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global petroleum corp said today it raised the posted cargo prices for number six fuel in the new york harbor 20 cts to 1.45 dlrs a barrel effective today. the increase brings the prices for one pct sulphur to 21.30 dlrs up 20 cts; two pct sulphur 20.85 dlrs up one dlr; 2.2 pct sulphur 20.50 up 1.25 dlrs and 2.5 pct sulphur 20.25 dlrs up 1.45 dlrs it said. prices for 0.3 pct and 0.5 pct sulphur fuels were unchanged at 22.50 and 21.85 dlrs respectively the company said. Reuter | GLOBAL RAISES HEAVY FUELS PRICES |
The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate sided with President Reagan and defeated an attempt to cut U.S. aid to Mexico as a protest it is failing to cooperate fully with the American war against drugs. A day after the Senate trounced Reagans attempt to sustain a veto of a major highway bill a bipartisan majority gave him a victory by shelving on a 49 to 38 vote a measure to halve assistance given Mexico. Two companion measures also were expected to be defeated to halve aid to Panama and the Bahamas. The fight was considered more symbolic than having significant impact since Mexico this year is receiving a relatively small 15.7 mln dlrs in assistance. But critics said cutting the aid would hurt U.S.-Mexico relations. Reuter | U.S. SENATE DEFEATS MOVE TO CUT MEXICO AID |
Soo Line Corp said it agreed to sell its Lake States Transportation Division to the newly formed Wisconsin Central Ltd. The division conducts rail operations over about 2000 miles of railroad in Minnesota Wisconsin Michigan and Illinois. Soo Line said in January it was seeking bids for the property. Terms were withheld but Soo has estimated that the transaction will result in a one-time after-tax loss of 8.0 to 15.0 mln dlrs. Reuter | SOO LINE <SOO> TO SELL LAKE STATES DIVISION |
The French government has set the public offer price of shares for the state-owned <Banque du Batiment et des Travaux Publics> at 130 francs valuing the bank at 416 mln francs the Finance Ministry said in a statement. This follows an analysis by the privatisation commission putting the banks value at at least 400 mln francs. The public share offer will open on April 6 and close on April 10. The share capital of the bank comprises 3.2 mln shares of which the state will keep 200000 to permit it to proceed with free share issues to small shareholders later the ministry said. A total of 51 pct of the capital corresponding to 1.63 mln shares will be allocated directly to various investor groups who responded to invitations for tenders. A further 1.07 mln shares will be sold to the public through the Paris Bourse and 300000 shares or 10 pct of shares on offer will be reserved for employees and former employees of the bank. The group comprising Federation Nationale du Batiment Caisse Nationale de Surcompensation du Batiment et des Travaux Publics Societe Mutuelle dAssurance du Batiment et des Travaux Publics and Societe Mutuelle dAssurance sur la Vie du Batiment et des Travaux Publics received 20.5 pct of capital. Another group comprising Federation Nationale des Travaux Publics (FNTP) Syndicat Professionel des Entrepreneurs de Travaux Publics de France et dOutre-Mer and Caisse Nationale des Entrepreneurs de Travaux Publics de France et dOutre-Mer received 11.5 pct of the capital. A third group comprising Credit Commercial de France (CCF) <Banque Hervet> Comptoir des Entrepreneurs and Comptoir Central de Materiel dEntreprise received eight pct of capital. Credit Foncier de France (CFF) and Credit Lyonnais were each allocated 5.5 pct of the banks capital. Private individuals investing in the public share offer will receive a one-for-10 free share issue if they hold the shares for at least 18 months up to a limit of five free shares while employees and former employees will be entitled to discounts of between five and 20 pct on the issue price. REUTER | FRENCH GOVERNMENT SETS BTP SHARES AT 130 FRANCS |
Standard and Poors Corp said it upgraded the ratings on four billion dlrs of debt of Coastal Corp and its subsidiaries. S and P cited Coastals success in reducing debt and preferred stock by 390 mln dlrs last year despite weak energy prices. As debt is repaid pretax interest coverage should rise gradually from the current depressed 1.4 times level. Raised were Coastals notes debentures and Eurobonds to BB-minus from B-plus and subordinated debt and preferred to B-plus from B-minus. S and P upgraded the units Wycon Chemical Corp and ANR Finance N.V./B.V. Wycon Chemicals industrial revenue bonds guaranteed by the parent were raised to BB-minus from B-plus. S and P upgraded ANR Finances Euronotes to BB-minus from B-plus ANR Pipeline Cos first mortgage bonds to BB-plus from BB debentures and Eurobonds to BB-minus from B-plus and preferred to BB from B-plus. Also Colorado Interstate Gas Cos first mortgage bonds were raised to BB-plus from BB and debentures to BB-minus from B-plus while the units preferred was affirmed at BB. A manageable debt maturity schedule for the next few years mitigates concern over Coastals capital structure S/P said. Reuter | COASTAL CORP <CGP> AND UNITS UPGRADED BY S/P |
The British Petroleum Co Plc <BP.L> said it had no plans to close its refinery in Gothenburg despite forecasts by a Swedish finance ministry committee that it might be planning such a move. The committee said the refinerys future looked bleak because the Swedish petroleum industrys competitiveness was expected to worsen unless it invested and because of the effects of a possible tightening of rules on sulphur content. But BP said the unit in which Swedens <OK Petroleum AB> has a 22 pct stake had performed well both technically and financially up to and including the first quarter of 1987. Current restrictions on sulphur emissions and known future plans for both Sweden and export markets did not cause it any serious problems it said in a statement. The refinery started up in 1967 and has an annual capacity of 4.7 mln tonnes. REUTER | BP SAYS NO PLANS TO CLOSE SWEDISH REFINERY |
The Bank of Italy issued details of new bank capital adequacy requirements due to come into force in June in a central bank circular. The Bank of Italy circular follows an interministerial committee decision last December to introduce minimum capital adequacy requirements for banks. The requirements which formalise criteria already in use comprise a risk-asset ratio applicable to banking operations including foreign branches and a gearing ratio which excludes business of foreign branches. The risk-asset ratio measures solvency defined as a banks ability to meet all its liabilities through the realisation of its assets while the second establishes the minimum capital a bank must hold relative to its size. Specifically total credits and off balance sheet items of domestic and foreign branches must not exceed an amount equivalent to 12.5 times the banks capital net of stakes held in Italian banks. The gearing ratio limits total financial assets of domestic branches to 22.5 times capital net of stakes held in Italian banks. The Bank of Italy said the requirements corresponded to a risk-asset ratio of eight pct and a gearing ratio of 4.4 pct. For both ratios the value of equity investments and stakes other than those in Italian banks will be deducted from the capital multiple. The total credit risk of an individual bank will be calcluated by assigning specific weights to the various categories of financial assets and off balance sheet assets. The weighting will be based essentially on credit risk and will not take into account guarantees other forms of risk transfer or potential losses linked to exchange or interest rates. The definition of capital on which the ratios will be calculated comprises shareholders equity and disclosed legal reserves plus general provisions having the character of reserves. Own shares held in portfolio will be excluded. The Bank of Italy said it would set more stringent individual ratios for those banks running greater risks regarding items such as the quality mobility and concentration of assets and to liquidity and management adequacy. The new ratios will be applied to all banks operating in Italy. Banks which are not in line with the requirements by June 1987 must correct their position in the shortest time possible the Bank of Italy said. A transition period would be allowed but would not be more than four years. Italian branches of foreign banks will be exempted from the risk ratio when the parent banks are already subject to similar ratios but must comply with the gearing ratio. The Bank of Italy said the introduction of capital ratios aimed to further enhance capital adequacy at a time of increasing competitiveness and was a further step in bringing Italy into line with supervisory norms in other countries. REUTER | ITALY SETS BANK CAPITAL ADEQUACY REQUIREMENTS |
Britain and Japan remained deadlocked today over trade policies and political sources said the U.K. Government was pinning hopes for a breakthrough on the trip to Tokyo next week by Corporate Affairs Minister Michael Howard. Howard told Reuters he would try to promote understanding on trade issues during his trip which starts tomorrow. Meanwhile Britain will re-examine a letter from Japans prime minister promising his personal help for a solution to the row over a U.K. Firms bid to win a significant role in Japans liberalised telecommunications market government sources said. Tensions have risen following the decision by Britain to arm itself early with new statutory powers which it says could be used against certain Japanese financial insitutions. Britain had reacted optimistically at first to the letter from Japanese leader Yasuhiro Nakasone to U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It had been seen as a signal that he would work towards ensuring a satisfactory outcome to the bid launched by Cable and Wireless Plc <CAWL.L> officials said. But this view has been clouded by reports from Tokyo that Nakasones assurances really constituted little more than politeness in the face of loud British anger they added. Howard said he would use his trip to push for a bigger role in Japans telecommunications industry for Cable and Wireless Plc. The U.K. Government has made the issue a test case for Japans willingness to open its markets adequately to outside competition. Asked whether the letter from Nakasone was a rejection of attempts by Britain to achieve that Howard said I am not sure it is correct to regard Mr Nakasones letter as a rejection of Mrs Thatchers request of him - and it says he is taking a personal interest in this problem. I dont understand it to be closed at all. During his visit to Tokyo Howard said I shall be talking to them about it (the letter) finding out exactly what they do mean about it and making it plain that we take a very serious view of the fact that access to Japanese markets is not as free as we allow acces to our markets to be. He noted that under the new Financial Services Act Britain could revoke or deny licences to Japanese banking and insurance institutions in London if U.K. Firms fail to get receive similar treatment in financial markets in Japan soon. I hope it wont come to that and I dont think it will Howard added. Officials involved in Howards Tokyo itinerary said they had tried to arrange meetings with Japanese officials who were least likely to see trade issues in too a parochial a light. Reuter | UK HOPES HOWARD'S TOKYO TRIP WILL EASE TENSIONS |
The U.S. Agriculture Department said an announcement by the department yesterday concerning 15.0 mln dlrs in additional credit guarantees for exports of U.S. commodities to Turkey contained two inaccuracies. First the USDA said its announcement should not have said that plywood was excluded from the additional three mln dlrs in GSM-102 credit guarantees for lumber. The original announcement said the guarantees included three mln dlrs for lumber except plywood. Melvin Sims USDA general sales manager told Reuters he did not anticipate any plywood would be included in the sales but that its possible it would be. Plywood in the past has not been eligible for GSM-102 credit guarantees because it is considered by some to be a manufactured product. Members states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have pledged not to offer concessional credits on manufactured products Sims said. However the Reagan administration is considering whether to allow plywood sales to be covered by the credit guarantee program Sims said. Second the USDA announcement said 6.0 mln dlrs of a previously announced 6.0-mln dlr line for tallow under GSM-102 was available for both public and private sector importers. In fact the line of credit guarantees for tallow is available only for public sector importers Walter Stern Foreign Agricultural Service Turkey analyst said. Reuter | USDA CORRECTS TURKEY CREDIT ANNOUNCEMENT |
Dataflex Corp said it named Richard Rose president succeeding Jeffrey Lamm who continues as chairman and chief executive officer. Rose has been executive vice president of the desktop computer marketing company since joining it in 1984. Reuter | DATAFLEX <DFLX> NAMES PRESIDENT |
Olin Corp said it was conducting an organizational restructuring of its defense systems group to meet growth plans. The corporation said the restructuring creates several divisions within the group including a new aerospace division that brings togehter Olins Rocket Research Company and Pacific Electro Dynamics unit. Reuter | OLIN <OLN> TO RESTRUCTURE DEFENSE GROUP |
Moodys Investors Service Inc said it raised to B-1 from B-2 Chicago Pacific Corps 315 mln dlrs of subordinated notes. The agency said the rating recognizes risks in Chicago Pacifics highly leveraged balance sheet uncertainty arising from its consideration of another sizable acquisition and exposure to the European appliance industry. Moodys said the units Hoover and Rowenta have leading market positions. Debt to capital will be slightly more than 60 pct pro forma but since Chicago Pacifics plant is modern capital spending is considered largely discretionary it said. Reuter | CHICAGO PACIFIC <CPAC> UPGRADED BY MOODY'S |
W.W. Grainger Inc said it is asking shareholders to approve an increase in the number of its common shares one dlr par value to 75 mln shares from 35 mln shares currently. In addition W.W. Grainger said it is asking shareholders to approve an increase in the number of authorized preferred stock to three mln shares with one dlr par value from 600000 shares without par value. W.W. Grainger said its shareholders will vote on the proposals outlined in its proxy statement at its annual meeting on April 29. Also in its annual report W.W. Grainger an electric motor distributor said it plans to open 16 branches in the New York area and five in Detroit in the next eleven months. Grainger added it expects to open 15 of the branches this year. The company said market research and start-up costs for the New York and Detroit branches will run at about eight mln dlrs 1.5 mln dlrs of which was charged against 1986 earnings while the rest will be charged against earnings as incurred. Reuter | W.W. GRAINGER <GWW> SEEKS TO INCREASE SHARES |
The Reagan administration is debating whether to provide government credit guarantees for the export of plywood a U.S. Agriculture Department official said. As a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD the United States has agreed not to provide any concessional credits on the export of manufactured products. However USDA General Sales Manager Melvin Sims told Reuters the administration is considering allowing USDA to provide its first export credit guarantees for plywood on the grounds it is not a manufactured product. Sims said it was clear that wood products such as furniture tables and window frames would be considered manufactured goods and therefore ineligible for export credit guarantees. However the case of plywood was less clear. As long as its a basic material we consider it still just a processed version of the basic agricultural commodity Sims said in a telephone interview. Earlier today USDA said that plywood was eligible under an export credit guarantee offer for Turkey announced yesterday. In its original announcement yesterday USDA had said the offer included three mln dlrs for the export of lumber excluding plywood. However Sims said he did not expect any plywood exports to be including under the lumber guarantee offer. Reuter | PLYWOOD CREDITS EYED BY REAGAN ADMINISTRATION |
Pope and Talbot Inc said it expects first quarter earnings to total about one dlr per share compared with a year-earlier loss of nine cts per share. Each of the companys business segments contributed to the sharp improvement Pope and Talbot said. The wood products company also said it expects to release first quarter results later this month. Reuter | POPE AND TALBOT <POP> SEES HIGHER 1ST QTR NET |
COASTAL TO FILE PROPOSED PLAN FOR TRANSAMERICAN LIQUIDATION ON APRIL 15 |
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American Motors Corp said its domestic car sales for March 21-31 fell 50 pct to 1198 cars 2420 cars over the same period last year. For March AMCs domestic car sales dropped 56 pct to 2748 cars from 6300 cars in March 1986 AMC said. AMC added that year-to-date its domestic cars sales retreated 60 pct to 7670 cars from 19161 cars last year-to-date. AMC said its Jeep sales for the March 21-31 period however rose 25 pct to 6873 Jeeps from 5506 Jeeps in the same period last year. For the month Jeep sales rose 15 pct to 15873 Jeeps from 13806 Jeeps in March 1986 AMC said. Year-to-date Jeep sales climbed two pct to 46896 Jeeps from 46056 Jeeps last year-to-date AMC added. Reuter | AMERICAN MOTORS <AMO> LATE MARCH CAR SALES OFF |
The Italian Treasury said it had closed its latest offer of 10-year variable coupon certificates (CCTs) early after receiving subscriptions totalling 11500 billion lire. The amount of the offer scheduled to close April 7 had not been prefixed. The Treasury said it had closed the offer early in view of the markets response and having taken into account the estimated state borrowing requirement for the current month. The CCTs were priced at 99.00 pct for an effective net annual yield on the first coupon payable April 1 1988 of 9.85 pct. Terms were identical to those on the preceding offer. REUTER | ITALIAN TREASURY CERTIFICATE OFFER CLOSES EARLY |
Presidio Oil Co said it began an offer to exchange shares of its recently created class A common stock for shares of its class B common stock on a share-for-share basis. The oil and gas company also said it plans to declare an annual cash dividend of 10 cts a share payable quarterly on the class A stock. Though not restricted from doing so it does not plan to pay cash dividends on the class B common. The exchange offer is on a one-time only basis and will be open for 90 days it said. Reuter | PRESIDIO OIL <PRS> BEGINS EXCHANGE OFFER |
The Student Loan Marketing Association said it plans to price 300 mln dlrs of short-term floating rate notes due Oct 8 1987 on Monday. The notes are for settlement April 9 and when-issued trading is expected to begin at 0930 hrs EST April 7 it said. Sallie Mae said the notes will be priced at a spread to the bond equivalent rate of the 91-day Treasury bill with the interest being reset the day after each weekly T-bill auction. It said the notes will be offered in book entry form by a selling group managed by Sallie Mae in denominations of 10000 dlrs and 5000 dlrs increments thereafter. Sallie Mae a federally chartered stockholder-owned corporation is the nations major financial intermediary serving the education credit market. Reuter | SALLIE MAE TO PRICE FLOATING RATE NOTES MONDAY |
Southwest Airlines said it will begin service to Detroit Michigan on June 4 1987. It said that with the new service it will serve 27 cities in 13 states across the U.S. It also said that delivery of six new 737-300 aircraft will enable it to expand its route system in June. Reuter | SOUTHWEST <LUV> PLANS TO BEGIN DETROIT SERVICE |
Stars to Go Inc said it completed its acquisition of 650 video centers previously owned by CVS International Inc and located in Circle K Corp <CKP> stores. In conjunction with the acquistion Circle K also granted it the exclusive right to install video cassette rental centers in all existing 3500 Circle K stores as well as in future stores for a period of seven years Stars to Go said. The company also said it currently has a total of 4650 centers in operation and expects to increase the total to 6000 by June 30. Reuter | STARS TO GO <STAR> GETS STORES, AGREEMENT |
Mesa Offshore Trust said it received its first cash distribution from the Mesa Limited Partnership and expects dividends to its unitholders to begin in July. It said the cash distribution for March totaled 2484000 dlrs which will be used to repay a portion of the Trusts outstanding 3.2 mln dlr line of credit with Texas Commerce Bank National Association. Mesa said the line of credit must be repaid before distributions to unit holders may begin. Mesa Offshore Trust previously owed Mesa Limited Partnship for expenses related to exploration and development of the Trusts properties. Reuter | MESA <MOS> GETS PAYMENT FROM PARTNERSHIP |
Standard and Poors Inc said it withdrew the ratings on Lear Siegler Incs A-rated senior debt and preferred stock A-minus subordinated debt and A-1 commercial paper. S and P also withdrew the A rating on the outstanding non-callable 11-3/4 pct Lear senior notes of 1991. Lear redeemed all of its and Bangor Puntas outstanding debt after undergoing a leveraged buyout which closed in January and was led by Forstmann Little. S and P added that Lear applied to delist its outstanding senior notes. Reuter | LEAR SIEGLER DEBT RATINGS WITHDRAWN BY S/P |
Polysar Ltd wholly owned by <Canada Development Corp> said it agreed to form a joint venture with Raision Tehtaat of Finland to build a synthetic rubber latex plant in southern Finland. Project cost and plant capacity were not disclosed. The joint venture to be 51 pct owned by Raision Tehtaat and 49 pct by Polysar will build a plant at Anjalankoski east of Helsinki to produce carboxylated styrene-butadiene latex. The plants production will be used by Finlands paper industry for making coated paper and paper board products. Reuter | POLYSAR IN JOINT VENTURE ON FINLAND LATEX PLANT |
NORTHWEST AIRLINES TO BUY UP TO 20 AIRBUS A340 JETS, OPTIONS ON 10 A330S - AIRBUS |
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Finnish Social Democrat Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa and his centre-left majority government resigned formally clearing the way for the Conservatives to re-enter government after 21 years in opposition. The resignation was in line with tradition following the March 15-16 general election which gave the Conservatives nine more seats and a current total of 53 in the 200-seat chamber. President Mauno Koivisto asked the outgoing coalition of Social Democrats Centrists Ruralists and Swedish members government to stay on in caretaker capacity officials said. REUTER | FINNISH PRIME MINISTER AND GOVERNMENT RESIGN |
Qtrly div 38 cts vs 33 cts Pay June 1 Record May 7 NOTE: company said this is the largest dividend increase in 15 years. Reuter | STERLING DRUG INC <STY> INCREASES PAYOUT |
<Meston Lake Resources Inc> 65.3 pct owned by Campbell Resources Inc said it will begin commercial output at its Joe Mann mine in the Chibougamu area of Quebec at an initial daily rate of 500 short tons of ore grading 0.15 ounce of gold per ton. It said it will improve throughput to 700 tons a day at 0.221 ounce of gold per ton. Meston said current ore reserves at the property total 910000 tons grading 0.211 ounces of gold per ton and 0.3 pct copper but it may be able to develop substantially greater tonnage. Meston said underground drilling below current developed reserves has intersected the main zone 200 feet below the bottom level with the average grade assayed at 0.530 ounce of gold per ton over true width of 17 feet. A recent drillhole east of the current shaft and 600 feet from the reserve boundary intersected three zones grading respectively 0.708 ounce per ton over 5.4 feet at depth of 650 feet 0.706 ounce over seven feet at depth of 765 feet and 0.418 ounce over one foot at depth of 1000 feet. A second surface hole 500 feet farther east intersected 1.068 ounce per ton over 5.3 feet. Reuter | CAMPBELL'S <CCH> MESTON LAKE SETS GOLD TARGETS |
Moodys Investors Service Inc said it may upgrade the ratings on Upjohn Cos 400 mln dlrs of debt. The agency said it will study the effect new products may have on Upjohns earnings potential. Moodys will also assess the effects that growth and a broader diversification of pharmaceutical cash flow will have on operating performance. Moodys noted that pharmaceuticals and other health-care markets are characterized by a greater stability of cash flow. Upjohn currently carries Aa-3 senior unsecured long-term debt and industrial revenue bonds. The companys Prime-1 commercial paper is not under review. Reuter | MOODY'S MAY UPGRADE UPJOHN <UPJ> DEBT RATINGS |
Warburg Pincus Capital Co L.P. an investment partnership said it told representatives of Symbion Inc it would not increase the 3.50-dlr-per-share cash price it has offered for the company. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Warburg Pincus said one of its top executives Rodman Moorhead who is also a Symbion director met April 1 with Symbions financial advisor L.F. Rothschild Unterberg Towbin Inc. In a discussion of the offer Warburg Pincus said Moorhead told the meeting there are no plans to raise the 3.50 dlr bid. Moorhead told the Rothschild officials that Warburg Pincus considers the offered price to be a fair one Warburg Pincus said. Last Month Warburg Pincus launched a tender offer to buy up to 2.5 mln Symbion common shares. Reuter | WARBURG PINCUS DECLINES TO UP SYMBION <SYMB> BID |
Enserch Corp said it called for redemption on May 4 1987 all of its outstanding 16-3/4 pct sinking fund debentures due 2007. The redemption is pursuant to the optional redemption provisions of the indenture at a price of 111.981 pct of part. Reuter | ENSERCH <ENS> TO REDEEM DEBENTURES |
The Stock Exchange is virtually certain to agree to change its regulations in order to permit when issued trading of U.K. Government bonds (gilts) as part of an experimental series of bond auctions later this year market sources said. The principle that this when issued trading should take place has been accepted by the Executive Committee of the International Stock Exchange said George Nissen chairman of the Gilt Edged Market Makers Association (GEMMA). Its a question of how rather than whether he told Reuters. The Bank of England announced in February that it planned a possible series of experimental auctions for gilts similar to the system used to market U.S. Treasury issues with the first auction possibly in April or May. The Bank said at that stage that it was not opposed in principle to when issued trading developing in bonds in the period between the announcement of full details of the auction and the auction itself as in the U.S. However when issued trading is prohibited under the rules of the International Stock Exchange formerly the London Stock Exchange and would require an amendment in order to proceed. Nissen said discussions on the technical details of a rule change to allow when issued trading were still taking place between the Government broker at the Bank of England and the Quotations Department of the Stock Exchange. The 27 gilt-edged primary dealers regard the introduction of grey market trading as an essential feature of an auction system covering part of the Governments funding needs. If we are going into an auction system we need to have some form of market test of the stock were bidding for said Simon Hartnell Head Trader at primary dealer Alexanders Laing and Cruickshank Gilts Ltd. The American WI (when issued) market certainly functions very efficiently he said. Nissen said he believed that if when issued trading were not allowed market-makers would be extremely unhappy about the whole auction. Gilt dealers noted that it was a basic provision of Stock Exchange rules that dealing could not take place in a stock until it was listed by the Quotations Department. However this was mainly designed to prevent a grey market springing up in equities prior to listing. They pointed out that in contrast to the many uncertainties connected with an issue of equity securities there would be few imponderables relating to bonds just about to be issued by the Bank of England. Senior market sources noted that in any case when issued trading would be supervised by the Stock Exchange and would be subject to Bank of England supervisory guidelines. Since the Bank of England and market-makers themselves are known to be in favour of the idea the sources said there was now a presumption that there would be scope for when issued trading to take place. Gilt sales now are effected by means of large-scale stock tenders or by tap issues of stock tranches direct to the market. But greater market capitalisation following the Big Bang restructuring last year provided an opportunity for change. A combination of both systems would enable the Bank to benefit from both the flexibility offered by traditional marketing methods and the guarantee of a steady supply of funds implied by auctions. The Bank said in a consultative document published in February that possibly two or three experimental auctions might each raise between one to 1-1/2 billion stg. The remainder of the funding would be conducted by traditional tender and tap issue means. Total gross official sales of gilt-edged stock were 11.9 billion stg in 1985/86. Nissen said that market-makers had agreed unanimously with the banks view that auctions would be more easily conducted on a price basis rather than based on yield. He said that the odds were also in favour of adoption of a bid price form of auction where successful bidders were allotted stock at the various prices at which they bid rather than a common price allotment whereby stock was allocated at the lowest accepted price. Hartnell said that while a when issued facility was crucial to market-makers adaptation to the new system he would also have liked to see an extension to the fallow period proposal made by the Bank of England. The Bank said that it would not sell by any method stock of the same type as that to be auctioned between the time of the announcement of auction details and a period ending 28 days after the auction itself. Noting that in the case of long bond auctions U.S. Primary dealers have as much as three months between successive sales of stock Hartnell said the Banks proposal was very tight. Nissen said that following a meeting between GEMMA and the Bank of England on March 3 which he described as very helpful GEMMA submitted a note making several further residual points. Market-makers are now awaiting a further fairly definitive paper from the Bank which would contain details of auction procedures. Although the Bank has not yet formally announced a definite intention to proceed with the auctions most market participants assume that they will go ahead. My own view is that we are on course and the first indications from the original paper - an auction at the end of April or in May - must be the best assumption he said. REUTER | EXCHANGE SEEN APPROVING "WHEN ISSUED" GILT TRADE |
The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate voted to slash foreign aid to Panama because of drug trafficking but sided with President Reagan by refusing to cut U.S. aid to Mexico as a protest it is failing to cooperate fully with the American war against drugs. In what Senate opponents of a cutoff said was a surprise the Senate voted 58 to 31 to halve aid to Panama. The measure which the administration opposes would need House approval before any aid would be stopped. Panama is due to receive 28.5 mln dlrs in U.S. aid this year. A spokesman for the Senate Foreign Relations committee said if the House approves the measure too half of this aid would be stopped. Reuter | U.S. SENATE VOTES TO CUT PANAMA AID |
Lewis Horowitz president of the New York Futures Exchange said the New York Stock Exchange board yesterday approved in principle an agreement to relocate the futures exchange at the New York Cotton Exchange. The agreement is subject to the approval of the Cotton Exchange board which meets Tuesday April 7. Reuter | NEW YORK FUTURES EXCHANGE TO RELOCATE |
Finnish Social Democrat Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa and his centre-left majority government resigned formally clearing the way for the Conservatives to re-enter government after 21 years in opposition. The resignation was in line with tradition following the March 15-16 general election which gave the Conservatives nine more seats and a current total of 53 in the 200-seat chamber. President Mauno Koivisto asked the outgoing coalition of Social Democrats Centrists Ruralists and Swedish members government to stay on in caretaker capacity officials said. Reuter | FINNISH PRIME MINISTER AND GOVERNMENT RESIGN |
The European Commissions decision to release an additional 300000 tonnes of British intervention feed wheat for the home market will provide only moderate relief in an increasingly tight market traders said. Some operators had been anticipating a larger tonnage pointing out that at this weeks U.K. Intervention tender the market sought to buy 340000 tonnes but only 126000 tonnes were granted. The new tranche of intervention grain is unlikely to satisfy demand they said and keen buying competition for supplies in stores is expected to keep prices firm. The release of the feed wheat followed recent strong representations by the U.K. Grain trade to the Commission. There has been growing concern that rising internal prices triggered by heavy exports were creating areas of shortage in interior markets. The latest EC authorisation will add 70000 tonnes at the April 14 tender and a further 30000 tonnes later in the month. The remaining 200000 tonnes will be made available in May and June. News of the release produced an early downward reaction in local physical markets but by midday some sections had halved early two stg losses while others were unchanged. Ministry of Agriculture figures for March indicate 1.85 mln tonnes of wheat and 1.74 mln tonnes of barley remain in the free market. However some traders believe these figures are overstated and while some may still be held on the farm the bulk of wheat is already sold. Some of the grain is also off the market in futures stores. A total of 2.10 mln tonnes of intervention wheat has been sold for export or to the home market since the season started July 1 leaving an unsold balance in intervention of about 1.59 mln tonnes. Intervention barley sales have reached just over 1.0 mln tonnes leaving about 753000 tonnes traders said. This seasons U.K. Export performance has surpassed all early expectations and has created the present nervous situation in domestic markets where the fear now is free market supplies may not last out until new crop becomes available in August. The market is sticking to its recent prediction of total barley and wheat exports of around 10.5 mln tonnes a new record and nearly double the previous record of 5.9 mln tonnes achieved in the 1984/85 season. Traders expect U.K. Wheat exports to reach 6.0 mln and barley around 4.50 mln tonnes. The Soviet Union has booked a record total of 2.5 mln tonnes of British wheat and barley this season but only 1.28 mln had surfaced in Customs export figures by March 25 traders said. Other EC countries have bought large amounts of British grain and for the July 1/March 25 period had taken 2.59 mln tonnes of wheat and 2.06 mln tonnes of barley. This compares with 1.28 mln and 868700 tonnes last season. The market is expecting prices particularly wheat to stay buoyant for the remaining few months of the season. If supplies become more difficult and prices strengthen further feed compounders may increase cereal substitute usage traders said. Reuter | EC WHEAT RELEASE UNLIKELY TO SATISFY U.K. DEMAND |
U.S. TREASURY SELLING 9.75 BILLION DLRS OF ONE-YEAR BILLS APRIL 9 TO PAY DOWN 25 MLN DLRS |
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PBS Building Systems of America Inc an Anaheim Calif. company told the Securities and Exchange Commission it has acquired 150000 shares of Modulaire Industries or 5.0 pct of the total outstanding common stock. PBS whose subsidiaries design make sell and lease nonresidential relocatable modular buildings said it bought the stake for 855768.75 dlrs to acquire an equity interest in Modulaire while it evaluates Modulaire. Depending on several factors PBS said it may decide to buy additional Modulaire common shares. Reuter | CALIFORNIA FIRM HAS FIVE PCT OF MODULAIRE <MODX> |
Boise Cascade Corp said it completed the previously announced sale of its Consumer Packaging Division to Sonoco Products Co <SONO> for approximately 175 mln dlrs. Reuter | BOISE CASCADE <BCC> COMPLETES SALE OF UNIT |
USPCI Inc said it filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public offering of one share of common stock in the U.S. and 372500 shares in a concurrent international offering. Of the one mln being offered in the U.S. 227500 will be issued and sold by the company 600000 by the Beard Co 100000 by Beard Oil Co and 72500 by shareholders. After completion of the offering Beard will own about 25 pct of the stock. Proceeds will be used to fund capital expenditures. Reuter | USPCI <UPC> FILES FOR OFFERING |
The Customs Bureau has begun to levy on bond on certain Japanese goods pending a final decision by President Reagan on April 17 on imposing the planned 100 pct tariff on the shipments the bureau said. A bureau official said bonding began on March 31 and if the penalties are imposed as expected after a period of comment they will retroactive to that date. The penalties are to be levied on variety of electronic items in retaliation for Japans failure to comply with a July 1986 agreement to end dumping semiconductors in third nations and to open its home market to U.S. goods. reuter | CUSTOMS LEVIES BOND ON JAPANESE SHIPMENTS |
Coastal Corp said it will file an alternate proposal to reorganize TransAmerican Natural Gas Corp the privately-owned Texas firm in bankruptcy on April 15. Coastal said the proposal will be filed with the bankruptcy court and is expected to be heard on April 29 and 30 along with TransAmericans separately filed reorganization plan. In a letter to shareholders indicting TransAmericans campaign to thwart a takeover Coastal said TransAmerican has mounted a campaign in Texas to smear Coastal and misrepresent its intentions. The letter written by Coastal Chairman Oscar S. Wyatt Jr and President James R. Paul exhorted shareholders to consider TransAmericans smear campgian for what it is--a misguided attempt to bias the outcome of the bankruptcy proceedings by a company with an unsavory business reputation and a history of being in bankruptcy for nine of the past 12 years. TransAmerican said it had not seen the letter and could not comment. TransAmericans lawyer John Nabors was not immediately available for comment. The letter sent to all Coastal employees and stockholders in Texas also accused John R. Stanley TransAmericans owner of prospering by the companies bankruptcy by drawing a salary of 300000 dlrs a year from his bankrupt companies. It also said that at the end of July 1986 Stanley owed his bankrupt companies 874000 dlrs in unpaid interest-free loans. His creditors may suffer but Mr. Stanley does quite well in bankruptcy said the letter. Reuter | COASTAL <CGP> TO FILE PLAN FOR TRANSAMERICAN |
Kentucky Central Life INsurance Co said the company said it will declare a 200 pct stock dividend on Monday. Accordingly it said it filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange COmmission for a proposed offering of three mln shares of its class a non-voting common stock which reflects the anticipated dividend. Proceeds will be used for general purposes. Reuter | KENTUCKY CENTRAL TO DECLARE STOCK DIVIDEND |
Porsche Cars of North America Inc a unit of Porsche Ag of Germany <PSHG.F> said sales of its cars fell slightly to 2394 cars in March compared to 2545 for March 1986. Year-to-date sales were 5863 compared to 6407 for the first three months of 1986 it said. Reuter | PORSCHE MARCH SALES FALL |
The Chilean state copper corporation Codelco the privately-owned Chilean copper fabricator Madeco and Chinese interests are to establish a copper tube plant in Peking Codelcos U.K. Subsidiary Chile Copper Ltd said. The plant is designed to produce 5000 tonnes in the first five years and 8000 tonnes as from year six. Total investment is estimated at 10 mln dlrs of which the Chileans will contribute two mln. Codelco and Madeco have formed the Chilean Wrought Copper Company to take a 50 pct stake in a new company called Peking Santiago Tube Company with the Chinese holding the other half. Reuter | CHILE, CHINA TO ESTABLISH PEKING COPPER PLANT |
Allied-Signal Inc said it agreed to sell its Amphenol Products unit to a subsidiary of LPL Investments Group <LPLI> a Wallingford Conn. investment company for 430 mln dlrs cash. Closing is expected soon pending appropriate approvals the company said. LPL indicated that at closing warrants will be sold which when exercised will reduce its stake in the subsidiary Amphenol Acquisition Co to 60 pct the company said. Lisle Ill.-based Amphenol had 1986 sales of about 500 mln dlrs. It makes brand name interconnection products. LPL also said Merrill Lynch and Co has committed to buy 175 mln dlrs of subordinated and preferred debt in the new LPL unit according to Allied-Signal. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has committed up to 340 mln dlrs in senior debt financing it said. Allied-Signal said in December it was offering for sale Amphenol and six other operating units in its electronics and instrumentation sector. Merrill Lynch Needham and Co and Lazard Freres served as financial advisors it said. Reuter | ALLIED-SIGNAL <ALD> TO SELL ELECTRONICS UNIT |
Japanese crushers bought 4000 to 5000 tonnes of Canadian rapeseed in export business overnight for May shipment trade sources said. Reuter | JAPANESE CRUSHERS BUY CANADIAN RAPESEED |
The United States switches to daylight saving time on Sunday April 5 when clocks will be turned ahead one hour at 0200 in all time zones. The states of Arizona and Hawaii and parts of Indiana including Indianapolis remain on standard time by local choice. Congress voted last year to move the start of daylight time from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday in April. The return to standard time remains the last Sunday in October (October 25 this year). Canada also switches to daylight time on Sunday. Reuter | U.S., CANADA SWITCH TO DAYLIGHT TIME SUNDAY |
ALLTEL Corp chairman and chief executive officer Weldon Case said he will recommend Joe Ford who now is president be elected chief executive officer of the company also. Case who said he will remain as chairman said he will recommend the election to the board on April 22. Ford was named president and chief operating officer in 1983 when ALLTEL was formed Case said. Reuter | ALLTEL <AT> CHAIRMAN TO RECOMMEND PRESIDENT |
U.S.-based Northwest Airlines a unit of NWA Inc <NWA> has ordered up to 20 of the European Airbus Industrie <AINP.PA> consortiums planned A340 long-range jets with an option on a further 10 A330 medium-range jets in a deal worth more than 2.5 billion dlrs Airbus said in a statement. The contract gives Airbus its first launch customer in the lucrative U.S. Market for its long-range jet programme. Last month Airbus announced it had a total of 104 commitments from nine customers for the planes. A spokeswoman confirmed todays order was in addition to those commitments. Airbus has been competing with McDonnell Douglas Corp <MD> in the long-range jet market since the U.S. Group formally launched its MD-11 plane program at the end of 1986. McDonnell Douglas has won over 100 orders and options for the aircraft. The Northwest order comes after the airline ordered 10 short-range A320 Airbus jets with options on a further 90 last October giving Airbus a foothold in the U.S. Market. European governments asked to fund 2.5 to three billion dlrs of the Airbus A330/340 programs have said there may not be room in the world aircraft market for Airbuss jets. Reuter | NORTHWEST AIRLINES ORDERS LONG-RANGE AIRBUS JET |
Portugals Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow around four pct this year the same rate as in 1986 according to a Bank of Portugal forecast. Total investment this year the countrys second as a member of the European Community (EC) will rise nearly 10 pct again the same rate as last year the central bank study said. It added that Portugals current account was forecast to show a surplus of 400 mln dlrs this year compared with 1.13 billion in 1986 and 369 mln the previous year. Last years high surplus was attributed to cheaper oil and raw materials lower world interest rates and a weaker dollar. Imports by volume were forecast to grow 10 pct this year and exports four pct compared with increases of 16.5 pct and 6.6 pct respectively in 1986 the bank said. The forecasts were calculated on the assumption that the non-expansionary monetary policy carried out by the current government would be maintained particularly in budget spending and income and in wage policy. The bank added that the 1987 forecasts were also based on the assumption that the international economic situation and Portugals world trade relations would remain more or less the same as in 1986. The central bank said the high rate of investment estimated for 1986 was due to government policies and to increasing optimism among firms whose financial situation had improved since 1985. This tendency was expected to continue this year especially in the construction and public works sectors. Financial aid from the EC had also helped to boost investment last year the bank said. REUTER | PORTUGAL'S GDP FORECAST TO GROW FOUR PCT THIS YEAR |
Asamera Inc said it will transfer all its mineral interests into a new wholly owned subsidiary Asamera Minerals Inc which will later issue up to 15 pct of its shares to the public. The mineral interests will include Asameras 51 pct interest in the Cannon gold mine in Wenatchee Wash. Asamera said the mine produced 116514 ounces of gold in 1986 and is expected to produce 130000 to 140000 ounces this year. Asamera said its talks with Breakwater Resources Ltd <BWRLF> on a possible merger of mining interests including the Cannon mine have been terminated. It did not elaborate. Asamera said holding all its mineral properties in a separate company will give better and more direct recognition to the value of the assets. Its other mining interests include gold exploration prospects on 13000 acres in Inyo County Calif. and 500000 acres in Canadas Northwest Territories the Gooseberry gold and silver mine in Nevada chromite properties in northern California and Newfoundland and a platinum prospect in the Rankin Inlet Northwest Territories. Reuter | ASAMERA <ASM> TO FORM NEW MINING UNIT |
Occidental Petroleum Corps Occidental Chemcial Corp said it sold the Process chemicals division it acquired as part of the September 1986 purchase of Diamond Shamrock Chemicals to Henkel KGAA of Dusseldorf West Germany. Terms were not disclosed. The division makes specialty industrial chemicals it said. Later industry sources said the division which had worldwide sales of some 160 mln dlrs last year was sold for just under 200 mln dlrs. Reuter | OCCIDENTAL <OXY> UNIT SELLS DIVISION |
Rohm and Haas Co said health studies on workers at its Philadelphia plant showed higher death rates from four kinds of cancer compared with mortality rates among the general public. The studies covered a total of about 6000 workers employed at the plant from 1948 through 1981. Mortality rates from two other types of cancer respiratory cancer and leukemia had declined compared to earlier studies the plastics and chemicals company said. Potential causes and incidence of pancreatic colon/rectal prostate and bladder cancer will be studied further a company spokesman said. The studies found elevated mortality rates from the four cancer types. But the finding does not appear to be linked with products or processes at the plant Rohm and Haas said. The reports revealed no new evidence of health risk from operations at the plant it added. Respiratory cancer deaths among workers exposed to certain chemical operations before 1971 remain elevated but have declined from levels reported in 1974. And deaths from leukemia have fallen to near normal levels from those reported in 1975. A study completed in 1974 after an outbreak of respiratory cancer among employees linked the disease to exposure to a carcinogen bischloromethyl ether which is made at the plant. The production of the chemical an intermediary used in making industrial fluid cleaners was isolated in 1971 so workers were no longer exposed to it the spokesman said. Last summer Rohm and Haas settled 22 individual lawsuits and one class action suit related to deaths from exposure to the chemical. Reuter | ROHM/HAAS <ROH> STUDY CITES HIGH CANCER LEVELS |
CANADA GOVERNMENT JANUARY BUDGET DEFICIT RISES TO 1.78 BILLION DLRS FROM 1.67 BILLION - OFFICIAL |
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General Motors Corp said late March car sales rose 6.2 pct. Total passenger car sales for the period March 21 to 31 were 140522 compared to 132298 in the year-ago period the company said. Truck sales rose 18.1 pct to 55054 from 46632. There were nine selling days both period. The figures include sales of Sprint and Spectrum the carmaker said. For the full month passengers cars sales dropped 5.6 pct to 349578 from 370390. Truck sales in March rose 7.0 pct to 140200 from 131078. Year-to-date sales of passenger cars fell 25.9 pct to 828784 from 1118509 GM said. Truck sales were off 6.1 pct to 347441 from 370033. Reuter | GENERAL MOTORS <GM> LATE MARCH CAR SALES RISE |
Noranda Inc said production will remain shut down at its fire-damaged copper mine here until it can completely examine the mine. If it decides to keep the mine open it would take four or five months before it could resume full production. Company spokesman Dale Coffin said the investigation could take from a few days to several weeks but would not be more specific. Noranda said when it resumes production it plans to operate the mine at about one-third of the normal 72000 tonnes annual finished capacity. The fire which started Wednesday and burned itself out late yesterday weakened part of the mines support structure Coffin said. One miner was killed and 56 others were trapped underground for about 24 hours before being brought safely out. Reuter | NORANDA MINE SEEN BELOW FULL OUTPUT FOR MONTHS |
The U.S. Treasury said it will sell 9.75 billion dlrs of one-year bills at auction. The April 9 sale will pay down about 25 mln dlrs as 9.763 billion dlrs in bills are maturing. The bills will be issued April 16 in minimum amounts of 10000 dlrs and mature April 14 1988. Reuter | U.S. SETS 9.75 BILLION DLR YEAR-BILL AUCTION |
European options exchanges will see spectacular growth over the next five years as more and more professional investors discover the options markets Bernard Reed manager of the London options exchange said. At an options outlook seminar to mark tomorrows official opening of a new Amsterdam options exchange (EOE) building he forecast increasing interest from banks and institutional investors using options for portfolio insurance. But the dominance by the professionals should not make us neglect private clients he noted. Successful exploitation of retail business has been one of the keys to success. Reed said that derived option products in particular will become a popular instrument for managing equity risks. On the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) the cash-settled S&P 100 index option is the most traded in the world. Dutch Stock Index Fund options to be relaunched on May 18 and the upcoming options on Londons FTSE 100 index will see a 30 pct yearly turnover growth until 1990 Reed estimated. The CBOE and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have agreed with Morgan Stanley to trade options and futures on the capital international EAFE index which will let investors participate in worldwide market moves. Reed said he did not believe in globalising the option business by introducing international products because this would intensify competition among the exchanges but he did see a future for global rules and regulations. REUTER | LARGER VOLUME SEEN ON EUROPEAN OPTIONS EXCHANGES |
Lloyds Investment Managers Ltd a London-based investment firm said it raised it stake in Italy Fund to 760500 shares or 12.0 pct of the total outstanding common stock from 466000 shares or 7.4 pct. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Lloyds said it bought the additional 294500 Italy Fund common shares since November 7 for a total of 3.3 mln dlrs. Another 70000 shares of the stake are held by an affiliate it said. It said its dealings in Italy Fund stock are for investment purposes only and that it has no current plans to increase or decrease its current stake. Reuter | U.K. FIRM UPS ITALY FUND <ITA> STAKE TO 12 PCT |
Arthur Appleton a Chicago investor told the Securities and Exchange Commission he has acquired 39000 shares of Sage Drilling Co Inc or 5.1 pct of the total outstanding common stock. Appleton said he bought the stock for 116554 dlrs for investment purposes. Depending on several circumstances Appleton said he may buy more Sage common shares or sell some or all of his current stake. Reuter | INVESTOR HAS FIVE PCT OF SAGE DRILLING <SAGE> |
The Federal Aviation Administration said it ordered U.S. airlines to inspect their older DC10 jumbo jets within five days for hairline cracks in tail areas. The FAA action follows a warning to the airlines by the planes maker Douglas Aircraft Co that three cracks had been discovered on two DC10s. Douglas Aircraft is a unit of McDonnell Douglas Corp. Such cracks typically are caused by metal fatigue and pose no safety risk if repaired. The cracks were found in the metal skin covering the tail during aircraft maintenance. If not detected and repaired the cracks may progress until the spar cap or skin panel is severed which could result in structural failure the FAA order said. The spar cap is the top part of the tail wings main beam. The FAA said the inspection order would apply to airplanes with over 40000 hours of flight or more than 12000 landings. Reuter | FAA FEARS CRACKS ON OLDER MCDONNELL <MD> JUMBOS |
Webcor Electronics Inc said April 8 will be the last day for its stock to be traded on the American Stock Exchange due to its failure to meet the financial guidelines. It said it is exploring the possibility of listing its stock on another exchange. Reuter | WEBCOR <WER> TO BE DELISTED |
Volkswagen AG <VOWG.F> VW plans to construct a major new car plant in China a company spokesman said. However he added that discussions with China about the plant were still at an early stage. It would have an annual capacity of up to 300000 vehicles but would not be built until the 1990s at the earliest. VW already has a large joint venture with the Chinese authorities under which it produces the Santana model in Shanghai. The spokesman said the Shanghai plant should have an annual capacity of 30000 cars by the end of next year. So far 15000 Santanas have been produced since output began in 1985. The VW spokesman said no decision had yet been made about the type of car which could be built at the new plant. However company officials have said VW plans to bring out a cheaper car than the Santana for the Chinese market and which will be aimed at private owners. The Santana is generally used by government officials and visiting foreigners or as taxis for tourists. No details were given about the extent of investment in the new plant and it was not clear where it would be built. Reuter | VW PLANS MAJOR NEW PLANT IN CHINA |
 PORSCHE REPORTS LOWER DOMESTIC MARCH SALES RENO Nev. Porsche Cars North America Inc said its domestic car sales for the month of March fell to 2394 from 2545 a year earlier and year-to-date car sales fell to 5863 from 6407 during the same period of 1986. Reuter  | |
Chrysler Corp said car sales for the March 21-31 period rose 20.2 pct to 40454 from 33669 a year earlier. For the month of March it said auto sales increased 6.3 pct to 96649 from 90945. Chrysler said U.S. truck sales in late March jumped 65.2 pct to 28698 from 17372 a year ago. For the entire month truck sales advanced 28.9 pct to 63283 from 49102 it said. The company said it was still tabulating year-to-date figures. Reuter | CHRYSLER <C> LATE MARCH U.S. CAR SALES UP |
Compaq Computer Corp IBMs chief rival in the personal computer market scored a big gain on Wall Street today. Compaqs stock rose 1-3/8 to 32-1/4 on volume of 1.3 mln shares. The rationale for the move one trader said is that the damage from the IBM announcement yesterday was less than expected. He said Compaqs stock had been under pressure recently because of anticipation of IBMs unveiling of a new line of personal computers. International Business Machines <IBM> introduced four new personal computers and more than 100 new peripheral products. But analysts said the new computers though they do contain a lot of proprietary concepts will not be as hard to copy as some other PC makers had feared. The long range issue here is who wins and who loses in the PC business and that issue was not resolved yesterday and is unlikely to be decided any time soon analyst Mark Stahlman of Sanford C. Bernstein and Co said. Stahlman reaffirmed his recommendation of Compaq and Apple Computer Inc <AAPL>. Stahlman said The critical investment question now is who will have a pickup in sales in the near term. We expect to see a strong demand setting for PCs for the rest of this year and that will boost the revenues for all of the major PC vendors. The first quarter was the strongest PC sales period on record for Compaq Apple and IBM Stahlman said and I dont think the IBM announcement is going to change that trend soon. In anticipating the IBM announcement Compaq has made pricing adjustments necessary to compete for its immediate purposes he said. Reuter | WALL STREET STOCKS/COMPAQ COMPUTER <CPQ> |
<Noranda Inc> said production will remain shut down at its fire-damaged copper mine here until it can completely examine the mine. The fire which started Wednesday and burned itself out late yesterday killed one miner and trapped 56 others underground for about 24 hours. The 56 were eventually brought safely out of the mine. Company spokesman Dale Coffin said the investigation could take from a few days to several weeks but would not be more specific. Noranda said that when it resumes production it plans to operate the mine at about one-third of the normal 72000 metric tons annual finished capacity. The fire weakened part of the mines support structure Coffin said. Noranda said if it decides to keep the mine open it would take four or five months before it could resume full production. Reuter | NORANDA SETS TEMPORARY MINE SHUTDOWN |
The Canadian governments budget deficit rose to 1.78 billion dlrs in January from 1.67 billion dlrs in the same month last year the finance department said. But the deficit in the first 10 months of the fiscal year which began on April 1 1986 fell to 22.36 billion dlrs from 25.74 billion dlrs in the same period a year ago. January revenues rose to 7.96 billion dlrs from 7.56 billion dlrs while expenditures grew to 9.74 billion dlrs from 9.23 billion dlrs. Revenues in the first 10 months increased to 70.06 billion dlrs from 62.30 billion while expenditures grew to 92.42 billion dlrs from 88.05 billion. Reuter | CANADA BUDGET DEFICIT RISES IN JANUARY |
CIS Technologies Inc said it executed a formal share purchase agreement with Swiss Reinsurance Co of Zurich Switzerland. Under terms of the agreement Swiss Re will acquire 5.5 mln newly issued CIS stock at 2.50 dlrs a share or 13.8 mln dlrs. This purchase represents 30 pct of the outstanding shares. Swiss Re will acuqire 500000 of the shares immediately and remaining shares will be bought after a due diligence report is completed by auditors. The transaction is expected to be complete by June 11. Reuter | CIS TECHNOLOGIES<CIH> TO SELL SHARES TO SWISS CO |
Qtly div 42 cts vs 41.5 cts prior Payable APril 28 Record April 14 Reuter | COPLEY PROPERTIES INC <COP> INCREASES DIVIDEND |
Colombias cost of living index rose 2.71 pct in March after a 2.03 pct increase in February and a 2.21 pct rise in March 1986 the government statistics institute said. The result brought year-on-year inflation to 20.36 pct compared with 22.65 pct at end-March 1986 and 19.77 pct for the year ending February 1987. The government has predicted that inflation this year would be slightly lower than in 1986 when it reached 20.9 pct. REUTER | COLOMBIAN INFLATION STABLE AT AROUND 20 PCT |
The Federal Home Loan Bank Board said home mortgage rates fell from early February to early March to their lowest point in nine years but the rate of decline was slower than it had been in recent months. The bank board said the average effective commitment rate for fixed-rate mortgages for single family homes and a 25 pct loan-to-price ratio with a maturity of at least 15 years was 9.48 pct in early March. The rate was four basis points lower than a month ago only one-eighth the size of decline in the previous month the bank board said. Rates for adjustable-rate mortgages decline eight basis points from early February to 8.43 pct in early March the bank board said. The drop was far less than the 15 basis point decline in the previous period the agency said. The average effective interest rate on all loans closed by major mortgage lenders declined nine basis points from early February to early March the agency said. The fall brought the rate to 9.14 pct was the lowest since December 1977 it said. The effective rate for ARMS was 8.39 pct 15 basis points below a month earlier. For fixed-rate loans it was 9.36 pct 14 basis points below a month earlier the agency said. Reuter | FHLBB SAYS MORTGAGE RATES CONTINUE DECLINE |
The New York Stock Exchange said a seat on the New York Futures Exchange sold for 1500 dlrs which is up 250 dlrs from the previous sale yesterday. The Exchange said the current bid is 1250 and the current offer is 1500 dlrs. Reuter | NYFE SEAT SELLS FOR 1,500 DLRS |
CANADIAN MONEY SUPPLY M-1 FALLS 291 MLN DLRS IN WEEK, BANK OF CANADA SAID |
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Beneficial Corp said the sale of its American Centennial Insurance Co subsidiary to <First Delaware Holdings Inc> was approved by the Delaware Insurance Department. Under the transaction American Centennial will receive a cash infusion of 200 mln dlrs including the settlement of tax sharing agreements with Beneficial Corp Beneficial said. It will also receive 25 mln dlrs from Beneficial International Insurance Co another Beneficial subsidiary being purchased by the management-led group of First Delaware the company said. Reuter | BENEFICIAL <BNL> UNIT SALE APPROVED |
European options exchanges will see spectacular growth over the next five years as more professional investors discover the options markets Bernard Reed manager of the London options exchange said. At an options outlook seminar to mark tomorrows official opening of a new Amsterdam options exchange (EOE) building he forecast increasing interest from banks and institutional investors using options for portfolio insurance. But the dominance by the professionals should not make us neglect private clients he noted. Successful exploitation of retail business has been one of the keys to success. Reed said derived option products in particular will become a popular instrument for managing equity risks. On the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) the cash-settled S&P 100 index option is the most traded in the world. Dutch Stock Index Fund options to be relaunched on May 18 and the upcoming options on Londons FTSE 100 index will see a 30 pct yearly turnover growth until 1990 Reed estimated. The CBOE and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have agreed with Morgan Stanley to trade options and futures on the capital international EAFE index which will let investors participate in worldwide market moves. Reed said he did not believe in globalising the option business by introducing international products because this would intensify competition among the exchanges but he did see a future for global rules and regulations. Reuter | LARGER VOLUME SEEN ON EUROPEAN OPTIONS EXCHANGES |
Tierco Group INc said it sold at par to the Kuwait Real Estate INvestment and Management Co its 10 mln dlrs 75. pct senior subordinated note due 1997 together with warrants to buy 1.1 mln shares of common stock. The warrant may be exercised within five years at 9.50 dlrs per share. Reuter | TIERCO <TIER> SELLS NOTE |
Shr 5.56 dlrs vs 3.88 dlrs Net 47.5 mln vs 33.2 mln Revs 254.5 mln vs 243.5 mln Note: shr after preferred dividends ITT Corp <ITT> owns 100 pct of ITT Canada common shares Reuter | <ITT CANADA LTD> YEAR NET |
California Micro Devices Corp said an additional 3.2 mln dlrs contract was received from General Dynamics Corp <GD> to supply electronic components contained in the guidance control for Defense Electronics Systems. This contract follows a 750000 dlrs contract awarded last year. Shipments will begin in APril 1987. The company also disclosed that Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd is the licensee of a one mln dlrs technology agreement announced last fall. Reuter | CALIFORNIA MICRO DEVICES <CAMD> IN DEFENSE DEAL |
Stewart INformation Services Corp said it rescheduled its annual meeting to May 18. It had been scheduled for APril 24. Reuter | STEWART INFORMATION RESCHEDULES ANNUAL MEETING |
FIserve Inc said 14 savings and loans with 1.5 billion dlrs in cumulative assets will transfer their data processing to FIserve from Midwest Commerce Data Corp a unit of Midwest Commerce Corp. About one mln dlrs a year in new recurring revenues will be generated for FIserve it said. Reuter | FISERVE <FISV> GETS BUSINESS WORTH ONE MLN DLRS |
Mony Real Estate Investors Trust said its investment portfolio consists of 137.1 mln dlrs of mortgages with an average maturity of less than six years 43.7 mln dlrs of real estate equities and 2.7 mln dlrs of foreclosed real estate. The trusts exposure to oil-dependent regions is limited to 2.2 mln dlrs it said. It said it accepted an offer to sell foreclosed property and increased its loss reserve by 750000 dlrs in anticipation of the sale. Reuter | MONY REAL <MYM> REPORTS PORTFOLIO |
Canadian narrowly-defined money supply M-1 fell 291 mln dlrs to 32.44 billion dlrs in the week ended March 25 Bank of Canada said. M-1-A which is M-1 plus daily interest chequable and non-personal deposits fell 7 mln dlrs to 75.14 billion dlrs and M-2 which is M-1-A plus other notice and personal fixed-term deposits fell 56 mln dlrs to 177.54 billion dlrs. M-3 which is non-personal fixed term deposits and foreign currency deposits of residents booked at chartered banks in Canada rose 321 mln dlrs to 216.67 billion dlrs. Chartered bank general loans outstanding fell 169 mln dlrs to 126.03 billion dlrs. Canadian liquid plus short term assets rose 72 mln dlrs to 36.47 billion dlrs and total Canadian dollar major assets of the chartered banks rose 507 mln dlrs to 224.22 billion dlrs. Chartered bank net foreign currency assets fell 231 mln dlrs to minus 2.00 billion dlrs. Notes in circulation totalled 16.16 billion dlrs up 50 mln dlrs from the week before. Government cash balances fell 1.17 billion dlrs to 4.63 billion dlrs in week ended April 1. Government securities outstanding rose 1.09 billion dlrs to 226.42 billion dlrs in week ended April 1 treasury bills rose 1.35 billion dlrs to 76.95 billion dlrs and Canada Savings Bonds fell 47 mln dlrs to 43.87 billion dlrs. Reuter | CANADIAN MONEY SUPPLY FALLS IN WEEK |
Copley Properties Inc said the company will invest 9500000 dlrs in a joint venture to acquire and develop 33.4 acres of industrial land in Hayward Calif. Copley said it will own 60 pct of the project and be entitled to a 10 pct preferential return on its investment plus 60 pct of all excess cash from operations refinancings and other capital transactions. Reuter | COPLEY PROPERTIES <COP> TO INVEST IN JOINT PACT |
The United Food And Commercial Workers said that more than 1000 rank-and-file members of the union will demonstrate Monday at Dart Group Corps headquarters protesting Darts proposed 1.73 billion dlr takover of Supermarkets General <SGL>. Supermarkets is best known for its Pathmark chain of supermarket drug stores in the New York and New Jersey area and also owns Rickels home centers. The union said that it is firmly against the Dart bid because workers have always ended up with a raw deal in the current takeover mania. A Union statement said: We do not intend to allow our members to pick up the tab for Supermarket Generals executives and the bankers or the Dart Group who stand to make millions. Dart is controlled by the Haft family of Washington which last year made a bid for California-based Safeway Stores Inc. The Hafts lost but walked away with at least 100 mln dlrs in profits analysts estimate. The union said that Darts Safeway bid forced a major restructuring at Safeway to pay the Hafts and their lawyers and caused a loss of thousands of jobs. Reuter | UNION TO PROTEST DART'S SUPERMARKETS <SGL> BID |
Pan Am Corps Pan American World Airways said its load factor rose to 60.6 pct last month from 54.9 pct in March 1986. The airline said its scheduled March traffic increased 14.6 pct to 1.94 billion revenue passenger miles from 1.70 billion last year as available seat miles rose 3.8 pct to 3.21 billion from 3.09 billion. It said the March traffic increase was the third consecutive month of year over year traffic growth for Pan Am. For the first quarter Pan Am said its load factor increased to 56.3 pct from 53.4 pct as scheduled traffic increased 10.2 pct to 5.25 billion miles and available seat miles increased 4.5 pct to 9.32 billion. The airlines said its March scheduled freight ton miles increased 1.5 pct to 53.3 mln from 52.5 mln and was up 0.4 pct for the first quarter to 134.6 mln. Reuter | PAN AM <PN> MARCH LOAD FACTOR ROSE TO 60.6 PCT |
FCS Laboratories Inc said merger discussions with an unnamed privately-held company in the health care field have ended without an agreement. The previously announced negotiations began last August the company said. Its disappointing to spend so much time on these negotiations and have them fail said FCS chairman Nicholas Gallo III. But the discussions could not produce a deal acceptable to our board in the context of the companys stronger financial position today as compared to six months ago. Gallo said FCS will stop actively seeking potential merger partners but will respond to serious inquiries. We are determined to follow our plan to restore this company to profitability he said. To continue actively searching for potential acquirers inherently forces us to postpone the implementation of critical decisions which are part of the plan. The company which has 4475930 common shares outstanding reaffirmed it expects to be profitable in the second half of the fiscal year ending September 30 1987. Reuter | FCS LABORATORIES <FCSI> TERMINATES DEAL TALKS |
The White House said the rise in interest rates was unfortunate in a general sense but reflected market forces. Theres always movement up and down and the basic fact is that we believe the economy is strong and growing and there will always be fluctuations in the interest rate but the economy is sound and in good shape spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said. Citibank raised its prime rate by one quarter of a point and the move was followed by other banks. Reuter | WHITE HOUSE SAYS INTEREST RATES REFLECT MARKET |
Shr loss nine cts Net loss 1.4 mln Revs 630118 dlrs NOTE:Due to change in fiscal year prior 4th qth and year cannot be presented on comparable basis. 1986 loss includes writedowns approximating 1.4 mln dlrs. Reuter | REGAL PETROLEUM LTD <RPLO> YEAR |
Shr 1.1 cts vs 1.7 cts Net 26708 vs 35084 Revs 447548 vs 243161 NOTE:1986 net includes 4300 dlrs gain from tax credit and 1985 includes gain of 8300 dlrs gain from credit. Reuter | CANTERBURY PRESS INC YEAR NOV 30 |
Shr nine cts vs 19 cts Net 188000 vs 362000 Revs 20.4 mln vs 11.3 mln NOTE:1985 restated for reversal of certain tax benefits. 1986 and 1985 reflects preferred stock dividend requirements. Reuter | GRAPHIC MEDIA INC <GMED> YEAR |
 CBT SILVER VOLUME/OPEN INTEREST FOR APRIL 2 VOLUME OPEN-INT CHANGE Apr 714 684 up 516 May 14 36 dn 1 Jun 3097 7109 dn 140 Aug 86 537 up 20 Oct 12 157 up 7 Dec 215 3125 up 56 Feb 3 252 up 1 Apr 28 1275 dn 2 Jun 54 103 up 49 Aug 0 9 unch TTL 4223 13287 up 506 Reuter  | |
 WALL STREET INDICES 1300 NYSE COMPOSITE 168.38 UP 1.62 NYSE INDUSTRIALS 203.81 UP 2.34 S AND P COMPOSITE 296.94 UP 3.31 NYSE-A VOLUME 154525400 AMEX INDEX 338.30 UP 3.06 AMEX-B VOLUME 11343900  | |
Burlington Northern Inc said its Burlington Northern Railroad Co unit reached an agreement in principle to settle a class action lawsuit filed against the company in May 1985 by holders of two series of the companys bonds. It said the settlement arrangement calls for the company to establish a cash settlement fund of 35.5 mln dlrs which would be distributed to the bondholders after deductions for attorneys fees. The lawsuit filed by holders of its four pct Prior Lien bonds due January 1 1997 and its three pct General Lien Bonds due January 1 2047 sought to prevent the release of collateral the company said. If the settlement agreement is approved the trading prices of the bonds will decline substantially because they will no longer reflect the speculative premiums at which the bonds currently trade Burlington Northern also said. It said the settlement is subject to negotiation by Burlington Northern the Citibank N.A. unit of Citicorp <CCI> and Bankers Trust Co <BT> the bonds trustees. Reuter | BURLINGTON <BNI> UNIT SETTLES BONDHOLDER SUIT |
Shr 20 cts vs 20 cts Net 1981000 vs 1689000 Rev 24.7 mln vs 19.6 mln Nine months Shr 59 cts vs 53 cts Net 5855000 vs 4360000 Rev 70.9 mln vs 51.9 mln NOTE: Fiscal 1986 per share data reflects dilutive effect of shares issued for April 1986 convertible debenture conversion. Companys full name is Richarson Electronics Ltd. Reuter | RICHARDSON ELECTRONICS <RELL> 3RD QTR FEB 28 NET |
Shr loss five cts vs profit 72 cts Net loss 79069 vs profit 829737 Revs 14.4 mln vs 14.1 mln NOTE:1985 includes extraordainy credit of 11 cts. Reuter | DIVERSIFIED HUMAN RESROUCES GROUP <HIRE> YEAR |
The Alaska Airlines unit of Alaska Air Group Inc said its March load factor rose to 58.1 pct from 57.3 pct a year earlier but its year-to-date load factor dropped to 51.8 pct from 52.6 pct last year. March revenue passenger miles rose five pct to 225.9 mln from 215.6 mln but year-to-date revenue miles fell one pct to 586.7 mln from 593 mln. Available seat miles for the month totaled 389.1 mln a three pct increase over the 376.1 mln posted for March 1986 and for the year-to-date available miles totaled 1.132 billion compared with 1.128 billion a year earlier Alaska Air said. Reuter | ALASKA AIR <ALK> UNIT HAS HIGHER LOAD FACTOR |
The U.K. Government hopes for a breakthrough on the deadlock with Japan over trade policies during next weeks visit to Tokyo by Corporate Affairs Minister Michael Howard political sources said. Howard who leaves for Japan tomorrow told Reuters he will try to promote understanding on trade issues during his visit. Meanwhile Britain will re-examine a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone promising personal help in solving the row over a U.K. Firms bid to win a significant role in Japans telecommunications market government sources said. Tensions have risen following Britains decision to arm itself early with new statutory powers which it says could be used against certain Japanese financial institutions. Britain reacted optimistically at first to the letter from Nakasone to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher seeing it as a signal that he would work towards ensuring a satisfactory outcome to the bid launched by Cable and Wireless Plc <CAWL.L> government officials said. But this view has since been clouded by reports from Tokyo that Nakasones assurances really constituted little more than politeness in the face of British anger they added. Howard said he would use his trip to push for a bigger role in Japans telecommunications industry for Cable and Wireless Plc. The U.K. Government has made the issue a test case for Japans willingness to open its markets adequately to outside competition. Asked whether the letter from Nakasone was a rejection of attempts by Britain to achieve that Howard said I am not sure it is correct to regard Mr Nakasones letter as a rejection of Mrs Thatchers request of him - and it says he is taking a personal interest in this problem. I dont understand it to be closed at all. Howard added that during his Tokyo visit he would be talking to them about it (the letter) finding out exactly what they do mean about it and making it plain that we take a very serious view of the fact that access to Japanese markets is not as free as we allow access to our markets to be. He noted that under the new Financial Services Act Britain could revoke or deny licences to Japanese banking and insurance institutions in London if U.K. Firms fail to receive similar treatment in financial markets in Japan soon. I hope it wont come to that and I dont think it will Howard added. During the trip Howard will meet officials in the Tokyo Stock Exchange the Ministry of Finance the Trade Ministry and Posts and Telecommunications Minister Shunjiro Karasawa. Karasawa is regarded as behind opposition to any significant role for Cable and Wireless in the Japanese telecommunications industry. Share prices on the London Stock Exchange were undermined again today by fears of a possible U.K./Japanese trade war. This was despite denials by Trade and Industry Secretary Paul Channon that Britain was on the verge of a trade war. He told a meeting of insurance brokers today that Britain believed a sensible solution could be found which would open Japanese markets to British goods. Government officials were at pains today to deny that Britain had set a deadline of three weeks for Japan to promise similar access to its financial markets to U.K.-based financial firms as that enjoyed in London by equivalent Japanese firms. They said that Department of Trade and Industry officials had said yesterday that the measures against Japanese financial institutions could be imposed from then but that this did not necessarily constitute a deadline. Experts believe Britain would lose out by acting against Japanese banks insurance and investment institutions. But despite the danger of Japanese firms taking their trade elsewhere in Europe Howard said he did not expect the move to backfire. He said in a radio interview today it is true that we benefit from their presence - but they would not want to lose those advantages. And I am sure they are making their views plain to the Japanese government on this matter. Howard who will also be visiting South Korea before returning to London on April 11 said his trip to Tokyo was planned well before the current trade row. Howard said his talks with Japanese officials would also include ways of jointly combating financial fraud in global markets with Japanese officials. This would be done through a cooperation between national regulatory bodies. He said a memorandum of understanding for exchanging information to combat financial fraud would be sought with Japan on terms similar to one signed last autumn between Britain and the United States. REUTER | UK MINISTER LOOKS TO EASE TENSION ON TOKYO TRIP |
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