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The Bank of England said it forecast a
shortage of around 800 mln stg in the money market today.
Among the main factors affecting liquidity, bills for
repurchase by the market will drain some 664 mln stg while
bills maturing in official hands and the take-up of treasury
bills will take out around 508 mln stg and a rise in note
circulation some 45 mln stg.
Partly offsetting these outflows, exchequer transactions
and bankers' balances above target will add some 380 mln stg
and 35 mln stg to the system respectively.
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Taiwan said its foreign reserves suffered
about 3.4 billion U.S. Dlrs in exchange rate losses from July
1986 to February 1987 as a result of the rise of the Taiwan
dollar against the U.S. Currency.
Yu Chien-ming, head of the government statistics
department, told parliament yesterday he expected the losses to
increase as the Taiwan dollar continues to strengthen.
The Taiwan dollar, which opened at 34.24 to the U.S. Dollar
today, has risen about 16 pct against the U.S. Unit since
September 1985. Some bankers expect it to rise to 33 by June
and to 32 by the end of this year.
Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves now total 53 billion
dlrs. At end-February they were 52.1 billion dlrs, the world's
third largest after West Germany and Japan.
Yu said the interest earned from the reserves totalled
about 1.68 billion U.S. Dlrs from July 1986 to February 1987.
The reserves are managed by the central bank and deposited at
about 170 leading banks in the U.S., Japan, Britain, Canada and
Singapore.
About 75 pct of the reserves are in the form of cash,
mostly in U.S. Dollars. The rest are in government treasury
bills, certificates of deposit and bonds.
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The agreement between the U.S. And the
European Community (EC) on special imports of maize and sorghum
provides an equal chance for all non-EC countries to supply the
Spanish market, an EC Commission spokeswoman said.
She denied that any unpublished clause of the agreement
guaranteed the bulk of the maize export business would go to
the U.S., As one EC official told Reuters yesterday.
Under the agreement, the EC will import two mln tonnes of
maize and 300,000 tonnes of sorghum a year into Spain at
specially reduced levy rates for the next four years.
The Commission has yet to decide whether the maize will
come in through direct purchases by the Spanish intervention
board or by a tender system.
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Interest rates on the London money market
were slightly firmer on news U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer
Nigel Lawson had stated target rates for sterling against the
dollar and mark, dealers said.
They said this had come as a surprise and expected the
targets, 2.90 marks and 1.60 dlrs, to be promptly tested in the
foreign exchange markets. Sterling opened 0.3 points lower in
trade weighted terms at 71.3.
Dealers noted the chancellor said he would achieve his
goals on sterling by a combination of intervention in currency
markets and interest rates.
Operators feel the foreign exchanges are likely to test
sterling on the downside and that this seems to make a fall in
U.K. Base lending rates even less likely in the near term,
dealers said.
The feeling remains in the market, however, that
fundamental factors have not really changed and that a rise in
U.K. Interest rates is not very likely. The market is expected
to continue at around these levels, reflecting the current 10
pct base rate level, for some time.
The key three months interbank rate was 1/16 point firmer
at 10 9-7/8 pct.
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Australia is risking wheat export
sales by not providing enough specific quality grades to meet
buyer requirements, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) said.
"Many AWB customers are becoming increasingly quality
conscious, demanding strict adherence to contractual quality
specifications," the board said in a submission to the Royal
Commission into Grain Storage, Handling and Transport.
"Many of the specifications are more specific than the
current categories used in Australia," it said.
The commission is trying to identify ways of saving costs
and boosting efficiency of the grain handling system.
Australia must rely on quality to retain its wheat market
share because its competitors are supplying cheaper but
lower-quality grades, the AWB submission said.
It stressed the need to segregate wheat categories at every
stage from receival to shipping.
Better industrial relations at grain terminals, more
uniform transport systems across the states and extensive stock
control were vital to improved marketing, it said.
The submission also said Australia's federal system impeded
the AWB's role of coordinating and managing the marketing of
wheat.
The AWB called for an end to physical and legislative
constraints at state borders that prevent the efficient
transport of grains to other states for shipment.
"It is essential that wheat moves by the most economic mode
to the nearest efficient port, irrespective of the state in
which the wheat is grown or stored," it said.
For example, wheat grown in northern New South Wales (NSW)
might move more efficiently to Brisbane, in Queensland, than to
Sydney or Newcastle in New South Wales, it said. Similarly,
southern NSW wheat might better be shipped to Portland or
Geelong, in Victoria.
Legislation giving state rail authorities a monopoly over
grain shipments was one notable impediment, it said.
The AWB said the current approach of state-based bulk
handling authorities is not essential, although it said it
favoured the authorities maintaining at least their current
level of control of storage and transport as long as quality
was maintained.
An appendix on port loading costs showed it cost between
26,500 and 34,700 U.S. Dlrs to load a 50,000-tonne vessel at
various Australian ports compared with 21,200 dlrs at Houston
and 16,300 at Port Cartier, Quebec, for a 60,000-tonner.
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The Finance Ministry has asked trust banks
to moderate their dollar selling, trust banking sources said.
A Ministry official told Reuters earlier this week the
Ministry had recently surveyed foreign exchange transactions by
institutional investors, but he declined to say whether this
was aimed at moderating the dollar sales.
Dealers said institutional investors were reluctant to sell
dollars aggressively today partly because of the Ministry
monitoring.
One senior trust bank source said that while sympathizing
with the Ministry position, the trust banks had to conduct
their foreign exchange operations according to the dictates of
the market.
A Bank of Japan official said the central bank approved of
the survey as long it was not used too forcefully.
But another official denied local press reports that the
central bank itself had asked investors to moderate their
dollar sales. "We are not legally authorized to do that," he
said.
A Bank of Japan official also said the central bank will
renew its call on financial institutions to moderate excessive
loans for the purpose of land and securities investment as such
investments threaten to cause inflation.
Bank of Japan Governor Satoshi Sumita had previously
expressed concern about excessive investment in land and
securities resulting partly from eased credit conditions.
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The U.K. Exported 517,600 tonnes of wheat
and 315,800 tonnes of barley in the first 25 days of March, the
Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) said, quoting provisional
Customs and Excise figures.
This brought combined wheat and barley exports since the
season started on July 1 to 7.60 mln tonnes, substantially up
on the 4.02 mln exported in the same 1985/86 period.
This season's total comprises 3.94 mln tonnes of wheat and
3.66 mln barley, compared with 1.63 mln and 2.39 mln,
respectively, a year ago.
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Chemicals group Bayer
AG <BAYG.F> said it expects to post another good result in 1987
after raising pre-tax profit to a new record high in 1986.
The company said that this was despite the mark's further
strengthening against the dollar and other currencies and
despite an increase in competitive pressure.
"The further progress of our business will depend largely on
the extent to which threats to free trade materialise and on
the developments of exchange rates, raw material and energy
costs.
Bayer said world group pre-tax profit rose to 3.30 billion
marks in 1986, exceeding the previous year's record of 3.15
billion. Parent company pre-tax profit increased to 1.72
billion from 1.62 billion.
The company gave no net profit figures or any indication of
the likely 1986 dividend. Bayer paid a 10-mark dividend on 1985
results, up one mark from a year earlier.
Bayer said that world group operating profit declined
slightly in 1986 against 1985 but non-operating results showed
a further improvement.
Bayer said that the decline in world group turnover to
40.75 billion marks from 45.93 billion in 1985 reflected mainly
the sharp fall in the dollar against the mark.
Lower prices on the raw material side had also brought
pressure on selling prices, it added.
In volume terms, however, 1986 sales rose slightly against
1985, the company said without giving details.
"The western Europe, North America and Far East regions
developed well in local currency, but here too the translation
of local currency sales into marks distorted the picture,
especially in the case of North America," it said.
Bayer said parent company volume sales were also higher in
1986, although turnover fell 4.3 pct to 16.77 billion marks.
Capacity use was high at the parent company in 1986,
resulting in a decline in marginal unit costs. This, combined
with savings in raw material and energy costs, helped offset
falling prices and cost increases in other areas.
The rise in pre-tax parent company profit was due to lower
extraordinary expenses and higher net interest income.
Plastics, organic chemicals, polyurethanes and coating raw
materials all developed well, it said.
Turning to the 1986 fourth quarter, Bayer said that world
group turnover fell to 9.67 billion marks in the last three
months of 1986 from 10.43 billion in the same 1985 period.
Parent company turnover in the fourth quarter fell 7.1 pct
to 3.69 billion marks, with domestic turnover 4.1 pct lower and
foreign turnover 8.6 pct lower.
Exports accounted for 65.3 pct of turnover in the quarter
against 66.4 pct in the same quarter of 1985.
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Zambia's marketed maize production will
probably fall to less than 630,000 tonnes in 1986/87 (May-Apr),
from 918,000 last year, because of poor rainfall in major
producing areas, Agriculture Minister Kingsley Chinkuli said.
He told Parliament that in the southern provinces the
harvest would be over 50 pct down on the level in the previous
marketing year.
"The nation would be lucky to produce over seven mln bags
(630,000 tonnes) of maize this year," he stated.
Chinkuli added that Zambia was setting up an irrigation
fund with Canadian aid to lessen the effects of poor rainfall.
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The Finance Ministry has asked commercial
banks to moderate their dollar sales, JiJi News Agency
reported, quoting financial sources.
Finance Ministry officials were unavailable for comment.
The report also could not be confirmed by several bank dealers.
Earlier, Japanese trust banking sources said the Ministry
had asked them to moderate their dollar sales.
A Ministry official said earlier this week the ministry had
recently surveyed currency transactions by investors, but
declined to say whether this aimed at reducing their dollar
sales.
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Guinness Plc <GUIN.L> said that as part
of a new strategy for the company it will be selling its retail
interests to concentrate resources on developing its
international beverage businesses.
Among the firms to be sold are Martin's and Gordon Drummond
pharmacies, the 7-Eleven convenience stores, speciality U.S.
Food importer Richter Brothers and the health products company
Nature's Best/DSL.
Guinness said in a statement that the company's strength
was in its well known beer and spirits brands.
Several had good brand development potential, including
Gleneagles, Champneys, Cranks, Hediard and and Guinness
publications.
Guinness shares were trading at 323p after the announcement
after closing yesterday at 317p.
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<San Miguel Corp>, SMC, and <United
Coconut Planters Bank>, UCPB, have reached a compromise on a
disputed block of 38.1 mln shares of SMC, the head of a
government panel that controls the sequestered shares said.
Ramon Diaz, Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good
Government (PCGG) told Reuters SMC had offered a price of 126
pesos per share for the block, held in trust by the UCPB.
"It looks good," Diaz said. But he added several issues,
including the identity of the ultimate buyers of the shares,
had to be resolved before the PCGG gave its approval to the
sale.
The PCGG's sequestration last year of 33 mln shares aborted
SMC's bid to buy them back from 14 trading companies in the
UCPB group. The commission said it suspected the shares were
actually controlled by Eduardo Cojuangco, an associate of
former President Ferdinand Marcos.
Cojuango, who headed the boards of both SMC and UCPB when
he fled last year after Marcos was toppled, personally owned 24
mln shares in SMC. His holdings are also under sequestration.
"The shares that SMC now proposes to buy from the UCPB are
owned by 1.4 mln coconut farmers," Diaz said. "Naturally we do
not want them to go back into the hands of Marcos cronies."
PCGG sources said a compromise would end a row over a down
payment of 500 mln pesos made by SMC's Hong Kong subsidiary
Neptunia Corp Ltd in a bid to buy back the shares last year.
The UCPB had said the 500 mln peso payment would be
forfeited because SMC Chairman Andres Soriano III had failed to
fulfil his commitment to buy back the shares at an originally
negotiated price of 3.3 billion pesos.
PCGG sources said SMC, the Philippines' largest food and
beverage manufacturer, has agreed to sell 14 mln "B" class shares
from the 38.1 mln shares to Australian brewer Alan Bond at a
price of 150 pesos per share.
The PCGG sources said of the proposed 4.79 billion peso
transaction, 1.6 billion pesos would be offset against the 500
mln peso down payment, the 500 mln pesos worth of preferred
shares in UCPB held by SMC, 210 mln pesos in uncollected
dividends on the UCPB shares and 400 mln pesos advanced to
UCPB-controlled trading companies.
The UCPB rejected an original offer of 100 pesos per share
made by SMC for 33 mln shares, which grew to 38 mln after a 15
pct stock dividend declared in June last year.
A spokesman for SMC said the company's 15-member board met
today to discuss the proposed compromise.
The spokesman declined comment on the outcome of the board
meeting, saying the dispute was under arbitration.
President Corazon Aquino last month asked SMC and UCPB to
set up a three-man arbitration panel to resolve the ownership
issue. The panel is due to submit its report by April 15.
Eduardo de Los Angeles, a government nominee in the SMC
board, filed a formal complaint before the Securities and
Exchange Commission last week, accusing Soriano and eight other
directors of violating "fiduciary duty."
De Los Angeles was said to have opposed a decision by SMC's
board last December to assume the 500 mln peso Neptunia loan.
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Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel
Lawson's remarks yesterday suggesting there are precise
exchange rate targets for the pound undermined sterling,
dashing hopes for an early cut in U.K. Base rates, analysts
said.
But the market's reaction, testing exchange rate levels
indicated by Lawson, was probably overdone and the longer term
outlook for sterling remained bullish, they agreed.
In an apparent break with the previous policy of secrecy,
Lawson told a National Economic Development Council meeting he
was comfortable with sterling exchange rates around current
levels, specifying rates of around 1.90 marks and 1.60 dlrs.
Lawson added the U.K. Government intended to keep sterling
at about present levels, using currency intervention and
interest rates to achieve this.
The February 22 Paris agreement of the Group of Five and
Canada to stabilise exchange rates is widely believed to
include target ranges, but all participants to the meeting had
so far refused to specify these.
Markets were quick to react to the statement, chopping
about one U.S. Cent and over one pfennig off the pound to match
the levels mentioned by Lawson.
But most analysts polled said they did not believe Lawson's
statement signalled a change in U.K. Policy.
Keith Skeoch, chief economist at stockbrokers James Capel
and Co, said, "the remarks have been blown out of proportion.
Lawson is paying now for a little bit of a slip of the tongue."
Barclays de Zoete Wedd economist Mark Brett said, "there is
nothing great and fantastic in the Chancellor's statement."
He said he did not believe the rates indicated by the
Chancellor were precise targets, but merely represented central
rates around which sterling would be allowed to fluctuate,
perhaps by as much as 10 pct.
"It would be insane to pinpoint an exchange rate ahead of an
election ... I don't believe Lawson is mad enough to tie
himself to a fixed rate," Brett said.
Currency markets were keen for official statements to
clarify the scope of the Paris accord and reactivate currency
trading. This mood easily led to over-reaction, analysts said.
"Making similar statements when the market is high strung
and ready to bounce is perhaps a mistake," one senior dealer
with a U.S. Bank said.
Capel's Skeoch said, "it gives the foreign exchange markets
something to shoot at."
"It is obvious that the government, as a member of the Group
of Six, has agreed exchange rate bands. But they are not cut in
stone, they can change with time," Skeoch said.
Brett said, "we think the 2.90 marks level is a central
rate. Give or take 10 pfennigs and all is fine."
Not all analysts played down the significance of the
remarks, however. Chris Dunn, economist at Royal Bank of
Canada, said the remarks may signal a decisive move to insulate
sterling from the fortunes of the dollar.
Although about two-thirds of Britain's trade is conducted
with European countries, sterling has traditionally shadowed
the dollar rather than the mark, analysts noted.
"Britain must decide whether it wants to follow the U.S. Or
throw in its lot with Europe," Dunn said.
"It suggests that while the U.K. Is not actually applying to
join the European Monetary System, it is seeking protection by
shadowing it ... The Bundesbank has made it clear that it wants
the U.K. To clarify its position relative to the mark," he said.
Analysts said sterling's dip on currency markets following
Lawson's remarks made an early half-point cut in U.K. Base
rates from current 10 pct levels unlikely in the short term.
"Over the next three weeks, a cut is out, unless we get some
extremely good economic indicators," Capel's Skeoch said.
Base rates have been cut twice by one-half point in March,
the last after the March 17 budget presentation, and analysts
had been expecting another half point cut shortly afterwards.
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Ranks Hovis McDougall Plc <RHML.L> said
it was making an increased and final offer for the Avana Group
Plc <AVNA.L>. The company already holds about 22.9 pct or 7.1
mln Avana ordinary shares.
It said in a statement the terms of the offer will be 13
new Rank Hovis shares for every five Avana ordinary shares,
valuing each Avana share at 829p.
Avana shareholders will be entitled to receive and retain
the net interim dividend of 5.25p per Avana share for the year
ending 28 March 1987.
Accepting Avana shareholders will also be entitled to
receive Ranks Hovis's forecast net interim dividend of 2.65p
for the financial year ending 5 September 1987.
Ranks Hovis said that full acceptance of the increased
offer would result in the issue of a maximum of 72.3 mln new
Ranks Hovis shares or about 20 pct of the enlarged issued
ordinary share capital of the company.
The latest offer will lapse on 17 April. Ordinary
shareholders in Avana who accept the increased offer will have
the opportunity to elect for cash for all or part of their
holdings on the basis of 800p cash for each Avana share.
Ranks Hovis said the cash required for the cash alternative
would be met by one of several methods.
For the first 10 mln Avana shares received opting for the
cash alternative, Ranks Hovis would make a cash payment from
its own resources.
For cash alternatives of more than 10 mln Avana shares,
Morgan Grenfell, as agent for participants, will make a
separate offer to purchase at 300p per share, net of expenses,
up to 46.3 mln Ranks Hovis new shares to which such
shareholders will be entitled under the increased offer. This
is equivalent to 780p per Avana ordinary.
In addition, Ranks Hovis will make a further cash payment
of 20p per Avana ordinary. Avana shares traded at 800p after
the announcement, 32p up from last night's close of 768p. REUTER
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The Bank of England said it had provided
the money market with 345 mln stg help in the morning session.
This compares with its forecast of a shortage of around 800 mln
stg in the system today.
The central bank made outright purchases of bank bills
comprising 58 mln stg in band one at 9-7/8 pct, 227 mln stg in
band two at 9-13/16 pct, 56 mln stg in band three at 9-3/4 pct
and four mln stg in band four at 9-11/16 pct.
Dealers noted that this was the first time bills in band
four, which have a maturity of between two and three months,
have been dealt in the market since mid-February.
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Cable and Wireless Plc <CAWL.L> said new
proposals unveiled by Japan for it to become a core member of a
merged telecommunications firm to compete for
telecommunications contracts did not remove the group's
objections.
The suggestions by Federation of Economic Organisations
official Fumio Watanabe was a formal announcement of proposals
made earlier this week and reported in the Japanese press.
Cable has a 20 pct stake in one of the two groups trying to
compete against Japan's <Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co Ltd> which
monopolises Japan's overseas telephone business.
But a Cable spokesman said it still believed a merger of
the two consortia would be impracticable. "They are like oil and
water," he said.
The Japanese authorities want only one competitor and have
proposed that the two consortia band together. The issue has
been taken up by the British government as a test case on the
openness of Japanese markets. Watanabe's latest proposals said
that the eight core companies of the new group should have
equal share holdings but added that they could work out the
precise percentages amongst themselves.
The reports earlier this week said that Cable would be
offered a five pct stake, up from an originally proposed three
pct.
Despite the apparent differences in stakes offered, the
Cable spokesman said the two offers appeared to be essentially
the same.
Cable shares at 1100 GMT were quoted nine pence firmer at
374p.
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The Bundesbank left credit policies
unchanged after today's regular meeting of its council, a
spokesman said in answer to enquiries.
The West German discount rate remains at 3.0 pct, and the
Lombard emergency financing rate at 5.0 pct.
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Japan is doing all it can to solve its
trade problems with the United States but the two nations will
remain at odds as long as the trade account is lopsided in
Japan's favour, a senior official said.
"So long as there is an external imbalance there will be
trade friction and ...Harsh words between the two governments,"
the Foreign Ministry official told reporters.
Last year, Japan racked up a 51.5 billion dlr surplus with
the United States and economists said they do not see it
falling significantly any time soon.
Washington announced plans last week to slap up to 300 mln
dlrs in tariffs on Japanese electronic goods, raising the
spectre of a trade war between the two countries.
"We take the current situation very seriously," said the
official, who declined to be identified. "The basic stance of
the Japanese government is to tackle the issues with all
available resources."
The United States has accused Japan of reneging on an
agreement that called on it to stop selling cut-price computer
microchips in world markets and to try to import more American
semiconductors. Tokyo has denied the charges.
The Foreign Ministry official refused to rule out Japanese
retaliation if America went ahead with its threatened tariffs
in the middle of this month. But he said that any response
would be in accordance with international law and Japan's
international obligations.
He added that both Japan and the United States must take
account of the impact of their dispute on their own and the
world economy.
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France has sold between 50,000 to 100,000
tonnes of wheat flour to China, the Director General of
France's Cereal Intervention Board (ONIC) Bernard Vieux said.
He gave no further details of the sale, but added French
millers were worried about the unfair competition facing French
flour due the lack of end-of-season storage premiums for wheat.
ONIC raised its estimate of 1986/87 flour exports to 1.70
mln tonnes compared 1.65 mln forecast in March and the 1.87 mln
exported in 1985/86.
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U.K. Defence secretary George Younger is
expected to announce the government's decision on the sale of
state-owned arms manufacturer <Royal Ordnance> today,
parliamentary sources said.
The government originally intended to float the munitions
and explosives concern on the stock market, but last July said
a private sale was a more appropriate way to dispose of the
firm.
The bidders for the company were British Aerospace Plc
<BAEL.L> and engineering group GKN Plc <GKN.L>. Royal Ordnance
sold its Leeds tank factory last summer to Vickers Plc
<VICK.L>.
Defence electronics manufacturer Ferranti Plc <FNTI.L> and
shipping and property group Trafalgar House Plc <THSL.L> both
pulled out of the bidding shortly before last month's deadline.
Royal Ordnance made pre-tax profits of 26 mln stg on sales
of 487 mln stg in calendar 1985, its first full year of
commercial operation. The company has assets of around 240 mln
stg and employs 17,000 at 15 sites in Britain.
Other state-held companies earmarked for privatisation this
year include engine maker <Rolls Royce Plc> and the <British
Airports Authorities Plc>.
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<Koninklijke
Nederlandsche Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken NV> said it expected
a "clear loss" for 1987.
The company reported its 1986 profits were 44 pct lower at
154.6 mln guilders than in the year before.
Turnover was 18 pct lower than in 1985.
The main reason fo the fall in turnover was the lower rate
of the dollar, the company said. The lower costs for raw
materials and energy, resulting from the lower dollar, could
not compensate the fall in revenues.
Costs 5.61 billion guilders vs 6.66 billion
Depreciation 457 mln vs 493 mln
Operating profit 375 mln vs 598 mln
Financial charges 155.1 mln vs 169.4 mln
Extraordinary loss 12 rpt 12 mln vs 138 mln
Crude steel production five mln tonnes vs 5.3 mln
Aluminium production 96,000 tonnes vs same.
REUTER
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Toshiba Corp <TSBA.T> said it regrets its
plan to enter the U.K. Business facsimile and telephone market
may be caught up in a diplomatic row over the position of Cable
and Wireless Plc's <CAWL.L> in the Japanese market.
Britain is considering how to retaliate against Japan's
attempt to prevent Cable and Wireless from taking a major
position in a Japanese international telecommunications
venture.
"As a matter of timing it is regrettable that this has been
linked with the question of market access in Japan," a Toshiba
spokesman told Reuters.
<Toshiba Information Systems (U.K.) Ltd>, a Toshiba
subsidiary, said yesterday it planned to enter the U.K. Market
under the Toshiba own brand name and had applied for government
approval to do so.
Toshiba has supplied equipment to U.K. Manufacturers for
sale under their brand names since last year.
The Toshiba spokesman said the sale of such equipment was
not comparable to Cable and Wireless' efforts to take a stake
in the new Japanese telecommunications firm.
"They are matters of a different category," he said.
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Westpac Banking Corp in New Zealand
said it will increase its indicator lending rate by 1.5
percentage points to 22.5 pct from April 7.
Westpac said in a statement the increase reflects high
costs of funding.
The bank said nervousness in the wholesale deposit market
is creating uncertainty about the immediate outlook for
interest rates. Liquidity is expected to remain tight over the
next month and this will put upward pressure on interest rates.
Base lending indicator rates of the other three trading banks
range between 21.0 pct and 21.5 pct.
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The Bank of Japan intervened just after
the Tokyo market opened, buying dollars at around 147.65 yen,
dealers said.
They were unsure of the amount of the central bank's
purchasing, but it seemed to prevent the dollar from weakening
against the yen amid bearish sentiment for the U.S. Currency,
they said.
The dollar opened at 147.65 yen against 147.20/30 in New
York and 146.90 at the close here yesterday.
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The Bundesbank left credit policies
unchanged after today's regular meeting of its council, a
spokesman said in answer to enquiries.
The West German discount rate remains at 3.0 pct, and the
Lombard emergency financing rate at 5.0 pct.
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Japan is sending a three-man team to
Washington to try to halt threatened trade sanctions that
officials warn could spark a wave of anti-U.S. Sentiment here.
The team will lay the groundwork for high-level emergency
talks next week aimed at defusing an increasingly bitter row
over trade in computer microchips, officials said.
"The sanctions are against the free trade system," Ministry
of International Trade and Industry (MITI) director general
Noboru Hatakeyama told reporters, adding: "If these measures are
taken, the atmosphere in Japan against the United States would
become not so good as before."
Other officials were more blunt. "The U.S. Action will have
a significant impact on the growing anti-U.S. Feeling (here),"
another MITI official said.
A senior Foreign Ministry official, who declined to be
identified, told Reuters the U.S. Threats have undercut those
in the government who argue for conciliation.
"There is a very strong argument in Japan that since the
United States is imposing tariffs unilaterally, why should we
bother doing anything," he said. "Anything we do, we will be
bashed."
The senior official sounded pessimistic about the
likelihood of Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone defusing U.S.
Anger over Japanese trade practices when he visits Washington
on April 29.
"I don't think trade friction will be solved all of a sudden
(by the visit)," he said.
Nakasone is widely expected to present a package of
measures to President Reagan to help contain U.S. Frustration
over Japan's large trade surplus.
But the senior official played down those expectations.
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Japan is doing all it can to solve its
trade problems with the United States but the two nations will
remain at odds as long as the trade account is lopsided in
Japan's favour, a senior official said.
"So long as there is an external imbalance there will be
trade friction and ...Harsh words between the two governments,"
the Foreign Ministry official told reporters.
Last year, Japan racked up a 51.5 billion dlr surplus with
the United States and economists said they do not see it
falling significantly any time soon.
Washington announced plans last week to slap up to 300 mln
dlrs in tariffs on Japanese electronic goods, raising the
spectre of a trade war between the two countries.
"We take the current situation very seriously," said the
official, who declined to be identified. "The basic stance of
the Japanese government is to tackle the issues with all
available resources."
The United States has accused Japan of reneging on an
agreement that called on it to stop selling cut-price computer
microchips in world markets and to try to import more American
semiconductors. Tokyo has denied the charges.
The Foreign Ministry official refused to rule out Japanese
retaliation if America went ahead with its threatened tariffs
in the middle of this month. But he said that any response
would be in accordance with international law and Japan's
international obligations.
He added that both Japan and the United States must take
account of the impact of their dispute on their own and the
world economy.
REUTER
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BankAmerica Corp, following moves
by other major banks, said it has raised its prime rate to 7.75
pct from 7.50 pct, effective today.
Reuter
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News Corp Ltd of Australia said it has
started its previously announced tender offer for all shares of
Harper and Row Publishers Inc at 65 dlrs per share.
In a newspaper advertisement, the company said the offer is
conditioned on received of at least 51 pct of Harper and Row's
shares. The offering and withdrawal rights expire April 29
unless extended.
A merger at the tender price is to follow the offer, which
has been approved by the Harper and Row board. Harper and Row
has granted NEw Corp an option to buy up to 800,000 new shares
or a 15.4 pct interest at 65 dlrs each.
News Corp said if the merger agreement were terminated
under certain circumstances, News would be entitled to a 16 mln
dlr cash payment.
Last month, Theodore Cross offered to acquire Harper and
Row for 34 dlrs per share but was soon outbid by Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich Inc, which offered 50 dlrs per share. Late in the
month, Harper and Row said its board had received expressions
of interest from a number of domestic and foreign companies.
Reuter
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International Technology corp
said it expects to report a loss for the fourth quarter ended
March 31 of about 20 cts per share, compared with a
year-earlier profit of 11 cts.
The company blamed the expected loss on regulatory and
permitting issues that limited the full utilization of
hazardous waste treatment cites in Califoirnia, continued
startup delays for major remediation projects, the writeoff of
an investment in a subsidiary and a settlem,ent with the
California Attorney General's Office and Department of Health
Services.
The company said the settlement relates to regulatory
violations alleged by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agengy
and the California Health Services department at the company's
Vine Hill and Panoche treatment facilities in Northern
California.
It said under the agreement, it will pay the state
2,100,000 dlrs in civil penalties over a two-year period and
pay 500,000 dlrs over five years to local medical facilities as
part of a community awareness and emergency response program
developed by local communities. The expenses will be charged
against fourth quarter results, it said.
The company said it has agreed as well to make compliance
and public safety capital expenditures of about 600,000 dlrs.
It said it has now received an operating permit for a new
250,000 cubic yard landfill cell at its Imperial County,
Calif., from the Health Services department.
The company said the Panoche facility remains closed but is
expected to reopen for liquid and sludge receipts in the near
future. But it said receipts of solid material, which had
accounted for the majority of the revenue at the site, could be
restricted until 1988 pending resolution of capacity issues in
the Panoche site permit.
Reuter
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Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale
<WELG.F> said its wholly-owned Luxembourg subsidiary WestLB
International SA posted a decline in 1986 net profit to 12.6
mln marks from 48.5 mln a year earlier.
WestLB International will pay a 12.5 mln mark dividend to
WestLB, down from 47.7 mln a year earlier.
The dividend was lower than in 1985 because the record
profit of the previous year could not be repeated, due to
changed market conditions, it said. Increased funds were also
allocated for provisions. Business in the first three months of
1987 developed positively, it added.
WestLB International set aside 115.3 mln marks for
international credit risks in 1986, up from 97.4 mln marks in
1985, bringing the total amount of provisions shown in the
balance sheet to 580.3 mln marks.
Operating profit fell to 122 mln marks in 1986 from 150 mln
in 1985. Balance sheet total fell to 9.7 billion marks from
10.8 billion, reflecting the lower dollar and the fact that
credit business redemptions were not fully offset by new
lending.
The statement said WestLB International's business with
private customers showed a pleasing expansion last year.
This development was aided by cooperation between the bank
and the savings banks in the West German state of North
Rhine-Westphalia, where parent bank WestLB is based.
Deposits by non-banks rose more than 40 pct to a total of
1.1 billion.
WestLB International said it plans to expand its range of
services for private clients.
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Aloha Inc said its leveraged buyout by
AQ Corp, which acquired 91 pct of Aloha common and 82 pct of
Aloha preferred in a tender offer that concluded December 26,
has been completed for 28.50 dlrs per common or preferred
share.
AQ is controlled by Aloha chairman Hung Wo Ching, vice
chairman Sheridan C.F. Ing and president A. Maurice Myers.
Reuter
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The Bank of England said it had given the
money market a further 152 mln stg assistance in the afternoon
session.
This takes the Bank's total help so far today to 497 mln
stg and compares with its forecast of a shortage in the system
of around 700 mln stg which it earlier revised down from 800
mln.
The central bank made outright purchases of bank bills
comprising 34 mln stg in band one at 9-7/8 pct, 39 mln stg in
band two at 9-13/16 pct, 51 mln stg in band three at 9-3/4 pct
and 28 mln stg in band four at 9-11/16 pct.
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French operators have requested licences
to export 422,000 tonnes of free market maize, 212,000 tonnes
of barley and 20,000 tonnes of feed wheat at today's EC tender,
trade sources said.
For the maize, rebates requested range between 129.25 and
138.74 European currency units per tonne, for the barley
between 138.94 and 145 Ecus and for feed wheat 141.75 Ecus.
Reuter
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The Bank of France said it left its
intervention rate unchanged at 7-3/4 pct when it injected funds
to the market against first category paper in todays money
market intervention tender.
Money market dealers had earlier expressed mixed views on a
possible quarter point cut.
The rate was last adjusted on March 9, when it was reduced
to 7-3/4 pct from the eight pct rate set in January.
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NP Energy Corp said the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court has indicated it will appoint a trustee to
oversee the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
It said it hopes the appointment will thwart "hostile"
actions being pursued by two unsecured creditors to whose
claims the company objects.
NP further said the Nielsen 1-20 well in Duchesne County,
Utah, has tested 300 barrels of oil per day. NP owns a 61 pct
working interest.
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CPC International Inc
said it has completed the sale of its South African subsidiary
Robertsons Pty Ltd to a consortium of European and South
African investors for an undisclosed amount in excess of book
value due to the increasing difficulty of operating there.
It said the operation accounted for less than two pct of
worldwide sales of 4.5 billion dlrs in 1986.
The company said small royalties expected to result from
use of CPC trademarks by the new owners will be utilized for
social programs in south Africa." It said no significant
impact on earnings is expected from the sale.
Reuter
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Shr 23 cts vs 46 cts
Net 987,000 vs 1,990,000
Revs 14.6 mln vs 15.0 mln
Year
Shr 89 cts vs 1.32 dlrs
Net 3,846,000 vs 5,690,000
Revs 58.1 mln vs 56.6 mln
Reuter
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Shr loss 85 cts vs loss 1.36 dlrs
Net loss 1,653,386 vs loss 2,646,876
Year
Shr loss 12 cts vs loss 1.30 dlrs
Net loss 236,469 vs loss 2,522,293
NOTE: Year net includes realized investment gains of
734,609 dlrs vs 645,438 dlrs.
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First Chicago Corp said its First
National Bank of Chicago raised its prime rate to 7-3/4 pct
from 7-1/2 pct, effective immediately.
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American Barrick Resources Corp said it
sold two coal supply agreements and substantially all assets at
its two coal mines in Ohio to <Peabody Coal Co> of Henderson,
Kentucky, for an undisclosed price.
The company said proceeds from this sale, together with the
sale of the remaining coal assets, should allow it to fully
recover its investment in the operations.
It said the transactions will complete its previously
announced plan to sell all non-gold assets.
Reuter
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Comerica Inc said it raised its prime
interest rate to 7-3/4 pct from 7-1/2 pct, effective April 1.
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North East Insurance Co said due
to the magnitude of its losses in 1986 and 1985, it may be
found in violation of minimum capital and surplus requirements
by officials in Maine and New York and be subject to sanctions
and administrative actions in those and other states.
The company today reported a 1986 loss of 236,469 dlrs,
after realized investment gains of 734,609 dlrs, compared with
a 1985 loss of 2,522,293 dlrs, after investment gains of
645,438 dlrs. Its fourth quarter net loss was 1,653,386 dlrs,
compared with 2,646,876 dlrs.
The company said its fourth quarter and year losses
resulted from additions to loss reserves.
Reuter
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Shr profit nil vs loss three cts
Net profit 140,022 vs loss 882,869
Revs 13.3 mln vs 8,870,035
Avg shrs 45.0 mln vs 35.0 mln
Backlog 1,683,000 vs 978,000
NOTE: Current year net includes tax credit of 51,000 dlrs.
Reuter
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Electromedics Inc said it
expects to take a 150,000 dlr charge against first quarter
results due to the conversion of debentures.
The company said, however, it expects "positive" operating
comparisons for the period. Electromedics lost 6,000 dlrs in
last year's first quarter.
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Shr 24 cts vs four cts
Net 663,000 vs 109,000
Sales 20.5 mln vs 13.9 mln
Six mths
Shr 48 cts vs nine cts
Net 1,311,000 vs 255,000
Sales 43.2 mln vs 30.0 mln
Avg shrs 2,719,205 vs 2,804,048
Reuter
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Mellon Bank Corp said it expects
to report a loss for the first quarter in the range of 55 mln
to 65 mln dlrs or 2.13 to 2.15 dlrs a share.
The company also said it intends to reduce its second
quarter common stock dividend to 35 cts a share from 69 cts.
Mellon said it will make a provision for loan losses in the
first quarter of 175 mln dlrs, reflecting about 95 mln dlrs in
charge-offs and 80 mln dlrs in additions to the loan-loss
reserve.
It will also put 310 mln dlrs in Brazilian loans on a cash
basis, resulting in interest reversals of 10 mln dlrs.
In the first quarter of 1986, Mellon earned 60.4 mln dlrs
or 2.13 dlrs a share.
Chairman David Barnes said the loan charge-offs and
increased provisions address four areas of concern in the
bank's wholesale lending portfolio - the energy sector,
developing countries, some basic industrial companies and
several commercial real estate businesses.
Mellon said the loan loss reserve at the end of the first
quarter is estimated to be 575 mln dlrs, or about 2.5 pct of
the loan book, compared with 493.8 mln dlrs or 2.17 pct of
total loans at the end of 1986.
Mellon said its primary capital ratio at the end of the
first quarter will be in line with the end-1986 figure of 7.23
pct, well in excess of regulatory guidelines.
Non-performing loans at quarter-end are estimated at 1.45
billion dlrs, or 6.5 pct of the loan portfolio, compared with
928 mln dlrs or 3.94 pct at the end of 1986.
Barnes noted that Mellon has a bigger involvement in
energy-based lending than many other banks. Because of the lack
of a substantial recovery in energy prices this year,
especially in natural gas prices, it was felt prudent to
increase reserves and take losses on loans in this sector.
"This action relates both to loans to companies directly
involved in energy, as well as loans to real estate developers,
home builders and financial institutions in the Southwestern
United States," Barnes said.
As for LDC loans, he said Mellon had removed about 80 mln
dlrs in fully current Argentine loans from cash basis but had
charged off about 20 mln dlrs in private-sector Mexican debt.
He said Mellon, which was ordered in December to quit
Brazil because of its refusal to renew some short-term credit
lines, expects to participate in efforts to helpt Brazil and
other sovereign borrowers to reschedule their debts.
Loans to basic industries were not major contributors to
the increase in non-performing assets or to first-quarter
charge offs, but Mellon said it remains concerned about the
absence of a strong recovery in steel and related industries.
The increase in reserves, the dividend cut and continued
management cost-cutting are aimed at ensuring that Mellon has
the financial strength to deal with current uncertainties,
Barnes said.
"We cannot predict when the uncertainties that presently
trouble us will end, but we are confident we are managing them
aggressively," he added.
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Turkey's Central Bank set a lira/dollar
rate for April 3 of 782.50/786.41 to the dollar, down from
780.00/783.90. It set a lira/D-mark rate of 428.30/430.44 to
the mark, up from 429.15/431.30.
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The Bank of England said it had provided
the money market with around 40 mln stg late assistance. This
takes the Bank's total help today to some 537 mln stg and
compares with its estimate of a 700 mln stg shortage.
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Kloeckner-Werke AG
<KLKG.F> should have turnover this year around 1985/86's 2.4
billion marks though more growth is likely in engineering in
coming years, management board chairman Herbert Gienow said.
He told a news conference at the trade fair here that by
the mid-1990s turnover should reach between six and seven
billion marks, mainly through acquisitions totalling "several
hundred million marks."
Kloeckner reported in March higher profits in its
engineering sector which enabled it to raise profits by nearly
a third in the 1985/86 year to 45.2 mln marks from 33.8 mln.
Reuter
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First Federal Savings and Loan
Association of Fort Myers said its board has executed a letter
of intent to acquire First Presidential Savings and Loan
Association of Sarasota, Fla., for 8,500,000 dlrs in cash.
The company said a definitive agreement is expected to be
executed by May 15 and the transaction is expected to be
completed by year-end.
The purchase price is subject to an increase on a dollar
for dollar basis to the extent that the net worth of First
Presidentail exceeds 4,100,000 dlrs at the time of closing, the
company said.
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San Diego Gas and Electric Co said a
California Public Utilities Commission decision to reconsider
allowing only 20 mln dlrs of the 69 mln dlrs in San Onofre
nuclear station costs it disallowed makes it likely that
earnings in 1987 will be reduced at least 36 cts per share.
The company said if the decision to disallow the other 20
mln dlrs is not changed, earnings would be penalized by another
19 cts.
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Eli Lilly and Co said its board
decided to sell Elizabeth Arden Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary
that manufactures and markets cosmetics and fine fragrance
products.
It said the business, which had sales of 67 mln dlrs when
it was acquired in 1971, had sales last year of 398 mln dlrs,
up 12 pct from 1985. It had operating profits of about 33 mln
dlrs in 1986.
Lilly said it retained Morgan Stanley and Co to help
evaluate offers.
Lilly said it expects to use the after-tax proceeds from
the sale of its cosmetics business for general corporate
purposes, including the repurchase from time to time of its
common stock or warrants on the open market.
In a statement, Lilly Chairman Richard Wood said "This
strategic decision was reached on the basis of our belief that
in the future the corporation's resources, including its
research activities, should be focused on its other business
which have a high technology, life sciences orientation."
Reuter
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An estimated 1.2 mln metro users in
Madrid were stranded today as striking railway workers halted
the underground transport system, industry sources said. The
strikers joined coal miners, steel and oil refinery workers in
Spain's latest wave of stoppages over wage demands.
Some 10,000 pitmen in the northern province of Leon entered
the second day of an indefinite stoppage to demand wage rises
and a five-day working week, the sources said.
Oil refinery workers picketed the state-owned Empresa
Nacional de Petroleo SA (EMP) to prevent fuel lorries leaving
the company's largest plant in Puertollano, central Spain.
Paramilitary police were guarding steel mills at Reinosa,
in northern Spain, from the daily protests against planned job
cuts. A local government official said the police force would
remain in place until tempers had cooled down.
More than 60 people were injured in pitched battles between
police and steel foundry workers in Reinosa last month.
REUTER
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Key Centurion Bancshares Inc
said it has completed the previously-announced acquisitions of
Union Bancorp of West Virginia Inc and Wayne Bancorp Inc.
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CB and T Bancshares Inc said it
has completed the acquisition of First Community Bancshares Inc
Of Tifton, Ga., which as assets of 62 mln dlrs.
Reuter
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Colombia recently bought 25,000 tonnes of
French soft wheat at 108 dlrs per tonne, c and f, for end-April
shipment, trade sources said.
This follows the country's tender for 25,000 tonnes of
optional origin wheat for shipment April 20-30, they said.
France had not sold wheat to Colombia for several years.
Reuter
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The Zimbabwe government has bought 85 pct
of the equity in <Astra Corporation> for 25.5 mln dlrs from
Netherlands-based <Bommenede Houdstermaatschappij (Nederland
BV)>, Astra announced.
Astra owns five companies with interests in engineering,
paint manufacture and the distribution of farm machinery and
equipment, motor vehicles and earthmoving equipment.
The company is now locally controlled with 80 pct of its
equity owned by the government, 14 pct by the Dutch firm. A six
pct stake was donated to the Astra Corporation Workers' Trust
by the government and the Dutch company.
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General Public Utilities Corp
said its board declared a dividend of 15 cts per share on
common stock, its first dividend since it omitted payment in
February 1980 as a result of the Three Mile Island nuclear
accident in 1979.
The company said it was able to declare the dividend due to
progress in the cleanup of Three Mile Island Unit Two.
A company spokesman said GPU expects to continue declaring
dividends on a quarterly basis, with the rate depending on the
progress of the cleanup and on other company operations.
GPU said the dividend is of "modest size," representing
less than a third of the amount paid as a dividend by the
average electric utility.
"As the operating companies need to return to the capital
markets for debt and preferred stock, this should tend to
produce lower cost and better terms," the company said.
The dividend is payable May 29 to holders of record April
24.
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Britton Lee Inc said it
expects to report a loss on lower sales than it had anticipated
for the first quarter.
The company earned 119,000 dlrs before a 70,000 dlr tax
credit on sales of 7,227,000 dlrs in the year-ago period.
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The Dutch central bank announced new
12-day special advances at an unchanged rate of 5.3 pct to
cover money market tightness for the period April 3 to 15.
The amount will be set at tender on April 3 between 0700
and 0730 hours GMT.
The new facility replaces the current 4.2 billion guilders
of nine-day advances which expire tomorrow.
Money market dealers said the rate for the new advances was
in line with expectations. They added they expect the Bank to
allocate between 4.0 and 4.5 billion guilders.
REUTER
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Jacobs Suchard AG said it acquired a
"comfortable majority" interest in its takeover bid for Cote d'Or
SA, Belgium's leading producer of chocolate.
In a statement, Jacobs said it had acquired all the shares
tendered by the time its offer expired on March 30. The offer,
for 100 pct of Cote d'Or at 8,050 Belgian francs per ordinary
share, was agreed with the Belgian firm's board.
A Jacobs spokesman declined to specify the size of the
majority stake and said Jacobs had not decided what it would do
about acquiring the outstanding shares.
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Holiday Corp said the New Jersey
Casino Control Commission has approved its recapitalization
plan, providing the final regulatory approval needed.
The company said it expects to announce next week the
record date for the special 65 dlr per share dividend
shareholders will receive under the plan and to pay the
dividend during the month of April, with the exact timing
depending on the closing of financing arrangements.
Holiday operates Harrah's Marina Hotel and Casino in
Atlantic City, N.J.
Reuter
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January 31 end
Oper shr profit 16 cts vs loss six cts
Oper net profit 2,879,000 vs loss 958,000
Revs 41.9 mln vs 24.1 mln
Avg shrs 18.2 mln vs 15.8 mln
Year
Oper shr profit 49 cts vs profit 18 cts
Oper net profit 8,660,000 vs profit 2,832,000
Revs 141.8 mln vs 87.5 mln
Avg shrs 17.8 mln vs 15.8 mln
NOTE: Net excludes extraordinary tax charge 156,000 dlrs vs
credit 2,257,000 dlrs in quarter and credits 1,041,000 dlrs vs
3,589,000 dlrs in year.
Reuter
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U.S. Trade Representative Clayton
Yeutter stressed the importance of trade negotiations to open
foreign markets rather than trade restrictions in a statement
to the Senate Finance Committee.
"In the long term we cannot repeatedly bludgeon other
nations into opening their markets with threats of U.S.
restrictions. Rather, we must be able to negotiate credibly for
global liberalization," Yeutter said.
Yeutter did not mention the recent U.S. trade sanctions
against Japanese semiconductors in his testimony on the pending
trade bill.
Yeutter said the trade bill should increase U.S.
competitiveness, aid U.S. trade negotiating leverage, and avoid
provoking foreign retaliation.
He urged Congress to reject provisions that would mandate
U.S. retaliation against foreign unfair trade practices.
Yeutter emphasized the importance of the new multilateral
trade negotiating round and called on Congress to quickly
approve an extension of U.S. negotiating authority.
"We want to open foreign markets and establish and enforce
rules of international competition, not foster dependence on
protection and subsidies," he said.
Reuter
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The U.S. and the European Community could
enter into a new trade dispute unless urgent action is taken to
explain EC farm policy to the U.S. Congress, French official
sources said.
They said Prime Minister Jacques Chirac planned to urge EC
Commission president Jacques Delors to send a team of experts
to Washington as soon as possible.
Chirac returned to Paris this morning after three days of
talks in New York and Washington in which trade and
protectionism featured prominently.
At the centre of the new trade tension is an EC Commission
proposal to tax vegetable oils, the sources said.
Reuter
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Oper shr loss 11 cts vs loss 36 cts
Oper net loss 2,383,000 vs loss 4,285,000
Total income 2,194,000 vs nil
NOTE: Resultes restated for discontinued operations and
exclude discontinued operations loss 5,755,000 dlrs vs gain
4,933,000 dlrs.
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Feb 28 end
Shr nil vs nil
Net 132,804 vs 53,510
Revs 2,001,107 vs 1,467,742
Avg shrs 73.9 mln vs 56.7 mln
Nine mths
Shr nil vs nil
Net 302,316 vs 171,034
Revs 5,230,014 vs 4,112,562
Avg shrs 74.4 mln vs 56.7 mln
Reuter
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North Carolina Federal Savings
and Loan Association said it has raised its prime rate to 7-3/4
pct from 7-1/2 pct, effective yesterday, following moves by
major banks.
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Shr loss one ct vs loss seven cts
Net profit 108,419 vs loss 241,192
Revs 2,044,882 vs 317,266
Year
Shr loss 18 cts vs loss 23 cts
Net loss 430,027 vs loss 432,982
Revs 5,088,065 vs 416,777
NOTE: Share after preferred dividends.
Reuter
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<Shell Canada Ltd>, 72 pct
owned by Royal Dutch/Shell Group, anticipates an improved level
of earnings in 1987, assuming a continuation of prices and
margins that existed at the end of 1986 and early 1987, the
company said in the annual report.
Shell previously reported 1986 operating profit fell to 130
mln dlrs, excluding a 24 mln dlr unusual gain, from 146 mln
dlrs in the prior year.
The company also said 1987 capital and exploration spending
of 420 mln dlrs will be 160 mln dlrs lower than last year, due
to the uncertain short-term outlook.
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Utilicorp United Inc said its
management is recommending to the board of directors a
three-for-two stock split and an increase in the quarterly cash
dividend rate, currently at 37 cts per common share.
The company said it is also submitting to shareholders at
its May 21 annual meeting a proposal authorizing an additional
class of common stock.
Utilicorp said the board of directors will vote on the
split at its next regularly scheduled board meeting on May 6.
It added that its semi-annual four pct stock dividend will
not change.
Utilicorp said the proposal to create a new class of stock,
if approved, will authorize 20 mln shares of Class A common
stock with a par value of one dlr.
The stock could be issued in various series with terms,
rights and preferences designated by the board in each
instance, Utilicorp said.
The company said the new stock is intended to enhance
Utilicorp's ability to carry out future financings,
investments, acquisitions or for other corporate purposes.
Reuter
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American Realty Trust said its board has
set April 3 as the record date for its previously announced
rights offering, and the rights will be issued on April 6 and
expire May 22.
Shareholders will be able to subscribe for 1.25 shares for
each share held, at a price of 3.75 dlrs per share.
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Qtly div 20 cts vs 20 cts prior
Pay June 1
Record April 16
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The European Community Commission awarded
export licences for 20,000 tonnes free market French maize at a
maximum export rebate of 129.40 European currency units (Ecus)
per tonne, trade sources said here.
All requests for export licences for free market feed wheat
and barley were rejected, they said.
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No changes have been made or are
being planned in the Agriculture Department's calculation of
price differentials between interior grain locations and the
Texas Gulf, a senior USDA official said.
Ralph Klopfenstein, USDA deputy administrator for commodity
operations, told Reuters, "We do not anticipate any changes to
be made" in the Texas Gulf differentials used to calculate
posted county prices for corn.
"We do not relate the Texas Gulf structure with the
Louisiana Gulf structure at all. It's a totally different
situation," he said.
Rumors had circulated through the market this morning that
USDA had widened Texas Gulf differentials in a similar manner
to last weekend's adjustments with the Louisiana Gulf.
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J.P. Morgan and Co Inc said it is
raising its prime lending rate to 7-3/4 pct from 7-1/2 pct,
effective today.
Most major U.S. banks are now posting a 7-3/4 pct rate.
Citibank was the first to announce an increase on Tuesday.
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Australia and New Zealand Banking
Group Ltd <ANZA.S> said it will lower its Australian prime
lending rate to 18 pct from 18.25, effective April 6.
The cut is the second announced by the bank in the last
week, following a cut from 18.5 pct effective last Monday.
The ANZ's new rate will be the lowest prime set by the four
major trading banks and matches the rate set by one of the
smaller foreign banks in January and left unchanged during the
rise in primes over the last three months.
Other primes range from 18.25 to 18.5 pct, including those
of the other three majors.
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The Australia and New Zealand Banking
Group Ltd in New Zealand said it will raise its indicator
lending rate to 23 pct from 21.5 pct on April 7.
A bank statement said the continuing rise in the cost of
funds had to be passed on to the lending customers.
ANZ managing director Brian Weeks said: "Recent developments
in the money markets are of deep concern to all participants
... Market participants are understandably nervous and cautious
about future developments.
These include flows to and from the government relating to
the privatisation of seven government departments on April 1.
"We welcome the flexibility evident in the Reserve Bank's
move to raise the system cash target yesterday, but feel that
to reduce the present nervousness the cash target and primary
liquidity level need to be raised further...," he said.
The Reserve Bank has raised its daily cash target to 45 mln
N.Z. Dlrs from its normal 30 mln dlrs.
Call rates have traded as high as 65 pct this week because
of business year-end March 31 balance date book squaring.
Westpac Banking Corp in New Zealand announced yesterday it
would increase its indicator lending rate by 1.5 percentage
points to 22.5 pct on April 7.
REUTER
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The Duth Central bank said it accepted
bids totalling 4.086 billion guilders at tender for the new
twelve-day special advances at an unchanged 5.3 pct.
Bids up to 30 mln guilders were met in full, amounts above
at 40 pct.
The new advances, covering the period April 3 to 15,
replace the current 4.2 billion guilder nine-day facility at
5.3 pct, which expires today.
Money market dealers said the total amount allocated was in
line with expectations and would be sufficient to cover the
money market shortage for the duration of the facility.
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The Bank of England said it has forecast
a shortage of around 700 mln stg in the system today.
Among the main factors, maturing assistance and take-up of
treasury bills will drain 546 mln stg, bills for repurchase by
the market 76 mln, a rise in note circulation 310 mln and
bankers balances below target 105 mln.
The outflow will be partly offset by 340 mln stg exchequer
transactions.
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MIM Holdings Ltd <MIMA.S> said it has
issued 23.33 mln shares to Preussag AG <PRSG.F> to complete the
previously announced purchase of 20 pct of <Norddeutsche
Affinerie AG> from Preussag.
Terms of the acquisition of 10 pct of Norddeutsche
Affinerie from Degussa AG <DGSG.F> are currently being
resolved, MIM said in a statement.
Norddeutsche Affinerie will then be owned 40 pct by
Metallgesellschaft AG <METG.F> and 30 pct each by MIM and
Degussa, but MIM said it and Metallgesellschaft are proposing a
further arrangement to give them 35 pct each.
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An big expansion in bilateral trade is
expected as a result of Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar
Carlsson's visit to China, a official of China's Foreign
Economic Relations and Trade Ministry official said.
He told the China Daily that petroleum, coal, cotton,
non-ferrous metals and electric engines could help balance the
trade running at over three-to-one in Sweden's favour.
Total trade reached 290 mln dlrs last year, up 32 pct on
1985, according to Chinese statistics. Swedish sources said
major paper mill projects and an aviation agreement would be
discussed during Carlsson's one week visit.
REUTER
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<Skandia International Holding AB>,
the overseas offshoot of Swedish insurance group Forsakrings AB
Skandia <SKDS.ST> said it was buying a 29.9 pct share in the
London-quoted property and financial services company <Nevi
Baltic Plc>. No financial details were given.
Nevi Baltic, with a 1986 turnover of 20 mln stg and total
assets of 70 mln stg, is controlled by Norwegian finance
company <Nevi AS> which will retain a 30.1 pct stake in the
British unit, Skandia said in a statement.
The deal is subject to formal approval from the Swedish
central bank, the statement added.
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Tug crews are preventing the movement of
foreign-flag container vessels in and out of the ports of
Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle, shipping sources said.
They said maritime unions imposed bans on late Wednesday
for reasons that are obscure but seem to be linked with claims
for a pay rise above the 10 dlrs a week awarded by the
Arbitration Commission nationally to all workers recently.
Only about 10 vessels are being delayed but the bans will
affect container terminal movements and will disrupt liner
schedules, they said.
The dispute goes to the Commission on Monday, they said.
REUTER
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U.K. Domestic wheat markets dropped about
one stg per tonne early this morning following overnight news
that the EC is releasing a further 300,000 tonnes of wheat from
British intervention stores for the home market over a three
month period.
April deliveries of denaturable wheat were offered in East
Anglia at 124 stg and May at 125 stg per tonne, both one stg
down on yesterday's traded rates.
The market is expecting U.K. Wheat futures to show a
similar loss at today's opening.
REUTER
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Bass Plc <BASS.L> and <Horizon Travel
Plc> said terms have been agreed for an offer worth around 94.8
mln stg for Horizon by Bass.
The offer values each Horizon share at some 0.213 of a Bass
ordinary share, or 190p. This is based on a price of 892p, the
Bass share quotation at 1630 gmt on April 2.
Horizon said its board and financial advisers consider the
offer to be fair and reasonable and the board will unanimously
recommend acceptance to its shareholders.
Horizon shares jumped 23p to 188 after the announcement
while Bass shares dipped 13p to 879.
Bass has for some time regarded overseas holidays as an
area for expansion and in pursuit of this objective, acquired a
25.6 pct holding in Horizon in 1985 when it set up the jointly
owned hotel company.
Both Bass and Horizon said that Bass's resources will
enable Horizon's businesses to expand strongly this year.
On March 30 Bass said it had agreed to sell its Pontins
U.K. Holiday camps to a newly formed private company, Pontins
Ltd, for some 57.5 mln stg.
REUTER
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Grain handling at Rotterdam port's
main grain terminal was at a standstill today as members of the
largest Dutch transport union FNV staged a lightning strike for
the third day running.
Pieter van der Vorm, managing director of Graan Elevator
Mij (GEM), which handles 95 pct of grain passing through the
port, said their main Europoort terminal was out of action
because of a strike by technical staff.
The actions, in support of union demands in negotiations
over a new labour agreement, began on Wednesday when grain
handlers stopped work.
Van der Vorm said that if strikes continued on today's
scale for some time vessels coming to unload grain in Rotterdam
would face delays, but this was not happening yet.
Wednesday's actions left GEM's facilities 40 pct
operational, and there were only limited strikes yesterday.
Talks between unions and employers yesterday and today
produced no result, but FNV spokesman Bert Duim said the union
was prepared to put their key demand, for a 36 hour working
week, at the bottom of the agenda.
Van der Vorm said, however, the union's demands on a range
of issues were far in excess of the management's final offer.
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