trade deficit and
Japanese delays in announcing an economic stimulation package.
"The Americans are getting frustrated at Japan's inertia in
stimulating its economy," said Hirozumi Tanaka, assistant
general manager of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Ltd's international
treasury division.
In the Paris currency accord Japan promised a package of
economic measures, after the fiscal 1987 budget was passed, to
boost domestic demand, increase imports, and thus reduce its
trade surplus. The package was expected in April, but debate on
the budget has been delayed by an opposition boycott of
parliamentary business over the proposed introduction of a
sales tax.
In the circumstances the government had only a slim chance
of producing a meaningful economic package in the near future,
Dai-Ichi Kangyo's Tanaka said.
Dealers said if steps are not taken to stimulate the
Japanese economy protectionist sentiment in the U.S. Congress
would grow and put more downward pressure on the dollar.
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The council of the
Australian Petroleum Exploration Association (APEA) said it
will press on with its campaign for major improvements to
Australia's petroleum taxation structure.
The council said in a statement the industry was bitterly
disappointed by the Australian government's position on
taxation, as presented in a speech by Resources and Energy
Minister Gareth Evans to the APEA conference.
As earlier reported, Evans said he was inclined to target
any tax changes rather than take a broad-based approach to
secondary taxation of petroleum.
APEA had expected the government to make positive responses
to detailed industry submissions seeking the removal of
existing secondary tax disincentives to exploration and
development, the council said.
It said it plans to reply in detail to issues raised by
Evans, but its immediate concern was the decision to proceed
with the current resource rental tax (RRT) legislation.
Evans told the conference the government did not plan to
accept industry pleas for changes in the legislation to allow
deductibility of unsuccessful exploration expenditure.
"The government's unwillingness to allow the deduction of
unsuccessful exploration expenditure within the whole offshore
area in which RRT applies negates any claim that the tax is
profit based," the APEA council said.
The government missed a major opportunity to persuade oil
exploration companies that it had realistic answers to the
industry's concerns, despite its recognition of the industry's
problems, the council said.
The industry has called for the end of all discriminatory
secondary taxation of petroleum, citing them as major
disincentives at a time of low oil prices.
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Import prices in West Germany fell
0.7 pct in February from January to stand 15.6 pct below their
level in February 1986, the Federal Statistics Office said.
In January the import price index, base 1980, was unchanged
compared with December but 17.8 pct lower against January 1986.
February export prices, same base as import prices, were
unchanged compared with January and 2.5 pct lower than in
February 1986.
In January export prices fell 0.3 pct against December to
stand 3.0 pct lower than in January 1986.
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Nippon Life Insurance Co's 538 mln dlr
purchase of a 13 pct stake in Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc
brokerage unit is a shrewd move that other Japanese insurers
are likely to follow, securities analysts said.
The investment in one of Wall Street's top brokerage houses
is likely to pay off in dollars and international market
position, they said. "It's part of a trend towards growing
capital participation by Japanese insurance firms in foreign
financial institutions," said Simon Smithson, an analyst with
Kleinwort Benson International Inc in Tokyo.
The investment in Shearson Lehman, a growing firm described
by some analysts as the top U.S. Retail brokerage, will give
Nippon Life a ringside seat and possibly lower commissions on
Wall Street, where it invests an increasing percentage of its
assets of 90.2 billion dlrs, they said.
Nippon Life staff will also acquire expertise in business
sectors which have not yet opened up in Japan, they added.
The agreement between the two companies calls for a 50-50
joint venture in London focussing on investment advisory asset
management, market research, and consulting on financing.
Nippon Life is Japan's largest insurance company and the
world's biggest institutional investor, analysts said.
The Japanese finance ministry is expected to approve the
deal in April, making Nippon Life the first Japanese life
insurance firm to take a stake in a U.S. Financial firm.
The limit on foreign assets as a proportion of Japanese
insurers' assets was increased to 25 pct from 10 pct last year.
Since then, they have stepped up purchases of foreign stocks
and sought to deepen their understandng of foreign markets and
instruments.
Last year, a Sumitomo Life Insurance Co official was
appointed to E.F. Hutton Group Inc unit E.F. Hutton and Co's
board and Sumitomo Bank Ltd spent 500 mln dlrs to become a
limited partner in Goldman, Sachs and Co.
Smithson said Japanese banks started buying smaller and
problem-plagued banks in 1984. "But now Japanese are going for
blue-chip organisations," he said.
"It's a reflection of what has happened in manufacturing
industries," said Brian Waterhouse at James Capel and Co. "With a
historically high yen, and historically low interest rates,
there's an increasing disincentive to invest in Japan."
Competition in fund management has grown along with greater
Japanese savings. The typical salaried employee has 7.33 mln
yen in savings, reflecting an annual average savings rate of 17
to 18 pct, he said.
To stay competitive, fund managers must invest overseas and
gain experience with financial instruments which are likely to
spread to Japan with further deregulation. "The high regulatory
environment has delayed (life insurance firms')
diversification. Now there's a growing number of new products
in an environment of increasing competition for performance on
fund management," Smithson said.
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The Bank of England said it forecast a
shortage of around 300 mln stg in the money market today.
Among the main factors affecting liquidity, bills maturing
in official hands and the take-up of treasury bills will drain
some 338 mln stg while bankers' balances below target will take
out around 25 mln stg.
Partly offsetting these outflows, a fall in note
circulation and exchequer transactions will add some 45 mln stg
and 25 mln stg to the system respectively.
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Leading Australian onshore oil and gas
producer, Santos Ltd <STOS.S>, said its 1986 results were hit
by sharp reductions in prices for crude oil, condensate and
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The Cooper Basin producer earlier reported a fall in net
profit to 88.67 mln dlrs from 144.04 mln in 1985.
Santos chairman Sir Brian Massy-Greene said in a statement
that increased production, particularly of oil and LPG, along
with reduced operating costs and reduced or deferred oil
exploration and development outlays, were helping Santos deal
with an adverse business climate.
Santos said it remained financially strong with an
injection of 84 mln dlrs from the second instalment of a 1985
rights issue, and had cash reserves of 381.3 mln dlrs at the
end of 1986 against 401.9 mln a year earlier.
It said it had also made significant progress in repaying
debts and at year end the ratio of debt to shareholders' funds
had fallen to 1.01 from 1.54.
Santos yesterday announced a 4.00 dlr a share takeover bid
for the 96.93 pct it did not already hold in oil and gas
company <TMOC Resources Ltd> -- valuing the target at 248.5 mln
dlrs.
Santos said 75 pct of its loans were U.S. Dollar
denominated and significant currency purchases were made during
the year to maintain that natural hedge. At year end it held
145 mln U.S. Dlrs, enough to meet all 1987 repayments.
Santos said it had a successful gas exploration program,
finding 172 billion cubic feet in South Australia, but oil
exploration was less successful with 1.62 mln barrels added to
reserves -- less than depletion during the year.
Cooper Basin producers are committed to a two-year scheme
to double gas exploration while Santos said its 1987 budget for
oil exploration had been boosted 20 pct.
Santos said the outlook for 1987 depended on prices and
production volumes but with extra oil exploration and
encouraging gas finds there were grounds for optimism.
But it called on the goverment to continue fostering
domestic producers through the Import Parity Price scheme.
"It makes no sense to abandon this policy now when
exploration is at its lowest level for many years and when
Australia's oil self-sufficency is expected to decline rapidly,"
Massy-Green said.
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Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation
Co Plc <PORL.L>, P and O, said it plans a free warrant issue on
the basis of 10 warrants for every 150 stg nominal of deferred
stock already held, to mark the 150th anniversary of the
company.
Each warrant will give the right to subscribe for one stg
nominal of deferred stock at 750p during a specified period in
the five years starting in 1988.
P and O deferred shares were last quoted at 629p, down 1p
since yesterday, after the company reported 1986 pre-tax profit
of 174.1 mln stg against 125.6 mln for 1985.
P and O said 1986 produced an acceptable level of growth,
though ground has to be made up in one or two areas.
The company has a strong balance sheet and considerable
flexibility for 1987, it added. P and O will concentrate on
expanding in its established market sectors.
Commenting on the recent ferry disaster in the North Sea
off Zeebrugge, the statement said the precise cause is unknown.
The company has instituted an immediate investigation and both
the British and Belgian governments are conducting inquiries.
The stricken ferry, the Herald of Free Enterprise, belongs
to Townsend Thoresen, which became part of P and O in January.
P and O is considering listing its shares in Japan and
other important overseas financial centres, the statement
added.
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Canadian Trade Minister Pat
Carney said that agricultural policies should not hurt world
international trade and should therefore become more price
responsive over time.
She told delegates at the informal meeting of trade
ministers that this was one of five principles Canada wanted
adopted in reforming agriculture in the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Secondly, support for agriculture
should avoid production incentives, and thirdly, countries
should freeze and seek to reduce government aid measures that
distorted world prices, Carney said.
Carney said the fourth principle was that countries should
not introduce new import barriers not mandated by existing
legislation and the fifth was that these basic principles must
be implemented collectively.
Carney later told Reuters the Canadian guidelines are
basically compatible with the seven point Australian proposals
announced in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
European trade sources said the conference welcomed the
Canadian initiative but some delegates, and not only the
European Community, voiced reservations about some of the
principles.
Carney said there was a lot of political will among the
ministers here to complete the Uruguay Round of GATT in under
four years and that there is also a realisation that it has to
be done in a balanced way.
"The consensus view was to proceed as fast as we can on a
broad front and see what areas emerge where we can get early
conclusion," she said.
However, the meeting did not identify what those areas are,
Carney said. She said Canada/U.S. Bilateral trade
negotiations, which must be concluded at least in draft form by
October, are progressing well.
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Philippine Secretary of
Trade and Industry Jose Concepcion, who two days ago expressed
doubts about agreements produced at international conferences,
said he was pleased with the latest gathering here.
Concepcion told Reuters in an interview that the informal
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) meeting gave
ministers from more than 20 nations the chance to examine
issues with which GATT did not have the political will to deal.
"Also, the role of the developing countries has been
emphasised in this particular meeting. Somehow it has been the
perception of developing countries that GATT is a club of rich
countries," he added in an interview with Reuters.
"In fact many of the issues that have been tabled for
discussion (in the Uruguay round of trade negotiations) will be
of more benefit to the developed countries," he said.
Concepcion said at the start of the Taupo meeting that the
Uruguay round was meant to be a "shining act of faith" in the
world trade system.
Concepcion said the Philippines would address the issues of
trade in tropical fruit and the improvement of GATT machinery
to make it more responsive.
He said tropical fruit came from developing countries but
faced non-tariff barriers, quantitative restrictions or very
high duties in other nations. Concepcion named Japan and South
Korea as examples.
He said he would go to Wellington for talks with New
Zealand, which had a surplus in trade with the Philippines, to
encourage it to switch imports from other countries. He noted
that New Zealand bought its bananas from Ecuador.
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Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa told
Parliament's Lower House Finance Committee that the U.S. Is
expected to intervene in the foreign exchange market to
stabilise exchange rates, political sources said.
Asked if the U.S. Federal Reserve Board agreed in Paris
last month to intervene to stabilise exchange rates, Miyazawa
said yes, the sources said.
Miyazawa was also quoted as saying that he is sceptical
about the effectiveness of currency reference ranges even if
major nations agree on such an idea as it is extremely
difficult to set such ranges.
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Shr 51.4p vs 56.4p
Div 11.0p making 17.4p, a 10 pct increase on 1985
Turnover 3.14 billion stg vs 2.65 billion
Pretax profit 182.2 mln vs 150.5 mln
Tax 53.8 mln vs 23.5 mln
Note - comparisons restated.
Trading profit 217.2 mln vs 211.1 mln
Launching costs 47.6 mln vs 51.6 mln
Share of profit of related companies 3.6 mln vs 3.4 mln
Net interest receivable 9.0 mln vs 12.4 mln payable
Extraordinary debit 44.1 mln vs nil
Trading profit includes -
Civil aircraft 7.7 mln loss vs 2.5 mln loss
Military aircraft and support services 146.0 mln vs 148.3
mln
Guided weapon and electronic systems 139.7 mln vs 127.8 mln
Space and communications 1.9 mln vs 2.0 mln loss
Company funded research and development 62.7 mln loss vs
54.9 mln
Reorganisation costs nil vs 5.6 mln loss
Launch costs include -
BAe 146 17.1 mln vs 27.3 mln
Airbus 19.4 mln vs 6.9 mln
BAe 125-800 0.3 mln vs 1.5 mln
ATP 10.8 mln vs 15.9 mln
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A ban by a Portuguese court on the
state buying agency EPAC taking part in cereals import tenders
open to private traders will remain unless it is reversed in
Portugal or challenged in the European Court of Justice,
European Commission sources said.
They denied a statement yesterday by Portuguese Agriculture
Minister Alvaro Barreto that the commission had accepted that
EPAC should be eligible, saying it had taken no view in the
matter.
Under the terms of Portugal's accession to the European
Community, a grain import monopoly held by EPAC is being
reduced by 20 pct annually until all imports are liberalised in
1990.
Lisbon's civil court decided in a preliminary ruling
earlier this month that EPAC should not be allowed to take
part, as it had done in the past, in tenders for the
liberalised share of annual grain imports.
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The Bank of Japan stepped up its dollar
buying as it re-entered the market after the midday Tokyo lunch
break, dealers said.
They said the bank seemed more determined to support the
dollar than it did this morning.
Several dealers said the central bank intervened this
afternoon when the dollar stood around 149 yen.
One said it purchased 150 to 200 mln dlrs in the half-hour
since the market re-opened after its lunchtime closure. Another
said the bank still has buying orders in the market.
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Bank of Japan Governor Satoshi Sumita
said in a statement the central bank will intervene in foreign
exchange markets to stabilise exchange rates if necessary in
close cooperation with other major industrial nations.
Sumita said the Bank will take adequate measures including
market intervention, if necessary, in line with the February 22
Paris agreement by six major industrial nations.
Canada, Britain, France, Japan, the U.S. And West Germany
agreed to cooperate in stabilising exchange rates around
current levels. Sumita's statement was issued after the dollar
slipped below 150 yen to hit a record low of 148.40.
"It is inevitable that exchange rates fluctuate under the
system of floating rates," Sumita said.
The fact the dollar plunged below 150 yen does not mean
anything significant under the floating system, he said.
The six nations agreed in Paris exchange rates prevailing
then were broadly consistent with underlying economic
fundamentals and further substantial rate shifts could damage
growth and adjustment prospects in their countries, the Paris
statement said.
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U.S. Trade Representative
Clayton Yeutter said trade ministers meeting here have reached
a general consensus on agricultural trade reform under the
latest Uruguay round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT).
Yeutter gave no precise details of the understanding but
told journalists the consensus covers the principles involved
in agricultural trade reform and what needs to be done to
improve the global situation in agriculture.
Delegates from 22 countries are meeting informally to
discuss progress made since the latest GATT round was launched
in Punta del Este, Uruguay, last September.
Yeutter said "at least people seem to be going down the same
road...But how that translates ultimately into negotiations is
another matter entirely."
There seems to be an understanding of the need to deal with
the problem quickly and "a more common understanding of how we
are going to get from here to there," Yeutter said.
However, the hard work is still to come, with a couple of
years of tough negotiations ahead, he said.
"It is ludicrous for the nations of the world to plough
immense amounts of financial resources into the production of
items that nobody wants to buy," he said.
He said the long-term answer is to switch some of the
financial resources now committed to agriculture to other more
productive areas. This would help agriculture because some its
inefficient non-productive segments would stop operating, he
said.
Individual segments in many countries may lose in the
process, but it should result in a more rational system of
world-wide production within 10 or 15 years, he said.
It is important that the agriculture negotiations reach a
relatively early conclusion because the U.S. Is spending 26
billion dlrs a year and the European Community probably more
than that, which is an ineffective use of financial resources,
he said.
Asked about the prospect of a priority for agriculture in
the negotiations, he said "one has to be politically
realistic... If there is any chance of getting it (agricultural
trade reform) done in two to three years it's going to have to
be as part of a larger package."
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Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone
intervened to try to resolve Japan's escalating dispute with
the U.S. Over semiconductor trade, government officials said.
At today's Cabinet meeting, Nakasone told Trade and
Industry Minister Hajime Tamura to redouble his efforts to calm
U.S. Anger over what it sees as Japan's unfair trade practices
in semiconductors.
Nakasone intervened only two days before a scheduled
meeting of the Reagan administration's Economic Policy Council
to consider whether Japan is reneging on its microchip pact
with the U.S.
That pact, agreed last year after months of negotiations,
calls on Japan to stop selling cut-price chips in world markets
and to raise its imports of U.S. Semiconductors.
Senior U.S. Officials have accused Tokyo of failing to live
up to the accord and have threatened retaliatory action.
Yesterday, Tamura's Ministry of International Trade and
Industry (MITI) launched a last-ditch attempt to salvage the
pact by writing letters to U.S. Policy makers setting out
Japan's case and telling Japanese chip makers to cut output.
In his letter, the contents of which were released today,
Tamura said a MITI survey carried out at the beginning of March
showed Japanese producers were not selling at cut-rate prices
in Asian markets.
In a separate letter sent to senior U.S. Officials, MITI
vice minister for international affairs Makoto Kuroda suggested
the two countries could conduct a joint investigation into
allegations of Japanese chip dumping in such markets.
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The dollar is expected to decline further
in coming days as scepticism mounts about the effectiveness of
last month's Paris accord to stabilise currency exchange rates,
senior foreign exchange dealers said.
Following its fall today to a record 148.40 yen, dealers
said they expect the dollar to establish a new trading range of
147 to 150 yen before the market again tries to push it down.
Behind the latest dollar fall lies the belief that last month's
accord was no longer enough to stop operators pushing the
dollar down, the dealers said.
"The recent remark by U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker
that the Paris accord did not set any target ranges for major
currencies has cast a shadow on the agreement," said Koji
Kidokoro, general manager of Mitsui Bank Ltd's treasury
division.
He said the market interpreted this as indicating the U.S.
Would favour a weaker dollar and it had little intention of
intervening to support the currency.
"This eliminated the widespread market caution against
possible joint central bank intervention," Kidokoro said.
Dealers said the dollar had gathered renewed downward
momentum and that Bank of Japan intervention alone could hardly
contain a further slide in the currency.
They said the central bank bought between one to 1.5
billion dlrs today, including direct purchases through brokers,
and yesterday it might have bought a small amount of dollars
through the U.S. Central bank in New York.
Most dealers said they doubted the U.S. Federal Reserve
would intervene on its own account to support the dollar, but
some said this might occur if the dollar fell much below 148
yen.
"If the dollar drops to that low level, it could reduce the
flow of foreign capital into U.S. Securities, which the
Americans don't want," said Haruya Uehara, chief money market
manager of Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corp.
He said the dollar may return to around 152 yen next month
when corporations reduce their dollar sales after they close
their books for the 1986/87 business year ending on March 31.
But dealers said the longer-term outlook for the dollar
remained bearish. This was due to the lacklustre performance of
the U.S. Economy, the continuing U.S. Trade deficit and
Japanese delays in announcing an economic stimulation package.
"The Americans are getting frustrated at Japan's inertia in
stimulating its economy," said Hirozumi Tanaka, assistant
general manager of Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Ltd's international
treasury division.
In the Paris currency accord Japan promised a package of
economic measures, after the fiscal 1987 budget was passed, to
boost domestic demand, increase imports, and thus reduce its
trade surplus. The package was expected in April, but debate on
the budget has been delayed by an opposition boycott of
parliamentary business over the proposed introduction of a
sales tax.
In the circumstances the government had only a slim chance
of producing a meaningful economic package in the near future,
Dai-Ichi Kangyo's Tanaka said.
Dealers said if steps are not taken to stimulate the
Japanese economy protectionist sentiment in the U.S. Congress
would grow and put more downward pressure on the dollar.
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Nippon Life Insurance Co's 538 mln dlr
purchase of a 13 pct stake in Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc
brokerage unit is a shrewd move that other Japanese insurers
are likely to follow, securities analysts said.
The investment in one of Wall Street's top brokerage houses
is likely to pay off in dollars and international market
position, they said. "It's part of a trend towards growing
capital participation by Japanese insurance firms in foreign
financial institutions," said Simon Smithson, an analyst with
Kleinwort Benson International Inc in Tokyo.
The investment in Shearson Lehman, a growing firm described
by some analysts as the top U.S. Retail brokerage, will give
Nippon Life a ringside seat and possibly lower commissions on
Wall Street, where it invests an increasing percentage of its
assets of 90.2 billion dlrs, they said.
Nippon Life staff will also acquire expertise in business
sectors which have not yet opened up in Japan, they added.
The agreement between the two companies calls for a 50-50
joint venture in London focussing on investment advisory asset
management, market research, and consulting on financing.
Nippon Life is Japan's largest insurance company and the
world's biggest institutional investor, analysts said.
The Japanese finance ministry is expected to approve the
deal in April, making Nippon Life the first Japanese life
insurance firm to take a stake in a U.S. Financial firm.
The limit on foreign assets as a proportion of Japanese
insurers' assets was increased to 25 pct from 10 pct last year.
Since then, they have stepped up purchases of foreign stocks
and sought to deepen their understandng of foreign markets and
instruments.
Last year, a Sumitomo Life Insurance Co official was
appointed to E.F. Hutton Group Inc unit E.F. Hutton and Co's
board and Sumitomo Bank Ltd spent 500 mln dlrs to become a
limited partner in Goldman, Sachs and Co.
Smithson said Japanese banks started buying smaller and
problem-plagued banks in 1984. "But now Japanese are going for
blue-chip organisations," he said.
"It's a reflection of what has happened in manufacturing
industries," said Brian Waterhouse at James Capel and Co. "With a
historically high yen, and historically low interest rates,
there's an increasing disincentive to invest in Japan."
Competition in fund management has grown along with greater
Japanese savings. The typical salaried employee has 7.33 mln
yen in savings, reflecting an annual average savings rate of 17
to 18 pct, he said.
To stay competitive, fund managers must invest overseas and
gain experience with financial instruments which are likely to
spread to Japan with further deregulation. "The high regulatory
environment has delayed (life insurance firms')
diversification. Now there's a growing number of new products
in an environment of increasing competition for performance on
fund management," Smithson said.
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Canadian Trade Minister Pat
Carney said that agricultural policies should not hurt world
international trade and should therefore become more price
responsive over time.
She told delegates at the informal meeting of trade
ministers that this was one of five principles Canada wanted
adopted in reforming agriculture in the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Secondly, support for agriculture
should avoid production incentives, and thirdly, countries
should freeze and seek to reduce government aid measures that
distorted world prices, Carney said.
Carney said the fourth principle was that countries should
not introduce new import barriers not mandated by existing
legislation and the fifth was that these basic principles must
be implemented collectively.
Carney later told Reuters the Canadian guidelines are
basically compatible with the seven point Australian proposals
announced in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
European trade sources said the conference welcomed the
Canadian initiative but some delegates, and not only the
European Community, voiced reservations about some of the
principles.
Carney said there was a lot of political will among the
ministers here to complete the Uruguay Round of GATT in under
four years and that there is also a realisation that it has to
be done in a balanced way.
"The consensus view was to proceed as fast as we can on a
broad front and see what areas emerge where we can get early
conclusion," she said.
However, the meeting did not identify what those areas are,
Carney said. She said Canada/U.S. Bilateral trade
negotiations, which must be concluded at least in draft form by
October, are progressing well.
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Shr 34.5p vs 24.5p adjusted
Div 19p making 29p vs 24.8p adjusted
Pretax profit 178.1 mln vs 110.1 mln
Tax and minorities 60.5 mln vs 32.7 mln
Profit attributable 117.6 mln vs 77.4 mln
Pretax profit includes -
Long term business 145.5 mln vs 137.7 mln
General insurance business -
Underwriting loss 99.9 mln vs 131.6 mln
Investment income 94.8 mln vs 78.2 mln
Trading loss 5.1 mln vs 53.4 mln
Investment management, U.K. 6.4 mln vs 1.6 mln
Shareholders' other income 31.3 mln vs 24.2 mln
Pretax profit by division includes -
U.K. Individual division 97.1 mln vs 89.5 mln
U.K. Group pensions 10.5 mln vs 10.6 mln
International 13.4 mln vs 12.4 mln
Mercantile and General 24.5 mln vs 25.2 mln
Prudential Portfolio managers 6.4 mln vs 1.6 mln
Prudential Property Services 2.1 mln loss vs nil
REUTER
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Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said the
time has come for major industrialised nations to take action
on exchange rates in line with their agreement last month in
Paris.
In Paris, Britain, Canada, France, Japan, the U.S. And West
Germany agreed to coooperate to hold currency rates around
their then current levels.
Miyazawa would not say what specific measures major nations
would take, but told reporters the measures had been discussed
in Paris. The dollar fell to a record low against the yen this
morning, piercing the 150 yen barrier.
Asked if major nations were now negotiating on what
measures to take, Miyazawa said they were not as measures had
already been agreed in Paris.
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Japan's economy remains sluggish but is
beginning to show signs it may bottom out soon, the Economic
Planning Agency said in a monthly report submitted to Cabinet
ministers.
But a bottoming out of the economy depends largely on the
yen's exchange rate trend in the immediate future, Agency
officials said.
The officials told reporters industrial production, down
0.5 pct in January from December, is likely to turn positive in
February and to rise thereafter, raising hopes for a brighter
economic outlook.
The Agency predicted industrial production will grow 2.5
pct in the current January/March quarter after falling 0.7 pct
in the previous quarter.
A rise of this size would be the largest since the fourth
quarter of 1984 when industrial output rose 2.7 pct, the
officials said.
They also said an expected upturn in exports would be a
mixed blessing as it would contribute to economic growth but
would increase the chance of trade friction.
Japanese exports contracted five pct in February from
January but are likely to grow from March if the yen stabilizes
around current levels, the officials said.
They predicted exports will increase by 2.3 pct in the
January/March quarter from the October/December quarter.
"But the problem is imports are not expanding," said one
official. Imports fell by 9.4 pct in February from January.
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Kuwaiti oil minister Sheikh Ali
al-Khalifa al-Sabah said OPEC was producing well below its oil
output ceiling and this would help prices move higher,
according to a Kuwaiti newspaper interview.
The al-Rai al-Aam newspaper quoted him as saying OPEC was
pumping 2.4 mln barrels per day (bpd) less than its 15.8 mln
bpd ceiling, while consumers were drawing down their petroleum
stocks at a rate of 4.5 mln bpd.
As long as OPEC maintains its output curbs, demand for its
oil will rise in April and May, Sheikh Ali said, adding that
Kuwait was strongly committed to its OPEC quota.
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Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa told
Parliament's Lower House Finance Committee that the U.S. Is
expected to intervene in the foreign exchange market to
stabilise exchange rates, political sources said.
Asked if the U.S. Federal Reserve Board agreed in Paris
last month to intervene to stabilise exchange rates, Miyazawa
said yes, the sources said.
Miyazawa was also quoted as saying that he is sceptical
about the effectiveness of currency reference ranges even if
major nations agree on such an idea as it is extremely
difficult to set such ranges.
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The U.S. Has offered warships to
escort Kuwaiti tankers in the Gulf past Iranian anti-ship
missile batteries, Defence Department officials said.
The officials told Reuters yesterday the offer was made
last week by Navy Admiral William Crowe, chairman of the
Pentagon Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a Middle East visit.
Reagan administration officials said later that Washington
did not seek military confrontation with Tehran, but would not
let Iran use Chinese-made "Silkworm" anti-ship missiles, capable
of covering the narrow entrance to the Gulf, to choke oil
shipments to the West.
Defence officials said Kuwait had asked if protection for
up to a dozen vessels, most of them tankers, could be provided
by three U.S. Navy destroyers and two frigates now in the
southern Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
In addition to a half dozen ships in the U.S. Navy's small
Mideast Task Force near the Straits of Hormuz, the Pentagon has
moved 18 warships, including the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk,
into the northern Arabian Sea in the past month.
White House and defence officials said that massing the
fleet was routine and had nothing to do with the Iran-Iraq war
or Iran's stationing of missiles near the mouth of the Gulf.
The State Department said on Friday that Iran has been told
about U.S. Concern over the threat to oil shipments in the
Gulf. The communication was sent through Switzerland, which
represents U.S. Interests in Iran.
Iran denied as baseless reports that it intended to
threaten shipping in the Gulf and said any U.S. Interference in
the region would meet a strong response, Tehran Radio said on
Sunday.
Several hundred vessels have been confirmed hit in the Gulf
by Iran and Iraq since early 1984 in the so-called tanker war,
an offshoot of their 6-1/2-year-old ground conflict.
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U.S. Trade Representative
Clayton Yeutter said he was unsure whether some of the trade
issues straining U.S.-Japanese relations would be resolved
before the two countries open trade talks in late April.
"We are having high level discussions on them (the issues)
within the United States...The relationship on some of those is
very strained between us (Japan) at the moment and we need to
relieve those strains at the earliest possible date," he said.
"I am not sure we can wait until late April," he added.
Yeutter is in New Zealand for a two-day informal meeting of
trade ministers who are reviewing the Uruguay round of the
General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT).
He said he will meet the Japanese delegation over the next
few days but declined to discuss methods of relieving the
strain between the two countries.
Yeutter said earlier the three most contentious trade
issues were semiconductors, Japanese government unwillingness
to allow public entities to buy U.S. Super-computers and the
barring of U.S. Firms from the eight billion U.S. Dlr Kansai
airport project near Osaka.
The Japanese delegation to the GATT talks said in a
statement yesterday they are making major efforts to dismantle
trade barriers in their country.
"I am convinced that they are attempting to move their
policies in the right direction. The question is how far and
how fast," Yeutter said.
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The Bundesbank accepted bids for 6.5
billion marks at today's tender for a 28-day securities
repurchase pact at a rate of 3.80 pct, a central bank spokesman
said.
Banks, which bid for a total 8.6 billion marks liquidity,
will be credited with the funds allocated tomorrow and must buy
back securities pledged on April 22.
The allocation was in line with market expectations the
Bundesbank would provide more than the 3.4 billion marks
draining from this week as an earlier facility expires.
Call money fell to 3.60/70 pct ahead of the allocation from
3.75/85 pct yesterday, dealers said.
The excess allocation compensates for public funds leaving
the system which the Bundesbank added last week via
government-owned banks.
However major tax payments by banks on behalf of customers
drew to a close this week, lessening the need for liquidity.
The call money declines surprised some dealers, who
speculated it was because the Bundesbank disbursed further
government funds today. However, most said this had not
occurred.
Banks were well stocked with liquidity, having 47.1 billion
marks in minimum reserves at the Bundesbank on Friday, up from
49.9 billion on Thursday. Average daily reserves over the first
20 days of the month fell to 52.6 billion from 53.1 billion.
For all of March, banks would be required to hold net daily
average reserves of 50.7 billion marks, dealers said.
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The Bank of England said it had provided
the money market with 115 mln stg assistance in the morning
session. This compares with the Bank's forecast of a 300 mln
stg shortage in the system today.
The central bank bought bills outright in band two at
9-13/16 pct comprising 73 mln stg bank bills and 42 mln stg
local authority bills.
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Norcros Plc <NCRO.L> the building
products and packaging group said its board had no hesitation
in unanimously rejecting this morning's 542.2 mln stg bid from
<Williams Holdings Plc>, the industrial holding firm.
The company said Williams' 432.7p per share offer was
unsolicited and unwelcome and significantly undervalues
Norcros. By 1228 gmt Norcros shares were quoted at 418p, up
from 397p at yesterday's close. Williams was 15p higher at 765.
The Norcros board's detailed views will be sent to
shareholders when the formal offer document has been issued by
Williams.
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Western agricultural attaches in Moscow
said they had no evidence to substantiate rumours that last
April's Chernobyl nuclear disaster had a worse effect on Soviet
grain than first reported.
Current Soviet interest in chartering ships to carry grain
from the U.S. Helped prompt the rumours on world markets. But
the diplomats said they had seen no reports in the state press
and heard no comments from officials to substantiate them.
The official media was initially slow in reporting the
accident but, under Kremlin leader Mikhail Gorbachev's campaign
for openness, gradually gave more and more details.
Land around the nuclear plant was contaminated to varying
degrees. Some is now being used to grow industrial crops
instead of grain.
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Iran has test-fired its newly acquired
Silkworm anti-shipping missile in the Strait of Hormuz and has
set up at least two land-based launching sites in the area, a
British naval source in the Gulf said.
The source, who declined to be identified, said Iran had
fired the Chinese-made missile at a hulk off its southern Gulf
naval port of Bandar Abbas and scored a hit.
"These missiles pack a fairly big punch," he told Reuters.
"There is no doubt they could be used to target (shipping)
across the Strait of Hormuz."
Tension in the Gulf has risen since U.S. Officials last
week broke the news that Iran had acquired the Silkworm
missiles.
The U.S. Has said it will not allow Iran to use the
missiles to choke off oil shipments and has offered its
warships to escort Kuwaiti tankers past the missile batteries.
But Tehran denied last Sunday it intended to threaten Gulf
shipping and warned the U.S. Any interference in the region
would meet a strong response.
The British naval source said the Silkworms were in place
at at least two sites around the Strait of Hormuz, but would
not give the exact location.
REUTER
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Merrill Lynch and Co Inc is holding
talks on acquiring Canadian brokerage firms, a company
spokesman told Reuters.
He said one of the firms with which Merrill Lynch is
negotiating is <Burns Fry Corp> of Toronto, which has already
received an offer from Security Pacific Corp's <SPC> 83 pct
owned <Hoare Govett Ltd> London-based brokerage unit. The
Hoare Govett bid is valued at about 210.4 mln U.S. dlrs.
The spokesman said the talks are the result of a change in
Ontario securities laws that takes effect June 30.
Currently, companies outside the Canadian securities
industry are prohibited from owning more than 10 pct of a
Canadian broker. On June 30, 1987, foreign brokers will be
allowed to own up to 50 pct of Canadian brokers, and the
percentage will rise to 100 pct a year later.
Reuter
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Mark IV Industries Inc said it has
started the 25 dlr per share tender offer for all shares of
Conrac Corp that it announced yesterday afternoon.
In a newspaper advertisement, the company said the offer
and withdrawal rights expire April 20 unless extended. The
offer is not conditioned on receipt of any minimum number of
shares but is conditioned on the arrangement of financing.
Mark IV already owns about 9.9 pct of Conrac's 6.8 mln
shares outstanding.
Reuter
| [
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Ecolab Inc said it has started its
previously-announced tender offer for all shares of ChemLawn
Corp at 36.50 dlrs each.
In a newspaper advertisement, the company said the offer
and withdrawal rights expire April 20 unless extended. The
ChemLawn board has approved the tender and a merger at the same
price that is to follow.
Ecolab said the offer is conditioned on receipt of at least
5,325,000 shares. ChemLawn now has about 10.0 mln shares
outstanding.
Ecolab said ChemLawn has granted it a conditional option to
buy all authorized but unissued and unreseved ChemLawn shares
at 36.50 dlrs each. The option is exercisable in the event
that another party were to acquire 20 pct or more of ChemLawn
by means other than a tender offer for all shares at a higher
price than Ecolab is offering.
The company said if the merger agreement is terminated
under certain circumstasnces, it will be entitled to receive 20
mln dlrs in damages from ChemLawn.
Ecolab said officers and directors of ChemLawn have granted
it options to acquire an aggregate of 2,535,435 ChemLawn shares
or about 24.8 pct for the tender price, again unless a higher
tender were to be made by another party.
Waste Management Inc <WMX> had originally made a hostile
tender offer of 27 dlrs per share for ChemLawn which ChemLawn
rejected as inadequate. On Friday, Waste Management said it
would raise its bid to 35 dlrs per share.
Reuter
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Taiwan said it plans another round of
tariff cuts, possibly within a month, to try to narrow its
trade surplus with the U.S.
Vice Finance Minister Ronald Ho said a high-level economic
committee recommended tariff cuts on 66 products requested by
Washington, including apples, chocolates and fruit juice.
Ho said the cuts may come into effect by the end of next
month.
Taiwan's trade surplus with the U.S. Widened in the first
two months of this year to 2.35 billion dlrs from 1.87 billion
dlrs in the same period last year.
REUTER
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Iran has test-fired its newly acquired
Silkworm anti-shipping missile in the Strait of Hormuz and has
set up at least two land-based launching sites in the area, a
British naval source in the Gulf said.
The source, who declined to be identified, said Iran had
fired the Chinese-made missile at a hulk off its southern Gulf
naval port of Bandar Abbas and scored a hit.
"These missiles pack a fairly big punch," he told Reuters.
"There is no doubt they could be used to target (shipping)
across the Strait of Hormuz."
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Taiwan said it plans another round of
tariff cuts, possibly within a month, to try to narrow its
trade surplus with the U.S.
Vice Finance Minister Ronald Ho said a high-level economic
committee recommended tariff cuts on 66 products requested by
Washington, including apples, chocolates and fruit juice.
Ho said the cuts may come into effect by the end of next
month.
Taiwan's trade surplus with the U.S. Widened in the first
two months of this year to 2.35 billion dlrs from 1.87 billion
dlrs in the same period last year.
REUTER
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Shr 97.0p vs 85.3p
Div 22.5p vs 20.0p making 35.0p vs 30.5p
Pretax profit 253.9 mln stg vs 267.9 mln
Tax 96.3 mln vs 125.6 mln
Operating income 1.15 billion vs 998.8 mln
Operating expenses 759.3 mln vs 692.7 mln
Trading profit before charge for bad and doubtful debts
394.4 mln stg vs 306.1 mln
Charge for bad and doubtful debts 184.2 mln vs 100.7 mln
Share of profits of associates 43.7 mln vs 62.5 mln
Minority interests 6.6 mln debit vs 9.6 mln debit
Extraordinary items 8.7 mln debit vs 15.7 mln credit
Operating income includes -
Interest income 2.49 billion vs 2.33 billion
Interest expenses 1.77 billion vs 1.64 billion
Other operating income 428.8 mln vs 313.2 mln
Operating expenses include -
Staff 405.9 mln vs 376.0 mln
Premises and equipment 197.0 mln vs 155.2 mln
Others 156.4 mln vs 161.5 mln
Pretax profit includes - North America 65.8 mln vs 49.6
mln
Asia Pacific 0.9 mln vs 31.8 mln
Middle East and south Asia 17.7 mln vs 2.3 mln
Tropical Africa 47.5 mln vs 44.7 mln
U.K. 107.6 mln vs 135.7 mln
South Africa 36.8 mln vs 35.6 mln
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KDI Corp said it has agreed
in principle to acquire Triangle Microwave Inc for 6.50 dlrs
plus a contingent payment for each Triangle share.
It said holders of the contingent payment units will be
entitled to receive annual payments to the extent that the
predepreciation gross profits of Triangle Microwave in each of
the years 1987 through 1991 exceed threshholds ranging from
eight mln dlrs in 1987 to 14 mln dlrs in 1991.
The company said holders of Triangle Microwave options and
warrants will be entitled to receive the difference between
6.50 dlrs and their exercise price, plus contingent payments.
KDI said completion of the transaction is subject to
governmental approvals and the approval of Triangle Microwave
shareholders, and the transaction is valued at over 35 mln
dlrs.
It said shareholders of Triangle Microwave controlling
about 30 pct of the company's stock have agreed to vote in
favor of the deal and to give KDI an option to buy their shares
under certain components.
Triangle Microwave makes microwave components. KDI, a
diversified company, produces electronic components, technical
products and swimming pool equipment.
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Woolworth Holdings Plc <WLUK.L> which
earlier announced a 1986 pre-tax profits rise of 42 pct over
1985, said its prospects for growth were very exciting.
The profit figure of 115.3 mln stg exceeded a forecast by
some 10 pct made during the hostile bid by Dixons Group Plc
<DXNS.L> last year and the company said the results were a
major step towards the aim of making Woolworth the most
profitable retailing group in the U.K.
It aimed to produce growth from all its businesses and look
for opportunities to acquire specialist retail businesses.
Earlier this month the group said that tentative merger
talks with the high street pharmacist <Underwoods Plc> had been
called off and recently announced a 19.2 mln stg recommended
offer for <Charlie Browns Car Part Centres Plc>.
The B and Q Do it Yourself centres raised sales by 31 pct
and retail profit by 37 pct, with its pretax contribution of
45.5 mln making it the largest single component.
The company said that the improvement had been achieved by
substantial organic growth in existing stores as well as by the
opening of a further 29 new outlets and enhanced margins.
In other sectors, the Comet electrical chain raised retail
profits by 46 pct to 17.4 mln stg, while the Woolworth chain
reported a 120 pct improvement to 38.7 mln.
The company said its property operations would increase
substantially following the start of a joint venture deal with
developers <Rosehaugh Plc>.
The defence costs against the 1.9 billion stg bid from
Dixons resulted in a 16.0 mln stg extraordinary charge.
The results were 10 mln stg up on most analysts forecasts.
As a result, the group's shares rose strongly, peaking at 865p
from last night's 842p before easing to 860p at 1155 GMT.
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March Eight
Shr loss 31 cts vs loss 47 cts
Net loss 25.6 mln vs loss 39.4 mln
Sales 398.1 mln vs 322.3 mln
Avg shrs 91.6 mln vs 90.0 mln
Nine mths
Shr loss 44 cts vs loss one dlr
Net loss 32.7 mln vs loss 84.4 mln
Sales 1.36 billion vs 1.08 billion
Avg shrs 91.2 mln vs 89.6 mln
NOTE: Twelve and 40-week periods.
Prior year results restated for change in method of
recognizing revenue on distributor shipments. Quarter net loss
originally reported as 32.0 mln dlrs or 38 cts shr on sales of
328.9 mln dlrs and nine mth loss as 120.3 mln dlrs or 1.40 dlrs
shr on sales of 1.11 billion dlrs.
Prior nine mths net includes 51.2 mln dlr gain from
cumulative effect of accounting change.
Prior year net includes extraordinary credits of 1,100,000
dlrs in quarter and 3,300,000 dlrs in nine mths.
Current year net both periods includes 15.0 mln dlr pretax
charge from previously-announced restructuring of Datachecker
Systems and Semiconductor Group manufacturing operations.
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Bank of Japan Governor Satoshi Sumita
said in a statement the central bank will intervene in foreign
exchange markets to stabilise exchange rates if necessary in
close cooperation with other major industrial nations.
Sumita said the Bank will take adequate measures including
market intervention, if necessary, in line with the February 22
Paris agreement by six major industrial nations.
Canada, Britain, France, Japan, the U.S. And West Germany
agreed to cooperate in stabilising exchange rates around
current levels. Sumita's statement was issued after the dollar
slipped below 150 yen to hit a record low of 148.40.
"It is inevitable that exchange rates fluctuate under the
system of floating rates," Sumita said.
The fact the dollar plunged below 150 yen does not mean
anything significant under the floating system, he said.
The six nations agreed in Paris exchange rates prevailing
then were broadly consistent with underlying economic
fundamentals and further substantial rate shifts could damage
growth and adjustment prospects in their countries, the Paris
statement said.
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Comdata Network Inc said it
has entered into a definitive agreement to merge into a company
formed by <Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe IV> for either
16.50 dlrs in cash or 10.00 dlrs in cash and a unit of
securities per Comdata share.
The company said each unit of securities would consist of
1.25 common shares in the new company and three dlrs principal
amount of the new company's 11 pct subordinated debentures due
1997.
It said the 16.50 dlr cash alternative is an improvement
over the 15.00 dlr per share price contemplated under an
agreement in principle with Welsh Carson announced on March
Five.
Comdata said the cash and securities alternaitcve is
subject to Welsh Carson-affiliated investors owning at least 60
pct of the stock of the new company.
The company said investment bankers <Drexel Burnham Lambert
Inc> and Alex. Brown and Sons Inc <ABSB> found the proposal to
be fair from a financial point of view.
It said the transaction is subject to approval by its
shareholders and to Welsh Carson obtaining up to 230 mln dlrs
in debt financing. Comdata said it may terminate the agreement
if financing is not arranged by April Three.
On Thursday, First Financial Management Corp <FFMC> offered
to acquire Comdata for 18.00 dlrs per share in stock and cash,
subject to approval by the Comdata board.
Under the First Financial proposal, Comdata holders would
receive no more than four dlrs per share in cash and could
receive all stock.
Comdata had originally planned a recapitalization under
which it would have repurchased up to six mln common shares at
14.50 dlrs each.
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The sharp drop in the value of the
dollar against the yen and the mark is the first serious test
of last month's Group of Five (G-5) plus Canada agreement to
stabilise currencies, dealers and bank economists said.
"The dollar will be pushed down until there is coordinated
central bank intervention," one dealer for a German bank said,
echoing widepread sentiment in the market.
But opinion was divided on whether the united front forged
in Paris still exists. Some dealers said there were growing
signs the United States wanted the dollar to fall further.
Despite repeated Bank of Japan intervention, the dollar
plunged to a post-war low in Tokyo today. It was quoted as low
as 148.40 yen in the Far East and dealers here said they
expected the U.S. Currency to decline further.
"The dollar is now firmly within a broad 140 to 150 yen
range," Chase Bank AG's senior dealer Eckhart Hager said.
Others said there were technical reasons for the sharp
dollar drop. "Window-dressing" operations by some Japanese
companies who were selling dollars and buying yen before the
end of the Japanese fiscal year on March 31 were undermining
the U.S. Currency.
Dealers said main reason for the sell-off was not
technical. U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker's comment the
Paris accord did not have fixed dollar targets was seen as a
renewed attempt by the U.S. Administration to talk the dollar
down.
"Suddenly, support levels which had existed for fear of
central bank intervention disappeared," one dealer said.
The Bank of Japan was believed to have bought some 1.5
billion dlrs, and this with comments by Japanese officials
indicated Tokyo was unhappy about the plunge, dealers said.
Bank of Japan governor Satoshi Sumita threatened central bank
intervention if necessary.
Japanese Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said today the
time had come for the six nations who agreed in Paris last
month to stabilise currencies - Japan, Britain, Canada, France,
the U.S. And West Germany - to take action in line with the
pact.
But the Bundesbank and other European central banks were
not detected in the open market during the European morning.
Opinion here was divided on when the Bundesbank would act.
While some said the West German central bank would support
the dollar once it fell below 1.80 marks, others said the
Bundesbank would only intervene after a fall below 1.75 marks
or if the decline accelerated.
The Bundesbank last intervened on January 27, when the
dollar threatened to fall below 1.81 marks.
"The Japanese seem to be on their own at the moment," one
dealer said. Others said cooperation between central banks and
governments was easier said than done.
Some said Baker's remarks and U.S. Trade Representative
Clayton Yeutter's warning that the U.S. And Japan were on the
verge of a serious trade conflict showed there was a rift.
"It's hard to tell whether the G-6 agreement still stands," a
dealer said. Another added, "If the Americans do not get what
they want, they will push the dollar down, regardless of G-6."
Citibank AG also cast doubt on the chances of success for
the Paris agreement in its latest investment letter.
"It is hard to see that Japan and Germany are willing or
able to loosen fiscal policy sufficiently to offset the
necessary U.S. Fiscal contraction," Citibank said.
It added, "Markets should therefore be aware that 1.80 marks
is not the lower limit for the dollar -- a rate of 1.70 marks
or even less is expected this year."
And London Broker Hoare Govett said in its March 1987
economic report, "We are looking for a further, more gradual,
fall, possibly to 1.60 marks by the end of the year."
But opinion about whether the Paris accord was still in
force was not universal. Some dealers said not too much should
be read into Baker's and Yeutter's comments.
"There is no reason to believe the Paris pact has broken
down," a senior dealer said.
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Transnational Industries Inc said due
to continuing manufacturing difficulties at its AlloyTek Inc
jet engine component subsidiary, it expects to report a net
loss of about 300,000 dlrs or 12 cts per share for the fourth
quarter ended January 31.
It said revenues for the period were about 11.9 mln dlrs,
about even with those of a year earlier.
For the full fiscal year, the company said it earned about
775,000 dlrs or 34 cts per share, down from 1,402,000 dlrs or
76 cts per share a year before.
The company said an unexpectedly large volume of customer
inquiries at its Spitz Inc simulation products subsidiary has
caused higher than expected business development outlays.
The company said it expects significant contract awards to
Spitz later this year.
It said it has started implementing a plan to progressively
reduce manufacturing costs at AlloyTek over the next several
quarters. The company said it may move AlloyTek's plant from
Grandville, Mich., to a lower labor cost area.
The company said it discovered the extent of the AlloyTek
problems during a year-end review of subcontracts and related
work in progress for production of jet engine components for
General Electric Co <GE>.
It said it will release annual results around April 15.
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Great Western Financial
Corp said it agreed to sell its John Alden Life Insurance Co
and its affiliated operations for 280 mln dlrs to a
newly-formed company onwed by the John Alden Management Group.
General Electric Credit Corp delivered a commitment letter
arranged by the GECC Capital Markets Group Inc for the
financing.
Great Western said the pre-tax gain on the sale will be
approximately 65 mln dlrs, and after tax gain will be
approximately 15 mln.
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Sterivet Laboratories Ltd said the
board authorized a three-for-one split of its outstanding
common shares, subject shareholder approval at the annual
meeting.
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The Bank of Spain raised overnight call
money rates by 1/4 to 14 pct on demand for 746 billion pesetas
in today's auction, which a bank spokesman termed "heavy."
Rates stood at 12.1 pct at the start of the year and have
been increased to drain liquidity on rising demands for funds,
the spokesman said.
He said in reply to Reuters inquiries that rates could rise
further if money supply growth rose above this year's eight pct
target for M-4, defined as liquid assets in public hands.
Money supply rose at an annualised rate of 16.7 pct last
month against 8.1 pct in January. Growth was 11.4 pct in 1986.
A leading Spanish broker said the central bank was applying
a more restrictive policy to keep the lid on inflation.
The consumer price index rose 8.3 pct last year.
"Money supply control is the government's chief weapon
against inflation," he said. "The problem is higher rates are
attracting liquidity from abroad."
He said this was why the central bank enacted specific
measures to control the inflow of foreign capital. The Bank of
Spain earlier this month imposed a 19 pct reserve requirement
on new convertible peseta funds held by banks to curb
short-term speculative capital from abroad.
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Qtly div 10 cts vs 10 cts prior
Pay May 25
Record April 20
Note: Canadian funds
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A successful new GATT
(General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) round is needed to
halt growing bilateral trade problems between major trading
partners, U.S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter said.
Yeutter, in New Zealand for informal GATT ministerial
talks, told Reuters bilateral trade disputes are increasing
because the multilateral system is inefficient.
"That is really a strong rationale why we need a new GATT
round," he said. "The very existence of all these bilateral
irritants clearly emphasises the need to develop multilateral
solutions to some of these problems."
The eighth GATT round of negotiations was launched at Punta
del Este in Uruguay in September 1986. Agriculture and services
were included in the negotiations for the first time.
The growing debt burden of Latin American and African
nations will also provide impetus for the GATT round to
succeed, he said. "Clearly those countries need to develop their
export endeavours and they need open markets for that to happen
and that's the basic objective of the new GATT round."
But he said the GATT round is a long term endeavour. It
will not give any short term relief for debt ridden countries,
but it will make a difference in 10 to 15 years.
"It's a worthwhile activity from their standpoint because
these debts are not going to go away in the next year or two,"
he said.
"They ought to be very strongly supported in the GATT round
as a mechanism for relieving their debt burdens or making
possible debt amortisation in the future," he said.
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The Bank of England said it provided the
money market with assistance of 104 mln stg in the afternoon
session.
This takes the bank's total help so far today to 219 mln
stg and compares with its estimate of a 300 mln stg shortage.
The central bank bought outright 104 mln stg in bank bills
in band two at 9-13/16 pct.
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<Qintex Ltd> of Brisbane said <Westpac
Banking Corp> of Australia has issued a commitment letter to
provide Princeville Development Corp with the letter of credit
required under Qintex's proposed acquisition of Princeville.
The letter of credit would ensure payment of Princeville's
contingent subordinated notes to be distributed to shareholders
of record on the day immediately following completion of
Qintex's tender for 3,300,000 Princeville share. It said
issuance of the letter of credit is still subject to conditions
including appropriate documentation, but the letter is expected
to be issued around April Three.
Qintex said as a result it has extended its tender offer
for Princeville shares until April Three.
It said through yesterday it had received 7,424,292 shares
under the offer.
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Shr 41 cts vs 30 cts
Net 700,000 vs 526,000
Revs 15.2 mln vs 14.7 mln
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News Corp Ltd's Fox Television
Stations Inc subsidiary said it will pay an accrued dividend of
5.44 dlrs per share, not the 5.83 dlrs it reported earlier, in
connection with the April 15 redemption of 230,000 shares of
increasing rate exchangeable guaranteed preferred stock for
1,000 dlrs per share plus accrued dividends.
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McCrae Industries Inc said it
raised its preferred dividend on its Class A common stock to 12
cts per share from 11 cts per share.
It said the dividend was payable April 20, 1987, to
shareholders of record April 6.
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Columbia First Federal Savings and
Loan Association said it has acquired the insured deposits of
first Federal of Maryland, based in Hagerstown, from the
Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp and reopend First
Federal's six former offices as Columbia First branches.
The Federal Home Loan Bank Board had closed First Federal
on March 20 because it was insolvent. First Federal had assets
of 115.2 mln dlrs.
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The Federal Reserve appears to have
intervened in the U.S. foreign exchange market to buy dollars
against yen this morning, currency dealers said.
They said the intervention occurred near the dollar's early
low of 148.50 yen and the U.S. currency subsequently firmed to
149.05/15. It closed at 150.00/05 on Monday.
Dealers were uncertain of the amount involved and whether
the Fed's purchases were for its own account or for a customer.
But there was speculation that it may have been done in
conjunction with the Bank of Japan. Tokyo dealers said the
Japanese central bank bought dollars in Tokyo earlier today.
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Qtly div three cts vs 2-1/2 cts prior
Pay April 15
Record April Six
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Shr 47 cts vs 40 cts
Net 4,399,000 vs 3,768,000
Sales 76.6 mln vs 68.0 mln
Year
Shr 1.79 dlrs vs 1.84 dlrs
Net 16,701,000 vs 17,159,000
Sales 291.7 mln vs 269.1 mln
NOTE: FiscaL 1987 year based on 53 weeks compared wqith 52
weeks a year earlier.
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Shr 22 cts vs 14 cts
Net 917,000 vs 553,000
Sales 16.1 mln vs 13.6 mln
Avg shrs 4,195,000 vs 4,090,000
Nine mths
Shr 70 cts vs 29 cts
Net 2,852,000 vs 1,086,000
Sales 49.2 mln vs 40.7 mln
NOTE: Prior nine mths net includes gain 250,000 dlrs from
insurance payment.
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Shr not given
Net 328,000 vs 99,000
Year
Shr not given
Net 1,694,000 vs 998,000
NOTE: Company went public in February 1987.
Net includes pretax loan loss recovery 41,000 dlrs vs
provision 50,000 dlrs in quarter and provisions 135,000 dlrs vs
50,000 dlrs in year.
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Ended Jan 31
Shr loss one ct vs loss eight cts
Net loss 25,800 vs loss 157,100
Revs 2,323,500 vs 1,930,400
Year
Shr profit 19 cts vs profit four cts
Net profit 401,100 vs profit 93,100
Revs 10.3 mln vs 8,807,000
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Honduras will tender March 26 under
PL480 for U.S. and non-U.S. flag vessels to import 1,500 tonnes
of tallow in bulk, an agent for the country said.
The agent said delivery includes laydays of April 5-15.
Offers are due by 1200 hrs EST, March 26, and will remain
valid until the close of business the following day, the agent
said.
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Shr 90 cts vs 97 cts
Shr diluted 82 cts vs 88 cts
Net 42.1 mln vs 43.0
Revs 379.3 mln vs 352.7 mln
Avg shrs 46.8 mln vs 44.3 mln
Avg shrs diluted 52.6 mln vs 50.0 mln
Year
Shr 1.58 dlrs vs 1.81 dlrs
Shr diluted 1.50 dlrs vs 1.76 dlrs
Net 73.7 mln vs 77.9 mln
Revs 1.20 billion vs 1.16 billion
Avg shrs 46.8 mln vs 43.0 mln
Avg shrs diluted 52.6 mln vs 45.6 mln
Reuter
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The U.S. economy is showing some
promising signs of accelerated expansion despite the
sluggishness of the fourth quarter last year, private
economists say.
Some of the slowness experienced in the October-December
period had been expected to spill over into the first quarter
this year, as the tax law changes that went into effect in
January slowed business and consumer spending.
But some of the latest economic data show signs of
surprising strength in the U.S. economy, although some
economists remain cautious about the outlook.
The Commerce Department reported today that new orders for
durable goods in February jumped by 5.7 billion dlrs, a six pct
rise, to 101.2 billion dlrs. Even excluding volatile defense
goods, durable goods orders rose a healthy 3.8 pct, the agency
said.
The February numbers surpassed the expectations of many
financial analysts, whose predictions ranged from flat to
increases of up to five pct.
The January/February employment statistics suggest the
Gross National Product will show a healthy rate of growth for
the first three months of this year, said Lyle Gramley, an
economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The U.S. jobless rate in February and January was 6.7 pct,
the lowest rate since March 1980. The number of new non-farm
jobs rose by 337,000 in February after a 319,000 gain in
January and a 225,000 December increase, the government said.
The employment data suggests a GNP annual growth rate of
about three to 3.25 pct in the first quarter, said Gramley.
Much of that will be attributed to businesses rebuilding
their inventories and is not likely to be sustained in the
second quarter, Gramley said. He expects a slowdown in the
second quarter with smaller increases in personal consumption
and government spending. He also sees residential construction
declining mostly for multi-family housing units.
Fidelity Bank senior economist Mickey Levy said some of the
fourth quarter slowness will continue.
Levy predicts GNP will grow at a scant 1.5 pct rate in the
first quarter of 1987, accelerate during the second quarter and
show a brisk 4.5 pct annual rate in the third quarter.
The key to both forecasts is a marked improvement in the
U.S. trade balance which is expected because of the decline in
the dollar's value over the last year and half.
"The improvement will be gradual and long lasting," Levy
predicted. Most of it will be through import reduction, but at
least one-third will be due to a rise in product exports as the
prices of U.S. goods become more attractive overseas.
The Reagan administration has predicted the trade deficit,
which soared to record levels last year, will improve this year
and the U.S. economy will grow by a respectable 3.2 pct for the
year compared with a 2.5 pct rate last year.
As part of the effort to reduce the trade deficit, the U.S.
has been pressing West Germany and Japan to stimulate their
domestic demand for goods from the U.S. and others.
U.S. officials believe that would help take some of the
pressure off the United States whose five years of economic
growth has been the mainstay of developing countries.
The U.S. economy provided them with a giant market for
their goods giving them a way to earn income badly needed to
service their foreign debt.
The government last week said the U.S. economy grew at a
modest 1.1 pct annual rate during the fourth quarter.
There were indications of improvement in the huge imbalance
between the volume of goods imported to the United States and
those shipped abroad. The report showed a rising volume of
exports corresponding to a decline in imports despite the fact
that in current dollar terms, the U.S. trade deficit worsened
during the closing three months of 1986.
While fourth quarter economic growth was weak, corporate
profits jumped a healthy 6.1 pct during the period, the
government said. It also reported that inflation, as measured
by the GNP price deflator, remained in check, growing a
moderate 0.7 pct in the period, the lowest rise in 19 years.
The government also reported that consumer spending, a key
element of the five year economic recovery, jumped 1.7 pct in
February, after falling two pct in January.
The Federal Reserve Board also reported that the
manufacturing sector, which had been one of the weaker elements
of the U.S. economy, was showing signs of recovery.
In its latest report on current economic conditions, the
Fed said that economic activity in the various regions of the
country ranged from uneven or steady to improving.
Manufacturing activity showed signs of improvement in most
regions except Dallas where orders remained sluggish.
Chase Econometrics Chairman Lawrence Chimerine said the
pick up in the U.S. manufacturing sector is largely due to the
drop in the dollar's value. He said he does not foresee a major
pick up in economic activity, but does not believe the economy
will slip into recession either.
He said higher prices on imported products and wage cuts
that have helped the manufacturing sector will squeeze
consumers purchasing power.
"That pattern is starting and will continue for a number of
years," Chimerine said. He sees economic growth hovering around
a modest two pct level for the next few years.
Reuter
| [
0,
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World Bank President Barber Conable
linked increased borrowing by Indonesia, the Third World's
sixth largest debtor, to fresh measures to deregulate trade and
dismantle protectionist barriers.
"We would like to see the Indonesian government continue the
adjustment process ... To move towards increased deregulation
of the economy," Conable told a press conference at the end of a
three-day visit to Jakarta.
Conable directly linked further Bank help for Indonesia's
hard-pressed balance of payments to further measures by the
government to reduce protectionism and increase efficiency.
The World Bank last month granted Indonesia a 300 mln dlr
trade adjustment loan. He said further loans would depend on
the economic policies Indonesia adopted.
But he said that in meetings with both President Suharto
and leading Indonesian ministers he had not called for specific
policy changes.
"The initiative will have to rest with the Indonesian
government. We are not here to dictate to them," he stated.
Indonesia, the only Asian member of Opec, has been badly
hit by last year's slump in oil prices which cut its revenues
from crude exports in half.
Conable had what he termed a frank meeting this morning
with Suharto.
He voiced support for measures already taken, including
September's 31 pct devaluation of the rupiah, and efforts to
deregulate imports and stimulate exports.
"The government can rely on the support of the World Bank in
a continuing program of adjustment to the economic realities of
today's world," he said.
The Bank has loaned Indonesia 10.7 billion dlrs over the
past 20 years. Lending is now about one billion a year.
The World Bank would probably like to see further
dismantling of tarrif barriers and measures to reduce
Indonesia's protected monopolies in areas like steel, plastics
and cement, western bankers and diplomats said.
The government has already said it will announce further
deregulation measures, but has given no timetable. It is also
considering selling off loss-making state companies.
Conable said the Bank would try to help Indonesia find
funds to cover its share of development projects, which
otherwise would have to be scrapped or postponed. Japan's Ex-Im
bank announced a 900 mln dlr untied credit last month.
REUTER
| [
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Food and drink retailer Argyll Group Plc
<AYLL.L> said it has agreed to sell its U.K. Subsidiary <George
Morton Ltd> to <Seagram United Kingdom Ltd> for about 14 mln
stg in cash.
The consideration for Morton's fixed assets, stocks,
debtors and goodwill is payable on completion of the sale. The
disposal will bring Argyll an extraordinary credit of some 8.4
mln stg.
Argyll added the agreements also depend on an indication
from the U.K. Office of Fair Trading by June 23 that the sale
will not be referred to the Monopolies Commission. Argyll
shares were up 12p to 440, firming before the announcement.
REUTER
| [
1,
0,
0,
0,
0,
0,
0,
0,
0,
0
] |
The speaker of the Iranian Parliament,
Hojatoleslam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, warned the U.S. Not to
intervene in the Gulf, a day after Washington said its warships
were available to escort Kuwaiti tankers through the waterway.
"If U.S. Intervention occurs, the entire world will become
insecure for the Americans and the events of Lebanon could be
repeated for the Americans everywhere," he said.
U.S. Defence officials disclosed in Washington yesterday
that the U.S. Navy, which has about 24 warships in or near the
Gulf, was prepared to escort Kuwaiti tankers, regular targets
for Iranian attacks in an offshoot of its war with Iraq.
Rafsanjani, in an interview reported by the Iranian news
agency IRNA, also commented on earlier U.S. Disclosures that
Iran had erected sites for new Chinese-made Silkworm
anti-shipping missiles at the Strait of Hormuz.
The agency, received in London, quoted him as saying that
Iran did not need missiles to close the strait, 24 miles wide
at its narrowest, because "we can close it with artillery only."
He added "We have the longest coasts and the highest
interest here and the small southern (Gulf) states have a
lesser interest compared with us and therefore it is natural
for us to protect the security of the Strait of Hormuz more
than others."
REUTER
| [
0,
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1,
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] |
Shr 24 cts vs 33 cts
Net 347,000 vs 469,000
Sales 16.5 mln vs 14.0 mln
Nine mths
Oper shr 93 cts vs 94 cts
Oper net 1,327,000 vs 1,342,000
Sales 48.8 mln vs 34.5 mln
NOTE: Current nine mths net excludes 756,000 dlr gain from
termination of pension plan.
Reuter
| [
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<A/S Norske Shell>, Royal
Dutch/Shell Group's <RD.AS> Norwegian subsidiary, said it has
nearly concluded a 10 billion crown development scheme for
Norway's Draugen oil field and will declare the field
commercial in the near future.
Pending government approval of the scheme, the field could
come on stream in 1992, making it Norway's northermost field
development and the first such project on the Haltenbanken
tract off central Norway.
Work on the project could begin as early as January 1988, a
Shell spokesman said.
Shell has not released projected output levels for the
field, where water depth is 240-270 meters.
The spokesman said the field's partners have agreed to
develop Draugen with a 300-meter, single-leg concrete
gravity-base platform.
The scheme also proposes using remote subsea production
wells to tap the field's reservoir, estimated to contain 375
mln barrels of oil, and an offshore buoy-loading system to
transport oil from the field by ship.
Partners on Draugen are Shell, the operator, with a 30 pct
stake, British Petroleum Co Plc <BP.L> unit <BP Petroleum
Development (Norway) Ltd> (20 pct) and state-owned Den Norske
Stats Oljeselskap A/S <STAT.OL> (Statoil) (50 pct).
REUTER
| [
0,
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1,
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0,
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] |
Bond Corp Holdings Ltd <BONA.S> of
Australia said it had no comment on an article in a London
evening newspaper speculating on its plans for a bid approach
to U.K. dDrinks and food giant Allied Lyons Plc <ALLD.L>.
Tony Oates, Bond Corp's Executive Director for Finance and
Administration, said "The company does not comment on market
rumors or press conjecture." He added in all instances of this
kind problems are likely to arise whatever is said.
Allied's shares were 3p up at 401p, which values the
company at around 2.75 billion stg.
London stock market analysts specializing in brewery shares
viewed a bid from Bond, which they said has assets of around
two billion stg, as highly unlikely.
They added that rumours of a possible bid for Allied have
surfaced from time to time in the press and the London equity
market ever since last year's thwarted approach from Elders IXL
Ltd <ELXA.S> of Australia.
REUTER
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1,
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0,
0,
0,
0,
0,
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[
1,
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0,
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0,
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0
] |
|
Rice and corn farmers will receive
the largest payments from the U.S. government during 1987 if
the subsidies are calculated per planted acre, the U.S.
Agriculture Department said.
USDA said government outlays to rice farmers in 1987 are
expected to reach 403 dlrs per acre planted, followed by corn
at 135 dlrs per planted acre. Government outlays include mainly
deficiency payments and price support loans.
On a per acre basis, cotton payments will reach 73.24 dlrs
in 1987, wheat 60.30 dlrs, sorghum 54.38 dlrs, barley 27.41
dlrs and oats 2.31 dlrs, USDA said.
USDA estimates farm subsidies will reach 25.3 billion dlrs
in 1987. The figures were given by USDA officials at a Senate
Agriculture Appropriations hearing yesterday.
Reuter
| [
0,
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0,
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1,
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0,
0,
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1
] |
The Bank of England said it provided the
money market with late help of about 10 mln stg.
This takes the bank's total help today to some 229 mln stg
and compares with its forecast of a 300 mln stg shortage.
REUTER
| [
0,
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0,
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0,
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1,
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] |
<AB Catena>, in which AB Volvo
<VOLV.ST> has a 48 pct stake, said it was proposing a
two-for-five stock issue that will raise the company's equity
capital to 420 mln crowns from 300 mln.
Catena reported profits after financial income and costs up
to only 231 mln crowns from 207 mln in 1985, despite an
increase in sales to 8.54 billion crowns from 5.59 billion in
1985.
The company said that its 1986 performance was best
reflected by earnings after writeoffs, which rose to 310 mln
from 221 mln in 1985.
Catena's increase in sales was mainly due to the takeover
of Safveans AB in February 1986, which changed the business
profile of Catena. It had principally operated as a Volvo
dealer. With the Safveans acquisition it is now mainly a
trading and industrial company.
In December 1986 Catena sold its share in the stockbroking
firm Jacobson och Ponsbach Fondkommission AB. This yielded a
profit of 386.7 mln crowns and was reflected in Catena's
pre-tax earnings which rose to 724 mln crowns from 204 mln in
1985.
REUTER
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U.S. Department of Energy Secretary
John Herrington said he was "optimistic" about the chances of
providing a more generous depletion allowance for oil and gas
producers, but added that the plan faces strong opposition from
some members of the Reagan administration.
Herrington, speaking to Houston oil executives at a
breakfast meeting, said administration debate over his plan for
a 27.5 pct annual depletion allowance was "heavy and strong"
largely because of some fears that the U.S. oil industry could
eventually become as dependent on federal subsidies as the
agriculture industry.
Herrington's proposed tax incentives for the oil industry
were issued last week after the Department of Energy released a
comprehensive report finding U.S. national security could be
jeopardized by rising oil imports.
In response to a question from Mitchell Energy and
Development Corp <MND> chairman, George Mitchell, Herrington
said the report did not definitively rule out an oil import
tarrif. "We intend to keep that debate open," Herrington said.
However, following his speech, Herrington told Reuters that
the new report shows an oil import fee "is not economical."
Herrington said, for example, a 10 dlr per barrel tariff on
oil imports would cause the nation's gross national product to
drop by as much as 32 billion dlrs.
Herrington also said he believed President Reagan, who
requested the comprehensive national security study, was
committed to some action to help the ailing U.S. oil industry.
"I'm quite confident he understands the problems and is
prepared to do something about it," Herrington said.
Reuter
| [
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Shr 23 cts vs 34 cts
Net 2,091,000 vs 3,053,000
Revs 203.5 mln vs 215.7 mln
Avg shrs 8,967,719 vs 8,863,945
1st half
Shr 40 cts vs 69 cts
Net 3,616,000 vs 6,111,000
Revs 411.8 mln vs 418.1 mln
Avg shrs 8,958,100 vs 8,850,656
Reuter
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Geo. A. Hormel and Co said its
directors voted a two-for-one split, payable June one, record
April 18.
Reuter
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Claremont Group Ltd, a New York
investment banking firm, said it intends to boost its current
10 pct stake in Champion Products Inc to as much as 15 pct of
the total outstanding common stock.
Claremont added that it asked Champion to put two
representatives on its nine-member board of directors.
Claremont previously disclosed in December that it had
agreed to act in concert with Walsh, Greenwood and Co, an
affiliated investment firm, to acquire Champion Products.
Claremont said it made net purchases of 7,800 Champion
Products shares between Jan. 28 and March 18.
In a March 20 letter to Champion Chairman John Tanis,
Claremont and Walsh representatives Stephen Walsh and John
Cirigliano said they were pleased with the company's
performance but wanted to take an active management role.
"We believe that Champion Products has just begun to evolve
into the market leader it will eventually become," they said. "As
significant shareholders with mutual interests with the
company, we would like to actively participate in this process."
Claremont's intentions and the letter were made public in a
filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
Reuter
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] |
Sales proceeds 6.57 billion stg vs 8.81 billion
Duty and value added tax 1.84 billion vs 1.60 billion
Net proceeds 4.73 billion vs 7.21 billion
Net profit 757 mln vs 667 mln
Average capital employed 3.63 billion vs 3.71 billion
Capital and exploration expenditure 644 mln vs 618 mln
Cash surplus 423 mln vs 584 mln.
NOTE - Company is wholly owned subsidiary of Royal
Dutch/Shell Group <RD.AS>
REUTER
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Cyclops Corp said that as it has
already stated, its agreements with <Dixons Group PLC> are
binding and Dixons will not rescind or waive any provisions of
the agreements.
The company said its agreement to merge into Dixons does
not permit it to provide nonpublic information to <CYACQ>,
which is making a competing offer for Cyclops, that had been
provided to Dixons.
It said other provisions Dixons will not waive include its
rights to recover breakup fees or expenses from Cyclops or buy
Cyclops common shares from Cyclops.
Cyclops noted that Dixons' waiver of rights to breakup fees
or the purchase of common stock directly from Cyclops and the
provision of nonpublic information to CYACQ are conditions to
CYACQ's increased 92.50 dlr per share offer to acquire Cyclops
shares.
Dixons is tendering for Cyclops shares at 90.25 dlrs a
share. Yesterday Citicorp <CCI>, with Audio/Video Affiliates
Inc <AVA> an owner of CYACQ, said it had offered to acquire
from Dixons after the merger of Cyclops into Dixons Cyclops'
industrial businesses for 12.8 mln dlrs more than Alleghany
Corp <Y> is currently scheduled to pay for them.
Citicorp said yesterday that its proposal would allow
Dixons to raise its tender price to 93.25 dlrs per share.
Citicorp said if Dixons accepted the proposal, CYACQ would
terminate its competing offer for Cyclops.
Reuter
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J.M. Resources Inc said it has acquired
a 90 pct interest in DEI Acquisition Corp from InterFirst
Venture Corp, Sam B. Myers, Neomar Resources Inc and Richard L.
Morgan, all of Dallas, for warrants to acquire 10.1 mln shares
of J.M. stock and three mln dlrs of notes.
The warrants are exercisable at par value, currently 10 cts
per share, until March 20, 1997. The company said if the
warrants were exercised in full, they would represent a 40.7
pct interest in J.M. common stock. It said amounts due under
the notes are payable soleley from proceeds of the sale of
securities by J.M. and non-oil and natural gas revenues of DEI.
J.M. said DEI provides specialty insulation installation
and asbestos removal services.
J.M. said all of its directors except Jack E. Manning Jr.
have resigned and Myers and Morgan were named to the board.
It said Manning has resigned as president in favor of Myers
and will service as vice president in charge of oil and natural
gas operations.
Reuter
| [
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0,
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Astrotech International Corp said
its director S. Kent Rockwell, who controls Rockwell Venture
Capital Inc, will buy 27 pct of the company's cumulative
preferred stock.
It said will buy up to 302,300 shares of Astrotech's 1.80
dlrs cumulative preferred stock.
It said the shares are owned by W.F. Rockwell Jr, chairman
and chief executive officer of Astrotech and S. Kent Rockwell's
father.
Reuter
| [
1,
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0,
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] |
American Cyanamid Co said subject
to approval by its board it has changed the record date for the
quarterly dividend it will pay on June 26 to May 8 from May 29
to coincide with the record date for a two-for-one stock split
that was declared at the same time.
The dividend on a post-split basis is 26-1/4 cts per share.
Reuter
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Qtly div 25 cts vs 25 cts prior
Pay May 4
Record April 20
Reuter
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Qtly div 26 cts vs 24 cts prior
Pay April 30
Record April 15
Reuter
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