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| 4274,claremont tells sec it seeks pct champion products stake two board seats,0 |
| 2497,avia stockholders seek to block sale to reebok avia group international inc stockholders filed a class a action suit in multnomah county circuit court seeking to halt the sale of avia to reebok international ltd rbok avia stockholders also seek to receive compensation from the defendants who include most of avia directors according to court papers the suit grew out a meeting of several dozen dissatisfied minority stockholders of avia following the announcement of reebok s proposed acquisition of avia and the sudden drop in the price of avia stock the complaint was filed on behalf of clem eischen a portland area resident who owns shares of avia and robert withers also of the portland area who owns shares and other individuals who held stock at the time of reebok s announcement a jury trial has been requested the actions of the small group that contral avia have hurt the little guy said eischen the stockholders according to a statement have organized a steering committee the complaint reviews the price action of avia stock from march and noted the plaintifs who purchased stock between dlrs and dlrs per share the price fell from dlrs to dlrs a share following the reebok announcement the complaint asked the defendants be enjoined from proceeding with the reebok acquisition of avia it also requests damages to be determined at the time of trial avia said it had not seen the court papers and said it had no comment on the suit reuter,0 |
| 385,japan moves to tighten chip export curbs the ministry of international trade and industry miti acted to tighten restrictions on microchip exports to countries other than the u s to preserve a u s japan pact on semiconductor trade but major japanese chipmakers doubt its usefulness a miti spokesman said his ministry had asked chipmakers to issue certificates to specified trading houses stating they are authorised exporters trading houses applying for a miti export licence will be required to show such a certificate but those without it will not automatically be denied licences he said but some industry officials predicted any government measures were likely to have limited effect as long as the world semiconductor market remained weak u s government and industry officials have complained repeatedly that japanese chipmakers continue to sell at below cost to third countries despite the july agreement japanese firms and officials in turn argue the flow of cheap chips to third countries is due to grey market sales by third party brokers who seek to profit from the gap between low prices in japan and higher prices based on production costs and set for japanese makers under the agreement the miti spokesman said if the percentage of grey market is increasing for one specific company it suggests they are distributing their products through their sales network knowing they will be exported by some means in that case we will ask them what they are doing to reduce the figure miti earlier asked makers to cut output of certain chips by pct in first quarter spokesmen for the firms said but they doubt the usefulness of the latest move as long as there is a gap between prices set under the pact and market prices there will be people who want to exploit the gap to make money a hitachi ltd hit t spokesman said reuter,48 |
| 716,grossman s inc gros th qtr loss oper shr loss nine cts vs profit cts oper net loss vs profit sales mln vs mln year oper shr profit cts vs loss cts oper net profit vs loss sales billion vs mln note net includes discontinued operations gain dlrs vs loss mln dlrs in quarter and losses mln dlrs vs mln dlrs in year net includes loss dlrs vs nil in quarter and gain mln dlrs vs loss dlrs in year from settlement of liabilities under plan of reorganization from chapter bankruptcy quarter net includes dlr provision for loss on future store closings offset by reduction in pension liabilities reuter,12 |
| 6279,oshap technologies ltd oshuf year loss shr loss cts vs loss three cts net loss vs loss revs vs avg shrs vs note converted using dec exchange rate of belgian francs to the u s dlr reuter,12 |
| 4748,foreign firms hope to join japan telecom company one of two rival firms seeking to enter japan s international telecommunications market said it will offer a stake in the company to foreign firms president of international telecom japan inc itj nobuo ito decline to specify what share the firms would take but told reuters they would not participate in its management itj and international digital communications planning inc idc in which both cable and wireless plc cawl l and pacific telesis group pac n own pct stakes are set to merge into a new entity to compete against kokusai denshin denwa co ltd kdd the ministry of posts and telecommunications has urged the two rival firms to merge so kdd would have only a single competitor the ministry has also rejected foreign management japan s law limits foreign ownership of any new international telecommunications entrant to pct so c and w s and pacific s stakes could be three pct in the merged firm sources said those seeking to join are general electric co ge n ford motor co f n citibank na bankamerica corp bac nyse shearson lehman bros inc saloman brothers asia boeing computer service unisys corp uis n societe generale and deutsche bank ag dbkg fra the merger plan has been criticised for excluding foreign firms from a meaningful position in the market the u k s prime minister margaret thatcher u s secretary of state george shultz u s commerce secretary malcolm baldrige and u s trade representative clayton yeutter have all expressed such opposition japanese prime minister yasuhiro nakasone will draft a reply to the criticism following further discussion a posts and ministry official said reuter,0 |
| 601,pancanadian to sell british interests pancanadian petroleum ltd said it agreed to sell its working interest in its north sea properties and its british unit canadian pacific oil and gas of canada ltd to whitehall petroleum ltd a private british company pancanadian pct owned by canadian pacific ltd cp said it would receive mln british pounds cash mln canadian dlrs at closing expected in two to three months it said the deal is subject to approval by regulators and its partners in the properties which consist of exploration wells it will also retain a royalty interest in the properties reuter,10 |
| 5264,oppenheimer has six pct of cyclops cyl oppenheimer the brokerage and investment subsidiary of oppenheimer group inc told the securities and exchange commission it has acquired shares of cyclops corp or pct of the total outstanding oppenheimer said it bought the stake in connection with risk arbitrage and other investment activities in the ordinary course of its business it said it has no plans to seek control of the company as of friday dixons group plc had acquired cyclops shares giving it pct of the total reuter,0 |
| 347,pittway corp pry th qtr net shr dlrs vs two dlrs net vs sales mln vs mln year shr dlrs vs dlrs net vs sales mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 185,waste management corp votes two for one stock split and boosts qtly dividend to cts,12 |
| 4791,bank of france leaves money market intervention rate unchanged at pct official,32 |
| 1484,ic gas makes no recommendation on tractebel offer imperial continental gas association icgs l ic gas said its board is not making a recommendation on the partial tender offfer at p per share announced by tractebel sa and groupe bruxelles lambert sa at the same time however the board would not recommend a general offer for all the shares at a price of p the statement added shareholders wondering whether to tender either to the tractebel consortium or to the rival p per share partial offer from shv holdings nv should consult professional advisers reuter,0 |
| 2710,bankamerica bac chair says bank turning around bankamerica corp chairman a w clausen said the bank holding company is turning around and is back on the road to profitability in a speech to the san francisco chamber of commerce clausen said he was absolutely convinced bankamerica would return to its position of preeminence fundamental to achieving that goal is to continue to reduce costs dramatically to get our arms around our loan loss problems and begin to reduce charge offs and to enhance our revenue generation clausen said clausen said he doubts bankamerica would be in a position this year to make any acquisitions or experience any growth he said bankamerica will continue to reduce staff and operations noting that expense growth in increased only one pct over expenses clausen also said it will continue to phase out its overseas retail banking and concentrate on wholesale banking with emphasis on a premium list of multinational corporations reuter,12 |
| 5209,cocoa deal seen positive but no price guarantee the buffer stock rules agreement reached on friday by the international cocoa organization icco is an improvement on previous arrangements but the price support mechanism is unlikely to do more than stem the decline in cocoa prices many icco delegates and trade sources said the accord was reached between producers and consumers of the member icco council after two weeks of talks european chocolate manufacturers and delegates said the accord may boost cocoa prices immediately but world surpluses overhanging the market will pull prices down again before long if the buffer stock operation is successful i doubt it will do anything more than stop the price from falling further and it will have no relevance at all to retail chocolate prices a european dealer said and if the buffer stock manager delays too long in buying or is not seen to be using his purchasing power when the market is relying on him to do so the bearish trade reaction could pressure prices dramatically dealers said the buffer stock is the market regulating tool of the icco into which cocoa can be bought or from which it can be sold to manoeuvre prices into a pre set stabilization range a new cocoa agreement came into force in january but delegates could not agree buffer stock rules at that time the new rules take effect immediately the buffer stock manager is expected to begin buying cocoa within the next three weeks after organizing communications with cocoa producing countries and assessing the market since prices are below the must buy level of special drawing rights per tonne specified in the agreement the sources said the buffer stock theoretically has funds to buy a maximum tonnes within a five week period but its approach will be more cautious buffer stock manager juergen plambeck said the buffer stock has around mln dlrs in funds and a buying limit of tonnes of cocoa tonnes of which are already in the buffer stock icco council chairman and ivorian agriculture minister denis bra kanon said the new rules have a good chance of stabilizing prices ivory coast is the world s largest cocoa producer we have established rules which will permit us to withdraw immediately the surplus of cocoa on the world market bra kanon told reporters after the council adjourned bra kanon reckoned the world cocoa surplus could be less than half the tonnes estimated by the icco statistics committee however some producer and consumer members emerged from the final icco council meeting with reservations about the pact ghana whose high quality cocoa is the world s most expensive and provides pct of the country s export earnings made a formal protest to the council about the price differentials assigned to its cocoa saying they were too high for ghanaian cocoa to be bought for the buffer stock according to consumer spokesman peter baron of west germany consumers weren t perfectly happy with the buffer stock rules we reached a very sensitive compromise there were no real winners or losers some european community delegates were not satisfied that important points were fully discussed during the talks and as a result doubted the rules can deal with world surpluses as effectively as they could have delegates said under the new rules the buffer stock manager would seek offers of different origin cocoas using price differentials to reflect different qualities non icco member cocoa can comprise up to pct of the total buffer stock london cocoa prices traded today around stg per tonne down from around stg in january and stg in january a cocoa withholding scheme can take a further tonnes of cocoa off the market if a special council session decides market conditions warrant it according to the agreement the withholding scheme can only be used if prices fall below the sdr lower intervention price for more than five days and if pct of the maximum buffer stock capacity has been filled or if the buffer stock runs low on funds it says the icco will discuss withholding scheme rules at an executive committee meeting on june icco officials said reuter,4 |
| 3138,robbins and myers inc robn nd qtr feb net shr profit cts vs loss dlrs net profit vs loss sales mln vs mln first half shr loss cts vs loss dlrs net loss vs loss sales mln vs mln avg shrs vs backlog mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 4014,supermarkets general corp th qtr cts vs cts,12 |
| 2621,gencorp gy st qtr feb net shr cts vs cts net mln vs mln sales mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 1345,ussr to cut coal price for japanese steelmills the soviet union has agreed to cut its coking coal export prices to japanese steel mills by about five dlrs a tonne in starting april in exchange for an increase in export volume industry sources said the prices were set at dlrs a tonne for neryungrinsky coal and at dlrs for kuznetsky coal fob japan will import a total of mln tonnes from both areas up from mln a year earlier they said the steelmakers had asked moscow to agree to a cutback to mln tonnes in but the soviet union urged japan to increase the amount to mln they said reuter,24 |
| 6110,holiday hia recapitalization approved 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 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,12 |
| 2287,cuba sugar crop seen at least same as last year cuban sugar export figures for january suggest that this year s crop may be at least as large as last year s mln tonnes according to sugar analysts exports in january totalled tonnes raw value up from a year earlier according to figures received by the international sugar organization january is the first major export month and the figures thus give a good indication of the current crop they said fourth quarter exports fell to tonnes from tonnes a year earlier but this was because cuba was destocking at the end of they added trade house c czarnikow recently estimated production this year at mln tonnes cuban sugar production in the third quarter of was tonnes giving a final crop total of mln tonnes compared with a crop of mln tonnes there is normally no third quarter production in cuba but a hurricane meant that last year s crop was extended exports to the ussr were substantially down in january at tonnes from in january but other comecon countries received tonnes against tonnes in the same month last year figures received by the iso show bulgaria czechoslovakia poland and romania all took substantially more cuban sugar cuba s november exports totalled tonnes compared with tonnes in and december s total was tonnes down from tonnes the year before calendar year exports for were also lower at mln tonnes against mln in the lowest level since s mln tonnes the figures show reuter,45 |
| 4604,pantera s pant to buy ten pizza restaurants pantera s corp said it agreed to buy ten pizza restaurants in southeastern colorado from creditors foreclosing on the facilities the purchase price includes mln dlrs in cash and company stock it said separately pantera s said it issued an area development agreement with a franchisee group for northeastern colorado including the denver area for the opening of about franchised pantera s pizza restaurants reuter,0 |
| 2562,banks see german growth of at least two pct external risks for the economy have increased but growth of two to pct this year is still possible according to president of the west german federation of banks hanns christian schroeder hohenwarth schroeder hohenwarth told a news conference the further fall of the dollar since the start of this year and the revaluation of the mark against european currencies meant west german exporters were facing a rough wind however domestic demand was continuing to rise and private consumption in particular would support the economy he said he saw good prospects for consumer industries schroeder hohenwarth said economic policy now had to concentrate on strengthening this domestic growth in this context he welcomed a decision by the government to increase the scope of tax cuts due in he added a planned reform of the fiscal system scheduled for which was worked out by coalition partners this month was an important step in the right direction the government plans to cut corporation tax to pct from pct however schroeder hohenwarth said the decision to cut the maximum rate of income tax to only pct from pct was rather half hearted reuter,15 |
| 2833,gulf resources gre sees st qtr pretax profit gulf resources and chemical corp said the sale of its stake in imperial continental gas association will result in a pre tax profit of about mln dlrs or dlrs per share fully duliuted in the first quarter of gulf said it sold its remaining stake in imperial of shares and units of loan stock for mln dlrs based on an exchange rate of one pound sterling at dlr as previously reported it sold of its imperial shares on march nine gulf said the sale of the imperial shares were accepted as part of a recent tender offer made by groupe bruxelles lambert s a and tractebel s a under the terms of the offer gulf said it is entitled to receive a supplementary payment if a general offer to acquire imperial continental or its calor group or contibel holdings becomes wholly unconditional before jan at a price above the tender off of pence per share reuter,12 |
| 1468,investor has technology development tdcx stake leon greenblatt a chicago investor told the securities and exchange commission he has acquired shares of technology development corp or pct of the total outstanding common stock greenblatt said he bought the stock for dlrs soley as an investment and has no intention of seeking control of the company reuter,0 |
| 5490,capital bancorp capb sees gain on unit sale capitol bancorp said it has sold its pct interest in cap mortgage co inc for mln dlrs adding this is expected to result in an after tax gain of about dlrs to be reported in the first quarter capitol bancorp said the cap mortgage interest was sold to michael m bronstein president of cap mortgage and robert fox president of fox properties inc bronstein already held the other pct of cap mortgage s stock reuter,12 |
| 5381,bull and bear group inc bnbga year end dec shr loss cts vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs vs reuter,12 |
| 3736,freeport mcmoran oil and gas fmr payout rises mthly div cts vs cts prior pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 2877,dudley taft raises bid for taft broadcasting tfb dudley taft and narragansett capital inc said it was prepared to raise its bid to acquire taft broadcasting co to more than dlrs per share taft through theta co sent and letter to taft s board of directors stating he was committed to purchasing the broadcasting company and was ready to discuss all aspects of the purchase the company said items to be discussed included price structure and form of consideration taft said he was prepared to negotiate a transaction in which taft broadcast shareholders would receive in excess of dlrs per share reuter,0 |
| 6317,freedom savings and loan ass n frdm year end shr loss dlrs vs loss dlrs net loss mln vs loss mln note loss includes operating loss of mln dlrs or dlrs a share including an additional loan loss provision of mln dlrs write downs in the value of real estate of mln dlrs and an extraordinary loss of mln dlrs for early retirement of long term debt reuter,12 |
| 2445,pearson concentrates on four sectors pearson plc pson l said the recent sale of its fairey engineering companies in a mln stg management buy out was part of its policy of concentrating on four key sectors in a statement with its results the company said its information and entertainments sector s financial times ft newspaper had record sales and profits the ft is subject to a mln stg investment programme with the printing and publishing operation moving to a new plant in the london docklands next year its other key sectors are merchant banking oil and china commenting on its camco inc oil service subsidiary pearson said it believes the oil business setback is only temporary the group has been acquiring oil properties in both the u s and britain which will begin to make a significant impact on profits in the s far east operations of fine china subsidiary royal doulton ltd are being expanded in the wake of record recent sales in japan it added pearson reported pre tax profit of mln stg up from mln in turnover fell to mln from mln reuter,12 |
| 4716,penobscot shoe co pso st qtr feb net shr cts vs six cts net vs revs vs note current qtr net includes a gain of dlrs mostly from the sale of securities and property reuter,12 |
| 362,cantrex unit to merge with ontario group groupe cantrex inc said it plans to merge a new wholly owned subsidiary a merger agreement with cap appliance purchasers inc of woodstock ontario a group of about appliance and electronics retailers it said cap shareholders will receive first preferred groupe cantrex shares entitling the holders to receive dlrs per share or the equivilant in class a subordinate voting cantrex shares the merger is effective april one and is subject to shareholder approval reuter,0 |
| 5769,careplus inc cpls th qtr net shr loss nil vs profit nil net loss vs profit revs up pct year shr profit four cts vs profit five cts net profit vs profit revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs note year net includes tax credits of dlrs vs dlrs net both periods includes charge dlrs from settlement of overtime wage dispute and addition to provision for uncollectible accounts reuter,12 |
| 859,firs slightly raises ec beet sugar output estimate the french sugar market intervention board firs raised its estimate of beet sugar production in the member european community to mln tonnes white equivalent in its end february report from mln a month earlier its forecast for total ec sugar production including cane and molasses rose to mln tonnes from mln portugal which joined the community in january was estimated at mln tonnes white equivalent unchanged from the previous forecast and compared with mln tonnes for production for the current campaign in spain was higher than reported last month at mln tonnes compared with tonnes beet sugar production expressed as white equivalent was estimated at mln tonnes in france mln tonnes in west germany mln in italy mln in britain mln in the netherlands tonnes in belgium luxembourg in denmark in greece in ireland and in portugal reuter,45 |
| 862,u s tells japan to do more to cut trade surplus u s undersecretary of state for economic affairs allen wallis said he had urged japan to do much more to reduce its large trade surplus with the united states our central message to japan this week was that while we have made progress in some areas much needs to be done he told a press conference after three days of talks what we need is a resolution of trade issues we need visible efforts to restructure the economy to encourage more imports and we need greater domestic led growth forecasting sluggish economic growth in japan this year wallis urged tokyo to stimulate domestic demand to help reduce its trade surplus which hit a record billion dlrs in he named several areas of particular concern to washington computer microchips supercomputers kansai airport agricultural products and car telephones he warned that the u s japan agreement governing trade in semiconductors was in jeopardy despite the pact japanese producers are still dumping microchips in foreign markets other than the united states while u s penetration of the japanese market has not increased he said reuter,48 |
| 6364,bundesbank sets day securities repurchase tender at fixed pct,32 |
| 2239,nortek inc ntk sets quarterlies qtly div common cts vs cts prior qtly div special common one ct vs one ct pay may eight record april three reuter,12 |
| 4220,major nations must act on currencies miyazawa finance minister kiichi miyazawa said the time has come for major industrialised nations to take action on exchange rates in line with their agreement last month in paris in paris britain canada france japan the u s and west germany agreed to coooperate to hold currency rates around their then current levels miyazawa would not say what specific measures major nations would take but told reporters the measures had been discussed in paris the dollar fell to a record low against the yen this morning piercing the yen barrier asked if major nations were now negotiating on what measures to take miyazawa said they were not as measures had already been agreed in paris reuter,32 |
| 5355,bilzerian ups pay n pak pnp stake to pct investor paul bilzerian who has said he may seek control of pay n pak stores inc said he raised his stake in the company to one mln shares or pct of the total from shares or pct in a filing with the securities and exchange commission bilzerian and bicoastal financial corp a tampa fla investment firm he controls said they bought shares of pay n pak common stock on march and at prices ranging from to dlrs a share bilzerian last week said he was considering raising his stake in the company seeking a board seat or control reuter,0 |
| 4161,chicago futures leader says markets can adapt foreign currency futures markets would not be harmed if the leading industrial countries agreed to restrict currency movements to within a narrow band said leo melamed chairman of the chicago mercantile exchange s cme executive committee the target zone would not affect our market i think at all a pct range in the deutsche mark gives us a healthy market melamed told reuters in an interview we were willing to live in the old smithsonian era with a four pct shift he said referring to permitted currency fluctuations in the early s one thing you can adjust is to make each contract a larger value as chairman of the cme in melamed was instrumental in the development of currency futures which now are crucial to the chicago exchange melamed said capital flows which he estimated can approach billion dlrs a day would overwhelm efforts by governments to control currency fluctuations they can do it for a day in terms of intervention an hour a week maybe but not over a period of time so it s unrealistic and it doesn t work and it s unnecessary the cme s top policymaker also said a decision by the exchange to advance the quarterly settlement time of its stock index futures contract to the morning from the afternoon would help eliminate dramatic price gyrations in futures and equity markets on so called triple witching day we think that the settlement in the morning will have a salutary effect so that over a longer period of time i think this issue triple witching will go away because of the change in the structure as of next june when the move is scheduled to go into effect he said melamed said proposed changes in floor practices by traders of the popular standard and poor s stock index future would address complaints of trading abuses and stimulate trading two weeks ago the cme board of directors proposed barring brokers on the top step of the pit from trading for their own account the board also proposed requiring brokers engaged in dual trading elsewhere in the pit to record personal trades to the nearest minute and curbing trading between broker groups the changes will in time have an extremely positive effect on the marketplace that s going to prove very very instrumental in increasing volume over time he said predicting the increase would come within a year melamed also chairman of dellsher investment co inc said the cme last week withdrew a proposal to put a point limit on the s and p index s daily price movement when the commodity futures trading commission told the exchange it could not be a temporary program the cme also received many negative comments many more than we anticipated melamed conceded many futures commission merchants predicted sell orders would accelerate in the event the price approached the bottom limit reuter,32 |
| 1320,continental federal conf holder to sell stake continental federal savings and loan association said it was told that an estate holding pct of its stock plans to sell its stake at a premium over the current stock price continental said the estate of harold vernon and certain parties have signed a letter of intent to sell the stock for dlrs a share for a total of about dlrs continental s stock closed at seven in over the counter trading the thrift said the buyer is bac inc a corporation acting for certain unindentified parties reuter,0 |
| 2842,owens corning ocf completes sale of plants owens corning fiberglas corp said it has completed the previously announced sale of its three foam products plants to atlas roofing corp for undisclosed terms the sale is part of its restructuring the company said reuter,0 |
| 1282,bell and howell bhw completes sale of unit bell and howell co said it completed the sale of its computer output microfilm business to com products inc a unit of privately held lebow industries inc the sum of the deal was not disclosed the unit makes a device that prints data directly from a computer onto microfilm reuter,0 |
| 5063,multivest mvst ends merger talks sets purchase multivest corp said it has ended talks on oryx capital corp s possible acqusition of multivest and is starting an offer of dlrs a share for all the oustanding shares of t b c industries inc multivest said its t b c tender offer is scheduled to expire april reuter,0 |
| 626,florida commercial banks inc flbk qtly div qtly div cts vs cts prior payable march record march reuter,12 |
| 2078,ipco corp ihs sets regular payout qtrly div nine cts vs nine cts prior pay may record april reuter,12 |
| 3482,ec ministers agree need for big steel closures european community ec industry ministers today declared there is a need for a massive round of closures of steel plants to bring capacity in the country bloc into reasonable balance with demand the ministers were meeting to discuss a plan for voluntary plant closures drawn up by the industry lobby group eurofer which it calculates would cost around jobs diplomats said that in their initial reactions to the scheme most ministers declared it was a useful basis for discussion but did not go nearly far enough eurofer says it has identified scope for the closure of plants which have an annual capacity of mln tonnes provided the companies concerned can be fully repaid by the ec or national governments for redundancy and other social costs but ec executive commission sources said industry commissioner karl heinz narjes told ministers today that mln tonnes of annual capacity was excess to requirements and should be closed by the end of he said the eurofer plan in particular fails to pinpoint the scope for closure in heavy hot rolled wide strip products typically produced in plants employing thousands of people the sources said no minister challenged narjes analysis that four or five hot rolled wide strip lines would have to close they said ministers agreed that the eurofer plan should be expanded and developed through meetings among the industry body the commission and representatives of member states however diplomats said it was clear from today s discussions that such meetings will be difficult they said member states are split on whether to reduce the scope of a quota production system which at present protects ec steelmakers from the full force of competition for pct of their products while talks on the closure plan proceed it was also clear that there will be tough talks on which ec member states should bear the brunt of the closures and on how much funding for help to those thrown out of work should come from community coffers german minister martin bangemann said his country s steel industry the largest in the ec should not suffer proportionately more than others german sources said but british diplomats said their minister giles shaw insists that the profitability of companies should be taken into account the state owned british steel corporation benefitting from massive recent write offs of its accumulated debts is currently one of the few ec steel companies in the black ministers were this afternoon trying to agree a joint statement on the eurofer plan and the situation in the industry reuter,24 |
| 3255,children s discovery cdcra th qtr loss shr loss cts vs profit six cts net loss vs profit revs vs mths shr loss cts vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs mln vs note th qtr loss reflects dlrs of non recurring expenses related to senior management changes full name of company is children s discovery centers of america inc reuter,12 |
| 1411,u s mint seeking lbs zinc the u s mint said it is seeking offers on lbs of special high grade zinc that it intends to purchase it said selling offers will be due at hrs est march the mint said two increments of lbs each are for delivery the weeks of april and april to ball corp greeneville tenn and two increments of lbs each are to be delivered the weeks of april and april to lasalle rolling mills lasalle ill firms in submitting offers may elect to receive payment from the mint by standard check or by wire transfer awards will be based on whichever method is most cost advantageous to the goverment at the time the awards are determined the offers will have a minimum acceptance period of calendar days the mint said reuter,51 |
| 5320,bass group says it has had talks on seeking control of taft broadcasting,0 |
| 5739,mitsubishi heavy c itoh to sell triguna stakes mitsubishi heavy industries ltd mith t mhi and c itoh and co ltd citt t have decided to sell their combined pct stake in indonesia s pt triguna utama machinery industries to caterpillar tractor co spokesmen for the two japanese companies said triguna set up in is owned pct by mhi and pct by c itoh and pct by an indonesian company it makes about forklift trucks and a similar number of excavators each month in technological cooperation with mhi the spokesmen said the sale results from an expected restructuring later this year of the caterpillar mhi joint venture japanese company caterpillar mitsubishi ltd formed in they said the venture will be renamed shin caterpillar mitsubishi ltd and capitalised at billion yen it will still be owned equally by mhi and caterpillar and will be set up with the aim of centralising mhi s excavator business reuter,0 |
| 2419,german banking authorities weigh swap regulations german banking authorities are weighing rules for banks off balance sheet activities in an attempt to cope with the growing volume of sophisticated capital market instruments banking sources said interest rate and currency swaps and currency options are under closest scrutiny and if revisions are made they may resemble regulation jointly proposed by the u s and u k to japan juergen becker director of the bundesbank s division of banking law and credit supervision said the u s british proposals were interesting but declined to elaborate but banking sources said west germany was more likely to produce its own conclusions than to adopt foreign proposals there is no formal plan yet but talks are in the latter stages one representative of the german banking association in cologne said bankers expect rule changes this year all alterations must be approved by the bundesbank west germany s four major banking associations and the federal banking supervisory office talks have been slowed by the fact that fundamental changes would require a revision of germany s credit law which has been in effect since authorities favour reinterpreting the credit law to fit present circumstances in order to avoid the long parliamentary political process of changing it banking sources said since the beginning of the banking law has limited banks lending to times shareholders equity plus reserves on a consolidated basis but lending ratios do not extend to several newer instruments such as spot and forward currency contracts currency and interest swaps commercial paper programs currency options interest rate futures in foreign currencies and various innovative types of interest rate hedges the sources said the main value of the u s u k proposals lay in differentiating between different types of risk factor and for instance in placing greater weight on currency swaps than interest swaps but even if german banking authorities agree with some of the assessments of swaps they disagree on how to find balance sheet equivalents for the risk u s british proposals include a complicated series of formulae for assessing the stream of payments involved in swaps whose ultimate risk is borne by the financial intermediary especially when counterparties remain anonymous this is the so called market to market value but german authorities are likely to consider this much too complex and to base their evaluation instead on a schedule of lending ratings assigned according to the creditworthiness of the borrowers involved the sources said the weightings also likely if lending ratios are extended to include banks securities portfolios are zero for public authorities pct for domestic banks pct for foreign banks and pct for other foreign and non bank borrowers a further complication is that the more flexible definitions of equity allowed in the u s and the u k may put german banks at a competitive disadvantage the sources said stricter definitions here also mean the use of a version of the u s u k proposals could far exceed the intent of the u s and british authorities the sources said one specialist for dresdner bank ag said a long dated foreign exchange forward transaction could for instance be brought under the same rule as a cross currency swap despite the fact that the risk may be entirely different how new regulations will affect foreign banks here was uncertain many have converted to full subsidiary status and applied for a full banking licence over the last two years in order to lead manage mark eurobonds but as their equity capital is fairly small tight lending ratios will severely hamper foreign banks freedom of movement particularly in the growing business of currency swaps if they are required to include more transactions in the balance sheet the sources added reuter,32 |
| 2791,talking point copper stocks copper shares which have lagged behind the market should pick up steam this year on stronger demand and improving prices for the metal analysts said copper prices should move up over the next four to six quarters said daniel roling of merrill lynch and co mer i see average copper prices at cts a pound in up from around or cts based on tight supply and continued world economic growth other analysts see metal prices ranging from to cts a pound this year and to cts in analysts said phelps dodge corp pd will be a strong performer because it is the largest u s copper producer but asarco inc ar with about pct of total sales from copper and newmont mining corp nem are also potential winners they said newmont is spinning off pct of its copper operations to its shareholders in theory phelps is the best stock it s the purest play and benefits most from higher copper prices one said william siedenburg of smith barney harris upham and co said phelps has lowered costs and streamlined mining operations they ve accomplished a great deal he said the company s move into carbon black a product used in tires should provide steady earnings although not rapid growth as a hedge against a copper downturn siedenburg said he estimates phelps will earn dlrs in and dlrs in including tax benefits versus dlrs in other analysts including clarence morrison of dean witter reynolds inc and merrill s roling also recommend phelps morrison projects phelps will earn dlrs in and four dlrs in while roling sees earnings at dlrs this year and around dlrs next year the stock can go to the mid s roling said from its current level of around but others see it climbing to their phelps dodge costs are so low they don t need copper prices higher than cts to make a lot of money said vahid fathi of prescott ball and turben inc the shares will outperform the market over the next months he said but nick toufexis of prudential bache securities inc says newmont mining is a more attractive investment we d rather place our bets with newmont any way you slice it i see a significant premium to the current stock price he said after the spinoff which closes next month newmont will have gold operations including pct of newmont gold co ngc a pct stake in its copper unit and energy operations toufexis noted analysts see newmont earning dlrs to three dlrs in and about dlrs in versus earnings of about dlrs from operations in i d be buying up to toufexis said last week when the stock rose sharply to near that level but the shares are probably worth about dlrs each dean witter s morrison and fathi of prescott ball like asarco because of cost cutting and restructuring morrison sees earnings at dlrs and at against losses in fathi projects asarco will earn one dlr in and from three dlrs to dlrs in roling of merrill lynch is recommending cyprus minerals co cypm in addition to phelps dodge cyprus has interests in coal and other minerals aside from copper but siedenburg of smith barney thinks cyprus is overpriced at current levels i would be willing to sell cyprus and buy phelps dodge if i were picking one copper stock he said reuter,6 |
| 4111,french economic council pessimistic on growth france s economic and social council ces an advisory body comprising industrialists trade unionists and representatives of other sectors of the french economy said the country s annual growth may not reach two pct in french gross domestic product risks not reaching the two pct growth registered last year the council said in a report on first quarter economic activity without giving any specific forecasts finance minister edouard balladur was quoted today as saying that french growth will probably be about two pct balladur said in an interview with the financial daily les echos that the country s economic growth will probably be about the same as last year due to a less favourable international environment ces president philippe neeser said one of the major fears for the french economy this year was a resurge in inflation disinflation was an absolute priority neeser told journalists adding that a failure to do this would be extremely serious as if would be very difficult to reverse for many years reuter,15 |
| 1711,fed adds reserves via customer repurchases the federal reserve entered the u s government securities market to arrange two billion dlrs of customer repurchase agreements a fed spokesman said dealers said federal funds were trading at pct when the fed began its temporary and indirect supply of reserves to the banking system reuter,32 |
| 3028,lawson expects interest rate fall soon u k chancellor of the exchequer nigel lawson said he expected british interest rates to fall soon in response to his fiscal budget but he did not say by how much i would be very surprised if there is not a very early further fall in interest rates lawson said in a radio interview analysts said they foresaw u k base rates falling as early as today by as much as one full percentage point after lawson s announcement yesterday that the public sector borrowing requirement in fiscal and was to fall to pct of gdp or some four billion stg british banks base lending rates fell a half percentage point on march to the current pct reuter,22 |
| 2107,safeguard scientific sfe in equity deal safeguard scientifics inc said it made a mln dlr equity investment in sanchez computer associates inc a private computer software firm based in malvern pa safeguard said the investment gives it a major ownership position in sanchez which specializes in software products for financial institutions reuter,0 |
| 6209,fhlbb changes short term discount note rates the federal home loan bank board adjusted the rates on its short term discount notes as follows maturity new rate old rate maturity days pct pct days days pct pct days days pct pct days days pct pct days reuter,22 |
| 388,sweden has current payments surplus in sweden had a current balance of payments surplus of billion crowns compared with a deficit of billion the preceding year according to preliminary figures from the central bank the december current account had a mln crowns deficit against a yearago mln deficit december trade balance was billion surplus against yearago two billion the trade balance showed a surplus of billion crowns compared with a billion surplus in the bank said reuter,2 |
| 1969,knoll to buy american savings aaa shares american savings and loan association of florida said knoll international holdings inc has offered to purchase new shares of american savings for mln dlrs and the board has accepted knoll s offer knoll already owns shares or pct of american savings american savings said the purchase will resolve a previously announced disagreement between american savings and the federal home loan bank of atlanta on the replacement of the capital american savings used to repurchase common shares in january from former chairman marvin l warner it said completion of the transaction would give knoll pct ownership in american savings american savings said knoll also had talks with chairman of the executive committee shepard broad and chairman morris broad on the purchase of their american savings shares as well at dlrs each but no agreement was reached american savings said the company said knoll s offer to buy the new shares is not conditioned on other purchase of common stock from any person or entity it said its previously announced engagement of salomon inc sb to evaluate alternatives to enhance shareholder values including the possible sale of american savings is still being actively pursued reuter,0 |
| 3356,czarnikow expects lower european sugar output european sugar output on the basis of three year average yields will be over half a mln tonnes white value down on last year although yields do vary widely from year to year broker c czarnikow said in its market review european community sowings are likely to be down compared with last year there have been suggestions these sowings might respond to the recent upsurge in world prices but czarnikow said it is not the sort of fact that easily becomes known the broker bases its forecasts on licht planting estimates which put w germany the netherlands and ussr lower but hungary romania poland turkey and yugoslavia higher czarnikow s projections in mlns tonnes white value and three differing yields include max aver min france w germany ec w europe poland ussr e europe all europe reuter,45 |
| 5892,horn hardart hor unit disposes restaurants horn and hardart co said it disposed of bojangles chicken n biscuits restaurants in florida as part of its previously announced retrenchment of its bojangles subsidiary terms were not disclosed the company said the restaurants in orlando tampa and jacksonville markets have incurred the majority of bojangles operating losses over the last two years due to the transaction horn and hardart is projecting a positive cash flow for the unit for the remainder of fiscal a spokesman said the disposition consists of a combination of sale lease and re franchise agreements the transaction involves one quarter of the company owned bojangles restaurants and is in accordance with its restructuring program announced in october a spokesman said the company is considering the sale or spinoff of the company owned additional restaurants which are profitable the company said the disposition will result in no profit or loss for the company because the costs were anticipated in a mln dlr reserve taken in the third quarter of the foodservice division which includes burger king arby s and tony roma s had a pre tax operating loss of mln dlrs in including the mln dlr charge to restructure bojangles excluding bojangles the group had revenues of mln dlrs the company said that pursuant to the restructuring it has cut general and administrative expenses attributable to bojangle by pct reuter,0 |
| 6089,electromedics inc elmd year net shr profit nil vs loss three cts net profit vs loss revs mln vs avg shrs mln vs mln backlog vs note current year net includes tax credit of dlrs reuter,12 |
| 2060,cytrx cytr unit buys swedish company cytrx corp said its pct owned cytrx biopool ltd subsidiary has acquired biopool ab of umea sweden for undisclosed terms it said former shareholders of biopool ab own the remaining pct in cytrx biopool ltd biopool ab develops cardiovascular and fibrinolytic products for diagnostic applications the company said cytrx biopool is studying the possible combination of cytrx corp s rheothrx drug to reduce platelet aggregation and viscosity in blood with biopool ab s drug t pa for dissolving blood clots reuter,0 |
| 6124,anz bank to cut australian prime rate to pct australia and new zealand banking group ltd anza s said it will lower its australian prime lending rate to pct from effective april the cut is the second announced by the bank in the last week following a cut from 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 to pct including those of the other three majors reuter,22 |
| 1077,unicorp uac lincoln in definitve pact unicorp american corp said it signed a definitive agreement to acquire lincoln savings bank fsb under terms of the agreement announced in january lincoln would be acquired by a unit of unicorp which is minority owned by lincoln president alton marshall the acquisition will take place through a voluntary conversion of lincoln to a federally chartered stock savings bank from a mutual federal savings bank in connection with the conversion unicorp will contribute mln dlrs in cash to lincoln reuter,0 |
| 4051,icco puts world cocoa surplus tonnes vs in delegates,4 |
| 720,energy california oil production drilling for oil in california is likely to continue at last year s sharply reduced levels despite recent gains in crude oil prices industry analysts said because much of the crude oil in california fields is thick heavy and expensive to extract oil prices would have to increase to near s levels before any significant recovery is seen in drilling they said companies will probably only drill their best prospects said john curti an analyst with birr wilson securities inc few new wells now are being drilled only rigs about one quarter of the total available were drilling for oil onshore in california last week compared to about last year said bill bolster of munger oil information services which tracks california drilling activity it s in the dregs right now said bolster of the state s drilling activity current prices are not enough to justify increased drilling said ed malmgreen of the california independent producers association while an organization of petroleum exporting countries pact to curb production boosted oil prices early this year prices eventually fell prices for california s marker grade line blend have slumped about pct in the last month to dlrs from a high of about dlrs more than half of california s oil comes from stripper wells those producing less than barrels a day and that much of that oil costs between and dlrs a barrel to extract malmgreen said it s not unusual for a stripper well to cost dlrs malmgreen said many stripper wells along the southern california coast produce eight times as much water as crude oil and inland wells frequently require the use of steam injection to spur extraction of the thick heavy oil he said the outlook for future production in california is clouded by a lack of exploratory drilling now analysts said in the heart of california s oil patch kern county which produces about two thirds of the state s oil exploratory drilling has slowed to a crawl only exploratory wells were drilled in kern county in compared to in according to david mitchell of the state energy commission so far this year only five exploratory wells have been drilled i don t think they ll even get to what they did last year mitchell said no pickup in exploratory drilling is likely for the rest of the decade mitchell said along with the fall in drilling has come a decrease in the number of producing wells and overall production between february and october of the number of producing oil wells in california fell pct to from more than said bill guerard of the california energy commission in line with that decrease california s crude oil output fell about pct last year due to low oil prices and is expected to remain at that lower level analysts said between february and october california s crude oil production slipped from an all time high of mln barrels per day to mln bpd guerard said total estimated crude oil production in california for was mln bbls compared with mln bbls in and mln bbl in according to the california department of conservation production in will probably hold around levels guerard said reuter,10 |
| 4963,white house unit decides on semiconductors the white house economic policy council made a recommendation to president reagan whether to retaliate against japan for alleged unfair practices in semiconductor trade u s officials said they would not disclose the council s recommendation but the officials said earlier it was likely the council would call for retaliation and urge that curbs be imposed on japanese exports to the united states the officials said it might be several days before reagan would act and his moves made public the senate last week unanimously called on reagan to impose penalities on japanese exports retaliation was also called for by the semiconductor industry and its chief trade union both hard hit by japanese semiconductor trade in a pact last summer japan summer agreed to stop dumping its semiconductors at less than cost in the united states and other nations and to open its own market to the u s products in return the united states agreed to hold up imposing anti dumping duties on japanese semiconductor shipments u s officials say that while japan has stopped dumping semiconductors on the american market they have continued to dump them in third countries and that the japanese market has remained all but closed to the u s semiconductors semiconductors on the american market they have continued to dump them in third countries and that the japanese market has remained all but closed to the u s semiconductors reuter,48 |
| 4395,nashua nsh to purchase private disc maker nashua corp said it signed a letter of intent to purchase lin data corp a private manufacturer of high capacity rigid discs for storage of computer data under the terms of the letter nashua said it will acquire all classes of lin stock for mln dlrs in addition it said it will loan lin dlrs to support its operations the closing of the sale is set for the second quarter of the company said reuter,0 |
| 6034,sanwa bank looks to securities world operations the sanwa bank ltd s three year business plan foresees securities and international operations making a greater contribution to operating profits a bank official said the bank s plan also emphasises retail and medium and small sized business operations he told reuters officials at fuji bank ltd and mitsubishi bank ltd outlined similar three year plans they said lower interest rates and financial liberalisation have cut profits from dealings with big firms to nearly nothing they don t need us they can do their own financing one official said sanwa bank s plan forecasts that securities and international operations will contribute pct of total operating profits by the end of the fiscal year ending march compared with pct in fiscal the sanwa official said reuter,12 |
| 1689,major realty corp majr th qtr loss shr loss cts vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs vs year shr loss cts vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs vs reuter,12 |
| 2472,bluefield supply bfld in liquidating payout bluefield supply co said its board declared its second liquidating dividend of dlrs per share payable march to shareholders of record march the company paid an initial liquidating dividend of dlrs per share on january eight reuter,12 |
| 2039,purolator pcc director quits over buyout a purolator courier corp director resigned from the company s board saying he plans to take steps to make or find an offer that tops the mln dlr buyout deal already accepted by purolator s board the company said the director doresy gardner resigned in a march letter to the purolator board which was included in a filing made by the company to the securities and exchange commission gardner noted that the terms of the merger agreement in which the company would bought out by a group of its managers and e f hutton lbo inc bar directors from taking action to solicit initiate or encourage acquisition proposals i as a shareholder wish to solicit initiate or encourage such an offer or indication of interest and believe therefore that i should resign as a director of the corporation gardner said in the letter accordingly i hereby resign as a director of purolator courier corp effective immediately he said gardner said he believes shareholders could get a better deal than the buyout offer if the company would agree to be sold to some other entity or if it could sell off all or part of its u s courier division on march another purolator shareholder rodney shields filed a class action suit on behalf of the company s shareholders charging the company and its board with breaching their fiduciary duty by failing to take steps to ensure that shareholders got the highest possible price in the buyout the deal would give shareholders dlrs a share in cash if just pct of purolator s mln shares are tendered if more are tendered they would receive dlrs in cash and six dlrs in debentures and a warrant to buy stock in the new company in exchange for each share reuter,0 |
| 2113,wright says a gas tax an option to cut deficit house speaker jim wright said a gasoline tax is one option to finding a way to reduce the deficit but told reporters in response to a question he will not try to dictate a solution to the debt problem wright has made suggestions for raising taxes about billion dlrs as part of a budget plan to reduce the deficit tax proposals are being given consideration by members of the house budget committee but the details of any tax increase would be made by the tax writing house ways and means committee reuter,14 |
| 408,unilever plc and nv combined pre tax profit billion stg vs mln,12 |
| 4929,first financial ffmc buys confidata first financial management corp said it acquired confidata corp a unit of north ridge bank paying dlrs in cash and pledging a guarantee on a dlr confidata note held by north ridge first financial which provides data processing services to community banks and other financial institutions said the acquisition will expand its customer base reuter,0 |
| 562,alcan bertone make aluminum structure car alcan aluminium ltd said it joined with carrozzeria bertone s p a to exhibit alcan s technology in aluminum structured vehicles at geneva s international auto salon alcan said it and bertone have built several bertone x sports cars with structures of adhesively bonded sheet aluminum it said the bodies were made on presses used for bertone s steel structured sports cars alcan said two of the cars are currently being tested in britain by the motor industry research association alcan said it has developed and tested the aluminum structure technology so that it is suitable for modern auto making methods and plants alcan said the technology which reduces the weight of a car s basic structure by up to pct can improve handling and performance and reduce fuel consumption for any size car it said the structures also provide long life without the need for rust protection the structure provides the same stiffness and safety as present materials while continuously bonded seams allow a pct reduction in spot welds alcan said reuter,1 |
| 5695,auditors qualify mco resources mcr report mco resources inc said its independent auditors have qualified their opinion on the company financial statements for in which it posted a net loss of mln dlrs or dlrs a share on revenues of mln mco said the qualfied opinion related to its realization of the carrying amount of its geothermal property and its ability to continue as an ongoing concern which is dependent upon the restructuring of the company s bank debt and other obligations resolution of the uncertainties surrounding its geothermal operations and the success of future operations the company said its capital spending for has been virtually eliminated and that an additional staff reduction of about pct is being implemented today reuter,12 |
| 2048,digimed corp nd qtr dec loss shr loss cts vs loss five cts net loss vs loss sales vs six mths shr profit four cts vs loss cts net profit vs loss sales vs reuter,12 |
| 6495,ronson corp ronc th qtr dec shr loss cts vs loss seven cts net loss vs loss revs mln vs mln year shr loss cts vs profit cts net loss mln vs profit revs mln vs mln note loss includes reserves of includes tax benefit of and dlrs th qtr includes dlrs writedowns dlr gain from sale net includes extraordinary items of and gain on sale of mln dlrs tax carryforward gain of dlrs reuter,12 |
| 5984,security pacific provident national lift prime security pacific national bank and provident national bank said they increased their prime lending rates a quarter point to pct they said the move is effective immediately reuter,22 |
| 6069,bank of france foreign assets rise latest week weekly figures published by the bank of france showed its gross foreign assets rose by about two billion francs last week when it was reported by banks to have intervened on the foreign exchange markets to support the dollar against the yen the figures showed its gold foreign currency and other external assets rose to billion francs from billion mainly reflecting a rise to billion from billion in foreign exchange holdings reuter,40 |
| 726,fisher foods fhr says stake in firm sold fisher foods inc said american financial corp has sold its fishers shares a pct interest to a group consisting of american seaway foods inc rini supermarkets inc and rego supermarkets inc the company said in connection with the transaction all five american financial representatives have resigned from its board reuter,0 |
| 152,taiwan power firm plans more foreign debt cuts state owned taiwan power co will boost its domestic borrowings to further cut its foreign debt in line with a government policy to trim the island s huge foreign exchange reserves a company official said the company s foreign debt mainly from the japanese and u s banks was cut nearly by half to billion taiwan dlrs equivalent in calendar from billion in he said its domestic borrowings however rose to billion taiwan dlrs from billion in the same period he added taiwan s foreign exchange reserves now stood at billion u s dlrs due to its record trade surplus of billion reuter,40 |
| 5479,merrill corp mrll th qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln year shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs reuter,12 |
| 4650,edelman group in plan to buy morse shoe mrs a group led by new york investor asher edelman said morse shoe inc agreed to provide it confidential company information and that his group would make an offer to buy morse only in a friendly negotiated deal the group also said in a filing with the securities and exchange commission that its members would not without morse approval buy or offer to buy any company securities giving the group a pct or more stake in the company edelman and his group said his terms held until the earlier of days from march or the date on which morse announces a definite agreement for its sale at the same time the edelman group said it cut its stake in morse to pct from pct reuter,0 |
| 2323,desoto inc dso regular dividend set qtly div cts vs cts previously pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 2381,lifestyle restaurants lif adjusts revenues lifestyle restaurants inc said revenues for the first quarter ended january were mln dlrs and not the mln dlrs it had reported earlier the company also said a note attached to its earnings concerning a gain in on certain sales was incorrect and should be disregarded reuter,12 |
| 4670,shell oil gets mln dlr contract shell oil co of houston has been awarded a mln dlr contract for jet fuel the defense logistics agency said reuter,25 |
| 5261,u s sees no new coffee agreement talks soon the united states does not expect the executive board meeting of the international coffee organization ico to call for a new round of negotiations on reinstating coffee quotas a u s government official said the official a member of the u s delegation to ico talks earlier this year said no new coffee agreement talks are expected because there is no indication the negotiating positions of major producers and consumers have changed the u s still demands as a condition of reimposition of coffee quotas that objective criteria be set for establishing quotas said the u s official who asked not to be identified brazil the major producer insists on quotas based on a traditional formula the u s remains open to a negotiating meeting but only if some new flexibility is apparent from major countries the official said the ico executive board meets tomorrow in london reuter,5 |
| 523,omnicom group inc omcm th qtr net shr profit cts vs profit cts net profit vs profit mln revs mln vs mln qtly div cts vs cts avg shrs mln vs mln year shr loss cts vs profit dlrs net loss vs profit mln revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln note qtly div payable april six to holders of record march th qtr and year net includes a charge of mln dlrs and mln dlrs respectively for corporate restructuring reuter,12 |
| 324,senior delegates pessimistic on ico talks efforts to break an impasse between coffee exporting and importing countries over regulating the world coffee market in the face of falling prices appear to have failed senior delegates said after a contact group meeting the full ico council is due to meet this evening president of the brazilian coffee institute ibc jorio dauster told reuters after the contact group meeting there had been no agreement on quotas as consumers had tried to dictate market shares rather than negotiate them dauster said there are no plans yet to renew negotiations at a later date reuter,5 |
| 4533,commerzbank to acquire and float linotype commerzbank ag cbkg f said it will acquire linotype gmbh europe s largest manufacturer of type setting and printing communications technology from allied signal inc ald n and float off the shares in the company commerzbank declined to say how much it had paid for linotype linotype s group turnover in rose pct to more than mln marks the bank said the group s net return on capital was seven pct reuter,0 |
| 461,toll brothers inc tol st qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln note all amts reflect for stock split of company s common in form of pct stock dividend paid feb reuter,12 |
| 2464,bsi raising mln swiss francs via rights issue banca della svizzera italiana bisz z said it planned a one for rights issue at pct of nominal value to raise about mln francs new capital the rights issue would have a theoretical value to shareholders of swiss francs per bearer share and per registered share bsi was also seeking shareholder authorization for new participation certificates of a nominal value of francs without rights for shareholders to back future convertible or warrant bonds or for other purposes existing franc b tranche certificates would be split five for one the split would improve the marketability of the existing certificates chief executive giorgio ghiringhelli told a news conference the new bearer shares would be priced at francs compared with a closing price last friday of on the zurich stock exchange while the registered shares would be issued at francs against a market price of reuter,12 |
| 2523,french february year on year inflation pct vs three pct january official,8 |
| 921,general refractories grx to sell operations general refractories co said it agreed to sell its european refractories and building products operations for about mln dlrs to an austrian investor group the european operations had sales of mln dlrs in the last year for which results have been released the company said the sale to a group headed by girozentrale bank of austria is subject to shareholder approval by april it said its board has approved the deal it said general refractories mineral operations are not affected reuter,0 |
| 4770,french february unemployment hits record mln french unemployment rose to a record seasonally adjusted mln in february from mln in january and mln at the end of last year the labour ministry said the rise took the percentage of the workforce out of a job to pct last month from pct in january and pct at the end of in unadjusted terms unemployment fell by around last month to mln reuter,26 |
| 33,tultex corp ttx sets quarterly dividend qtly div eights cts vs eight cts prior pay april one record march reuter,12 |
| 5639,mechtron international corp mcht year net shr three cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs reuter,12 |
| 3347,brazilian inflation lower in february brazilian consumer prices rose pct in february compared to january s record rate of pct the brazilian geography and statistics institute said in a statement the february rise brought the increase in consumer prices since the introduction of the anti inflation cruzado plan a year ago to pct reuter,8 |
| 6280,douglas computer international year end shr seven cts vs one ct net vs revs vs reuter,12 |
| 173,financial santa barbara fsb to make purchase financial corp of santa barbara said it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase stanwell financial the lending operations unit of mortgage banking company stanwell mortgage for undisclosed terms reuter,0 |
| 2116,no clear evidence trade gap reversed volcker federal reserve board chairman paul volcker said current data does not give a clear sign that the deterioration in the u s trade balance has yet been reversed the data we have in hand do not provide clearcut evidence that the deterioration in the trade balance has yet been reversed volcker said in remarks prepared for delivery to a luncheon for community leaders here however volcker said there are encouraging signs particularly the rising volume of exports over the past year achieved despite relatively slow growth abroad volcker warned it is not sustainable from an economic perspective to pile up foreign debt while failing to make the investment needed to generate growth and earn the money to service the debt he said the process of restoring external balance to the u s economy requires dealing with the budget deficit he said needed economic adjustment will require a relative shift of financial and real resources into internationally competitive industry more of our growth will need to be reflected in net exports and business investment and less in consumption volcker said reuter,48 |
| 3170,air canada to acquire calgary courier company air canada the state owned airline said it signed a letter of intent to acquire pct of ems corp a calgary based messenger service which operates in western canada and the u s gelco corp gel earlier said air canada agreed to buy its canadian gelco express ltd unit for mln u s dlrs air canada said the acquisitions will complement its main cargo business it said it expects the courier market to grow by about to pct a year reuter,0 |
| 3583,italian panel urges exchange liberalization liberalization of italy s foreign exchange controls should be gradual but also reasonably rapid a report issued by a study committee nominated by the italian treasury ministry said the report looking at the country s financial development prospects said italy s large public sector deficit and growing public debt were among the considerations that made a gradual liberalization preferable the report also favoured retention of the lira s six pct oscillation band with the european monetary system ems during the liberalization process in order to lessen short term domestic interest rate fluctuations which could result from portfolio adjustments the lira s fluctuation margin is currently significantly higher than that allowed for other ems currencies italy has over recent months announced a series of deregulation moves in response to a european community directive aimed at creating a genuine common market in goods services and finance by reuter,32 |
| 4456,bat industries plc bti l year shr p vs p div p vs p making p vs p turnover billion stg vs billion operating profit billion vs billion pretax profit billion vs billion tax mln vs mln note the company said shareholders would be given the option of receiving dividend in cash ordinary shares or combination of the two operating profit includes commercial activities billion vs mln financial services mln vs mln share of associated companies mln vs mln investment income mln vs mln interest paid mln vs mln minorities mln vs mln extraordinary credit mln vs mln debit transfer to revaluation reserve mln vs mln profit attributable mln vs mln required inflation retention mln vs mln trading profit billion vs billion trading profit includes tobacco mln vs mln retailing mln vs mln paper mln vs mln financial services mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 2032,energy optics inc nd qtr jan net shr profit nil vs loss five cts net profit vs loss revs vs st half shr profit one ct vs loss cts net profit vs loss revs vs reuter,12 |
| 6408,on line software osi rd qtr feb net shr primary cts vs cts shr diluted cts vs cts net vs rev mln vs mln nine months shr primary cts vs cts shr diluted cts vs cts net vs rev mln vs mln note company s full name is on line software international inc the qtr and year to date results include the operations since the end of october of a business purchase from martin marietta corp ml in fiscal ending may the company initially adopted fasb statement number and as required capitalized certain software deveopment costs during the qtr and nine months period ended febraury the company capitalized pre tax amounts of dlrs and dlrs of development costs respectively reuter,12 |
| 4999,the broken hill pty co ltd brkn s nine months first nine months ended feb shr cents vs net mln dlrs vs mln sales billion vs billion other income mln vs mln shrs billion vs billion final div cents vs same making vs same one for five bonus issue third qtr net mln dlrs vs mln third qtr sales billion vs billion note div pay may div and bonus reg may nine months net is after tax mln dlrs vs mln depreciation mln vs mln interest mln vs mln and minorities mln vs mln but before net extraordinary profit mln vs profit mln nine month divisional net earnings before minorities were petroleum mln dlrs vs mln minerals mln vs mln steel mln vs mln corporate items and investments profit mln vs loss mln reuter,12 |
| 754,gatt sets up dispute panel on canadian herring the ruling gatt council set up a formal dispute panel to examine a u s complaint that a canadian law prohibiting export of unprocessed herring and salmon was discriminatory david wood official spokesman of the general agreement on tariffs and trade gatt told a news briefing the decision was taken after bilateral consultations failed to resolve the row u s ambassador michael samuels charged during the council debate that canada was trying to preserve domestic jobs by insisting that herring and salmon be processed at home robert white canada s deputy chief of delegation replied the law was in line with gatt rules and was for conservations reasons but he agreed to setting up the dispute panel reuter,48 |
| 5054,dixons boosts cyclops cyl ownership to pct dixons group plc said it bought about cyclops corp common shares boosting its holdings of the company s stock to about pct of those now outstanding and pct on a fully diluted basis dixons said the stock was purchased in a single block transaction at dlrs per share the company said it expects to proceed with a merger and has advised cyclops it intends to increas the per share amount to be paid in the merger to dlrs form dlrs for each of the about remaining cyclops shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis reuter,0 |
| 1929,dudley taft to pursue taft broadcast tfb bid taft broadcasting co vice chairman dudley taft and narragansett capital inc narr said they intend to pursue their effort to acquire taft broadcasting despite the rejection yesterday of their dlr per share offer by the taft broadcasting board dudley taft and narragansett in a joint statement said they intend to explore alternatives to achieve the acquisition including further talks with taft broadcasting they said they are confident that the taft broadcasting board will conclude that the resolution of the company s current unstable situation as quickly as possible is in the best interests of all parties they said the taft board did not conclude that their offer was not fair to taft shareholders taft broadcasting yesterday however said financial advisor goldman sachs and co found the offer to be inadequate reuter,0 |
| 171,purolator pcc in buyout with hutton efh new jersey based overnight messenger purolator courier corp said it has agreed to be acquired for about mln dlrs by a company formed by e f hutton lbo inc and certain managers of purolator s u s courier business analysts have said that purolator has been for sale for some time purolator announced earlier it was mulling a takeover bid but analysts wrongly predicted the offer was from another courier company hutton lbo a wholly owned subsidiary of e f hutton group inc will be majority owner of the company hutton said the acquiring company pc acquisition inc is paying dlrs cash per share for pct of purolator s stock in a tender offer to begin thursday the rest of the shares will be purchased for securities and warrants to buy stock in a subsidiary of pc acquisition containing purolator s u s courier operations if all the shares of purolator are tendered shareholders would receive for each share dlrs cash six dlrs in debentures and a warrant to buy shares in a subsidiary of pc acquisition containing the u s courier operations hutton said in the merger shareholders would get mln dlrs aggregate amount of guaranteed debentures due of pc acquisition and warrants to buy pct of the common stock of the pc courier subsidiary hutton said the company has valued the warrants at two to three dlrs per share purolator s stock price closed at dlrs on friday while some analysts estimated the company was worth in the mid s at least one said it would be worth to dlrs this follows sales of two other purolator units it agreed recently to sell its canadian courier unit to onex capital for mln dlrs and previously sold its auto filters business purolator retains its stant division which makes closure caps for radiators and gas tanks a hutton spokesman said the firm is reviewing its options on stant purolator s courier business has been lagging that of its u s rivals because of the high price it paid in the past several years to add air delivery to its ground fleet e f hutton will provide mln dlrs of its funds to complete the transaction this so called bridge financing will be replaced later with long term debt most likely in the form of bank loans hutton said hutton lbo is committed to keeping the courier business its president warren idsal said purolator lost mln dlrs over the last two years largely due to u s courier operations which we believe the management is turning around we belive it will be a very serious competitor in the future said idsal william taggart chief executive officer of u s courier division will be chief executive officer of the new company the tender offer will be conditioned on a minimum of two thirds of the common stock being tendered and not withdrawn to the expiration of the offer as well as certain other conditions the offer will begin thursday subject to clearances from the staff of the interstate commerce commission and will expire business days after commencement unless extended reuter,0 |
| 1957,guardian morton shulman agrees to takeover bid guardian morton shulman precious metals inc said morton shulman and guardman investment management services inc agreed in principle for andrew sarlos to make a takeover bid for all special shares and series ii warrants of guardian morton subject to regulatory approval and completion of definitive documentation guardman investment current manager and owner of all common shares of guardian morton also agreed to sell the common and its management agreement to a company controlled by sarlos if the takeover bid is successful guardian morton said price to be offered for the guardian morton special shares under the takeover bid will be pct of the net asset value of the special shares at the time of the bid and two dlrs for each series ii warrant the company said guardian morton said the takeover bid will be conditional on sarlos acquiring at least pct of the special shares and pct of the series ii warrants when combined the number of special shares and warrants owned by the offeror at the time of the bid investment companies managed by sarlos currently own slightly less than pct of guardian morton s special shares reuter,0 |
| 4648,baker says u s wants to stabilize exchange rates treasury secretary james baker said the united states and other nations were willing to cooperate to stabilize foreign exchange rates at the levels that existed at the time of an international agreement last month our position with respect to the dollar goes back to the paris agreement that the currencies were within ranges broadly consistent with underlying economic conditions baker told a senate committee baker continued we said further that we and others are willing to cooperate closely to foster stability in exchange rates around those levels he referred to a february agreement by six leading industrial nations to cooperate on monetary matters baker refused to answer a question whether japan and germany had done enough to stimulate their domestic economies for the united states to support the dollar i will not comment because the foreign exchange market reads more or less than is intended in my statements baker said baker said that the other signatories recognized that they must carry their share of the load of correcting external imbalances that have hindered the world s economy he cited news reports that germany would increase a proposed tax cut for by about five billion marks to stimulate domestic growth japan also agreed to consider stimulative measures after the japanese budget was made final baker said those nations were stimulating their economies in a manner consistent with gains against inflation reuter,32 |
| 4037,hemodynamics inc hmdy year loss shr loss cts vs loss cts net loss vs loss sales vs reuter,12 |
| 1824,marathon to raise crude prices cts bbl tomorrow wti to dlrs,10 |
| 5558,u s japan not in trade war yeutter says the united states and japan are not involved in a trade war despite u s sanctions announced last week against japanese semiconductors u s trade representative clayton yeutter said in my judgement we re not even close to a trade war yeutter told a house agriculture committee hearing yeutter said if japan takes action to honor its agreement with the u s on semiconductor trade then the retaliatory response will last a relatively short period yeutter said japan must stop dumping chips in third countries and buy more american computer chips reuter,48 |
| 2205,opec defending dlr price subroto says indonesian energy minister subroto said opec is deliberately under its production ceiling of mln barrels to defend its dlr a barrel price target he told reporters at an energy conference in jakarta that opec had decided to maintain its price level of dlrs we are deliberately defending the price so opec production is less than mln at the moment he stated asked if opec would increase production if prices went above dlrs a barrel he said this would be decided at the next opec meeting in june we will discuss the market situation then he added he said a meeting of the opec differentials committee had been postponed because there is no need for the meeting he did not elaborate the committee had originally been due to meet in vienna this week reuter,10 |
| 1935,concorde ventures inc in merger agreement concorde ventures inc said it has signed a letter of intent to acquire englewood colo homebuilder winley inc for mln common shares the investment company said after the merger the combined company will have mln shares outstanding for the year ended january winley earned dlrs pretax on revenues of mln dlrs reuter,0 |
| 1004,allied ald affiliate restates loss larger allied signal inc s pct owned union texas petroleum co affiliate said it has restated its fourth quarter and full year losses and revenues to increase the provision for the proposed settlement of a price dispute involving indonesian liquefied natural gas it said the restated increases the provision against fourth quarter earnings to mln dlrs from mln dlrs estimated earlier union texas said its fourth quarter loss was increased to mln dlrs from mln dlrs reported previously and revenues reduiced to mln dlrs from mln dlrs union texas said for the full year it restated its loss to mln dlrs from mln dlrs and revenues to billion dlrs from billion dlrs the restatement results from a tentative agreement reached in february with pertamina the indonesian state owned petroleum enterprise and japanese purchasers of lng kohlberg kravis roberts and co also owns pct of union texas and the remainder is owned by management reuter,12 |
| 1580,bejam group plc bjam l weeks to january shr p vs p div p vs p pre tax profit mln vs mln tax mln vs mln turnover mln vs mln note company said it was unlikely second half profits will show same rate of increase as first but it had great confidence in prospects for future growth reuter,12 |
| 2836,ionics inc ion th qtr net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln year shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln backlog mln vs mln note net includes nonrecurring gain dlrs in quarter and charge dlrs in year reuter,12 |
| 5203,bp u k refinery due to partly re open next week the british petroleum co plc bp l oil refinery at grangemouth closed after an explosion and fire eight days ago is expected to partially reopen next week a refinery spokesman said he said the entire bpd refinery has been shut since the accident which killed one person and damaged the site s hydrocracker the main units will resume operation next week but the hydrocracker will be closed for an unspecified period the spokesman said the refinery had been operating at about half its capacity since end january due to overhaul work on part of the complex the overhaul is expected to end by late april reuter,10 |
| 1571,sumita says little room for bank to ease policy bank of japan governor satoshi sumita said there is little room left for the central bank to further ease its credit policy as interest rates levels are now approaching their lower limit the government should instead seek ways of making the best use of its fiscal policy he told a press conference his remarks were concerned with a comprehensive economic stimulative package the government plans to adopt in the coming days at the recent talks among the six major industrialised nations in paris japan promised to work out a comprehensive economic package to boost domestic demand which in turn would help increase its imports and reduce its trade surplus sumita also said the economy will show a gradual upturn in the second half of the year if the yen remains stable he said there is caution in the foreign exchange market against a further rise of the yen and mark and this explains the recent stability in the currency markets conflicting economic indicators from the u s have also been dampening market activity he added reuter,22 |
| 1358,u s facilities usre semi annual dividend semi annual dividend cts pay may record april note full name is u s facilities corp this is first dividend declared since company completed its initial public offering on november reuter,12 |
| 6037,german industrial output rises pct in february west german industrial production seasonally adjusted rose a provisional pct in february after a downwards revised decline of pct in january the economics ministry said the ministry had originally estimated that industrial production fell pct in january the february figure is likely to be revised upwards by just under one percentage point next month when the march figure is released a ministry statement said the industrial production index base stood at a provisional in february against in january and in december the ministry had previously put the january and december indices at and respectively in february the output index had stood at producing a year on year rise for february of pct the february rise in production was aided by a sharp pct increase in construction output compared with january when production in many industrial sectors was depressed by unusually severe winter weather manufacturing industry registered a pct rise in production in february compared with january but energy sector output fell nine pct and mining production declined seven pct the ministry which considers two monthly comparisons to be a better guide to trends said output in january and february together fell around two pct against november and december the ministry said construction output fell pct in january february against november december due to the cold january weather output in the energy sector rose four pct and mining output pct manufacturing industry s production fell pct in january february compared with november december within this sector the output of both basic products and of food tobacco and alcohol fell pct production of capital goods fell pct while output of consumer goods was unchanged compared with the same months of industrial production in january and february fell pct the ministry said manufacturing industry output fell one pct with output of basic products down three pct capital goods down one pct and food tobacco and alcohol production pct lower makers of consumer goods posted a pct year on year rise in the two month period in other industrial sectors mining production fell four pct and construction output pct the energy sector saw a slight pct rise the ministry added reuter,23 |
| 2330,met pro corp mpr to pay regular dividend qtrly cts vs cts prior pay may eight record april reuter,12 |
| 3814,universal resources uvr holders approve merger universal resources corp said its shareholders approved the merger of the company with questar corp str separately universal said it will redeem its pct debentures due december on april at pct of face amount plus accrued interest universal said it will operate as a wholly owned unit of questar under its current name under terms of the merger which took effective today universal said its shareholders will receive three dlrs a share in cash it said its stock will no longer trade on the amex reuter,0 |
| 4557,westwood one inc wone st qwtr feb net shr cts vs eight cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs reuter,12 |
| 4457,swire plans bonus issue on higher profits swire pacific ltd swpc hkg said it plans for a one for five bonus issue for both its a and b shares following an earlier report of a pct jump in net profits to billion h k dlrs the company also announced final dividends of cents per a share and cents per b share against and cents a year ago it recorded extraordinary gains of billion dlrs which mainly derived from the sale in april of a pct stake in cathay pacific airways ltd caph hkg in line with the floatation of the airline reuter,12 |
| 6167,general partners willing to pay dlrs share for gencorp,0 |
| 5682,u s steelmakers union seek renewed import curb the u s specialty steel industry and its union said they will seek a three year extension of president reagan s import restraint program to give the industry more time to restore competitiveness they said they will tell the u s international trade commission itc thursday that termination will have disastrous consequences for american companies and workers the current four year voluntary program reached with foreign exporters ends this summer and the itc must advise president reagan on the economic effect of its termination the specialty steel industry of the united states and the united steelworkers union said in statement that imported steel was still flooding the domestic market and continued curbs were needed to restore the industry s health reagan is to decide by july whether to renew the restraint program reuter,24 |
| 5460,j c penney declares two for one split raises quarterly,12 |
| 1770,h j heinz co rd qtr shr cts vs cts,12 |
| 5559,ual ual completes buy of hilton int l ual inc said it completed the acquisition of hilton international from transworld corp twt paying mln dlrs in cash and securities hilton international will add hotels to ual s westin hotel unit which operates hotels the two chains will have a total of hotels with rooms and employees it said harry mullikin chairman and chief executive of ual s westin hotel unit has been elected to the additional post of chairman and chief executive of hilton international ual will change its name to allegis at its annual meeting reuter,0 |
| 3447,u s personal income rose pct in february spending up pct,20 |
| 2795,microbilt corp bilt th qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net vs revs vs avg shrs vs year shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs reuter,12 |
| 1387,u k money market given late help worth mln stg the bank of england said it provided the market with unspecified late assistance worth mln stg it has given the market total assistance of mln stg today compared with a liquidity shortage it estimated at a revised mln stg reuter,32 |
| 3189,ati medical inc atim nd qtr jan net shr two cts vs eight cts net vs revs vs six mths shr two cts vs cts net vs revs vs reuter,12 |
| 2351,american city ambj sets initial preferred div american city business journals inc said it declared an initial dividend of cts a share on its recent issue of mln shares of convertible exchangeable preferred stock the dividend is payable march to shareholders of record march american city said adding that future dividends will be paid on a quarterly basis the preferred stock was issued on february reuter,12 |
| 5017,japan aluminium imports rise in february japanese primary aluminium imports rose to tonnes in february from in january and a year earlier the japan aluminium federation said this brought total imports in ending march to mln tonnes against mln a year earlier the february total included tonnes from the u s against in january and a year ago from australia against and and from indonesia against and reuter,1 |
| 563,ccr video st qtr nov net shr cts vs nil net vs sales vs reuter,12 |
| 6489,pacific lighting corp plt qtly dividend shr cts vs cts prior qtr pay may record april reuter,12 |
| 3511,tultex ttx increases dividend qtly div nine cts vs eight cts prior payable july one record june reuter,12 |
| 5772,peoples ban corp peop sees st quarter net up peoples ban corp said it expects to report first quarter earnings of over six mln dlrs including a gain of dlrs from the settlement of a dispute with the internal revenue service and the sale of four banking offices in vancouver wash the company said it expects to report normal earnings for the rest ofd the year of to five mln dlrs per quarter peoples earned dlrs in last year s first quarter and in all of lost dlrs reuter,12 |
| 4609,allied signal ald to sell linotype unit allied signal inc said it agreed to sell its linotype group unit to commerzbank ag of west germany for an undisclosed amount allied signal said commerzbank is expected to offer shares of the unit to the public later this year the company said the agreement is subject to approval by the government and its shareholders the linotype unit based in eschborn west germany had revenues in of more than mln dlrs the company said the company said top management of linotype plan to remain with the unit which has operations in the united states west germany and the united kingdom allied signal announced in december that it planned to sell the linotype unit as well as six other businesses in its electronics and instrumentation segment linotype is a supplier of type and graphics composition systems reuter,0 |
| 5194,philadelphia exchange to extend hours for asia the philadelphia stock exchange phlx a leading trader of currency options plans to extend its trading hours to serve australasian and far eastern markets exchange president nicholas giordano said he told reporters the phlx will open a new session between and hours u s est from the beginning of the third quarter this year the phlx is also opening an office in hong kong to serve clients in the region and educate financial markets about the advantages of currency options giordano said giordano was in sydney to start an asian pacific tour by exchange executives promoting the hedging benefits of the exchange trade currency option market against existing over the counter option trading during the local working day currency options pioneered by the phlx in had become an accepted means of hedging against foreign exchange risk and had grown in popularity he said the phlx now offered options in eight currencies including a new australian dollar option and traded an average contracts daily with underlying open interest of more than billion u s dlrs giordano said the exchange had been impressed with the performance of its australian dollar contract which since its introduction last year had regularly topped the french franc as the third most popular traded option with up to contracts traded daily having the philadelphia exchange open during the asia pacific market day would open new hedging opportunities set a truer level for over the counter option trading increase arbitraging opportunities and give corporations and treasuries access to a currency option market of much greater depth and liquidity with the security of a clearing house he said reuter,32 |
| 4009,triton group ltd trro th qtr jan net oper shr profit nil vs loss nil oper net profit vs loss sales mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln year oper shr profit six cts vs profit five cts oper net profit vs profit sales mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln note net excludes discontinued operations nil vs gain dlrs in quarter and loss dlrs vs gain dlrs in year net excludes tax loss carryforward dlrs vs reversal of tax credit dlrs in quarter and credits dlrs vs dlrs in year results include u s press inc from november three acquisition reuter,12 |
| 397,cra expects to pay final dividend of cents cra ltd craa s said it expected to pay a final dividend of not less than cents a share after july making cents for the year against in the mining and smelting group earlier reported net earnings rose to mln dlrs from mln in against analysts forecasts yesterday of mln to mln cra said it was deferring consideration of a dividend until later this year to provide the benefit of dividend imputation to its shareholders after july dividends will be tax free to shareholders provided they come out of earnings on which the full pct company tax rate has been p id the company operates on a substituted tax year not the fiscal year ending june and as a result has incurred tax at the pct rate on earnings cra said in a statement consequently it has funds available for distribution with dividend imputed but is waiting to see the imputation legislation before determining the final payout it said despite the higher net earnings cra said was a poor year for the minerals industry with the notable exception of gold producers prices for major metals expressed in real u s dollars declined to the lowest levels in about years it said fluctuating exchange and interest rates added volatility and uncertainty while the revaluation of the yen is leading to substantial restructuring of japanese industry cra said world demand for metals is growing slowly inventories have steadily declined with supply and demand in better balance but overcapacity continues cra said turning to contributions to its earnings cra said bougainville copper ltd buva s contributed mln dlrs while its share of comalco ltd s cmac s net was mln net earnings from iron ore operations were mln dlrs against mln in it said lead zinc and silver mining and smelting operations incurred a net loss of mln dlrs against a mln loss in cra said coal activities resulted in a net profit of mln dlrs against mln while salt raised its contribution to mln from mln cra s share of earnings from the argyle diamond project amounted to mln dlrs against nine mln in cra said the main item in its mln dlr extraordinary loss was a mln writeoff of unrealised foreign exchange losses on borrowings as required by a new accounting standard other extraordinary items were mln dlrs provided for closures and writedown of assets and a mln increase in future tax provisions cra said cash flow continued at a high level being mln dlrs before capital expenditure against billion in the strong cash flow coupled with the proceeds of the rights issue and the use of existing cash balances enabled group debt to be reduced by nearly mln dlrs cra said it held forward contracts at year end to buy mln u s dlrs to hedge part of its foreign debt this cost mln dlrs after tax included in the net interest cost reuter,12 |
| 5164,bank fuer gemeinwirtschaft ag bkfg f year year ended december group net profit mln marks vs mln balance sheet total billion marks vs billion credit volume billion marks vs billion parent bank net profit mln marks vs mln transfer to trades union holding co mln marks vs mln payment to open reserves mln marks vs mln balance sheet total billion marks vs billion partial operating profit mln marks vs mln interest surplus mln marks vs mln surplus on commission mln marks mln ordinary expenditure mln marks vs mln earnings from subsidiaries through profit transfer agreements mln marks vs mln earnings from writing back provisions mln marks vs mln published risk provisions mln marks vs mln credit volume billion marks vs billion group figures for exclude bsv bank fueer sparanlagen und vermoegensbildung ag which no longer consolidated reuter,12 |
| 4628,newmont gold sees its sales rising pct newmont gold corp expects gold sales in to rise about pct to ounces from s ounces the company said in its annual report newmont gold pct owned by newmont mining corp said it expects significant increases in gold sales in and as well reuter,16 |
| 1542,united security unse to buy robert brown unit united security financial corp of illinois said it has signed a letter of intent to buy robert co brown and co inc s rcbi magic insurance group unit robert c brown and co would receive newly issued united security stock united security said it is anticipated that such stock would represent a substantial majority of the shares outstanding after the merger united security s principal subsidiary is united security life insurance co of illinois the magic group owns pilgrim life insurance co of america and middle atlantic life insurance co reuter,0 |
| 6470,green tree acceptance inc gnt st qtr net shr cts vs cts net vs rev mln vs mln avg shrs vs note per share results adjusted for two for one common stock split in june reuter,12 |
| 2876,cabre exploration ltd six mths jan net shr cts vs cts net vs revs vs reuter,12 |
| 3867,justin industries inc jstn sets dividend qtly div cts vs cts prior pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 2557,tofutti brands tof sees profit for new year tofutti brands inc said it is changing its fiscal year to a calendar year from a year ending july and it expects to be profitable on higher sales in the company lost dlrs on sales of mln dlrs in the year ended july a company spokesman said tofutti will be reporting earnings for the last five months of calendar by the end of march and will then report calendar first quarter results reuter,12 |
| 1097,chesapeake utilities corp chpk regular div qtly div cts vs cts prior pay april three record march reuter,12 |
| 5364,dixons group audio video ava end litigation dixons group plc said that pursuant to an agreement with audio video affiliates inc part of an investor group that made a rival bid for cyclops corp cyl all litigation between them has been dismissed as part of the agreement dixons said cyacq corp the audio video investor group that includes citicorp capital investors ltd agreed to promptly terminate its existing tender offer for all outstanding cyclops common at dlrs per share dixons said it agreed to pay an additional dlrs per share or dlrs per share to each shareholder whose shares were purchased under its offer for cyclops at dlrs per share on friday dixons announced that it had increased its holdings in cyclops corp to about pct of the currently outstanding shares and that it intended to increase to dlrs from dlrs the amount per share paid in the merger of a dixons subsidiary with cyclops reuter,0 |
| 4523,horizon bank hrzb sets stock split horizon bank said its board declared a three for two stock split payable april to holders of record april seven reuter,12 |
| 6370,german capital account in deficit in february west germany recorded a net outflow of billion marks on the february capital account combining long and short term capital flows compared with a net inflow of billion marks in january the bundesbank said this compared with a net outflow of billion marks in february the bundesbank said reuter,33 |
| 4252,sterivet stvtf sets three for one share split sterivet laboratories ltd said the board authorized a three for one split of its outstanding common shares subject shareholder approval at the annual meeting reuter,12 |
| 4822,contel ctc to buy walker county telephone contel corp said it has agreed in principle to acquire walker county telephone co of lafayette ga for an undisclosed amount of common stock walker has customers in northeast georgia the company said the agreement is subject to approval by regulatory agencies both boards and walker shareholders reuter,0 |
| 2384,venezuela to lend up to mln barrels of oil venezuela will lend ecuador up to mln barrels of crude oil to help it meet its export commitments and its domestic energy demand ecuadorean energy and mines minister javier espinosa said today in a statement ecuador was forced to suspend exports after the pipeline connecting its jungle oil fields with the pacific ocean port of balao was damaged last week by an earthquake venezuela would lend barrels per day of crude for a total of up to to mln barrels to help ecuador meet export commitments espinosa said also venezuela will sell the crude and provide the foreign exchange earnings to ecuador he said ecuador would repay venezuela in crude once it resumed its exports after repairing its pipeline to balao a task that would take an estimated five months venezuela is lending ecuador five mln barrels of crude for refining in this country to meet domestic demand ecuador would repay that loan with crude once the oil pipeline is repaired both countries are the only latin american members of the organisation of petroleum exporting countries opec ecuador was exporting about bpd before the earthquake energy ministry officials said its total output was around bpd reuter,10 |
| 5887,wrather corp wco th qtr loss shr loss cts vs loss cts net loss vs revs mln vs mln year shr loss dlrs vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs mln vs mln note prior qtr figures include income from discontinued operations of dlrs gain on disposal of discontinued operations of dlrs or four cts per share and operating loss carryforward gain of dlrs or cts per share prior year figures include income from discontinued operations of dlrs or two cts per share gain on disposal of discontinued operation of mln dlrs or cts per share and operating loss carryforward gain of mln dlrs or cts per share reuter,12 |
| 1858,eagle clothes inc egl nd qtr jan shr profit cts vs profit cts net profit mln vs profit revs mln vs mln six months shr profit cts vs loss cts net profit mln vs loss revs mln vs mln note six months includes increase in provision for doubtful accounts to mln dlrs shares give effect to issuance of mln shares in exchange for outstanding series preferred shares reuter,12 |
| 4621,eg and g inc egg sets quarterly qtly div cts vs cts prior pay may eight record april reuter,12 |
| 4578,p h glatfelter co glp increases dividend p h glatfelter said its board increased its quarterly dividend on its common stock to cts per share from cts per share the prior quarter it said the dividend is payable may to shareholders of record april in addition the company said it authorized the repurchase of up to an additional one mln shares of its common stock on march the board had authorized the repurchase of up to two mln shares as adjusted for a two for one split effected in april the company said the company said shares may still be repurchased under the authorization it added any shares repurchased would be added to the treasury and will be available for future issuance the company said it has no present plans to issue any of the shares which may be repurchased the company said it presently has common shares outstanding reuter,12 |
| 6359,kuwait may re register gulf tankers newspaper kuwait may re register part of its tanker fleet with foreign flag jurisdictions including the u s and ussr in an attempt to protect them from iranian missile attacks in the gulf war zone u s officials were quoted by the new york times as saying the transfers would allow the country of registration to escort kuwaiti owned ships in the gulf kuwait had earlier declined an offer of u s naval escorts as too public an admission of its need for protection they said kuwait is also looking at flagging out to european registries the officials said soviet flag tankers transporting kuwaiti oil through the gulf may get soviet escorts the officials said kuwait had earlier considered having both ussr and u s escorts but the u s was unwilling to give the soviet union a naval role in the region the newspaper quoted the officials as saying kuwait has backed iraq in the seven year war against iran and its ships have increasingly been the target of iranian attacks the u s and kuwait have been negotiating for over a month on methods of protecting kuwaiti ships reuter,43 |
| 4368,haiti czechoslovakia join cocoa organization haiti and czechoslovakia have joined the international cocoa organization icco bringing membership in the united nations charter body to importing countries and exporters icco officials said haiti has provisionally applied to the icco as an exporting member and accounts for pct of world cocoa exports they said czechoslovakia joined as an importer reuter,4 |
| 3397,u k clearing bank lending rises billion stg clearing bank sterling lending to the u k private sector in february is estimated to have risen by an underlying seasonally adjusted billion stg after a billion stg rise in january the banking information service said the unadjusted rise was billion stg compared with an mln stg increase in january the banking information service said the adjusted rise of billion stg was well above the recent monthly average of about billion stg of the increase mln stg was accounted for by personal lending which the banking information service said was taken up entirely by lending for home purchases lending for consumption fell around mln stg while about mln stg of credit card debt was repaid during the month lending to the manufacturing industry was up mln stg and to leasing companies by mln stg the banking information service said february fell within the governmemnt tax season so much of the lending was probably the result of industry s need to pay its tax bills deposits by the private sector rose an unadjusted billion stg in february and by a seasonally adjusted billion stg deposits from the public sector rose mln stg in february while deposits from overseas residents rose by mln reuter,33 |
| 5340,metromail mtma predicts flat earnings metromail corp said it expects flat operating profits for its fiscal year ending may with last fiscal year s earnings from operations of dlrs or dlrs a share the company said the flat results will be due to higher than normal expenditures during the fourth quarter for expansion of its data processing capabilities earlier metromail reported fiscal third quarter earnings of mln dlrs or cts a share versus three mln dlrs or cts a share the prior third quarter and nine months net of mln dlrs or cts a share versus mln dlrs or cts a share the prior nine months reuter,12 |
| 5139,beard co bec year loss shr loss cts vs profit dlrs net loss vs profit revs mln vs mln note net includes gains from sale of uspci inc upc stock of mln vs mln year ago net includes loss from discontinued operations of mln reuter,12 |
| 5927,pittsburgh and west virginia railroad pw net th qtr shr cts vs cts net vs revs vs year shr cts vs cts net vs revs vs reuter,12 |
| 333,service corp international srv rd qtr net qtr ended jan shr cts vs cts net mln vs mln revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln nine mths shr cts vs cts net mln vs mln revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln note net for nine mths includes gains from dispositions of dlrs or four cts a share vs dlrs or two cts a share avg shrs and shr data restated to reflect three for two stock split in january reuter,12 |
| 760,bear automotive service bear th qtr oper net oper shr cts vs cts oper net vs sales mln vs mln avg shrs vs year oper shr cts vs cts oper net vs sales mln vs mln avg shrs vs note full company name is bear automotive service equipment co oper shr excludes extraordinary profit from utilization of tax loss carryforward of dlrs or four cts a share and mln dlrs or cts a share respectively in qtr and year and of dlrs or nine cts a share and mln dlrs or cts a share respectively in qtr and year year oper net excludes loss from cumulative effect of change in accounting principle of dlrs or one ct a share reuter,12 |
| 3333,texstyrene foam suspends preferred payments texstyrene corp said it has suspended quarterly cash dividend payments on its pct convertible exchangeable preferred stock the suspension effects the march payment and it said it does not expect to pay preferred dividends in the forseeable future it said the payments were suspended because of certain covenants contained in its loan agreements a spokesman said the company s loss of dlrs for the first months as a public company did not meet an income condition on the loans leading to the suspension the maker of foam cups food containers and other products said it had outstanding preferred shares which had been privately placed the dividend payments on the shares amounted to dlrs per year the spokesman said reuter,12 |
| 1975,corrected insituform of north america inc insua th qtr shr nine cts vs four cts net vs revs vs avg shrs vs year oper shr cts vs cts oper net vs revs mln vs avg shrs vs note year net excludes dlr tax credit corrects march item to exclude tax credit reuter,12 |
| 3611,tri star trsp buys cineplex theater tri star pictures inc said it agreed to acquire the roosevelt field century theatre from canada s cineplex odeon corp s rko century warner theatres inc for mln dlrs the recently refurbished and expanded theater is located in garden city n y reuter,0 |
| 1558,investment firms up stake in mcgill mftg mgll a group of affiliated investment firms led by bermuda based fidelity international ltd and boston based fmr corp told the securities and exchange commission it raised its stake in mcgill manufacturing co inc the group said it raised its stake to shares or pct of the total outstanding common stock after buying mcgill common shares between jan and march at prices ranging from to dlrs a share reuter,0 |
| 4185,sumita says bank will intervene if necessary bank of japan governor satoshi sumita said in a statement the central bank will intervene in foreign exchange markets to stabilise exchange rates if necessary in close cooperation with other major industrial nations sumita said the bank will take adequate measures including market intervention if necessary in line with the february paris agreement by six major industrial nations canada britain france japan the u s and west germany agreed to cooperate in stabilising exchange rates around current levels sumita s statement was issued after the dollar slipped below yen to hit a record low of it is inevitable that exchange rates fluctuate under the system of floating rates sumita said the fact the dollar plunged below yen does not mean anything significant under the floating system he said the six nations agreed in paris exchange rates prevailing then were broadly consistent with underlying economic fundamentals and further substantial rate shifts could damage growth and adjustment prospects in their countries the paris statement said reuter,32 |
| 3701,m d c asset investors mir in initial payout m d c asset investors inc which recently went public said its board declared an initial quarterly dividend of cts per share payable april to holders of record april one reuter,12 |
| 6158,altex aii sets acquisition of computer firms altex industries inc said it has agreed in principle to buy pct of two privately held affiliated computer retail companies for an undisclosed amount altex said the denver based companies had revenues of over seven mln dlrs last year they are integrated management data systems inc which sells accounting software systems to the oil and gas industry and integrated management systems micro distribution division inc which distributes micro computer products altex said it expects to close the transaction which is subject to financing in july reuter,0 |
| 4197,santos ltd stos s year ending dec shr cents vs final div deferred vs cents full year pre tax mln vs mln net mln vs mln turnover mln vs mln other income mln vs mln shrs vs same note final div deferred for tax advantage until after july but not expected to be less than nine cents interim seven net after tax mln vs mln depreciation and amortisation mln vs mln interest mln vs mln minorities nil vs loss but before extraordinary loss mln vs loss mln reuter,12 |
| 142,indian sugar output rises in first four months india s sugar output to january in the season october september rose to mln tonnes from mln in the same period the indian sugar mills association said total offtake in the first four months of the current year was mln tonnes including tonnes imported for domestic use and tonnes for export against mln tonnes including imported for domestic use and tonnes for export in the corresponding period of factory stocks at end january were mln tonnes imported against mln imported a year earlier reuter,45 |
| 4148,data card datc sees lower yearend results data card corp said it does not expect to meet its earnings and revenue targets for the fiscal year ending march earlier the company said it expected earnings per share from continuing operations to be to cts a share now it sees that figure at cts a share or about mln dlrs data card said it expects revenues for the year in the range of mln to mln dlrs down from a previous estimate of mln to mln dlrs it said integration of addressograph farrington inc a private company acquired on aug is proving more difficult than expected the company reported revenues of mln dlrs and net income of mln dlrs in fiscal ended march reuter,12 |
| 6028,ocelot industries ltd year loss shr loss dlrs vs loss dlrs net loss mln vs loss mln revs mln vs mln note loss includes extraordinary loss of mln dlrs or dlrs shr related to writedown of certain petrochemical assets and reduced by tax gain of mln dlrs or cts shr results restated reuter,12 |
| 5572,chirac reagan discuss arms control trade french prime minister jacques chirac opened talks with president ronald reagan expected to focus on superpower arms control moves and trade issues french officials said a major aim of chirac s visit was to present france s concern that the united states might ignore european security interests in any accord with moscow on removing medium range nuclear missiles from the continent but reagan was expected to assure chirac that he will not agree to a deal at the geneva superpower talks that would give the russians superiority in shorter range systems diplomats said france has expressed doubts about removing u s missiles from europe so long as the soviet union maintains an edge in other weaponry particularly shorter range rockets conventional forces and chemical weapons speaking last night chirac set out the french position saying any agreement on intermediate nuclear forces should mention how equality can be achieved in short range missiles reagan and chirac meanwhile signed an agreement ending a dispute between two leading research institutes over patent rights to a blood screening test for the deadly disease aids in a joint statement chirac and reagan said the pasteur institute in paris and the national cancer institute of bethesda maryland agreed to give part of the royalties from the test to a new foundation dedicated to the wordwide fight against aids acquired immune deficiency syndrome this agreement opens a new era in franco american cooperation allowing france and the united states to join their efforts to control this terrible disease in the hopes of speeding the development of an aids vaccine and cure reagan said at the signing ceremony he said the two parties would share the patent and give per cent of the royalties received to the new foundation the foundation would also raise private funds and would donate per cent of its money to combat aids in less developed countries both leaders stressed the long ties between france and the united states during a welcoming ceremony in the white house east room with reagan describing france as america s oldest ally in war and peace i have come to tell you that we are remain motivated by the same ideals of freedom by the same will to face the dangers which we both confront terrorism war hunger poverty new diseases and drugs chirac replied but the two countries are likely to have less to agree on over the issue of trade where chirac is worried about a rise in protectionism in the u s congress a senior u s official yesterday dismissed a french idea to sell cut price grain to poor countries in africa as a way of lessening surplus stocks chirac is expected to canvass support for the idea first proposed by french agriculture minister francois guillaume during his two day visit to washington the u s official described the idea as a grain producers opec a reference to the organization of petroleum exporting countries and said it went against the reagan administration s desire to lessen government intervention in trade reuter,48 |
| 2962,h j heinz hnz poised for record year h j heinz co is within sight of our nd consecutive year of new records in financial growth for the fiscal year ending april chairman and chief executive officer anthony o reilly told investment analysts o reilly who declined to make a specific projection said the food company is stronger than at any time in its year history last week heinz reported third quarter earnings rose to cts a share from cts a share sales rose to billion dlrs from billion dlrs a year earlier o reilly said heinz will concentrate on backing its big brands new products and services new geography internal growth and acquisitions he said heinz ketchup has its highest market share in history pct but in response to a question the executive said a volume falloff in the overall product category is a concern to us o reilly said weight watchers continues to perform well and will generate revenue in fiscal of approximately mln dlrs o reilly told analysts heinz is in active negotiations to build a second plant in china where it entered a joint venture with the government in forming heinz ufe ltd which produces dry baby food cereal he said heinz japan is making a profit and generating its first substantial dividends and implementation of a new partnership seoul heinz ltd is moving ahead with a new manufacturing plant targeted for completion by june in seoul south korea to increase its competitiveness o reilly said heinz implemented a lowest cost imaginable program targeted at manufacturing sales and marketing and procurement he said a modernization program is in effect at the company s united kingdom operations where the labor force trimmed to from is expected to be further reduced to in reuter,12 |
| 32,cofab inc buys gulfex for undisclosed amount cofab inc said it acquired gulfex inc a houston based fabricator of custom high pressure process vessels for the energy and petrochemical industries cofab said its group of companies manufacture specialized cooling and lubricating systems for the oil and gas petrochemical utility pulp and paper and marine industries reuter,0 |
| 2011,lands end inc leys year jan net shr dlrs vs dlrs net vs sales mln vs mln avg shrs vs note earnings are pro forma including the increase in common shares that took place last october when the company went public through an initial offering of mln shares avg shrs assume the shares sold to public and employees were outstanding during the entire period reuter,12 |
| 431,national amusements again ups viacom via bid viacom international inc said national amusements inc has again raised the value of its offer for viacom s publicly held stock the company said the special committee of its board plans to meet later today to consider this offer and the one submitted march one by mcv holdings inc a spokeswoman was unable to say if the committee met as planned yesterday viacom said national amusements arsenal holdings inc subsidiary has raised the amount of cash it is offering for each viacom share by cts to dlrs while the value of the fraction of a share of exchangeable arsenal holdings preferred to be included was raised cts to dlrs national amusements already owns pct of viacom s stock reuter,0 |
| 395,pemex signs mln dlr japan loan for pipeline mexican state oil firm petroleos mexicanos pemex signed for a mln dlr untied loan from the export import bank of japan to finance its pacific petroleum project pemex japan representative tito ayal said no further details on the loan were immediately available ayala told an oil seminar the project due for completion in is aimed at improving distribution of oil products in the domestic market mainly along the pacific coast the project consists of a pipeline linking nueva teapa on the gulf of mexico with salina cruz on the pacific coast and construction of the second phase of the salina cruz refinery the project also includes construction of liquified petroleum gas lpg storage tanks at santa cruz additional crude oil storage at both ends of the pipeline an ammonia complex at lazaro cardenas on the pacific coast and expansion of the infrastructure of the port of salina cruz ayala said pemex will buy mln dlrs worth of foreign equipment and materials for the project he said the new pipeline will enable japan to load mexico s maya crude oil at salina cruz rather than in the gulf of mexico pemex will also have some lpg surplus available in salina cruz that may help japan diversify its supply sources of that product he added reuter,10 |
| 6416,volcker urges quick aid to debtor nations federal reserve board chairman paul volcker said that debtor nations have made much progress in laying the groundwork for economic growth but a solution to world debt difficulties was endangered by inaction on new financing there is clearly a danger that adequate financing arrangements are not being negotiated and put in place in a timely way volcker told the senate banking committee the borrowing countries need to be able to proceed with confidence that the necessary funds will be available to them he said brazil has the potential for becoming a leading world economic power but it is in a difficult position today volcker said he said it will take a concerted effort to regularize brazil s external payments the key prerequisite is clearly in the hands of brazilian authorities he said both brazil and its creditors have a strong incentive to work together volcker said regarding trade imbalances volcker said that it was critically important that markets be kept open by the industrial nations in addition the united states must reduce its budget deficit and foreign nations need to provide stimulus to their domestic economies volcker said we need time for those actions and the earlier depreciation to work their effects he said reuter,48 |
| 4331,colombia coffee revenue sharply down in jan feb colombia s coffee export revenue dropped mln dlrs to mln dlrs for the first two months of the year against mln dlrs in the similar period of central bank preliminary figures show experts attributed the fall to lower world market prices following the failure to re introduce international coffee export quotas but they said colombia could compensate the drop with higher exports in calendar coffee export revenue for was billion dlrs according to the bank jorge cardenas manager of the national coffee growers federation last week estimated the recent drop of cents a lb in coffee prices would mean a net loss revenue of mln dlrs for colombia but he stressed that colombia with stockpiles of mln kg bags had the capacity to export more and would use a recently introduced more flexible marketing policy to do so reuter,5 |
| 57,federal reserve weekly report feb one week ended feb daily avgs mlns foreign deposits down gold stock unch custody holdings down federal funds rate avg vs factors on wednesday feb bank borrowings vs including extended credits vs matched sales vs including sales w cust vs float vs reuter,33 |
| 2596,france reduces trade deficit in february france posted a seasonally adjusted trade deficit of mln francs in february after a billion franc deficit in january the finance ministry said for the first two months of this year the trade deficit on a seasonally adjusted basis was billion francs unadjusted the february deficit was billion francs and the two month cumulative deficit billion the ministry said in a statement the ministry said february exports totalled billion francs an pct increase on january while imports totalled billion francs an increase of pct farm and food trade showed a two billion franc surplus after a surplus of billion in january the energy deficit was reduced to billion francs from eight billion in january while industrial trade showed a surplus of billion francs against only mln francs in january reuter,48 |
| 6462,iowa grain elevator explodes burns an explosion and fire today damaged a grain elevator in bancroft iowa destroying thousands of bushels of grain authorities said the pre dawn explosion ripped the wooden elevator open and a fire that followed continued burning at late morning but had been contained according to a dispatcher at the algona police department no injuries were reported at the lone rock coop facility the dispatcher said the elevator was filled with corn and a nearby drying building holding soybeans was on fire the explosion was the second in four days in iowa following the destruction of an archer daniels midland elevator in burlington last friday reuter,17 |
| 1628,qintex again extends princeville pvdc offer qintex america ltd said it is again extending its offer of dlrs a share for mln princeville development corp shares until today from yesterday at midnight yesterday princeville shares had been tendered up from shares hours earlier qintex said it is extending the offer to allow princeville to comply with federal law restricting the ownership of u s airlines by non u s citizens and to finalize the terms and conditions of the letter of credit or bank guarantee required under the previously announced acquisition agreement reuter,0 |
| 288,franklin insured tax free sets payout mthly div cts vs cts prior pay march record march note franklin insured tax free income fund reuter,12 |
| 4268,indonesia urged to deregulate its economy world bank president barber conable linked increased borrowing by indonesia the third world s sixth largest debtor to fresh measures to deregulate trade and dismantle protectionist barriers we would like to see the indonesian government continue the adjustment process to move towards increased deregulation of the economy conable told a press conference at the end of a three day visit to jakarta conable directly linked further bank help for indonesia s hard pressed balance of payments to further measures by the government to reduce protectionism and increase efficiency the world bank last month granted indonesia a mln dlr trade adjustment loan he said further loans would depend on the economic policies indonesia adopted but he said that in meetings with both president suharto and leading indonesian ministers he had not called for specific policy changes the initiative will have to rest with the indonesian government we are not here to dictate to them he stated indonesia the only asian member of opec has been badly hit by last year s slump in oil prices which cut its revenues from crude exports in half conable had what he termed a frank meeting this morning with suharto he voiced support for measures already taken including september s pct devaluation of the rupiah and efforts to deregulate imports and stimulate exports the government can rely on the support of the world bank in a continuing program of adjustment to the economic realities of today s world he said the bank has loaned indonesia billion dlrs over the past years lending is now about one billion a year the world bank would probably like to see further dismantling of tarrif barriers and measures to reduce indonesia s protected monopolies in areas like steel plastics and cement western bankers and diplomats said the government has already said it will announce further deregulation measures but has given no timetable it is also considering selling off loss making state companies conable said the bank would try to help indonesia find funds to cover its share of development projects which otherwise would have to be scrapped or postponed japan s ex im bank announced a mln dlr untied credit last month reuter,48 |
| 5818,john o butler co butc nd qtr feb net shr cts vs cts net vs sales vs six mths shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 1752,austrian growth seen between and pct a meeting of leading politicians bankers and economists has forecast austrian real gross domestic product growth for this year at between and pct a government spokesman said this compared with a two pct growth forecast made by the semi official institute for economic research wifo last december helmut kramer spokesman for chancellor franz vranitzky told reuters that the forecast had been made during the meeting attended by vranitzky finance minister ferdinand lacina national bank president stefan koren and a wifo representative economists have been cutting growth forecasts recently mainly due to expectations of a poor export performance this year notably to eastern europe and oil exporting states hannes androsch general director of creditanstalt bankverein cabv vi today put gdp growth at between one and pct kramer also said the meeting had heard that unemployment for the year would be above the pct forecast but was unlikely to be more than six pct reuter,15 |
| 4951,atcor atco cuts dividend atcor inc said it cut its quarterly dividend to three cts per share from cts because of depressed earnings the dividend is payable april to holders of record april it said it will continue to review the dividend on a quarterly basis reuter,12 |
| 432,national fsi inc nfsi th qtr loss shr loss six cts vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs vs year shr loss cts vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs mln vs mln note year figures pro forma for purchase accounting adjustments resulting from march reeacquisition of company by its original shareholders before august initial public offering reuter,12 |
| 3290,gencorp asks shareholders to postpone action in tender offer,0 |
| 3911,montgomery street income mts monthly dividend mthly div cts vs cts pay april record april reuter,12 |
| 3079,rotterdam signs cooperation agreement with tokyo the city of rotterdam today signed an agreement in principle to cooperate with the aomi cargo distribution centre in tokyo acting mayor roel den dunnen said that cooperation between private and public entities in the tokyo and rotterdam area and a fruitful exchange of information have a favourable influence on the flow of goods and services between the two countries the aomi cargo distribution center which will start operating in october this year signed a similar agreement with rotterdam s twinned port of seattle last september reuter,48 |
| 1241,international multifoods corp imc dividend qtly div cts vs cts prior pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 943,winland electronics inc th qtr loss shr loss one ct vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs vs year shr loss seven cts vs loss one ct net loss vs loss revs vs reuter,12 |
| 34,atico financial corp atfc th qtr net shr cts vs dlrs net vs mln revs mln vs mln year shr cts vs dlrs net vs mln revs mln vs mln note th qtr and yr amounts include acquisition of pct of common of atico formerly peninsula federal savings and loan association on january th qtr and yr net include net gain of mln dlrs or dlrs per share on exchange of common of pan america banks inc for common of ncnb corp purusant to a merger of the companies reuter,12 |
| 4843,ford f nears gm gm in executive bonuses ford motor co neared general motors corp last year in executive bonuses while it topped the larger automaker in profit sharing payments to workers ford which outstripped gm in earnings last year said its incentive bonuses totaled mln dlrs slightly behind general motors mln general motors however did not make any profit sharing payments to its workers while ford made a profit sharing distribution of mln dlrs or dlrs per worker general motors which saw its earnings drop to billion dlrs from s billion said the profit was not sufficient to generate a payout under the profit sharing formula ford which earned billion dlrs in up from billion in said it recognizes employees efforts and fulfills its commitment to them in many ways including profit sharing reuter,12 |
| 5121,biffex looking to join new futures exchange the baltic international freight futures exchange biffex said it agreed to pursue negotiations with other futures markets on the baltic exchange with a view to merging into a new futures exchange legal advisers have already been instructed to implement amalgamation of the london potato futures association the soya bean meal futures exchange and the london meat futures exchange the london grain futures market has also discussed merging with the other markets the aim of the merger is to seek recognised investment exchange status as required by the financial services act reuter,43 |
| 2408,no taiwan sugar exports expected this year taiwan is not expected to export sugar this year because of falling production and growing domestic consumption state owned taiwan sugar corp said a company spokesman told reuters this will be the first time in more than years taiwan has not exported sugar last year sugar exports totalled tonnes he said the actual production during the season november may is about tonnes barely enough to meet local consumption this compares with actual output of he said the production fall was due to typhoon damage to more than hectares of canefields last year reuter,45 |
| 3993,new rubber pact adopted at geneva conference producers and consumers representing most of world trade in natural rubber adopted a new international natural rubber agreement inra aimed at stabilizing world prices over the next five years negotiations for a new inra to succeed the present one which runs out next october began nearly two years ago agreement on the new five year pact which uses a buffer stock to keep prices stable by selling or buying rubber as rates rise or fall was reached at a two week session here under the auspices of the united nations conference on trade and development unctad reuter,42 |
| 2853,irving trust v buys gulf western gw unit irving bank corp said it bought the factoring division of associates commercial corp a unit of gulf and western co inc s associates corp of north america the terms of the previously announced deal were not disclosed it said the assets were transferred to irving commercial corp reuter,0 |
| 511,canada industrial production up pct canadian industrial production rose pct in december after falling pct in november statistics canada said the federal agency said year over year production was off pct in december compared with a decline of pct in november reuter,23 |
| 3639,u s says no signal being sent by ship movements a u s navy battle group led by the u s aircraft carrier kitty hawk is in the northern arabian sea amid renewed concern about the safety of shipping off the coast of iran u s officials said today but pentagon spokesman fred hoffmann said that reports the naval strike force was in the region did not mean the united states was sending a new warning to iran against escalating attacks on shipping in the persian gulf nothing like that has happened he said no signal is being sent he said that the kitty hawk is operating in an area where it usually does it s normal it s in the waters where it s supposed to be it s been there for over a month the kitty hawk and its force of warplanes is the mainstay of the u s indian ocean battle group which patrols a vast area extending from the indian subcontinent through the arabian sea with the kitty hawk and its group in the arabian sea to the south and the u s mideast task force in the persian gulf to the north the united states has warships on either end of the strategic straits of hormuz the pentagon as is its custom declined to confirm the exact whereabouts of the ships or what they were up to state department officials cited concern about the safety of ships passing through the straits on the vital oil supply run to the gulf iran has conducted repeated attacks on shipping in the gulf and u s officials have said that teheran has recently equipped itself with powerful chinese and italian made anti ship missiles posing a greater threat reuter,43 |
| 3055,ivory coast minister delayed for cocoa talks ivorian agriculture minister denis bra kanon chairman of the international cocoa organization icco council will not be able to open the council session here tomorrow an ivorian icco delegate told reuters he will arrive sometime later during the meetings here the delegate said the council session will be chaired instead by icco vice chairman sir denis henry the delegate from grenada icco officials said ivorian officials last week said bra kanon was due to return home for funeral ceremonies for a sister of ivorian president felix houphouet boigny march reuter,4 |
| 1774,sumitomo bank sumi declares stock dividend sumitomo bank of california said it declared a pct stock dividend in addition to its regular quarterly cash dividend of cts per share both dividends are payable april to shareholders of record march the company said reuter,12 |
| 4687,lear siegler holding to divest aerospace unit forstmann little and co said lear siegler holding corp plans to divest its aerospace group subsidiary comprised of the defense electronics group and the components group divestitures had been expected since lear siegler a diversified conglomerate was acquired last december in a billion dlr leveraged buyout by the wall street firm of forstmann little lear s aerospace group revenues for fiscal are expected to be about mln dlrs said forstmann the defense electronics group designs and manufactures weapons management systems flight control systems remotely piloted vehicles and reference and navigation systems mainly for military markets the defense group subsidiaries are astronics corp which is based in santa monica calif and employs people instrument and avionic systems corp based in grand rapids mich and employs people international corp based in stamford conn and employs people and development sciences corp based in ontario calif and employs people the components group manufactures pumps bearings and other industrial components as well as nuclear control drive rod mechanisms and valves the group s subsidiaries include power equipment corp based in cleveland which employs people energy products corp based in santa ana calif which employs people romek corp based in elyria ohio which employs people and transport dynamics in santa ana which employs people overall lear s aerospace group s eight subsidiaries employs people lear siegler said it plans to retain management services corp engaged in aircraft maintenance modification for various department of defense agencies morgan stanley and co will act as financial advsiors for the group s divestitures last month lear siegler said it planned to sell its smith and wesson handgun business starcraft recreational products ltd the peerless truck trailer operations and other units as part of its restructuring plans lear apparently will retain its piper aircraft unit reuter,0 |
| 6157,u s march jobless rate fell to pct the u s civilian unemployment rate fell to pct in march from pct in february the labor department said the number of non farm payroll jobs rose last month after rising a revised in february that was down from the previously reported rise in february the march unemployment rate was the lowest since march it had remained unchanged at pct for three straight months before the march decline the rise in non farm payrolls was the smallest since a decline last june of the department said last month s unemployment rate was down from the pct level in march growth in jobs continued in march but was slower than in recent months with the gains concentrated in service industries the number of goods producing jobs fell in march while service producing jobs rose to bring the total jobs in the department s survey of businesses to mln in march business and health services showed the largest gains in jobs while manufacturing employment fell by the average work week fell to hours in march from hours in february the department said manufacturing hours fell to per week from hours in february but overtime hours increased to from the department s survey of households showed the number of unemployed stood at mln out of a work force of mln the number of persons working part time for economic reasons fell in march to mln from mln in february the loss of factory jobs brought the march total to mln jobs and was concentrated in automobile electrical and electronic manufacturing construction employment also lowered the number of jobs in the goods producing sector falling by after seasonal adjustment the department said mining employment was little changed in march and has not experienced any substantial erosion since the rapid job losses in oil and gas drilling in the first two thirds of other service industries that increased jobs last month were finance insurance and real estate reuter,26 |
| 6322,freedom savings frdm may seek sale or merger freedom savings and loan association said it may seek a possible sale or merger of the association as it reported a net loss of mln dlrs or dlrs a share for the loss included a number of charges including additions to its loan loss provision of mln dlrs and write downs on the value of its real estate of mln dlrs it said it is continuing to work with investment bankers to find sources of new capital return its non performing assets to earning status and reduce operating expenses and liabilities among other things reuter,0 |
| 691,buehler international inc bulr th qtr net shr five cts vs cts qtly div two cts vs two cts prior net vs sales mln vs mln year shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln note net includes tax credits of dlrs in quarter and dlrs in year net both periods includes dlr pretax inventory writedown dividend pay march record march reuter,12 |
| 6482,bermuda star bsl leases vessel bermuda star line inc said it has leased a ton passenger vessel from orley shipping co inc of liberia for a term with options extending for years the vessel ss liberte will be renamed the canadian star and will be used for cruises to montreal from new york beginning in june orley shipping is partially owned by common brothers plc a u k maritime firm which owns pct of bermuda star s shares and arranged debt financing for the ship s purchase orley acquired the vessel from banstead shipping ltd terms were not disclosed reuter,43 |
| 2187,opec defending dlr price subroto says indonesian energy minister subroto said opec is deliberately under its production ceiling of mln barrels to defend its dlr a barrel price target he told reporters at an energy conference in jakarta that opec had decided to maintain its price level of dlrs we are deliberately defending the price so opec production is less than mln at the moment he stated asked if opec would increase production if prices went above dlrs a barrel he said this would be decided at the next opec meeting in june we will discuss the market situation then he added he said a meeting of the opec differentials committee had been postponed because there is no need for the meeting he did not elaborate the committee had originally been due to meet in vienna this week reuter,10 |
| 44,tonka corp tka raises dividend qtly div two cts vs cts pay march record march reuter,12 |
| 337,realmerica co raco year nov net shr profit four cts vs loss cts net profit vs loss note net includes tax credit of dlrs or one ct per share reuter,12 |
| 3703,corrected micropro international corp mpro net nd qtr shr four cts vs seven cts net vs revs vs mln st half shr four cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln note period ended february company corrects period in march item reuter,12 |
| 1326,savings acuisition in california announced the federal home loan bank board fhlbb announced the acquisiton of south bay savings loan association in gardena calif by standard pacific savings of costa mesa calif the fhlbb said south bay had assets of mln dlrs and standard pacific had mln dlrs in assets it was the fourth federally assisted merger or acquisition of a troubled savings institution this year the fhlbb said reuter,0 |
| 5568,data measurement corp dmcb th qtr shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln note shrs reflect for stock split reuter,12 |
| 3222,altex resources ltd year net shr six cts vs eight cts net vs revs vs reuter,12 |
| 4361,signet banking corp regular dividend qtly div cts vs cts prior payable april record april three reuter,12 |
| 3590,jp stevens and co inc stn sets payout qtrly div cts vs cts prior pay april record april reuter,12 |
| 3818,armstrong world ack unit buys plant armstrong world industries inc said its gilliam furniture affiliate has purchased a square foot building in troutman n c for undisclosed terms it said the new plant is expected to be in operation before year end and and will more than double gilliam s production capacity for upholstered furniture reuter,0 |
| 3630,nrm energy co nrm sets regular payout qtly cash distribution five cts vs five cts prior pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 5195,u k confirms february sterling m rise the bank of england said the broad measure of u k money supply sterling m rose a seasonally adjusted pct in february after a pct rise in january the unadjusted year on year rise was pct after pct in the year to january the bank said the narrow measure of money supply m fell by a seasonally adjusted pct in february and rose by a non adjusted pct year on year in january m fell by an adjusted pct and rose by a non adjusted pct year on year the figures confirm provisional data issued by the bank on march the bank said sterling bank lending grew by a seasonally adjusted billion stg in february after a billion stg adjusted rise in january the measure of private sector liquidity psl rose an unadjusted pct in february making a year on year unadjusted pct rise adjusted psl rose by pct in february against a pct rise in january the bank said it said the public sector contribution to the growth in sterling m was contractionary by about mln stg after a contractionary contribution of billion stg in january within this the public sector borrowing requirement showed a repayment of mln stg after a billion stg repayment in january while the non bank private sector s holdings of government debt fell by about mln stg after a billion stg fall in january there was a mln stg rise in notes and coins in circulation in february after a mln stg fall in january the bank said non interest bearing sight deposits rose by mln stg after a billion stg fall in january and interest bearing deposits fell mln stg after a billion rise in january reuter,33 |
| 1202,bush bsh revises th qtr year results up bush industries inc said that after an audit it has revised upwards its fourth quarter and year end results on february it reported unaudited results under the audited amounts fourth quarter income was mln dlrs or cts a share the unaudited income for the period was or cts per share for the year the audited amounts showed earnings of or dlrs per share the prior results reported income of or dlrs per share sales figures for both periods did not differ significantly from prior amounts reuter,12 |
| 6267,gencorp gy unit completes wor tv sale gencorp said its rko general inc subsidiary completed the sale of wor tv to mca inc mca for mln dlrs the federal communications commission approved the sale last december gencorp said the closing was delayed because that decision was appealed by four parties to the u s court of appeals gencorp explained wor tv is based in secaucus n j gencorp said earlier today general partners said it was prepared to raise its bid to dlrs per share or even more in its bid for gencorp reuter,0 |
| 4778,boston edison co bse regular dividend qtly div cts vs cts in prior qtr payable may one record april reuter,12 |
| 3869,kleinwort benson kba unit sets first dividend kleinwort benson international investment ltd s subsidiary kleinwort benson australian income fund a closed end management investment company declared its first quarterly dividend of cts payable april to shareholders of record april reuter,12 |
| 3022,philippines social security to buy san miguel shrs the philippines social security system sss is planning to buy eight mln shares in diversified brewer san miguel corp smc smc chief financial officer ramon del rosario said he told reporters the government organisation had expressed interest in one seat on smc s man board and was preparing to invest mln pesos assuming a purchase price of pesos a share the shares involved in the proposal were part of the block of mln shares owned by the united coconut planters bank ucpb and sequestered by the government the block is split between class a and class b stock smc also proposed to sell a further five mln shares to a n soriano corp the family company of san miguel president andres soriano del rosario said the shares are worth some mln pesos at recent prices del rosario said the mln b shares in the block which are open to foreign ownership would probably be sold to unidentified foreign purchasers he said smc and ucpb would meet later this week to try to resolve disputes over the pricing of the shares president corazon aquino earlier this month established an arbitration panel to settle a row over the disposal of the shares their initial sale to soriano through smc hong kong unit neptunia corp was blocked by the presidential commission on good government the commission sequestered the stock on suspicion that the real owner of the block was eduardo cojuanco the former chairman of san miguel and the ucpb and a close associate of deposed former president ferdinand marcos reuter,0 |
| 746,policy management pmsc makes acquisition policy management systems corp said it has acquired the majority of the assets and business of allied research inc of salem ore and consolidated insurance services inc of springfield va for undisclosed terms it said the two companies which had combined revenues of about two mln dlrs provide underwriting information services to property and casualty insurers reuter,0 |
| 5516,beghin say says sugar offer to ec still stands a plan by european producers to sell tonnes of sugar to european community intervention stocks still stands andrea minguzzi an official at french sugar producer beghin say said last week beghin say president jean marc vernes said a possible settlement of a row with the ec would lead producers to withdraw their offer which was made as a protest against ec export licensing policies the ec policy is to offer export rebates which fail to give producers an equivalent price to that which they would get by offering sugar into intervention stocks vernes said but minguzzi said the offer was a commercial affair and that producers had no intention of withdrawing the sugar offer already lodged with intervention boards of different european countries he said final quality approval for all the sugar offered could come later this week some pct had already cleared quality specifications the ec can only reject an offer to sell into intervention stocks on quality grounds minguzzi added that under ec regulations the community has until early may to pay for the sugar he declined to put an exact figure on the amount of sugar offered by beghin say but said it was below tonnes reuter,45 |
| 359,telecredit inc tcrd rd qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln nine mths shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 3332,community savings bank csbn qtly dividend qtly div six cts vs six cts prior pay april record april reuter,12 |
| 6449,u s says no pact on relief for poorest states there is no consensus so far among industrial countries on an agreement providing debt relief for the world s poorest nations a senior u s treasury official said the official said there has not been a consensus reached yet when asked about reports the paris club of western creditors had agreed to long term stretch outs of african debt at concessional interest rates the official briefing reporters on this week s semiannual imf meetings said the issue would be discussed this week and the u s had an open mind on the proposal but it did object to concessional interest rate relief reuter,22 |
| 2924,photographic sciencies corp pscx th qtr loss oper shr loss six cts vs profit four cts oper net loss vs profit sales vs avg shrs vs year ope shr profit five cts vs profit five cts oper net profit vs profit sales vs avg shrs vs note net excludes losses from discontinued operations of dlrs vs dlrs in quarter and dlrs vs dlrs in year year net excludes dlr tax credit year includes only six months of operations due to change in fiscal year reuter,12 |
| 1007,safecard services sfcd sets split ups payout safecard services inc said its board declared a three for two stock split and is maintaining the quarterly dividend on post split shares at the same six cts it now pays for an effective pct increase both the split and the dividend are payable april to holders of record march reuter,12 |
| 623,lawson products inc laws raises qtly payout qtly div seven cts vs six cts prior pay april record april three reuter,12 |
| 5926,itel itel buys castle cooke cke unit assets itel corp said it has completed the previously announced acquisition of the container fleet and related assets of castle and cooke inc s flexi van leasing inc subsidiary for about mln dlrs in cash and marketable securities mln dlrs in notes three mln common shares and the assumption of liabilities the company said it has obtained mln dlrs in financing from a bank group for the deal and the common shares are subject to a year restriction on their sale and voting reuter,0 |
| 3111,synthetech nzym ends southwest photo talks synthetech inc said it discontinued negotiations on acquiring southwest photo chem inc of pomona calif the company cited irreconcilable differences in the financial structure of the deal it said southwest photo proposed a significant change in terms outlined in the letter of intent signed last month reuter,0 |
| 1520,union shippers agree to cut n y port costs the new york shipping association and international longshoremen s association said they agreed to cut cargo assessments at the port of new york and new jersey by more than pct on some labor intensive cargos the charges on cargo handled by union workers will be reduced to dlrs a ton from dlrs a ton effective april one according to the agreement between the union and shippers the assessments are used to fund workers benefits what were doing is lowering the price to get more bulk cargo flowing through here a spokesman for the new york shipping association said,43 |
| 4686,indiana federal ifsl th qtr net net vs year net vs note company s full name is indiana federal savings and loan association per share information not available bank went public on february reuter,12 |
| 121,japan expected to cut base rate for state bodies japan is expected to cut the base lending rate for state financial institutions to pct from as part of the recent pact by major industrial nations in paris finance ministry sources said they said the cut is based on a revision of the trust fund bureau law which should be approved by parliament on march abolishing the pct minimum interest rate on deposits with the bureau the bureau channels funds to government financial institutions for public works and other official uses they said the base lending rate for state bodies such as the japan development bank people s finance corp and the finance corporations of local public enterprises usually moves in tandem with long term prime rates the sources said however it was impossible for them to follow the last cut to pct from pct on january because the trust fund bureau rate was legally set at pct the ministry will abolish the minimum rate and introduce a market related one to resolve the problem and stimulate the domestic economy they said on tuesday the ministry allowed long term bankers to cut their prime to a record low of pct effective february the move suggested it had reached agreement with depositors using the bureau the postal savings system of the posts and telecommunications ministry and the japan welfare annuity of the ministry of health and welfare the sources said these ministries are trying to determine which market rates should be considered when setting the bureau s deposit rate the ministry sources said coupon rates on new year government bonds minus percentage points is the likeliest choice they added reuter,22 |
| 5939,csx corp csx st qtr net shr cts vs cts net mln vs mln revs billion vs billion note figures reflect the merger of sea land corp completed feb reuter,12 |
| 2855,porta systems corp psi th qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln year shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 2124,cargill official defends certificate programs the use of generic in kind commodity certificates has helped ease storage problems and is a necessary part of export promotion programs a senior executive for the world s largest grain company said testifying before the house agriculture subcommittee on wheat soybeans and feedgrains robbin johnson vice president of cargill inc disputed claims that u s grain companies have made huge profits from certificate trading the certs program is not in any way a windfall to the trade he said johnson said that cargill has been dealing with a two pct spread in certificate transactions and that this is within the normal grain marketing levels johnson recognized current concern over the cost of certificates as compared to cash but said that critics need to look more closely at the savings caused by certs noting for example that widespread use of certs in the pik and roll marketing technique last summer helped ease storage costs certificates are also an important part of any export promotion program he said the more you look at ways to expand export markets the more you have to look at ways to expand certs to put more grain into the market to meet demand he said subcommittee chairman dan glickman d kans said his committee would be looking at the certificate program later this year and studying the general accounting office report on certificate costs reuter,17 |
| 4922,commonwealth energy system ces dividend qtly div cts vs cts in prior qtr payable may one record april reuter,12 |
| 4777,trizec corp ltd st qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net mln vs mln revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln note company owns pct of bramalea ltd reuter,12 |
| 2352,u s business loans rise mln dlrs in march week fed says,33 |
| 1366,brazil seamen continue strike despite court hundreds of marines were on alert at key brazilian ports after seamen decided to remain on indefinite strike even after the higher labour court saturday ruled it illegal union leaders said the halt the first national strike by seamen in years started on february and union leaders said they would not return to work unless they got a pct pay rise shipowners have offered a per cent raise which the seamen rejected we have nothing to lose if they want to lay off the workers fine but we are determined to carry on with our protest until the end a union leader said more he said they had decided in a meeting that if the marines take over the ships the seamen would abandon the vessels and let the marines handle the situation by themselves a spokesman for the rio de janeiro port said the order to send marines to take over the ports was given by navy minister henrique saboya on grounds that ports are areas of national security but he said there were no incidents the strike has cut exports and imports and made an estimated ships idle petrol station owners in four states also continued their shutdown and there were fears that the combination of the two stoppages could lead to a serious fuel shortage reuter,43 |
| 6270,harleysville group hgic seeks to acquire firm harleysville group inc said it was in talks to acquire atlantic mutual fire insurance co a property and casualty insurer licensed in five southern states the company said it believes an acquisition could be completed by june subject to approval by regulatory and atlantic mutual policyholders harleysville plans to invest about four mln dlrs in the business if the deal is completed reuter,0 |
| 5900,conrac says it is mulling restructuring or buyout as alternatives,0 |
| 4157,stokely usa inc stky regular dividend set qtly div three cts vs three cts previously pay april record april one reuter,12 |
| 2794,ec warns u s and japan on trade tensions the european community ec yesterday warned japan and the united states its main trading partners that friction over trade issues is affecting the ec s relations with both countries ec foreign ministers issued a statement deploring japan s continued trade imbalance and appealed for the country to make a greater effort to open up its markets they also said they were disturbed by a draft bill before the u s congress that would impose permanent quotas on textile imports and were prepared to react the u s administration has already distanced itself from the bill ec external trade commissioner willy de clercq has written to his u s counterpart trade representative clayton yeutter outlining the ec s concerns the statement said ministers were very disturbed by u s moves towards protectionism the adoption of such measures would not fail to have a negative effect on the process of multilateral negotiations just started as well as on bilateral relations it said any unilateral u s moves would leave the ec no option but to react according to the laws of the general agreement on tariffs and trade it said in a separate statement on japan the ec ministers said they deplore the continued aggravation of the imbalance in trade and expect japan to open up its market more the statement said the ec would continue to insist that japan boost imports and stimulate domestic demand ministers also called on the ec commission to prepare a report on u s japanese trade for july this year to enable them to take appropriate action where necessary one diplomat said the call for a report showed ministers were determined not to let the japanese question drop it will be back on the table again and again the diplomat said de clercq talking to journalists during the meeting said there is a certain nervousness a growing impatience within the community concerning trade relations with japan but diplomats said the ec is keen to negotiate with tokyo to solve the problem rather than embark on a costly and damaging trade war and the ministers called for more cooperation with japan in industry and research reuter,48 |
| 2416,corrected ivory coast confirms presence at talks a senior ivory coast agriculture ministry official confirmed his country s backing for a new international cocoa pact and said ivorian delegates would be present at talks on its buffer stock starting this week the official told reuters that ivorian agriculture minister denis bra kanon would attend the opening of the talks convened by the international cocoa organization icco in london on monday while bra kanon is due to return home this week for funeral ceremonies for a sister of ivorian president felix houphouet boigny scheduled to be held in the country s capital yamoussoukro between march senior ivorian delegates will be present throughout the london talks the official said bra kanon is chairman of the icco council and rumours that he or ivorian delegates might be delayed because of public mourning in the west african nation helped depress already low world cocoa prices friday the official said ivory coast continued to support the new pact which was agreed in principle last year by most of the world s cocoa exporters and consumers he also said bra kanon would fulfil his duties as icco council chairman during the talks scheduled to end on march the meeting aims to set rules for the operation of the pact s buffer stock which producers hope will boost a market hit by successive world cocoa surpluses ivory coast did not participate in the last international cocoa pact and its decision to join the new accord has sparked hopes that it will be more successful in supporting prices reuter,4 |
| 642,geonex sees sales hurt by production shift geonex corp geox said bellsouth corp bls unit southern bell telephone and telegraph co s decision to postpone the start up of new conversion assignments at geonex s chicago aerial survey unit could negatively affect its fiscal revenues the company said it had expected higher revenues from the records conversion work but it now foresees revenues from southern bell work at about eight mln dlrs the same level as last fiscal year geonex said southern bell will let cas continue work in progress and it expects to perform mechanized posting and records conversion for southern bell through but it added that the southern bell decision has forced it to pursue opportunities with other telephone companies and municipalities to replace the southern bell work reuter,12 |
| 3358,u s cargo preference funding accord seen near the u s departments of agriculture and transportation are close to agreement on how to fund the increasing share of food aid to be shipped on u s flag vessels under a farm bill provision on cargo preference melvin sims usda s general sales manager told a house agriculture appropriations subcommittee hearing that the two departments are negotiating a memorandum of understanding on cargo preference under a farm bill provision the percentage of food aid shipments carried on u s flag vessels was to gradually increase over three years to pct in the increased cost of using u s vessels was to be funded by the transportation department instead of usda however usda officials said transportation has so far contributed no money the agreement between usda and transportation is expected to resolve the matter usda officials said tom kay administrator of the usda s foreign agricultural service said yesterday the requirement that more food aid shipments be carried on u s vessels has been difficult to meet as the tonnage required under cargo preference goes up its going to be harder and harder to meet kay said two farm state congressmen pat roberts r kan and glenn english d okla said cargo preference makes u s farm export programs more costly and the program should be eliminated in the past farm interests opposed to cargo preference have been defeated in congress by the maritime interests who view cargo preference as vital to the u s shipping fleet reuter,43 |
| 4052,investor acquires pct of munford mfd a joint venture controlled by dallas investor bradbury dyer said it had acquired shares or pct of the common stock of munford inc in a filing with the securities and exchange commission the concern which comprises paragon associates and paragon associates ii said it bought the stake for dlrs and may buy more shares paragon said it bought the shares for investment purposes reuter,0 |
| 845,taiwan shipbuilder looks for japanese ventures taiwan s state owned china shipbuilding corp csbc plans to seek joint production agreements with japan and further diversify into ship repairing to try to trim its debts chairman louis lo said he told reuters in an interview that csbc s first joint production venture to build two hulls for onomichi dockyard co ltd was a success talks on similar projects have been held with other japanese firms including mitsubishi heavy industries co ltd mith t and ishikawajima harima heavy industries co ltd jima t he said lo said csbc delivered the hulls of two teu twenty foot equivalent unit container ships this year to onomichi which would complete production we expect the successful cooperation between us and onomichi will pave the way for further cooperation with other japanese shipbuilders in the future lo said he said japanese firms would gain from the lower cost of shipbuilding in taiwan while csbc would benefit from japanese technology and marketing this would pose a challenge to competitors in europe and south korea lo said csbc has made losses of about mln u s dlrs since beginning operations in its total debt now stands at about mln dlrs with annual interest payments of nearly three mln dlrs but he said the company which is taiwan s largest shipbuilder still has full government support and had begun diversifying into ship repairing and manufacture of pipes and other machinery we hope we can survive and prosper through diversification he said lo said income from ship repairing almost doubled to mln u s dlrs in the year ended june compared with the previous financial year he estimated income would rise to more than mln dlrs in csbc has orders to build ships totalling dead weight tons dwt this financial year compared with ships of dwt in he said lo said the prospects for shipbuilding were gloomy at least until due to overtonnage but the outlook for ship repairing was bright reuter,43 |
| 3762,sunshine mining co ssc th qtr loss shr loss cts vs loss cts net loss mln vs loss mln revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln year shr loss dlrs vs loss dlrs net loss mln vs loss mln revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln note per share results after preferred dividend requirements of mln dlrs vs mln dlrs in quarter and mln dlrs vs mln dlrs in year th qtr loss includes accruals writedowns and non recurring charges aggregating mln dlrs including costs anticipated in for the reopening of the sunshine mine and a writedown of the capitalized costs at the sixteen to one mine by mln dlrs year loss includes charges totaling mln dlrs reuter,12 |
| 6303,ibc could close may export registrations tonight the brazilian coffee institute ibc could close may export registrations tonight following extremely heavy sales today exporters said they estimated registrations today at between mln and mln kilo bags yesterday bags were registered the exporters said over mln bags of total registrations could have been the declaration of sales made in the six weeks during which books were closed the rest would be new sales when the ibc opened may registrations from yesterday it did not set any volume limit april registrations opened and closed on february when a daily record mln bags were declared reuter,5 |
| 4459,danish february consumer prices fall pct consumer prices fell pct in february after a rise of pct in january and no change in february the national statistics office said the index base fell to in february from in january against in february giving a year on year increase of pct reuter,8 |
| 4888,advanced genetic sciences agsi year loss shr loss cts vs loss cts net loss vs loss revs vs note th qtr data not available reuter,12 |
| 6120,american realty arb sets record date for offer american realty trust said its board has set april as the record date for its previously announced rights offering and the rights will be issued on april and expire may shareholders will be able to subscribe for shares for each share held at a price of dlrs per share reuter,12 |
| 1375,nationwide cellular ncel completes purchase nationwide cellular service inc said it has completed the previously announced acquisition of privately held nova cellular co a chicago reseller of mobile telephone service with subscribers for about common shares nova cellular has an accumulated deficit of about dlrs and had revenues of about dlrs for it said reuter,0 |
| 2979,norstar nor to buy callicoon bank norstar bancorp said it reached an agreement in principle to buy united national bank of callicoon through a stock exchange valued at mln dlrs under terms of the agreement norstar would buy all shares of united s common stock at a rate of three norstar shares for each united share with year end assets of mln dlrs united has branches six upstate new york cities all of which will become part of norstar bank of the hudson valley n a norstar is an billion dlr multibank financial services company reuter,0 |
| 6147,pioneer sugar says csr takeover offer too low pioneer sugar mills ltd said it considered the proposed dlrs a share cash takeover offer announced by csr ltd csra s on march to be too low in view of the group hk uiie and prospects csr s bid for the pct of pioneer s mln issued shares it does not already hold values the entire grop j culd make an alternative share offer but has not yet announced terms pioneer recommended in a statement that shareholders retain their stock pending the board s response once it receives full details of the csr offer reuter,0 |
| 3435,convenient food mart inc cfmi th qtr net period ended dec shr cts vs cts net vs revs vs year shr cts vs cts net vs revs vs note period ended december share results adjusted for five for four stock split on april and pct stock dividend issued dec reuter,12 |
| 5765,sosnoff ends deal with pratt southmark on possible venture for caesars bid,0 |
| 4446,sumita says bank of japan has no intention of lowering its discount rate,22 |
| 5891,suntrust banks sti raises prime to pct suntrust banks said that sun banks in florida and trust co banks in georgia have raised their prime rate to pct from pct the company said the action is effective immediately reuter,22 |
| 930,national gypsum co th qtr net net vs na revs mln vs mln year net mln vs na revs billion vs billion note current year includes earnings of mln dlrs for the four months ended april year ago earnings not comparable because of acquisition by aancor holdings inc on april reuter,12 |
| 3592,u s commercial paper rises billion dlrs in march week fed says,33 |
| 4241,kdi kdi to buy triangle microwave trmw kdi corp said it has agreed in principle to acquire triangle microwave inc for dlrs plus a contingent payment for each triangle share it said holders of the contingent payment units will be entitled to receive annual payments to the extent that the predepreciation gross profits of triangle microwave in each of the years through exceed threshholds ranging from eight mln dlrs in to mln dlrs in the company said holders of triangle microwave options and warrants will be entitled to receive the difference between dlrs and their exercise price plus contingent payments kdi said completion of the transaction is subject to governmental approvals and the approval of triangle microwave shareholders and the transaction is valued at over mln dlrs it said shareholders of triangle microwave controlling about pct of the company s stock have agreed to vote in favor of the deal and to give kdi an option to buy their shares under certain components triangle microwave makes microwave components kdi a diversified company produces electronic components technical products and swimming pool equipment reuter,0 |
| 5688,chase manhattan raises prime rate to pct from effective today,22 |
| 3107,reagan upbeat about latest gnp figures president reagan said the pct u s economic growth rate during the final quarter of wasn t all that bad the commerce department said the rate of growth of the gross national product in the october december period was only slightly less than a preliminary estimate of pct made earlier at the same time it said inflation as measured by the gnp price deflator rose by pct during the period asked his reaction to the gnp report during a white house photo session reagan replied it wasn t all that bad reuter,15 |
| 5803,fhlbb changes short term discount note rates the federal home loan bank board adjusted the rates on its short term discount notes as follows maturity new rate old rate maturity days pct pct days days pct pct days days pct pct days days pct pct days days pct pct days days pct pct days reuter,22 |
| 3488,ryan s family steak house ryan sets split ryan s family steak houses inc said its board declared a three for one stock split payable may to holders of record may the company said the split is subject to shareholder approval of an increase in authorized shares to mln from mln at the april annual meeting reuter,12 |
| 4430,golden north has encouraging drill results golden north resource corp said said surface and underground drilling on the canty project and mascot fraction at its nickel plate mountain property in british columbia returned encouraging gold assays it said one canty hole encountered several mineralized intervals including feet grading ounce gold a short ton from to feet and feet grading ounce gold ton from feet to feet a mascot fraction hole returned assays including ounce gold ton over seven feet between and feet it said reuter,16 |
| 2928,federal paper board co fbt sets payout qtly div cts vs cts prior pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 2881,israel s five year plan to boost agriculture israel has drawn up a five year plan for to raise agricultural production by mln dlrs to billion dlrs an annual rise of pct the israeli ministry of agriculture said agricultural exports are to be increased by mln dlrs or pct per year on average the area planted to cotton is to remain at the level of to acres with exports expected to bring in to mln dlrs per year the pct decline from the level reflects continued water rationing which will remain in force the ministry said groundnut production is planned to increase by tonnes or pct by and exports by tonnes or pct maize production is targetted to rise by tonnes or pct and exports by tonnes or pct reuter,7 |
| 2278,petrobras asks army to withdraw troops brazil s state oil company petrobras has asked the army to withdraw the troops which were occupying its oil installations since tuesday petrobras said in a statement the statement said the request for the withdrawal of the troops was made because of the calmness reigning in all of its refineries the request was also due to the end of the seamen s strike and the willingness of the oil industry workers to sit again by the negotiating table the statement said even though the petrobras statement said the seamen s strike was over a union spokesman said only two small shipping companies had reached a pay agreement the overwhelming majority of brazil s seamen remained on strike the statement said a meeting between petrobras and oil industry leaders was set for next wednesday in rio with the presence of labour minister almir pazzionotto as a mediator petrobras said the request for the withdrawal of the troops was made at local hours gmt but a company spokesman said he did not know if the troops had already been removed reuter,10 |
| 2892,jamesway corp jmy th qtr jan net shr primary cts vs cts shr diluted cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs primary vs avg shrs diluted vs year shr primary dlrs vs dlrs shr diluted dlrs vs dlrs net mln vs year revs mln vs mln avg shrs primary vs avg shrs diluted vs note includes after tax lifo charges of dlrs vs dlrs for qtr and dlrs vs dlrs for year reuter,12 |
| 1884,japanese corporate earnings recovery predicted japanese corporate earnings will rise pct in fiscal for the first year on year increase in three years partly because of the yen s stable exchange rate the nomura research institute said sales of all industries are predicted to rise pct in the year which starts april the research arm of nomura securities co said in a statement recurrent profits were estimated to fall pct in the current fiscal year with sales forecast to drop pct the forecast assumes an average rate of yen to the dollar in compared with yen in the current year corporate efforts to cope with the yen s appreciation such as cutting production costs are expected to bear fruit next fiscal year the institute said the economy should also benefit from pump priming expected from the government and a halt in rising prices of manufactured goods it said recurrent profits of manufacturing industries are projected to rise pct next fiscal year against an estimated pct fall in the current year non manufacturing sector profits will decline pct in against an estimated pct rise in the current year it said reuter,12 |
| 770,liberty financial group lfg regular dividend qtly div cts vs cts in prior qtr payable march record february reuter,12 |
| 5553,pier imports pir amending dates on split pier imports inc said it amended its record and distribution dates for its previously announced three for two common and cts preferred stock split the split common and cts preferred shares will be distributed on july to shareholders of record june the stock split requires shareholder approval of an increase in authorized shares of common stock to mln from mln and an increase of authorized shares of preferred stock to five mln from one mln the company said the change in the dates was based on the company s desire to have the additional common and cts preferred shares trade for the shortest practical period of time on a when issued basis following a favorable shareholder vote at the annual meeting june it said the previously announced record and distribution dates were may and june respectively the company said reuter,12 |
| 4619,liberian ore carrier in collision in river elbe the liberian motor bulk carrier trave ore dwt loaded with ore and the dwt west german motor vessel christa collided late last night on the river elbe near buoy lloyds shipping intelligence said the trave ore proceeded by its own means to hamburg the christa was taken in tow with a damaged bow the liberian vessel was concluding a trip from seven islands to hamburg reuter,43 |
| 3925,sulpetro loss due to writedowns asset disposals sulpetro ltd said its fiscal year net loss of mln dlrs or dlrs per share was due to several factors the largest of which was a writedown of mln dlrs of oil and gas properties sulpetro also recorded a writeoff of deferred charges amounting to mln dlrs a loss of mln dlrs on the disposal of all properties in the united kingdom and an equity loss of mln dlrs from affiliate sulbath exploration ltd there was also a loss on other investments of mln dlrs and a loss on operations of mln dlrs after interest depletion depreciation and income tax recoveries in the fiscal year ended october sulpetro had a net loss of mln dlrs or dlrs per share the company also said its non recourse project financing for the irish lindergh heavy oil field remains in default due to continuing low oil prices reuter,12 |
| 2232,caesars world caw rejects sosnoff s offer caesars world inc said its board unanimously rejected a dlr a share takeover offer by new york investor martin t sosnoff caesars said sosnoff s offer to by all its outstanding shares of common stock was inadequate and not in the best interests of its shareholders the company recommended that shareholders reject sosnoff s offer made through his mts acquisition corp and not tender any of their shares caesars said it will explore a variety of alternative transactions but did not elaborate caesars in a brief statement did not say whether it would seek to buy back its shares held by sosnoff a caesars spokesman said the company would not comment further on its decision on wednesday sosnoff told the securities and exchange commission that he controls pct of the company s stock sosnoff also informed the sec that caesars had offered to buyout his holdings several times during the past year no one from the sosnoff organization was immediately available for comment caesars said its financial advisor drexel burnham lambert inc had determined that sosnoff s offer was financially inadequate for shareholders other than sosnoff the company said other factors it considered in rejecting the offer were its financial condition future prospects current market conditions and the numerous conditions on which sosnoff s bid was conditioned caesars stock opened up point at that is point above sosnoff s offer price reuter,0 |
| 5514,st lawrence seaway opens shipping season the st lawrence seaway said the first ship of the season passed through the st lambert lock here this morning officially opening the mile long waterway s shipping season the seaway has said it expects little increase in freight levels this year from last year when it moved mln tonnes of freight between montreal and lake ontario and mln tonnes on the welland canal which links lake erie and lake ontario the canal is scheduled to open tomorrow officials expect the waterway to lose nine to ten mln canadian dlrs this year about the same as the estimated deficit for fiscal which ends today reuter,43 |
| 6105,gpu gpu declares first dividend since general public utilities corp said its board declared a dividend of cts per share on common stock its first dividend since it omitted payment in february as a result of the three mile island nuclear accident in 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 to holders of record april reuter,12 |
| 3151,stone and webster inc sw sets quarterly qtly div cts vs cts prior pay may record april one reuter,12 |
| 1930,harper group harg th qtr net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs year oper shr cts vs cts oper net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs note year net excludes dlr loss from discontinued operations share adjusted for three for two stock split reuter,12 |
| 6257,minas de almaden raises mercury price spain s minas de almaden y arrayanes s a has agreed with algerian producer enof to establish a minimum price of dlrs per flask for spot mercury sales almaden spokesman jesus gallego said in response to enquiries from reuters he said his company had raised the minimum price for its spot sales from dlrs per flask following talks with enof in a separate press release the company said that enof and almaden held talks in istanbul a week ago with turkish mercury producers on ways to improve prices but gallego said he was not in a position to say what action the turkish companies would be taking reuter,44 |
| 5434,lasmo set to benefit from future oil price rises london and scottish marine oil plc lasmo lasl l will have an advantage when oil prices rise again and it is confident this will happen early in the next decade the company said in a statement accompanying results lasmo said its advantage comes from its reserves of oil and gas which at the end of stood at mln barrels of oil equivalent a group record reserves have increased every year since at a compounded rate of pct a year the company reported a pretax profit of mln stg down from mln in it said falling oil prices caused the downturn the company said it reacted swiftly to the sharp drop in oil prices which began over a year ago capital expenditure which had been budgeted at over mln stg was cut to mln stg net of disposals managers responded well to the demand for lower operating costs and this has been achieved worldwide the company said had very few exploration wells committed for and therefore retains maximum flexibility in its exploration program even without further success the existing fields and recent discoveries will contribute significantly to profit and cash flow for some years to come it said lasmo shares were down p at after the announcement reuter,12 |
| 2476,whippany paper board co inc merger approved whippany paper board co inc said shareholders at a special meeting approved a merger into npn inc for dlrs per share npn acquired control of whippany in a recent tender offer reuter,0 |
| 2215,u s producer prices rose pct in feb after pct jan rise,50 |
| 4332,ste francaise des petroles bp pbpf pa year net result breakeven no profit or loss vs breakeven operating loss mln francs vs mln net turnover billion francs vs billion sales of petroleum products mln tonnes vs mln note company said in a statement results were affected by the sharp fall in crude oil prices net result included an extraordinary recovery of mln francs from provisions for currency fluctuations and mln francs in depreciation of fixed assets company is a subsidiary of the british petroleum co plc bp l reuter,12 |
| 951,zayre corp zy th qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net vs rev billion vs billion year shr dlrs vs dlrs net vs rev billion vs billion note th qtr net includes pre tax gain of mln dlrs from sale of real estate and real estate development company fiscal net includes extraordinary charge of mln dlrs or six cts a share all per share data reflects a two for one stock split paid june reuter,12 |
| 6488,itt corp itt declares dividend qtly div cts vs cts prior pay july record may reuter,12 |
| 4521,perception technology pcep to take charge perception technology corp said it expects to take a charge of about dlrs or cts per share against earnings for the second quarter ended march due to the bankruptcy proceeding of customer t c of new york inc perception said it has outstanding lease receivables from t c of about dlrs it said the exact amnount of the charge will depend on the extent of recovery of the leased equipment involved and on arrangements that might be made with the bankruptcy court on the equipment reuter,12 |
| 3991,general partners in gencorp gy proxy fight general partners the group tendering for all gencorp inc shares at dlrs each said it has started soliciting proxies against gencorp s proposals to increase its number of authorized shares outstanding create a board with staggered election dates and eliminate cumulative voting the proposals are to be voted on at the march annual meeting general partners a partnership of privately held wagner and brown and afg industries inc afg made the disclosure in a newspaper advertisement the partnership has already filed suit in u s district court in columbus ohio seeking to block a vote on the proposals and to invalidate gencorp s defensive preferred share purchase rights general partners asked shareholders to either vote against the proposals or abstain from voting on them reuter,0 |
| 544,colombia to sell sugar london traders say colombia is holding a snap selling tender tonight for one cargo of world market raw sugar traders said the sugar is for march april shipment and bids are being sought based on the new york may delivery futures contract they added reuter,45 |
| 3888,vms mortgage vmtgz cash distribution rises vms mortgage investors l p ii said it declared a first quarter cash distribution of cts a depositary unit up five pct from the prior quarter it said the distribution will be payable may record january reuter,12 |
| 3859,u s frozen orange juice stocks march gallons vs year ago,36 |
| 3116,genzyme corp genz th qtr net shr profit three cts vs loss cts net profit vs loss revs vs avg shrs vs year shr profit one ct vs loss cts net profit vs loss revs vs avg shrs vs note th qtr and year net includes two mln dlr loss for litigation settlement and dlrs for write off of goodwill reuter,12 |
| 4215,nakasone intervenes in microchip dispute prime minister yasuhiro nakasone intervened to try to resolve japan s escalating dispute with the u s over semiconductor trade government officials said at today s cabinet meeting nakasone told trade and industry minister hajime tamura to redouble his efforts to calm u s anger over what it sees as japan s unfair trade practices in semiconductors nakasone intervened only two days before a scheduled meeting of the reagan administration s economic policy council to consider whether japan is reneging on its microchip pact with the u s that pact agreed last year after months of negotiations calls on japan to stop selling cut price chips in world markets and to raise its imports of u s semiconductors senior u s officials have accused tokyo of failing to live up to the accord and have threatened retaliatory action yesterday tamura s ministry of international trade and industry miti launched a last ditch attempt to salvage the pact by writing letters to u s policy makers setting out japan s case and telling japanese chip makers to cut output in his letter the contents of which were released today tamura said a miti survey carried out at the beginning of march showed japanese producers were not selling at cut rate prices in asian markets in a separate letter sent to senior u s officials miti vice minister for international affairs makoto kuroda suggested the two countries could conduct a joint investigation into allegations of japanese chip dumping in such markets reuter,48 |
| 5780,family dollar stores inc fdo nd qtr feb shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln avg shares mln vs mln first half shr cts vs cts net mln vs mln sales mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 1504,usda orange juice yield estimate the u s agriculture department projected an average yield of gallons of frozen concentrated orange juice per box degree brix equivalent from florida s crop that compares with gallons per box previously and gallons per box from the crop the crop reporting board said the estimates for the season are based on maturity and yields tests as of march reuter,36 |
| 648,castle and cooke inc cke th qtr loss shr loss cts vs loss cts net loss mln vs loss revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln year shr profit cts vs profit cts net profit vs profit rev billion vs billion avg shares vs note fourth quarter includes after tax loss from discontinued flexi van operations of mln dlrs primary earnings per share data calculated after deducting preferred dividend requirements reuter,12 |
| 5740,sweden s boliden ab takes over mining gear units of allis chalmers corp for mln crowns,0 |
| 2563,cambridge analytical caan sees first qtr loss cambridge analytical associates inc said it expects to incur a loss for the first quarter of fiscal equal to or greater than its loss of dlrs for the fourth quarter ended december cambridge said it expects revenues for the first quarter to be approximately the same as those recorded for the fourth quarter ended december of dlrs cambridge recorded a profit of dlrs on revenues of dlrs for the first quarter of fiscal the company said the company attributed the expected loss to lower than expected sales from its laboratory and consulting business and planned major investment in its proprietary treatment technology the company said winter is traditionally its slowest season reuter,12 |
| 4625,arden international aiki th qtr dec net oper shr one ct vs two cts oper net vs revs vs year oper shr four cts vs nine cts oper net vs revs vs avg shrs vs note full name is arden international kitchens inc more,12 |
| 5697,arco arc says net to cover dividend payout atlantic richfield oil co said it expects first quarter net income to cover its dividend requirements in the quarter the company paid a quarterly dividend of one dlr a share earlier this month reuter,12 |
| 6012,scottish and york holdings ltd year loss shr loss cts vs loss dlrs net profit vs loss revs mln vs mln note shr after payment of preferred stock dividends reuter,12 |
| 4105,sosnoff has small number of caesars caw shares martin t sosnoff said his mts acquisition corp to date has received only a negligible number of caesars world inc shares in response to its dlr per share tender offer for all shares sosnoff also said he has held preliminary talks with pratt hotel corp prat and southmark corp sm on forming a joint venture to enter into talks to acquire caesars in a friendly transaction in which sosnoff would have a pct interest and pratt and southmark the remainder sosnoff said the talks with pratt and southmark are not being actively pursued at the presentand may or may not be continued in the future he said there could be no assurance that a joint venture would be formed or that caesars would agreed to talks several preliminary contacts with representatives of caesars have not resulted in any indication that it wishes to enter into such negotiations sosnoff said he said based on talks with staff members of gaming authorities there can be no assurance that the necessary regulatory review of its bid for caesars world can be completed by the original april three expiration date sosnoff said it has extended the tender until may the bid remains subject to regulatory approvals and the arrangement of financing pratt which owns the sands hotel and casino in atlantic city n j where caesars operates the boardwalk regency hotel and casino recently waged an apparently unsuccessful campaign to acquire control of resorts international inc rta against new york developer donald trump southmark owns about pct of pratt hotel caesars world s boasrd has urged rejection of the offer on the grounds that it is inadequate and has said it would investigate alternative transactions sosnoff currently owns about pct of caesars world reuter,0 |
| 1790,wall street stocks ich corp ich ich corp s stock continued under pressure because of lower earnings expectations wall street analysts said the stock was down one today at and down about four since thursday when ich announced it would be reporting lower than expected fourth quarter net income the company said it would report full year net income of dlrs per share compared to dlrs per share in analysts said they had estimated net at dlrs and were now looking for at dlr to dlr range ich officials were unavailable for comment reuter,12 |
| 2909,plains plns posts reserves increases plains resources inc said that as of december its estimated proved oil and gas reserves rose by pct to mln barrels from mln barrels and proved developed reserves rose pct to four mln barrels from mln barrels a year ago the company said its year end reserves did not include the oil and gas reserves of houston oil fields co which recently agreed to merge with it pending shareholder approval in mid april if approved the merger will add another mln barrels to the company s reserve base reuter,10 |
| 840,south african foreign reserves up sharply south africa s total gold and foreign assets rose by mln rand in february to billion rand after rising by almost one billion rand in january reserve bank governor gerhard de kock said de kock interviewed on state run television gave no breakdown of the reserves he also said that to curb inflation salary increases would have to be below the inflation rate the state must set an example by keeping wage increases below the inflation rate he said consumer prices rose by pct in the year to january reuter,40 |
| 2331,aileen inc aee sr qtr jan loss shr loss cts vs loss cts net loss vs loss revs mln vs reuter,12 |
| 460,first federal savings ffkz year net shr cts vs one dlr net vs assets mln vs mln deposits mln vs mln loans mln vs mln qtly div six cts vs six cts prior qtr pay april record march note net includes charges from accounting changes from one time expenses associated with a proxy contest and an increase in loan reserves first federal savings and loan association of kalamazoo is full name of company reuter,12 |
| 2896,att philips bid for cgct outlined american telephone and telegraph co and philips telecommunications bv apt would hold pct through direct and indirect holdings in france s cie generale de constructions telephoniques if a joint bid with french partners for the soon to be privatised firm succeeds a director at one of the partner firms said marc mathieu of societe anonyme de telecommunications sat told journalists the bid foresaw a direct stake of pct for apt the joint firm set up by the u s s att t n and the nv philips gloeilampenfabrieken pglo as the other pct would be owned by a holding company made up of sat apt cie du midi mcdp pa and five mutual funds under french law foreign investors are restricted to a pct direct stake in privatised companies but can boost their stake to pct through indirect holdings the make up of the holding company however is subject to close discussions within the government due to legal queries over the nationality of the mutual funds a finance ministry official said although bought by french citizens they are managed by foreign banks morgan guaranty trust co of new york and banque de neuflize schlumberger mallet sa controlled by algemene bank nederland nv abnn as an sat spokesman said cgct which controls pct of the french public telephone switching market is to be sold by the government for mln francs by private tender five groups are bidding for the company and the government has said it will choose cgct s new owner by the end of april apt vice president wim huisman told a news conference a capital increase was envisaged if sat apt wins cgct but declined to give details or say how an increase would affect foreign stakes in cgct in cgct posted losses of mln francs on sales of three billion after losses of mln francs a joint sat apt statement added that buyers were committed to investing mln francs in cgct research and production plants the apt sat offer includes a provision for cgct to produce apt ess prx switching technology and adapt it to french standards the tender was launched after a draft agreement for att to take over cgct was abandoned following the introduction of the french government privatisation laws which reopened bidding among a wider range of applicants other candidacies to take over cgct include west germany s siemens ag sieg f allied with schneider sa schn pa subsidiary jeumont schneider sweden s telefon ab lm ericsson eric st allied with matra matr pa and bouygues sa bouy pa italy s italtel and canada s northern telecom ltd ntl to reuter,0 |
| 2079,first granite fgbi agrees to be acquired first granite bancorp inc said it agreed in principle to become a wholly owned subsidiary of magna group inc magi under terms of the agreement first granite shareholders will receive shares of magna for each first granite share held first granite shareholders will be asked to approve the tranaction in late summer first granite which has shares outstanding as of dec had assets of mln dlrs it owns first granite city national bank and colonial bank of granite city ill magna groups as of dec had assets of billion dlrs it owns banks a data services company a mortgage company and a trust company serving st louis as well as springfield centralia and decatur ill reuter,0 |
| 2423,japan s dowa mining to produce gold from april dowa mining co ltd said it will start commercial production of gold copper lead and zinc from its nurukawa mine in northern japan in april a company spokesman said the mine s monthly output is expected to consist of tonnes of gold ore and of black ore which consists of copper lead and zinc ores a company survey shows the gold ore contains up to grams of gold per tonne he said proven gold ore reserves amount to tonnes while estimated reserves of gold and black ores total one mln tonnes he added reuter,16 |
| 5473,gaf gaf seeks all of borg warner bor gaf corp said it has made an all cash merger proposal to borg warner corp at dlrs per share for all the company s common stock following a meeting yesterday with borg warner officials and investment bankers gaf said it is today delivering a letter to the borg warner board outling the terms of the proposal that would be made by tender offer pursuant to a mutually acceptable merger agreement to be approved by the borg warner board and conditioned on that board s recommendation of the tender offer and merger gaf in its letter stated it intends to finance the proposed acquisition entirely with its own funds and bank borrowings under a syndicated bank loan from a group of banks led by chase manhattan corp s cmb chase manhattan bank last week gaf increased its ownership of borg warner shares to pct of those outstanding minstar inc mnst sold its pct holding gaf emphasized the amicable nature of the proposed transaction which it characterized as a partnership gaf said it wanted to discuss with the borg warner board key roles for borg warner s senior management in the new organization board representation for borg warner directors on a newly constituted board and a company name change gaf said it will be filing an amendment to its d with the u s securities and exchange commission borg warner has about mln common shares outstanding minstar chairman irwin l jacobs sold his stake after borg warner after the company failed to respond to his mid february offer for a negotiated agreement at a minimum price of dlrs a share in november jacobs had offered to enter into acquisition talks with borg warner based on a price of between and dlrs a share reuter,0 |
| 4214,yeutter sees gatt consensus on farm trade reform u s trade representative clayton yeutter said trade ministers meeting here have reached a general consensus on agricultural trade reform under the latest uruguay round of the general agreement on tariffs and trade gatt yeutter gave no precise details of the understanding but told journalists the consensus covers the principles involved in agricultural trade reform and what needs to be done to improve the global situation in agriculture delegates from countries are meeting informally to discuss progress made since the latest gatt round was launched in punta del este uruguay last september yeutter said at least people seem to be going down the same road but how that translates ultimately into negotiations is another matter entirely there seems to be an understanding of the need to deal with the problem quickly and a more common understanding of how we are going to get from here to there yeutter said however the hard work is still to come with a couple of years of tough negotiations ahead he said it is ludicrous for the nations of the world to plough immense amounts of financial resources into the production of items that nobody wants to buy he said he said the long term answer is to switch some of the financial resources now committed to agriculture to other more productive areas this would help agriculture because some its inefficient non productive segments would stop operating he said individual segments in many countries may lose in the process but it should result in a more rational system of world wide production within or years he said it is important that the agriculture negotiations reach a relatively early conclusion because the u s is spending billion dlrs a year and the european community probably more than that which is an ineffective use of financial resources he said asked about the prospect of a priority for agriculture in the negotiations he said one has to be politically realistic if there is any chance of getting it agricultural trade reform done in two to three years it s going to have to be as part of a larger package reuter,48 |
| 5928,dynalectron dyn buys aviation facility dynalectron corp said it purchased certain assets of standard aero inc including leasehold rights to its aircraft modification and maintenance facility in phoenix ariz terms were not released the facility consists of square feet of hangar and shop space dynalectron will operate the plan as dynair tech inc and is offering continued employment to about former standard aero employees reuter,0 |
| 4462,basf u s profit turnover boosted by acquisitions basf ag basf f said net profit of its u s operating company basf corp rose last calendar year to mln dlrs from mln in turnover rose by by more than one billion dlrs to billion the parent company said in a statement the rise however partly reflected the inclusion of the first full business year of three acquisitions made in excluding these basf corp turnover rose four pct from acquisitions were the high performance connecting materials operations of celanese corp inmont corp bought from united technologies and american enka bought from akzo nv akzo as basf said it expected a u s investment of mln dlrs in part of a five year programme totalling one billion u s projects completed in included the second acrylic acid plant in freeport texas a technical centre in southfield michigan in which paint lines from automotive plants can be refitted and the new agricultural research centre in research triangle park in durham north carolina basf said that work this year had begun in geismar louisiana on plants for production of special amines and polytetrahydrofuran as well as for expansion of capacity for producing tetrahydrofuran reuter,12 |
| 1350,singapore m money supply up pct in december singapore s m money supply rose pct during december to billion dlrs after a pct increase in november the monetary authority of singapore mas said m growth for calendar was pct compared with pct growth over the year ending in november mas said in its latest monthly statistical bulletin the december increase was largely due to seasonal year end demand the demand deposit component of m increased to billion dlrs in december from billion in november and billion in december currency in active circulation rose to billion dlrs in december from billion in november and billion a year earlier broadly based m money supply rose pct to billion dlrs during december after a pct rise in november bringing year on year growth to pct for the year ending in december against pct for the year ending in november reuter,33 |
| 6215,bp says no plans to close swedish refinery 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 refinery s future looked bleak because the swedish petroleum industry s 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 sweden s ok petroleum ab has a pct stake had performed well both technically and financially up to and including the first quarter of 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 and has an annual capacity of mln tonnes reuter,10 |
| 4193,tmoc tells shareholders not to accept santos bid tmoc resources ltd told shareholders not to accept santos ltd s stos s dlr a share takeover bid pending advice from macquarie hill samuel corporate services its corporate advisor it said in a statement the santos bid was below the underlying value of the shares as assessed by macquarie hill samuel at between dlrs and tmoc formerly the moonie oil co ltd said the valuation was made in response to an earlier and still current bid of dlrs a share by elders resources ltd elders resources holds pct of tmoc s mln shares tmoc said it did not know elders resources response to the bid or that of its other major shareholder the australian gas light co the latter has a pct stake in tmoc avalon corp of the u s has a pct stake in tmoc through an option agreement santos which is pct owned by elders resources yesterday said its bid valued tmoc at mln dlrs tmoc said today this was not a premium over the share price before the bid and that tmoc had traded at up to dlrs a share in the last two weeks tmoc said in the statement that the bid was unsolicited and that santos had only a pct stake despite paying up to four dlrs a share on market tmoc has oil and gas interests and pipelines which complement the operations of santos the major cooper basin oil and gas producer tmoc shares today closed five cents up at dlrs on turnover of shares while santos due to release its profit result today rose eight cents to dlrs on volume of shares reuter,0 |
| 621,power corp of canada th qtr net oper shr cts vs cts oper net vs revs mln vs mln year oper shr dlrs vs cts oper net vs revs mln vs mln note fourth quarter results exclude extraordinary and other items which raised final net to dlrs or cts a share and lowered final net to dlrs or cts a share in full year results exclude extraordinary and other items which raised final net to dlrs or dlrs per share and net to or dlrs per share results restated to reflect june two for one stock split reuter,12 |
| 6248,richardson electronics rell rd qtr feb net shr cts vs cts net vs rev mln vs mln nine months shr cts vs cts net vs rev mln vs mln note fiscal per share data reflects dilutive effect of shares issued for april convertible debenture conversion company s full name is richarson electronics ltd reuter,12 |
| 3638,santa fe energy partners lp sfp qtly payout qtly cash distribution cts vs cts prior pay may record march reuter,12 |
| 5260,combustion csp completes accuray acra buy combustion engineering inc said it has completed the previously announced acquisition of accuray corp in a merger trasaction that closed friday at dlrs per share reuter,0 |
| 5375,r l crain inc th qtr net shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 528,datamag inc dmag st qtr dec loss net loss vs profit sales vs note per share data not available as company went public in january reuter,12 |
| 4668,allis chalmers ah sells swiss unit allis chalmers corp said it has sold its elex ag unit in zurich switzerland to private investors for an undisclosed amount the company said elex produces electrostatic precipitators used in air pollution control reuter,0 |
| 1988,no near term brazil coffee moves expected the brazilian coffee institute ibc is unlikely to disclose its future export policy until the end of next week at the earliest trade sources said ibc president jorio dauster is meeting government ministers producers exporters and market analysts to assess brazil s position in the light of the failure of talks in london earlier this month to set new international coffee organization ico export quotas the failure of the talks means brazil has got to rethink its position completely one santos exporter said a meeting of the national coffee policy council is set for thursday march and dauster will almost certainly explain his plan to members then before announcing any new measures dauster told reporters on his return from london last week that no decisions would be made on exports before he had held talks with all sectors of the industry exporters said dauster is not under any great pressure to start marketing coffee immediately world prices have been recovering from the lows which followed the collapse of the ico talks and brazil has sold a reasonable mln bags of kilos for export in the first four months of this year the exporters said the key factor in the eventual opening of may and june export registrations will be the amount at which the contribution quota is set with little expectation of other sales incentive mechanisms such as discounts bonuses and price fall guarantees being introduced the level of the quota will be decisive in determining the competitiveness of brazilian coffee on world markets they said they noted that on february the eve of a planned increase in the quota april registrations were opened and closed after mln bags were registered for export a record amount for a single day if may june registrations are opened under similar conditions as before brazil would have no difficulty in selling at least mln bags per month the problem would be how to limit sales one exporter said brazil s present foreign trade and payments problems mean there are pressures from the government to boost exports to maximise foreign exchange earnings however the sources said they expect the ibc to adopt a marketing strategy aimed at regaining brazil s dominant position as an exporter but without causing a price war general opinion among exporters was that brazil would plan to export between and mln bags this year of which between and mln would be to non members of the ico the mln to mln bags sold to members would be around the figure brazil had offered to ship if ico quotas were reintroduced although dauster has said this offer expired with the breakdown of talks with the prospects of a crop of at least mln bags this year brazil has the capacity to export up to mln bags after meeting local consumption of around mln the sources added however the sources said brazil is unlikely even to consider exporting such quantities as this would almost inevitably lead to a fall in world prices as brazil tried to encroach on other producers markets maximum export earnings would be achieved by orderly marketing of traditional amounts thus re establishing brazil s market share after last year s unusually low exports of mln bags enabling it to rebuild stocks and maintaining cordial relations with the producer group which backed brazil s stance at the ico talks they added reuter,5 |
| 6400,syngold defines reserves on deka property syngold exploration inc and corp falconbridge copper said they defined undiluted reserves of tons of ore with an average grade of ounces of gold per ton in two separate deposits on the deka property located at noranda quebec assay results from suface holes drilled on foot centers indicate that the donalda number one deposit contains possible reserves of tons at an average grade of ounces of gold per ton the number one deposit s reserves are contained between a vertical depth of and feet at a strike length of feet reserves of the donalda number two deposit located feet below the number one deposit were recalculated at tons with an average grade of ounces of gold per ton syngold has earned a pct interest in the deka property from the operator corp falconbridge copper reuter,16 |
| 899,regis corp rgis regular dividend set qtly div cts vs cts prior pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 898,oak industries inc oak th qtr loss oper shr loss five cts vs loss cts oper net loss vs loss sales mln vs mln avg shr mln vs mln year oper shr loss cts vs loss dlrs oper net loss mln vs mln sales mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln backlog mln vs mln notes operating losses exclude profits from discontinued operationgs of dlrs or one cent a share vs dlrs or eight cts a share in quarter and mln dlrs or dlrs a share vs mln dlrs or cts a share in year year operating loss also excludes extraordinary gain of of mln dlrs or cts a share backlog which includes only orders to be shipped within mths was mln dlrs on january orders to be shipped beyond mths were mln dlrs vs mln dlrs at december reuter,12 |
| 2427,swiss unemployment falls to pct in february swiss unemployment edged down to pct of the working population from one pct in january and in february the federal office of industry trade and labour said seasonally adjusted however there was a slight rise in unemployment the number out of work fell to down compared with the previous month the number of vacant positions registered with employment offices stood at against in january reuter,26 |
| 6520,canadians urge exemption from u s trade bill a group of canadian lawmakers from ontario today asked their u s counterparts to exempt canada from the mandatory trade retaliation provisions in a major trade bill being considered by the u s congress at a meeting of the northeast midwest coalition an organization of u s legislators david cooke chairman of the ontario parliament s select committee on economic affairs said the exemption would help trade relations the trade legislation to be considered by the full house in late april would require president reagan to retaliate against foreign unfair trade practices unless the trade actions would harm the u s economy currently reagan can reject trade sanctions on any grounds cooke a member of the liberal party told the u s congressmen i can understand the trade bill i think it has to do with concerns you have with the other parts of the world i would suggest to you that we are your best friends you do not have those concerns with canada and you should sincerely consider exempting our country from that bill he added canada is the united states largest trading partner with two way trade more than billion dlrs in according to the coalition but the u s ran up a billion dlr deficit in manufactured goods that year compared to a billion dlr surplus in services trade with its neighbour reuter,48 |
| 4739,indian plant signs first alumina export contract an unnamed norwegian firm agreed to buy tonnes of alumina a year from a refinery in eastern orissa state due to start operations in the next months a commerce ministry official told reuters he said the state owned national aluminium co which owns the plant and the state owned mineral and metals trading corp signed its first long term export agreement with the company but gave no further details of the plant s tonnes annual capacity will be smelted into tonnes of aluminium and the remaining will be exported the official said reuter,1 |
| 221,american nursery ansy buys florida nursery american nursery products inc said it purchased miami based heinl s nursery inc for undisclosed terms heinl s nursery has sales of about mln dlrs and owns acres of which are in shade houses and about square feet cover greenhouses shipping and office facilities reuter,0 |
| 1903,lyonnaise des eaux forecasts profit rise consolidated attributable net profit of ste lyonnaise des eaux lyoe pa is likely to rise by at least pct this year from the mln francs reported for chairman jerome monod told a news conference group turnover should rise about seven pct from the mln reported for this year while group investments should total around billion francs somewhat above the billion annual average of the past three years he added investments will be aimed mainly at developing the group s leisure industry health and communications activities monod said in the leisure sector the group planned a joint development with club mediterranee cmi pa club med of a hectare pleasure park at puisaye in the yonne department of eastern central france he said wholly owned subsidiary lyonnaise de developpement touristique would carry out the construction work and financial planning of the development which would be leased to club med as operator of the complex he said he gave no financial details but said leisure sector investments would total about mln francs over the next three years investments in the communications industry would go mainly to develop the group s cable television activities and its pct owned metropole television affiliate metropole recently won the concession to operate a sixth television channel in france financing requirement of metropole would be about mln francs over the next four years of which lyonaise des eaux would provide about mln monod said monod said metropole aimed to win a to pct audience share and to capture about pct of the national television advertising market total investment by the group in the communications sector including cable activities would be between mln and mln francs over the next five years mainly concentrated in the coming year investment in cable operations would total between mln and mln over the five years with the aim of widening the audience to subscribers from and boosting turnover to around mln francs a year from mln reuter,12 |
| 128,gulf bond stock markets lag behind gib says gulf money markets have grown reasonably well during the past decade but bond and stock markets remain to a large extent fragmented and lag behind gulf international bank bsc gib said the bank s economist henry azzam said in a review of gulf capital markets that investors have to relinquish traditional investment vehicles such as real estate foreign currency bank accounts and precious metals greater financial sophistication is needed coupled with more diversified capital market instruments and a change in the disclosure requirements on company accounts he said the gib study reviewed capital markets under three categories money markets stock and bond markets azzam said gulf states had been making greater use of short term money market instruments and banks in the region had floated various euronotes and underwriting facilities nevertheless bond and stock markets remain to a large extent fragmented and lagging behind he said most debt in the region is still raised by syndicated loans and bank facilities and very few companies had made use of stock or bond issues only kuwait has an official stock exchange while other gulf nations have yet to establish exchanges but with dwindling financial surpluses in the gulf governments are actively pursuing ways to develop capital markets and set up domestic stock exchanges azzam said he said recession stemming from sliding oil prices had clearly had a negative impact on the development of capital markets in the region in addition family firms are reluctant to go public financial awareness among investors is still lacking and investment analysis and corporate reporting standards lack depth a sharp fall in share prices in the early s prompted investors to hold on to shares hoping for an eventual recovery azzam said the absence of proper commercial law in some gulf countries and authorities apparent reluctance to adopt financial innovations had also hampered capital markets he called for clearly defined laws governing incorporation of joint stock companies and the flotation of debt instruments azzam said capital market instruments should be made available to all citizens and institutions of gulf cooperation council gcc states bahrain kuwait qatar oman saudi arabia and the united arab emirates uae some moves had been taken in this direction with bahrain allowing gcc nationals to own up to pct of locally incorporated companies azzam said gulf money markets had received greater depth from the introduction of treasury bill offerings in bahrain and the expansion of securities repurchase regulations in saudi arabia but he added there is no bond market to speak of in saudi arabia qatar oman or the uae with the last saudi riyal denominated bond issued in while bahrain plans an official stock exchange and trading in saudi arabia has picked up establishment of formal exchanges in qatar oman and the uae does not appear imminent azzam said reuter,32 |
| 2386,pratt prat offer for resorts rt expires ph acquisition co a unit of pratt hotel corp said its mln dlrs per share tender offer for all shares of class b common stock of resorts international inc expired as of today about shares were tendered an insufficient number of shares to satisfy the condition that pct of the voting power be tendered earlier this week new york developer donald trump made a competing bid for the class b shares reuter,0 |
| 722,webcor electronics wer in technical default webcor electronics inc said it remains in technical and payment default under its revolving credit agreement and in technical default under certain other obligations to its lender although its lender has not enforced its right to demand payment of the debt in full it continues to reserve its right to do so at any time it said earlier webcor reported a third quarter net loss of mln dlrs and nine months net loss of mln dlrs reuter,12 |
| 5433,mauritian sugar exports fall in february mauritius exported tonnes of sugar tel quel in february down from tonnes tel quel shipped in january and in february the mauritius chamber of agriculture s sugar news bulletin said opening stocks at the beginning of last month totalled tonnes against tonnes at the start of february last year closing stocks at the end of february were tonnes up from tonnes at end february the estimate for sugar production was unchanged from last month at tonnes raw value the chamber said reuter,45 |
| 5679,consumers power sees one time st qtr loss of seven cts shr from suit,12 |
| 1234,chubb corp cb sets quarterly qtly div cts vs cts prior pay april seven record march reuter,12 |
| 4389,eastman kodak ek to sell holdings eastman kodak co said it plans to sell its pct holding in icn pharmaceuticals icn and part of its nine pct holdings in viratek vira it said the purpose of the investments had been to lay the groundwork for the creation of its nucleic acid research institute since that has been achieved there is no longer any reason to maintain the equity positions kodak said kodak holds sahres of icn currently trading at about and of viratek trading at reuter,0 |
| 2907,freedom federal frfe sets initial payout freedom federal savings bank said it voted its first cash dividend of cts a share payable april record march the annual dividend will be cts a share it said reuter,12 |
| 5229,clabir clg dividends not taxable clabir corp said it has determined all dividends paid on its class a common in are not taxable as dividend income while this is a preliminary estimate the company said it may be used by shareholders when preparing income tax returns reuter,12 |
| 1524,ministers feel ec forecasts too pessimistic european community finance ministers discussed the economic outlook for the nation bloc and many said a recent gloomy forecast by the ec commission was too pessimistic the commission the ec s executive authority two weeks ago cut its forecast for economic growth in the community to per cent for this year from per cent predicted last autumn it said economic prospects had been less promising over the past few months because of a sharp fall in the value of the dollar and a slowing of world trade factors which would restrain community exports but diplomats said several member states led by west germany britain and france felt the forecast was too gloomy especially since it was drafted before a recent agreement between the leading western economic powers to stabilise currencies around current levels many delegations feel the commission s report is rather too pessimistic said belgian finance minister mark eyskens who chaired the meeting the commission which slashed its growth forecast for west germany to two per cent from per cent has made clear it feels bonn has room to introduce additional measures to stimulate its economy that would benefit the rest of europe but two top german officials state secretaries otto schlecht and hans tietmeyer told reporters bonn saw no need at the moment for action to bolster the ec s biggest economy the diplomats said they were backed by britain and france while italy greece and denmark supported the commission s view that bonn should bring in new measures to aid ec growth,15 |
| 2698,silicon valley bancshares sets stock payout silicon valley bancshares said it declared a five pct stock dividend payable may to shareholders of record april reuter,12 |
| 3772,ec says u s broke trade rules in akzo dupont row the european community commission has charged the united states with breaking international trade rules by excluding dutch made fibres from the u s market and said it would take the issue to the world trade body gatt in the latest of a series of trade disputes with washington the executive authority alleged that a section of the u s tariff act was incompatible with the gatt general agreement on tariffs and trade because it discriminated against imported products in favour of domestically produced goods the commission said it would ask geneva based gatt to rule on whether the section in question which officials said had proved a barrier to many ec exporters conformed to its rules commission officials did not rule out retaliatory measures if after a gatt decision against it washington failed to bring the disputed section into line with international rules the executive s decision to go to gatt follows a complaint to it by the dutch company akzo akzo as whose aramid synthetic fibres have been banned from the u s market because of charges by the u s firm dupont that the fibres violate the american company s patents akzo alleged that the ban imposed by the u s international trade commission itc was discriminatory and incompatible with gatt provisions the dispute centres on the fact that section of the u s tariff act gives the itc jurisdiction over imported products the ec commission charged that ec producers did not have the same possibilities for defending themselves before the itc as they would have in a normal u s court consequently the procedure followed is less favourable than that which takes places in normal courts of law for goods produced in the united states it said in a statement reuter,48 |
| 1947,telco telc delays defensive rights offering telco systems inc said its plan to distribute a dividend of common stock purchase rights to shareholders of record on march has been delayed pending the completion of necessary regulatory approvals reuter,12 |
| 6162,canadian foreign reserves surge in month canadian foreign reserve holdings rose billion u s dlrs in march to billion dlrs the finance department said the department said the change from february included a decrease of mln dlrs from the repayment at maturity of a swiss franc mln issue also included was also a mln dlr decline from a net redemption of canada bills the par value of bills outstanding was mln dlrs at march this month s reserves were billion dlrs above march s total of billion dlrs reserve holdings in u s dlrs at end of march versus end of february were as follows u s dlrs billion vs billion other foreign currencies mln vs mln gold mln vs mln special drawing rights mln vs mln imf reserves mln vs mln reuter,40 |
| 1266,lloyds bank canada st qtr profit rises sharply lloyds bank canada a unit of lloyds bank international plc said net profit soared to dlrs for the first quarter ended january from dlrs a year earlier loan loss provisions a mandatory five year averaging of actual loan losses also rose in the first quarter to dlrs from year ago dlrs the bank said lloyds bank canada became canada s largest foreign bank last autumn with its mln canadian dlr acquisition of continental bank of canada reuter,12 |
| 293,diagnostic products dpcz sees earnings growth diagnostic products corp president and chief executive officer sigi ziering said he expects to maintain the same compound average annal net income growth in as the company has for the past five years we expect the same performance in net income over the next five years as we have had in the past ziering said over the past five years ziering said the company has had average compound net income growth of pct annually with a pct per year growth in earnings per share for the company had net income of mln dlrs or dlrs per share vs mln dlrs or cts per share in diagnostic manufactures medical immunological diagnostic test kits ziering said he expects the earnings growth to result from positive effect of the weaker dollar on the company s exports sales as well as accelerated market penetration ziering said he expected the food and drug administration to approve three more of its drug abuse test kits by the end of the year which depending on approval should also help earnings growth ziering said as a result of the new tax laws he expected the company s taxes to decrease by five pct to pct of net income in reuter,12 |
| 6073,westlb luxembourg reports lower net profit westdeutsche landesbank girozentrale welg f said its wholly owned luxembourg subsidiary westlb international sa posted a decline in net profit to mln marks from mln a year earlier westlb international will pay a mln mark dividend to westlb down from mln a year earlier the dividend was lower than in 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 developed positively it added westlb international set aside mln marks for international credit risks in up from mln marks in bringing the total amount of provisions shown in the balance sheet to mln marks operating profit fell to mln marks in from mln in balance sheet total fell to billion marks from 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 pct to a total of billion westlb international said it plans to expand its range of services for private clients reuter,12 |
| 2247,nu med inc nums rd qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs nine mths shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs current year net both periods includes gain dlrs from change inestimation of useful lives used in depreciation of property and equipment reuter,12 |
| 4981,ducommun inc dco quarterly dividend qtly div five cts vs five cts pay april record april reuter,12 |
| 1564,australian reserve bank in buying intervention the reserve bank said at local time it was offering to buy short dated government securities in the short term money market the bank s action followed its purchase of short dated government stock and six day repurchase agreements earlier in the session money market traders said the move was aimed at easing cash market interest rates which had risen on demand for funds to meet paye tax and treasury note settlement commitments reuter,32 |
| 1042,homestead financial hfl ups cash dividend homestead financial corp said it has increased the dividend on its class a common shares to cts a share from five cts prior while declaring an initial dividend on its class b common stock of cts a share homestead said the two classes of stock emerged as part of its recapitalization plan which also doubled the number of authorized common comprising both classes to mln shares homestead said the dividends are payable on april to shareholders of record march homestead also said that class b shareholders who want to increase their dividends may exchange their shares for an equal number of class a shares on or before march reuter,12 |
| 1998,eagle pitcher industries inc epi st qtr net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 6224,boise cascade bcc completes sale of unit boise cascade corp said it completed the previously announced sale of its consumer packaging division to sonoco products co sono for approximately mln dlrs reuter,0 |
| 3528,dep corp depc nd qtr jan net shr three cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs six mths shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 6288,scott instruments scti gets qualified audit scott instruments corp said its independent public accountants qualified the report on scott s financial statements because of its weak financial condition the report indicates the realization of the company s assets is dependent on it obtaining enough working capital to finance operations and additional funds to meet other liabilities among other things these factors indicate the company may be unable to continue its existence earlier scott reported a loss of mln dlrs compared to a loss of almost mln dlrs in total assets were nearly mln dlrs at year end down from mln dlrs the prior year reuter,12 |
| 4801,macneal schwendler corp mns raises payout qtly div five cts vs cts prior pay june record may note prior payment adjusted for two for one stock split declared recently reuter,12 |
| 6467,central bancshares cbss st qtr net shr cts vs cts net mln vs assets billion vs billion deposits billion vs billion loans billion vs billion note full name of company is central bancshares of the south inc reuter,12 |
| 3054,texaco tx to cease posting texas oil price texaco refining and marketing an operating subsidiary of texaco inc said it would cease to post crude oil prices for west texas crudes at the end of this month following a decision to discontinue purchase of crude oil from leases a texaco spokesman in houston said but it will continue to purchase quantities of u s and foreign crude oil for use in its refinery system he added the spokesman also said texaco trading and transport inc would continue to acquire and market texaco lease production as well as other lease production the company will continue to post a louisiana price it said reuter,10 |
| 6477,berry petroleum norris oil noil to merge berry petroleum co said its board and the norris oil co board approved a merger agreement that calls for norris to become a wholly owned berry subsidiary berry a privately owned company which already owns pct of norris oil s stock said the agreement calls for norris public shareholders to receive berry common shares for each norris share held reuter,0 |
| 673,castle and cooke cke takes fourth qtr loss castle and cooke inc said it would take a fourth quarter after tax loss of mln dlrs from the previously reported sale of its flexi van container leasing business to itel corp itel for about mln dlrs earlier the company reported a loss for the fourth quarter ended january of mln dlrs or cts a share compared with a loss of mln dlrs or cts per share in s fourth quarter for the year however the diversified holding company reported a net profit of mln dlrs or cts a share versus mln dlrs or cts a share in david murdock chairman and chief executive officer said both our food business and our real estate operations increased their earnings during the year but he added that flexi van s results were hit by depressed daily rental rates for leased equipment caused by oversupplies the company also reported that george elkas formerly executive vice president has been named president and chief operating officer of flexi van corp while william burns has been named executive vice president of flexi van reuter,12 |
| 1474,dutch current account surplus falls in the dutch current account surplus fell billion guilders last year to a provisional billion guilders the finance ministry said in a statement the surplus is expected to fall further in the statement said but gave no details earlier today the official planning agency cpb said it expected the surplus to fall to six billion guilders during the visible goods surplus excluding energy fell by billion guilders in to billion due to declining terms of exchange while more goods were imported as consumer spending and investment increased while the energy trade balance surplus rose by billion guilders billion of this gain was caused by temporary improvements of terms of exchange and was aided by the delay between the fall in oil and gas prices the current account showed a billion guilder deficit on invisibles compared with a balance in the finance ministry said noting the surplus on transport services was reduced substantially due to the lower dollar and oil price falls the fourth quarter current account showed a deficit for the first time since of mln guilders it said reuter,2 |
| 3451,drought may reduce zimbabwe coffee output growers zimbabwe s projected coffee output of tonnes for could be reduced by drought growers said the main coffee growing areas in eastern zimbabwe have received little rain since april and the coffee growers association has begun a survey to assess the effects of the drought a spokesman said zimbabwe exported tonnes of coffee in mainly to west germany britain japan the netherlands switzerland and the united states reuter,5 |
| 5720,economic spotlight china must preserve farmland if we go on using up farmland as we have done since there will be none left in years to grow grain on xu jinfeng a middle aged official in fengbang village on the edge of shanghai sums up the dilemma china faces as it tries to feed its more than one billion people and at the same time let them get richer by building factories and new homes china has to feed one quarter of the world s population but only one seventh of its land is arable sharp increases in farm output since turned china into a net grain exporter for the first time in and again in but the rapid industrialisation of the countryside which has occurred at the same time has gobbled up arable land for factories and homes for peasants who can now afford them official figures show that china lost just under one pct of its arable land to other uses in and a slightly smaller amount last year it gained mln new mouths to feed during the two years we lost very little land prior to when the industrialisation began official xu said since then nearly all the families in the county have built new homes and many factories have gone up last year we lost land to a new railway line xu said but land losses in future should fall because nearly all families already have new houses she added the issue of land loss is a matter of major concern to the peking leadership which announced earlier this month that china will issue nationwide quotas for conversion of grain land for the first time this year the present situation of abusing occupying unlawfully wasting and destroying land and land resources is serious said an article in the official press explaining the new measures it has resulted in great losses of cultivated farmland it said china has a large population and its land resources are badly deficient an official of the shanghai city government said county authorities could approve conversion of only hectares of arable land to other uses while anything more than that must be approved by the city government the peking government faces another major obstacle in its efforts to ensure china s people get enough grain to eat the prices the state pays to farmers for grain are too low making it more profitable for them to grow other crops to offset this the state offers farmers cheap fertiliser and diesel oil and payment in advance for grain it contracts to buy the state then sells the grain at subsidised prices to china s mln city residents rural factories also subsidise grain output paying farmers bonuses to grow it some officials argue that the simplest solution to the problem would be for the state to raise city grain prices chen zuyuan communist party secretary of a village in the eastern province of zhejiang said the government listened too much to the demands of selfish city people and could raise city grain prices without any problem but the government has ruled out a price rise raising the price of grain would directly conflict with the goal of social stability said a china daily editorial this month the shanghai official said prices must be reformed over the long term we must be very careful we have a very large population which is used to price stability and will object to price rises he said the problem is how to do it the shanghai official said a rise in grain prices might also affect the prices of hundreds of food products made with grain and consumed by city residents in addition the state faces the problem of inadequate investment by farmers in land and in grain in particular the official press has reported that farmers fear farm policy may change and they are putting their new wealth into building graves memorial halls for ancestors and homes under reforms introduced in the late s farmers sign contracts with the state requiring them to grow certain crops but they have considerable freedom in how to use their land as the expiration date of the year contract is almost at the halfway mark farmers are beginning to worry about the future the china daily said in an editorial last month their anxieties stem from the fact that they are allowed to use the land but not own it for most of the period of communist rule the land was organised into collectives where there was little room for individual initiative new measures are needed to reassure them of the consistency of government policies and make them interested in long term investment the newspaper said reuter,17 |
| 3690,italian january industrial output falls pct italian industrial production fell pct in january compared with the same month last year the national statistics institute istat said the rise follows a year on year increase in december of pct istat s industrial production index base not seasonally adjusted registered compared with in january istat said there were working days in january the same as december but one fewer than january last year istat said the year on year fall reflected poorer performances in the footwear clothing textiles chemicals and metals industries it said office machinery and data sectors wood and furniture precision mechanics oil and electricity showed improved activity calculations based on istat figures showed industrial production rose pct in january on a month on month basis after falling pct in december over november reuter,23 |
| 4033,paychex inc payx rd qtr feb net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln nine mths shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln note share adjusted for three for two stock split in june reuter,12 |
| 101,alatenn resources inc atng th qtr net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln mths shr dlrs vs dlrs net vs revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 6415,u s calls for greater gatt checks on trade the united states has appealed for stronger powers for the general agreement on tariffs and trade gatt to enforce world trade rules the call by u s deputy trade representative michael smith at a special committee meeting into the future of gatt follows a series of bilateral trade rows which have clouded efforts by the nation body to promote fair trade today s meeting was part of the uruguay trade round launched by ministers last september the round which covers areas of trade in agriculture manufactured goods and services will take four years to negotiate smith called for boosting gatt s links with financial institutions such as the international monetary fund and world bank he also urged greater involvement of trade ministers to ensure the success of the uruguay round the gatt as an institution needs to be strengthened to assure that the gatt plays its proper role in management of the world trading system and the global economy smith said rules can and will be ignored if the institution is weak or perceived as unable to adapt to the changing world economy he also also urged that member states be accountable to each other for their trade policies smith who flies to brussels today for talks with european community ec officials told reuters the committee wanted to stress gatt s importance and did not discuss specifics we are interested in more periodic ministerial involvement whether in formal or informal meetings he said gatt s ruling council is due to hear a complaint from the nation ec on april about the u s japanese accord on semiconductors the ec charges the accord breached gatt trade rules by allowing tokyo to set minimum prices for japanese chips sold in third countries and is requesting a gatt dispute panel be set up to review the agreement president reagan who strongly supported the uruguay trade round to promote freer trade has said washington will impose tariffs against japanese electronic goods he said tokyo had not shown willingness to open its markets to u s exports reuter,48 |
| 440,kasler corp kasl st qtr jan net shr profit three cts vs loss seven cts net profit vs loss revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 3168,western savings and loan wsl th qtr loss shr loss cts vs profit cts net loss vs profit year shr profit dlrs vs profit dlrs net profit vs profit loans billion vs billion deposits billion vs billion assets billion vs billion note full name western savings and loan association reuter,12 |
| 6207,graphic media inc gmed year net ended jan shr nine cts vs eight cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs note restated reuter,12 |
| 6024,revlon group rev reports results revlon group inc told the securities and exchange commission it had net profits of on sales of billion dlrs for the year ended dec revlon in a filing with the sec compared the results to the five months ending dec in that period it lost mln dlrs on sales of mln dlrs earlier today macandrews and forbes group inc began an dlr a share cash offer for all common stock of revlon it does not own revlon today rose to in active trading macandrews controls pct of the voting power for revlon said the loss applicable to common stock after preferred dividends is mln dlrs the net loss per share was cts compared to a net loss of cts per share last year revlon said it had a operating profit of mln dlrs compared to a loss of mln dlrs in the year earlier period the net includes a provision for estimated loss on dispositions of mln dlrs compared to mln dlrs the year earlier earnings in before extraordinary items were mln dlrs reuter,12 |
| 4595,ual ual said trump talked with ual chairman real estate magnate donald trump told ual inc chairman richard ferris that he was interested in ual stock as an investment according to a ual executive trump who was unavailable for comment is believed by market sources to have a sizeable position in ual which he began accumulating several weeks ago ual stock today was up three at in active trading they ferris and trump talked last week apparently trump said he was interested in it as an investment he didn t say how much stock he had he didn t say what he would or wouldn t do about it said ual senior vice president kurt stocker trump is believed to have close to five pct of ual s stock market sources said reuter,0 |
| 310,wavehill international to make acquisition wavehill international ventures inc said it has agreed to acquire personal computer rental corp of coral gables fla in a transaction in which shareholders of personal computer will receive shares respresenting about a pct interest in the combined company the company said it will have about two mln shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis after the transaction it said after the acquisition it will infuse perconal computer with cash for expansion it said personal computer now has franchised locations and plans to add over in seeking eventually to expand into markets in the u s and abroad reuter,0 |
| 1162,ico quota talks failure paralyse hamburg market the failure of international coffee organization talks on the reintroduction of quotas has paralysed business on the hamburg green coffee market in the past week trade sources said there was only sporadic activity for spot material which was mainly requirement buying they said adding that pre registered coffees were no longer available they said they expected brazil and colombia to open export registrations for may shipment next week however the president of the brazilian coffee institute jorio dauster said yesterday he had not yet decided when its registrations would reopen reuter,5 |
| 1776,h j heinz co hnz rd qtr jan net shr cts vs cts qtly div cts vs cts prior net mln vs mln revs billion vs billion nine mths shr dlrs vs dlrs net mln vs mln revs billion vs billion note dividend payable april to shareholders of record march reuter,12 |
| 1543,warrington sells shoe divisions warrington inc said it sold its shoe divisions to montreal based taurus footwear inc for undisclosed terms the divisions manufacture and distribute greb hush puppies kodiak and santana brand shoes and had revenues of about mln dlrs last year warrington said it said the sale of the shoe divisions and the previous sale of its ski boot businesses will result in an unspecified net gain warrington said it plans to concentrate on its canstar sports group inc skate and athletic footwear division the largest ice skate manufacturer and distributor in the western world warrington said it decided to rationalize the balance of its ski businesses which is expected to result in a divestment loss which could outweigh the net gains on the sales of its shoe and ski boot divisions taurus said the acquisition is expected to increase its annual sales to about mln dlrs and make it canada s largest footwear manufacturer reuter,0 |
| 5035,bank of france buys dollars at paris fixing dealers,32 |
| 2865,teva teviy sells promedico subsidiary teva pharmaceutical industries ltd based in israel said it sold its wholly owned promedico subsidiary to foreign investors for four mln dlrs it said the book value of the unit is about mln dlrs teva said it will continue to market promedico s products through its wholly owned subsidiary salomon levin and elstein ltd reuter,0 |
| 2138,shawmut corp shas sets regulary dividend qtly div cts vs cts prior pay april one record march reuter,12 |
| 25,emhart corp emh qtly dividend qtly div cts vs cts prior payable march record march nine reuter,12 |
| 2324,methode electronics inc methb regular payout qtly div class b cts vs cts prior class a two cts vs two cts prior pay april record april reuter,12 |
| 932,det oestasiatiske kompagni a s east asiatic co results for year group pre tax profit mln crowns vs mln net turnover billion crowns vs billion dividend eight pct vs nil group profit after tax mln crowns vs mln reuter,12 |
| 5426,kleinwort benson lonsdale plc kbll l year shr p vs p adjusted div p making p vs p adjusted pretax profit mln stg vs mln net after tax mln vs mln extraordinary credit after tax mln vs nil note the extraordinary credit represents substantitally the after tax profit on sale of company s interest in m and g group plc after providing for the final dividend retained earnings were mln vs mln in merchant and investment banking mln vs mln bullion broking mln vs mln u s government security dealing mln vs loss investment management and unit trusts mln vs mln other activities loss mln vs profit mln interest on loan capital mln vs mln disclosed shareholders funds mln vs mln disclosed capital resources available mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 2647,icco to examine buffer stock proposal tomorrrow the international cocoa organization icco council adjourned after presenting divergent producer and consumer views on buffer stock rules and agreeing to examine a draft compromise proposal on the buffer stock issue tomorrow delegates said icco executive director kobena erbynn will draw up what some delegates called a pre compromise and present it to the buffer stock working group at hrs gmt tuesday they said while consumer and producer member nations disagree how a buffer stock should be implemented both sides reiterated they were willing to compromise to come to agreement they said i am optimistic we will be able to come to an agreement maybe not tomorrow or the next day but some time later in the session a consumer delegate said producers say they want the buffer stock to consist only of icco member cocoa comprise a representative basket of various grade cocoas and pay different prices for different grades delegates said some consumers would rather the buffer stock manager be able to buy non member cocoa also and pay a single price for the buffer stock cocoa without respect to origin consumer members were not unified in their views on how the buffer stock should operate with several countries backing different aspects of the producer stance delegates said the semi annual council meeting is scheduled to run until march consideration of the buffer stock rules is the most controversial topic on the agenda delegates said reuter,4 |
| 6129,danish unemployment falls to pct in february denmark s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to pct of the workforce in february from pct in january against pct in february the national statistics office said the total number of unemployed in february was against in january and in february reuter,26 |
| 2269,france repays some of currency intervention debt france today repaid billion francs of short term currency intervention debt to the european monetary cooperation fund emcf the finance ministry said it said the debt was part of a billion franc liability incurred through the activation of emcf swap facilities to defend the franc before the january european monetary system realignment the realignment following several weeks of speculative pressure produced a three pct revaluation of the west german mark and the dutch guilder against the french franc and a two pct revaluation of the belgian franc reuter,32 |
| 2716,precision target marketing inc ptmi rd qtr shr profit one cts vs loss two cts net vs loss revs mln dlrs vs mln nine months shr profit five cts vs loss cts net profit vs loss revs mln vs mln note rd qtr ended january rd qtr and nine months includes dlrs and dlrs gains respectively from tax loss carryforward reuter,12 |
| 3679,danish wholesale prices fall pct in february denmark s wholesale price index fell pct in february giving a year on year fall of pct the national statistics office said the index base stood at in february a fall of one point compared to january against in february reuter,50 |
| 2996,wausau paper mills co wsau nd qtr net period ended feb shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln six mths shr dlrs vs dlrs net vs sales mln vs mln note per share data restated for pct stock dividends paid to holders of record dec and dec reuter,12 |
| 868,turkey to import tonnes of crystal sugar turkey has announced a tender to import tonnes of white crystal sugar with an advertisement in local newspapers turkish sugar factories said in the advertisement there was a pct option to increase or decrease the amount and bids should reach it before march the semi official anatolian agency recently quoted turkish minister of industry and trade cahit aral as saying turkey will export tonnes of sugar this year and import the same amount reuter,45 |
| 2762,fairchild deal failure seen making japanese wary schlumberger ltd s slb n decision to end an agreement in principle for fujitsu ltd itsu t to buy pct of its fairchild semiconductor corp and the political furore that surrounded the proposed sale will make japanese companies more cautious in their efforts to acquire u s high technology firms but will not halt such attempts industry analysts said the collapse of the deal will not be a critical blow to fujitsu but it will boost the cost of future u s expansion by the japanese firm said analysts polled by reuters the acquisition of fairchild is not essential to fujitsu s north american operations but it would have been a great boost james capel and co analyst tom murtha said french controlled schlumberger said yesterday it was ending the agreement because mounting political controversy in the u s made it unlikely that the sale of the fairchild stake could be completed in a reasonable time the sale was opposed by the u s commerce department and defence department partly on national security grounds fujitsu s acquisition of fairchild would have given the japanese computer maker control of a comprehensive north american sales and distribution system and access to microprocessor technology an area where fujitsu is weak analysts said the deal would also have given fujitsu additional microchip production facilities worldwide eight of them in the u s a report by the capel firm said it was an entry point a port for semiconductors and a marketing channel for other things said barclays de zoete wedd analyst rick may several analysts said the purchase would not have given fujitsu access to critical defence technology fairchild simply doesn t have key technology that s a thing of the past may said the failure could be a blessing in disguise for fujitsu as it might have had to spend several hundred million dollars to modernise fairchild s production lines capel s murtha said the failure of the deal will doubtless encourage japanese firms to take a lower profile in attempts to acquire u s high tech firms but they are unlikely to stop analysts said most analysts said fujitsu was likely to go the more costly route of expanding its own production and distribution facilities in the u s although some said it could use the estimated mln dlrs set aside for buying fairchild to try to acquire some less politically symbolic firm it may slow the pace of japanese acquisitions but the necessity of expanding their production and design capacity in america remains said capel s murtha the japanese will continue to shop for bargains but it will be harder to find ones that are politically acceptable japanese firms are likely to favour joint ventures or smaller equity stakes in firms to avoid the political backlash that blocked the fairchild sale analysts said they re not going to slow up they re just going to buy smaller pieces because of the political risk said barclays de zoete s may several japanese firms have already taken to pct shares in smaller u s high technology firms such as super minicomputer makers he said opposition of the sort that blocked fujitsu could end up harming u s firms and undermining a trend toward multinational tie ups some analysts said this is not really of benefit to u s firms either said jardine fleming securities ltd analyst nick edwards the pooling of resources in semiconductors is a positive move why should the government step in to prevent it japan s minister of international trade and industry hajime tamura told a press conference that interference by u s government officials in the fairchild deal was inappropriate this is entirely a private sector matter and not a matter for governments comment tamura said i think it was improper for u s government officials to intervene to the extent they did he said a spokesman told reuters the ministry s view is that international investment flows ought to be free and that such flows are of increasing importance in line with the growing closeness of u s japanese economic ties reuter,0 |
| 920,sl industries inc sl nd qtr jan net oper shr cts vs cts oper net vs revs mln vs mln six mths oper shr cts vs cts oper net vs revs mln vs mln note exlcudes discontinued operations for oper net for six mths for sale of electronics division oper shr for qtr and six mths adjusted for stock split and dividend distribution in november reuter,12 |
| 5979,laidlaw declares three for two split boosts payout to cts shr from four cts,12 |
| 5839,fhlbb changes short term discount note rates the federal home loan bank board adjusted the rates on its short term discount notes as follows maturity new rate old rate maturity pct days pct days days pct pct days days pct pct days days pct pct days days pct pct days reuter,22 |
| 40,n y bank discount borrowings mln dlrs the eight major new york city banks had mln dlrs in average borrowings from the federal reserve in the week to wednesday february a fed spokesman said the week marked the second half of the two week bank statement period that ended on wednesday the banks had no borrowings in the prior week commenting on the latest week a fed spokesman said that all of the borrowing occurred yesterday and was done by fewer than half of the banks national data on discount window borrowings are due to be released at est gmt reuter,33 |
| 1313,monoclonal antibodies mabs buys company monoclonal antibodies inc said it signed an agreement in principle to buy genesis labs inc for about mln dlrs of common stock the agreement is subject to shareholders approval and other conditions reuter,0 |
| 4640,u s shoe corp usr th qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net mln vs mln sales mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln year shr cts vs dlrs net mln vs mln sales billion vs billion avg shrs mln vs mln note current year net both periods includes gain five cts shr from sale of just for kids and giggletree mail order catalogs and charges of cts shr from writedowns of assets related to the closing of linens and domestics stores and leased departments and of leased shoe departments year net includes lifo inventory charges six cts shr vs two cts shr reuter,12 |
| 3507,independence bancorp inbc completes merger independence bancorp inc said it completed its merger with scranton penn based third national bank and trust co with assets of mln dlrs independence said its combined assets are now billion dlrs the company said that each share of third national common will be exchanged for shares of its common independence said the merger will be accounted for as a pooling of interests reuter,0 |
| 2838,oecd agrees export credit reforms the western industrialised nations have agreed reforms in rules by which they provide credit for exports to developing countries the organisation for economic cooperation and development said the reforms tighten the rules for the use of foreign aid to subsidise export credits in so called mixed credits the oecd said the agreement to be implemented in two stages in july this year and july means the minimum aid component in mixed credits will be raised to pct from pct and to pct for credits covering exports to the world s least developed nations additionally a new formula will be used for calculating the aid element in mixed credits to take account of different interest rates in the exporting countries the nation oecd which hosted the reform negotiations said minimum interest rates for officially subsidised trade loans have also been revised with the aim of cutting the subsidies and ending them completely on loans to relatively rich developing countries by july next year the reforms follow several years of pressure by the u s to stop competitors notably france and japan using foreign aid to subsidise exports putting u s firms at a disadvantage oecd officials said the agreement was based on a provisional accord reached in january subject to ratification by member governments some governments including austria had linked their final approval to other trade credit issues which would be discussed at a meeting here in mid april they added by raising the minimum amount of aid required in mixed credits the agreement aims to make such hidden subsidies too costly for frequent use a major loophole in the general agreement on tariffs and trade has been closed today a senior u s official here commented reuter,48 |
| 705,goodyear tire gt details tax refund goodyear tire and rubber co said its results include a tax refund of mln dlrs from the costs of restructuring the company in a successful defense against a takeover attempt by james goldsmith chairman robert mercer said heavy restructuring costs related to the takeover attempt combined with government tax incentives for investments resulted in this federal tax refund the refund was included but not broken out in its initial results a spokesman said it reported net income of mln dlrs against mln dlrs a year earlier reuter,12 |
| 3315,ault inc ault rd qtr march one net shr profit eight cts vs loss cts net profit vs loss sales vs nine mths shr profit five cts vs loss cts net profit vs loss sales mln vs reuter,12 |
| 3395,uk feb adjusted unemployment fell total mln or pct official,26 |
| 5857,equicor sees year revenues to top two billion equicor equitable hca corp said that the company will likely attain revenues in excess of two billion dlrs in its first year of operations the company created last october with initial equity of mln dlrs is owned equally by the equitable life assurance society of the u s and hospital corp of america hca financial results for the first six months of the company s operations were not disclosed equicor provides employee group plans to corporations nationwide it said it aims to double its marketshare in five years from the about pct of the employee benefits industry it controls reuter,12 |
| 988,aequitron aqtn sees th qtr charge aequitron medical inc said costs related to its previously announced plan to consolidate life products operations in boulder colo are expected to total dlrs or eight cts a share for the fourth quarter ending april it said the costs including moving expenses severance pay and future lease payments the company said it will consolidate life products into the company s headquarters and manufacturing operations in minneapolis reuter,12 |
| 1963,guardian national insurance co ltd garj j year shr cts vs cts final div cts vs making cts vs pre tax mln rand vs mln net mln vs mln tax mln vs mln gross premiums mln vs mln net premiums written mln vs mln underwriting loss mln vs loss mln div pay april register march note period year to december reuter,12 |
| 5359,imperial bancorp iban sets five pct dividend imperial bancorp said it declared a five pct stock dividend payable may to shareholders of record april reuter,12 |
| 1883,indonesia pressing for compromise over coffee indonesian coffee exporters are preparing for a period of depressed prices while urging their government to lobby for a resolution of the deadlocked issue of export quotas the chairman of the association of indonesian coffee exporters aice told reuters dharyono kertosastro said in an interview that indonesia the world s third largest producer is trimming costs and improving its marketing while seeking a compromise on quotas but as long as brazil sticks to its hardline position we can never bridge the gap dharyono said indonesia was one of a group of eight producing countries along with costa rica the dominican republic ecuador honduras india papua new guinea and peru which proposed a new quota system at last month s failed international coffee organistion ico talks in london brazil which would have had its quota reduced under the group of eight scheme blocked the proposal aice officials are now hoping colombia can use its contacts with brazil to suggest a compromise edward muda an aice official who attended the ico negotiations said latin american members of the group of eight were in contact with colombia the world s second largest producer but gave no details colombia has shown interest because they will gain from a compromise without one they will suffer if the present market stays like it is muda said he said indonesia was in contact with consumers such as the u s japan the netherlands west germany and canada ahead of an ico executive board meeting scheduled for april dharyono said the aice will send delegations to the u s and japan to brief indonesian embassy officials there and press them to present indonesia s case more firmly he urged the indonesian government to do more to help the country s coffee traders through the ico negotiations muda said the group of eight had some common ground with the big consumers because they agreed on the need for basing quotas on what he termed realistic criteria the breakaway group believes the old quota system which gives brazil a pct share of the quota exports does not reflect up to date supply and demand trends brazil has stuck rigidly to its insistence that the old system be applied export quotas were suspended in february when market prices surged because of the failure of the brazilian crop although prices have long since come down to a point where export controls could be reintroduced producers and consumers at the member ico have not been able to agree on new guidelines brazil and the u s the largest consumer are both refusing to alter their positions dharyono said if new quotas are not agreed he believed indonesia was well placed to survive low prices indonesian farmers are trimming production costs and the aice is improving its marketing system dharyono said indonesia s coffee output in ending september is expected to stagnate or fall slightly from last year s level of tonnes he said he said stocks at tonnes were about average for the time of year reuter,5 |
| 6198,gerber geb sets deadline for unit s buyout gerber products co said it has given management of its cwt inc trucking subsidiary days to pursue a leveraged buyout of the subsidiary it said cwt inc which has operations in the midwest and southeast has annual revenues of approximately mln dlrs reuter,0 |
| 1427,french week t bill average rate falls to pct from pct official,22 |
| 1130,costa rica optimistic about reforming ico costa rica s economy minister said he sees new hope for winning changes in the international coffee organisation system of export quotas minister luis diego escalante who serves as president of the costa rican coffee institute said he was hopeful because of the support offered costa rica and other smaller producing nations by such major consumers as the united states britain and the netherlands at last week s ico meeting in london escalante told a news conference here he carried the weight of the negotiations at the meeting by calling for larger export quotas for the smaller coffee growing nations costa rica is insisting escalante said on a new quota system based on a producing nation s real export capacity once it has satisfied internal demand there are countries such as our own whose sales possibilities are close to or above pct of their current quotas escalante said at the same time there are countries favoured by the current system that have been assigned quotas far above their export potential he said the current ico quota system is unfair and autocratic escalante said escalante attributed the nosedive in international coffee prices over the last week to speculation rather than real matters of supply and demand be careful he warned there s not as much coffee in the world as they say what there is are bags of sawdust reuter,5 |
| 3209,negotiators put final touches to new rubber pact rubber producing and consuming countries which agreed on the bases of a new international natural rubber agreement inra last weekend are now putting the final touches to the future accord delegates said they said discussions are focusing on conditions for entry into force of the new inra the present pact which expires in october required that governments accounting for pct of world exports and pct of world imports approved or ratified the pact before it became operational delegates said figures now being floated range between and pct reuter,42 |
| 3433,progressive bank inc psbk qtly div seven cts vs seven cts in prior qtr payable april record march reuter,12 |
| 1359,standard pacific spf acquires south bay s l standard pacific lp said it has acquired substantially all of the assets and liabilities of south bay savings and loan association of newport beach the firm said over the weekend that it will conduct its savings and loan activities through standard pacific savings fa a federal stock association on friday the federal home loan bank board in washington said it approved the acquisition of south bay s and l a mln dlr state chartered stock association by standard pacific which has mln dlrs in assets the bank board said that the federal savings and loan insurance corp will make a cash contribution provide capital loss coverage and indemnify standard pacific against undisclosed liabilities reuter,0 |
| 3797,monfort of colorado inc mnft nd qtr net qtr ended feb shr dlrs vs dlrs net vs revs mln vs mln six mths shr dlrs vs dlrs net mln vs mln revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 6180,american west bank first qtr net net vs assets mln vs mln deposits mln loans mln vs mln note earnings per share and deposits figure not supplied by company reuter,12 |
| 4132,ibm ibm rebound seen by bernstein analyst international business machines corp hit by a two year earnings slump should begin a come back by the end of and post strong growth in analyst rick martin of sanford c bernstein co inc said there will be increasing momentum in earnings albeit not until later this year martin said at a technology conference sponsored by the investment firm martin said the coming rebound reflects new product introductions in the mid range area rather than any drastic improvement in economic growth or u s capital spending ibm whose stock hit a week low of dlrs in mid january has come back lately ibm was trading up at dlrs analysts computer industry executives and the company itself have highlighted the external economic factors hampering ibm s growth but martin said the product cycle was key to understanding the rise and fall of ibm and other computer companies and pointed to digital equipment corp dec to support his view by replacing the product line earnings have soared he said of dec s line of vax computers in contrast to dec ibm faultered with an incompatible mid range product line a new computer code named fort knox was supposed to tie together a number of ibm s mid range systems but the product never got off the ground he said instead aspects of the computer were integrated into the ibm machine introduced last year and other aspects should be unwrapped by martin said the major story will be a rebound in its mid range business he said sales of ibm s mid range computers fell about pct in but the new products will lead to pct growth in mid range computers this year and pct growth in high end computers primarily the sierra line are coming to the end of their product life cycle although growing pct in the midst of ibm s sharply lower year growth will drop to pct in and pct in he said by overall revenue growth should rise to about pct against pct growth in and pct in martin said last year ibm earned billion dlrs on revenues of billion dlrs investors asked what this all meant to dec whose earnings and stock have been propelled by a strong slew of product introductions in the mid range area in response martin said he did not view ibm as a threat to dec nor dec as a threat to ibm because both companies were catering largely to existing customer bases rather than stealing market share from one another reuter,12 |
| 3990,swiss sight deposits rise mln francs sight deposits of commercial banks at the swiss national bank rose mln swiss francs in the second days of march to billion the national bank said foreign exchange reserves fell mln francs to billion sight deposits are a major indicator of money market liquidity in switzerland reuter,32 |
| 2478,american building maintenance abm st qtr net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln note american building maintenance industries inc reuter,12 |
| 3097,canamax to acquire krezmar gold property stake canamax resources inc said it agreed to acquire the pct interest it does not already own in the krezmar gold property near wawa ontario by paying nine mln dlrs to algoma steel corp ltd and granting algoma a four pct net smelter return royalty which is payable after payback the property s drill indicated reserves to a depth of feet are estimated at over one mln tons averaging ounces of gold a ton canamax said reuter,0 |
| 1142,krelitz industries inc krlz rd qtr net period ended jan shr seven cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln nine mths shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln note prior year period ended sept comparable periods reflect change in fiscal yearend to april from december reuter,12 |
| 488,continental gic sees net up from tax law continental corp said the fresh start provision of the tax reform act of may add to to earnings per share the insurance holding company had net earnings of mln dlrs or or per share in john loynes continental chief financial officer said the fresh start provision allowed the company to discount opening tax reserves to january which released deferred taxes into earnings loynes said the provision s potential benefit would decline gradually over the next four years during which time continental will pay mln to mln dlrs more in taxes loynes added however the higher taxes are not expecetd to have a significant impact on earnings reuter,12 |
| 1262,channel ferry reported sinking off belgium the channel ferry herald of free enterprise from the british townsend thorensen company was sinking off the belgian coast tonight with people on board the dutch newsagency anp reported today an unspecified number of people had fallen into the water it said quoting the pilot organisation in this south western dutch port city near the belgian border it said the vessel had capsized after a collision but gave no more details dan kaakebeen a spokesman for the dutch salvage firm smit international told reuters by telephone from rotterdam that the vessel was just off the belgian port of zeebrugge with passengers and crew when the accident occurred at gmt kaakebeen said the firm had one vessel at the scene and another on its way with divers on board a spokesman at the port authority of nearby vlissingen said attempts were being made to pull the vessel into shallow waters weather conditions were good with no fog or wind and there were many other vessels in the area reuter,43 |
| 1740,science dynamics corp sidy year net shr cts vs cts net vs revs vs reuter,12 |
| 855,thai tin exports rise in january thailand exported tonnes of tin metal in january up from in december and a year ago the mineral resources department said it said major buyers last month were singapore japan britain the netherlands malaysia and the u s reuter,47 |
| 5786,manufacturers hanover mhc raises prime rate manufacturers hanover trust co became the third major u s bank to increase its prime rate to pct from matching a move initiated yesterday by citibank and chase manhattan the bank the main subsidiary of manufacturers hanover corp said the new rate is effective today reuter,22 |
| 85,northern telecom ltd nt declares stock split two for one stock split pay may note split is subject to approval of shareholders at april annual meeting company also said it will increase dividend on post split shares to six cts from five cts reuter,12 |
| 4343,tajon ranch co trc th qtr net shr five cts vs nine cts net vs revs vs year shr ten cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 4026,cooper development co bugs st qtr jan net shr profit seven cts vs loss cts net profit vs loss sales mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln note current year net includes pretax gain on sale of product line of mln dlrs and charge dlrs posttax on expensing of a portion of unamorized debt issuance costs of unit current year results include technicon corp acquired in august reuter,12 |
| 3921,canada s clark sees trade as most urgent problem trade is the most urgent problem facing u s canadian relations because of a pressing need to reach a new bilateral pact within the coming months joe clark canadian secretary of state for external affairs said negotiators for the two countries have been meeting for more than a year in an effort to work out an agreement the most urgent problem now is the trade question because that has to be decided within the next months clark told the commonwealth club of california we have a fast track authority from your congress for approval or rejection of whatever the negotiators achieve clark said that as a practical matter an initial agreement must be reached by late september or early october he listed environmental questions particularly acid rain and defense as the second and third most important bilateral issues facing ottawa and washington on wednesday president reagan announced that he will seek billion dlrs from congress to address the acid rain problem some interpreted the move as a goodwill gesture in advance of his annual meeting on april in ottawa with prime minister brian mulroney in a question and answer session with the public affairs group clark said that the two countries must find better mechanisms for resolving their trade disputes this rash of countervailing actions where we acted on corn and you acted on soft wood and we both said they were quasijudicial the dispute resolution mechanisims in place now are not working adequately in either of our interests he said ottawa also is seeking to change some of washington s rules on government procurement that penalize canadian businesses he said there are a number of canadian companies that in order to secure substantial contracts in the united states have had to move their head offices out of our country into your country because you have national procurement requirements he said in turn he added the united states would like to change some of the procurement requirements that exist at the provincial government level in canada clark declined to forecast the outcome of the discussions what will come out of it remains for the negotiators in the first instance to propose and then governments and congresses will have judge he said in his prepared remarks clark said that the united states has tended to take canada for granted although it exports to its northern neighbor more than twice what it exports to japan yet you bought almost per cent more from japan last year than you bought from canada he said reuter reuter,48 |
| 1913,china closes second round of offshore oil bids china has closed the second round of bidding by foreign firms for offshore oil exploration rights the china daily has reported it quoted a spokesman for the china national offshore oil corp cnooc as saying china signed eight contracts with foreign firms for blocks in the pearl river mouth and south yellow sea covering a total area of sq km second round bidding began at the end of and only one well has so far produced results lufeng km south east of shenzhen with an output of barrels a day the well was drilled by a group of japanese companies the spokesman added cnooc was ready to enter into contracts for offshore blocks before third round bidding began he did not say when this would be but added the contracts would not be bound by restrictions imposed during the second round china has signed oil contracts and agreements with companies from countries since when offshore exploration was open to foreigners eleven contracts were terminated after no oil was discovered foreign firms have invested billion dlrs on offshore china since reuter,10 |
| 2231,u s feb industrial production rose pct u s industrial production rose pct in february after a revised pct increase in january the federal reserve board said the fed previously said industrial production rose pct in january the fed said the february gain was dominated by a sharp rise in motor vehicle production which boosted output of both consumer goods and business equipment industrial production stood at pct of the average in february and was up pct from a year ago the fed said the fed also revised the december industrial production figure to a gain of pct from pct originally reported manufacturing output rose pct in february after a pct increase in january and included gains of pct in durables and pct in non durables the fed said manufacturing was pct above the year ago level production of auto assemblies rose to an annual rate of mln units last month from a january rate of mln units output of consumer goods rose pct after falling pct in january and output of consumer durables was up pct in february after falling by pct in january business equipment production rose pct in february reflecting more output of autos and trucks for business use and a recovery from strikes in farm equipment industries the fed said mining output rose pct after a pct increase in january but was still six pct lower than a year ago utilities output rose pct in february after a pct rise in january output of defense and space equipment was up pct the same as in january and pct higher than a year ago output of construction supplies rose pct in february after a pct january rise materials output increased by pct last month the fourth consecutive monthly increase after declining throughout much of the recent strength in materials has been concentrated in textiles paper and chemicals the fed said output of home goods was up pct in february and the fed said production of items like appliances and furniture continued strong last month reuter,23 |
| 3948,alitalia reports higher net profits italy s national airline alitalia spa azpi mi reporting a pct rise in provisional net profit said it carried seven pct more passengers on domestic routes last year but pct fewer passengers on flights from north america and canada alitalia said the drop in north american traffic had been due to a general fall in the numbers of american tourists visiting europe caused by fears of terrorism the airline reported provisional net profit rose to billion lire from billion in a spokesman said alitalia was hoping for an increase in traffic with the u s in it planned to increase the number of flights from italy to new york to per week to reinstate flights to boston and to re open the direct rome milan los angeles service the spokesman announced that from march alitalia would be starting a new weekly service to shanghai for its summer programme it would be adding extra flights to european destinations an increase of pct reuter,12 |
| 3688,akzo buys rhone poulenc household units dutch chemical group akzo n v akzo as said it agreed to take over household product subsidiaries of french group rhone poulenc rhon pa for an undisclosed sum under the agreement akzo will acquire the household product activities of the lyons based rhodic and remalard based buhler fontaine units of rhone poulenc together these activities account for over mln french francs in annual sales and employ akzo said akzo will integrate the firms to be partially joined with its own french activities in its consumer products division reuter,0 |
| 3453,control resource crix sees lower earnings control resource industries inc said the company estimates earnings to be between and dlrs or to cts per share compared with dlrs or cts per share during the company said preliminary estimates of revenues is mln dlrs compared with for the estimated results are based on shares outstanding compared to shares outstanding for r steven lutterbach chairman said net income for was adversely affected primarily due to lower operating margins at the company s western environmental subsidiary and to an increase in bad debt reserves western environmental was acquired in march lutterbach explained the company has taken steps to improve financial and accounting controls primarily at western which were not adequate at the time of acquisition he noted the final results for the fourth quarter will depend on the allocation of increased costs between the second and fourth quarters lutterbach said it is possible second quarter results will be restated though final net income for the year will remain in the estimated range he added preliminary indications for first quarter revenues were favorable reuter,12 |
| 2561,amerihealth inc ahth th qtr loss oper shr loss one ct vs loss cts oper net profit vs loss revs vs year oper shr loss six cts vs loss cts oper net profit vs loss revs mln vs mln note net excludes tax credits of dlrs in quarter and dlrs in year and gains on termination of pension plan of dlrs in quarter and dlrs in year share after preferred dividends reuter,12 |
| 2917,u s oil tax would not affect pdvsa champlin deal an eventual oil import fee in the united states will make no difference to champlin petroleum corp s joint venture agreement signed today with petroleos de venezuela pdvsa champlin chairman william adams said this was an aspect which was discussed at length during the negotiations but we can say our contract covers all eventualities in this regard he told reuters during the signing ceremony here venezuela s energy and mines minister arturo hernandez grisanti earlier described the agreement under which pdvsa buys pct of champlin s corpus christi refinery as one more step in the maturation and presence of our oil industry in world markets union pacific chairman william cook said the agreement will be beneficial to both sides combining a secure source of supply with a modern refinery and access to markets we are looking to a long term relationship and at a time of protectionist tendencies in the u s congress there are clear benefits to both sides he said adams said pdvsa crude would remain competitive even with an oil import fee because champlin had invested heavily over the years in adapingthe texas refinery to process venezuelan heavy crudes with coking and hydro treating facilities and obtain a competitive product yield therefore while the danger of an oil import fee has been a consideration in the negotiations and it remains to be seen what such a fee would represent we do not foresee any impact on today s agreement adams said he said the refinery could run crude as heavy as venezuela s bolivar coastal field bcf api without any difficultiesand would probably move over time to a heavier diet to take advantage of bigger margins the refinery has a capacity to process up to bpd of venezuelan high sulphur content heavy crude with an pct yield of white products reuter,10 |
| 5286,sierracin corp ser th qtr net oper shr profit nine cts vs loss cts oper net profit vs loss revs mln vs mln year oper shr profit cts vs loss cts oper net profit vs loss revs mln vs mln note current qtr and year figures exclude losses from discontinued operations of dlrs or five cts per share and dlrs or cts per share respectively prior qtr and year figures exclude losses from discontinued operations of dlrs or cts per share and mln dlrs or cts per share respectively reuter,12 |
| 4437,first new hampshire banks inc div qtly div cts vs cts prior payable may one record april reuter,12 |
| 2774,french payments surplus shrinks in january france s current account payments surplus slipped to a provisional mln francs seasonally adjusted in january from a downward revised surplus of billion in december the finance ministry said the december figure was revised from a provisional billion franc surplus reported a month ago on an unadjusted basis january payments showed a billion franc deficit after a revised billion december surplus the december unadjusted surplus was revised down from a provisional billion the ministry said trade measured on balance of payments criteria showed an unadjusted billion franc january deficit while services showed a billion surplus other items mainly including unilateral transfers showed a billion deficit the current account showed an adjusted surplus of billion francs in january last year and an unadjusted deficit of one billion the full year current account surplus was reported last month at billion francs reuter,2 |
| 5649,getty petroleum gty year net shr dlrs vs dlrs qtly div four cts vs four cts prior net mln vs mln revs mln vs billion avg shrs mln vs mln note cash dividend payable april to holders of record april shr figures adjusted for five pct stock dividend declared march reuter,12 |
| 3664,german m rises billion marks in february west german m money supply rose a seasonally adjusted billion marks in february to billion the bundesbank said the rise compares with a revised billion mark increase in january and a billion rise in february reuter,33 |
| 477,pansophic systems inc pns rd qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln nine mths shr dlrs vs dlrs net mln vs mln revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 3496,richardson rell to buy italian semiconductor firm richardson electronics ltd said it agreed to buy for undisclosed terms g e b giant electronics brand a florence italy based distributor of electron tubes and semiconductors reuter,0 |
| 1259,hughes tool ht up on merger speculation hughes tool co rose one to on shares apparently reflecting a belief that baker international corp bko will be able to persaude hughes to go along with a previously announced merger analysts said this week hughes seemed to back out of the merger but then said it was still interested in talking it sounds like baker wants it and if people are convinced a deal is going to go through the stock goes up said analyst phil pace of kidder peabody and co holders of hughes would get share of baker for each hughes share reuter,0 |
| 6182,biomet inc bmet rd qtr feb net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln nine mths shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 976,kaines sells jordan two cargoes of white sugar trade house kaines said it sold jordan two cargoes of white sugar at its buying tender today the sale comprised two to tonne cargoes plus or minus pct for mar apr shipment a kaines trader said traders said the business was done at dlrs a tonne cost and freight reuter,45 |
| 2749,cathay pacific profit seen above target buoyed by low fuel prices and favourable currency factors cathay pacific airways ltd s caph hk profits are expected to surpass the airline s forecast of one billion h k dlrs stock analysts said analysts said they expect the airline to show net earnings of between billion and billion dlrs when it reports results tomorrow for its first year as a public company cathay pct owned by swire pacific ltd swpc hk made its earnings forecast in the prospectus for its flotation in may last year cathay is expected to pay a cent final dividend making a total of cents for the year as forecast in the prospectus analysts polled by reuters said they said the airline s performance improved in the second half of the year after it reported interim profits of mln dlrs the weakness of the local currency pegged at to one u s dollar and low fuel prices moved further in the company s favour from the assumptions made in the prospectus at the time of the flotation james capel far east ltd said james capel estimates average fuel prices for the airline industry in at u s cents per gallon pct below the level it said a one pct movement in fuel prices would affect cathay s net profits by mln dlrs and forecast profits of billion dlrs analysts said the company s estimates of fuel price and currency movements set out in its prospectus were conservative this is reflected in their interim results which showed that profit margin has increased said frederick tsang of mansion house securities f e ltd cathay s six month turnover rose pct from year earlier levels but profits rose pct the rise in oil prices in late had little impact on the company s fuel oil bill last year as aviation fuel prices usually lag behind crude price movements by several months analysts said by last september the yen had risen some pct against the hong kong dollar from the end of the mark pct and sterling pct overall the weakness of the hong kong dollar against cathay s major trading currencies helped push passenger yields in the first half up pct said james capel this should continue through the second half to enable passenger yields to end the year up pct a strong performance from the billion dlrs in cash under management also improved profits james capel said a general improvement in air traffic last year contributed to cathay s revenue increase but the company s load factor declined because of increased competition and an expansion of its fleet and services james capel estimated cathay s passenger kilometres flown last year rose six pct from and freight kilometres flown climbed pct though the airline s load factor probably fell to pct from pct cathay added new planes and was forced to fly some routes last year because of the threat of competition from dragon air said tsang this affected its load factor fear of possible competition from fledgling carrier hong kong dragon airways ltd may have contributed to cathay s decision to resume service to new zealand last year analysts said reuter,12 |
| 612,oppenheimer ups viacom via stake to pct oppenheimer and co a new york brokerage firm said it raised its stake in viacom international inc to the equivalent of shares or pct of the total from shares or pct in a filing with the securities and exchange commission oppenheimer said it bought a net viacom common shares between jan and march at prices ranging from to an average of dlrs each part of its stake is in options it said it bought the shares as part of its arbitrage and investment business movie theater magnate sumner redstone and a viacom management group are in a bidding war for viacom reuter,0 |
| 3224,may ma reports strong st qtr start may department stores co reporting record results for the fourth quarter ended january said it is encouraged about the new fiscal year by a strong start in february and march the company said its merger last year with associated dry goods which was accounted for as a pooling of interests is going very well may said we are acting more like one company every day our expansion schedule is on track may said it plans to invest more than mln dlrs this year to open department stores eight discount stores and more than specialty outlets the company reported fourth quarter earnings of mln dlrs or dlrs a share up from mln dlrs or dlrs a share a year earlier revenues advanced to billion dlrs from billion dlrs reuter,12 |
| 2084,petroleum and resources corp peo dividend interim income dividend cts last paid dlrs february including capital gains of cts pyable april record april eight reuter,12 |
| 6337,hong kong banks raise prime one half point to pct hongkong and shanghai banking corp and standard chartered bank raised their prime rate one half point to pct effective tuesday the association of banks said the association said in a statement deposit rates have also been increased by to percentage point the banks last announced an adjustment on february when they raised the prime rate by one point to six pct the deposit interest rates are now savings and hours two pct seven day call one week and two weeks pct one month and two months pct three and six months pct nine months pct and months four pct reuter,22 |
| 4485,exchange rates almost within g levels sumita bank of japan governor satoshi sumita said that current exchange rates are almost within the levels agreed to by six major nations last month in paris asked whether a dollar yen rate of or reflected economic fundamentals he said current rates almost reflect fundamentals sumita told reporters major nations have cooperated to bring about currency stability in line with the paris agreement which stipulated that they would closely cooperate to that end he repeated the central bank will intervene if necessary adding he did not think a dollar free fall was likely but sumita said he could not say exactly what currency levels would be considered in line with underlying economic fundamentals in paris on february britain canada france japan the u s and west germany agreed to cooperate to hold currencies around their then current levels sumita said he could not find any specific reasons behind the fall of the dollar to a record low against the yen yesterday but he said the market rushed to sell dollars as it nervously reacted to statements abroad and to developments surrounding trade tensions u s treasury secretary james baker said over the weekend that the paris pact did not encompass fixed tragets for the dollar u s trade representative clayton yeutter called u s japan relations on certain key trade issues very strained the market reacted nervously because the dollar has been moving narrowly against the yen since mid january sumita said he added he does not expect the yen dollar exchange rate to remain unstable because the market is concerned about a sharp rise of the yen the bank of japan will keep a close watch on exchange rates in line with the paris accord he added reuter,32 |
| 4526,united medical um to sell unit united medical corp said it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its hospital distribution unit to myriad group inc for undisclosed terms with closing expected in the next several weeks reuter,0 |
| 5684,chelsea chd sees lower nd qtr net chelsea industries inc said earnings for its fiscal second quarter ended march will be sharply lower than the dlrs or cts a share it earned for the same quarter last year it also said it lowered its earnings forecasts for the remainder of the fiscal year in fiscal the company earned dlrs or dlrs a share the company cited intensely competitive market conditions in its polyethelyne trash liner business and startup costs related to its acquisition of artisan plastic for the reduced earnings outlook reuter,12 |
| 575,margaux controls inc margx rd qtr dec loss shr loss dlrs vs loss cts net loss vs loss revs vs nine mths shr loss dlrs vs loss cts net loss mln vs loss revs vs mln note net losses inlcude dlr charge from discontinued operations of building management system sold to cetek system inc on jan reuter,12 |
| 3441,new market emerges in warrants for gold a new market has emerged in warrants to buy gold a vehicle which bankers say brings some of the play of commodity options into the field of securities over the past three weeks swiss offices of american banks have launched a total of four issues of warrants with varying conditions drawing on renewed inflationary worries and the recovery of the gold price last year and credit suisse and credit suisse first boston each issued swiss franc bonds with warrants for gold which have a similar character though they are aimed at a less professional market the market is still small taken together the four american led warrant issues raised only about mln swiss francs but banks believe the vehicle meets a need of investors and predicted a lively future andrew barrett of citicorp investment bank switzerland ag said the warrants give smaller investors a chance to have a long term investment in gold with limited risk citicorp in zurich launched the first of these warrants on february following it up with a second issue less than a week later the issuer in both cases was citibank na the idea found some quick copies goldman sachs in zurich organized and co led an issue for the swiss branch of banque indosuez on march and last night morgan guaranty switzerland ag did another for morgan guaranty trust co of new york the four issues now offer investors striking prices for gold ranging from the indosuez issue at dlrs an ounce the same price as the underlying commodity to a dlr level on the first one for citibank the premiums range from pct to pct and maturities from months to four years and three months in all cases longer than gold futures and options on u s markets the bankers traced the inspiration for the market back to the february report of u s consumer prices for january when a jump of pct raised again the threat of inflation many people are worried about inflation again said mats joensson of goldman sachs money supply in germany and the united states has grown very strongly in the last year and people want to take a ride on gold the gold market having seen strong gains in has languished just above dlrs an ounce over the past few weeks but the banks saw in warrants the vehicle for a more highly leveraged play where the downside risk was limited barrett said it was natural that the market developed in switzerland people here understand gold and they understand warrants he said citicorp switzerland pioneered warrants with a series of equity linked covered issues based on japanese company shares over the past two years and last autumn swiss banks launched covered warrants in swiss registered shares in a bid to give foreign investors a chance to play in a market otherwise closed to all but swiss citizens and to play it with higher leverage but after a quick flurry of issues that market dried up when swiss shares prices fell from their january peaks the issues are being marketed not on the basis of simple premiums but on implicit volatility models devised to provide scientific comparisons between titles in the options market martin bachem of morgan guaranty said his bank s issue was competitive despite its relatively high premium the issue for five ounces at dlrs was priced at swiss francs making a premium over the spot gold price of nearly pct using a black sholes options model he said the issue s long year maturity meant the warrants needed an implicit volatility of gold of only pct for the option to pay off which he claimed was lower than the other issues but barrett said the black sholes variant citicorp used pointed to a higher volatily for the morgan issue and emphasized that the models were at best an inexact science and each bank using its own model put the implicit volatility needed for its own issue at close to pct whatever the calculation the issues have received a warm welcome from investors joensson of goldman sachs said there was a lot of demand even among small investors who were buying or warrants apiece the most sophisticated ones wouldn t buy these because the premiums are too high he said reuter,16 |
| 2658,quadrex corp quad th qtr jan loss shr loss eight cts vs loss cts net loss vs los revs mln vs mln year shr loss cts vs loss cts net loss vs loss revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 5618,wilson brothers th qtr shr loss cts vs loss cts net loss mln vs loss mln revs mln vs mln year shr profit cts vs loss cts net profit vs loss mln revs mln vs mln note year and qtr net includes loss of dlrs and dlrs respectively from from discontinued operations net includes mln dlr credit year and qtr includes gain of mln dlrs and loss of respectively from discontinued operations reuter,12 |
| 1736,quaker oats co oat regular dividend qtly div cts vs cts previously pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 5592,usda s amstutz sympathetic to wood credits u s agriculture undersecretary daniel amstutz said he was totally sympathetic with u s wood producers desire to have their exports eligible for government credit guarantees but he told the senate appropriations agriculture subcommittee that including wood products in the department s short or intermediate term export guarantee programs would conflict with u s multilateral trade obligations currently u s wood products are not eligible for government export credit guarantee because they are considered manufactured products amstutz said he said usda had devoted an enormous amount of time to considering making wood products eligible for the guarantees and that congress was considering a measure to do so reuter,30 |
| 5940,wall street stocks loral corp lor loral corp climbed to amid rumors the company might be a takeover target of general electric co ge however analysts said they were skeptical jack welch doesn t want any more exposure to defense markets said one analyst who heard the rumors but doubted their accuracy the reference was to ge s chairman the analyst who requested anonymity said i wouldn t believe this one unless there s a deal on the table loral corp officials were not immediately available for comment reuter,0 |
| 1677,kelsey hayes canada ltd year net shr dlrs vs dlrs net mln vs mln revs mln vs mln note shr restated to reflect january stock split pct owned by kelsey hayes co reuter,12 |
| 2392,u s says canada complying with lumber pact the commerce department said all canadian firms have begun to pay an agreed pct surcharge on softwood shipped to u s markets it made the statement after talks with canadian officials about rumors in canada that some exporters were not paying the charge canada and the u s agreed last december to the pct charge ending a lengthy trade dispute over alleged canadian subsidies to canada s softwood exporters commerce officials declined to say if any canadian companies had been evading the charge but said following the talks they were convinced all exporters were complying with the agreement undersecretary of commerce bruce smart said we are gratified to learn that companies in canada have begun paying the export charge on lumber he added the agreement was important to the health of the u s lumber industry and he intended to see that it was fully carried out reuter,30 |
| 2653,san paolo di torino to acquire californian bank italian state bank istituto bancario san paolo di torino said its fully owned san paolo u s holding co of wilmington in the u s had signed a letter of intent to acquire valley national bank of california san paolo said in a statement that subject to obtaining official authorization from the relevant bodies it would merge valley national bank with its subsidiary first los angeles bank value of the planned acquisition was not disclosed reuter,0 |
| 2372,varity vat expects th qtr full year loss varity corp formerly massey ferguson ltd said it expected to report on march a loss for the fourth quarter and full year ended january a company spokesman said specific figures were unavailable varity posted a net profit of mln u s dlrs for the previous fiscal year ended january and a mln dlr net profit for the previous fourth quarter its net loss for the nine months ended october totaled mln dlrs after a mln dlr third quarter loss tied to strikes and plant shutdowns at its british and french operations varity also said it would seek shareholder approval at a special shareholders meeting on april to authorize a transfer of values to the contributed surplus account on its balance sheet from the stated capital account for common shares the spokesman said the move would help raise company values required to pay dividends under canadian law reuter,12 |
| 1727,national savings move points to lower u k rates u k interest rates look set to move lower even after monday s half point cut in bank base rates to pct analysts said citing as evidence the suspension of a british national savings issue yesterday the department of national savings effectively a treasury department unit yesterday suspended its nd issue launched in october and paying a high tax free pct on five year private investments between and stg a spokesman said the suspension was just a reaction to yields on national savings bonds being way out of line with the rest of the market the move was followed by a surprise sell out within minutes today of a bank of england one billion stg tap issue the second such issue in as many weeks analysts noted they said the near instant sale of the entire new gilts issue for which the bank of england had required a high pct downpayment was clear evidence that the market thought rates had to drop sooner rather than later the sale of the tranche of pct treasury bonds due occurred in an active bullish gilts market as downward pressure on money market rates remained intact with the bellwether three month interbank rate down point at pct it coincided with another strong sterling rally which pushed the pound to four year highs against the dollar that government stock disappeared very quickly indeed said stephen lewis head of economic research at stockbrokers phillips and drew it is an indication that the market believes rates are going to fall further at least by a half point immediately after the budget on march and some people hope for more stockbrokers james capel said in a comment the move by the national savings department was of considerable significance it said the real message is that the decks are being quickly cleared so as to facilitate a speedy decision by the building societies to cut their rates when the inevitable cut in bank base rates to pct materialises building societies have said a drop in bank base rates would normally have to exceed half a point to give rise to a reduction in mortgage lending rates lewis of phillips and drew said he too believed the national savings issue suspension may reflect new u k treasury policy to point building societies towards a mortgage rate cut national savings has been competing too effectively with the building societies of late building society income has been depressed in recent months he said he and other analysts said chancellor of the exchequer nigel lawson was keen to see mortgage rates fall to keep a lid on u k inflation underlying upward pressure on prices is stronger in britain than in most other western economies with inflation seen rising well above four pct this year and above five pct in after last year s pct emphasising the impact of mortgage rates on consumer prices lewis said a one point cut in building society rates would reduce inflation in britain by about pct but lewis and others noted that building societies had been complaining to the government about intense competition from national savings which they argued reduced the scope for early mortgage rate cuts the chancellor need not be worried about losing some psbr funding from national savings but he must be taking the building societies criticism to heart it looks like the national savings move reflects this one senior dealer said a savings department spokesman refused to comment on this interpretation saying the suspension of the issue was merely a reaction to the recent fall in u k interest rates which had pushed yields on national savings bonds way out of line with the rest of the market we are not politically motivated funding was just becoming too expensive and we don t need all that money he told reuters adding the department had suspended issues at least twice in the past when offered interest rates were above or below market rates he said demand for the issue had risen sharply of late as u k money market rates continued their steady decline and income was threatening to overshoot an unofficial three billion stg target set for fiscal ending march in the first months of fiscal national saving s contribution to government funding totalled billion stg compared with billion stg in the same period of the previous year official figures show figures for february out on monday are expected to show a further increase of between and mln stg pushing the total for months above target government officials said reuter,22 |
| 4538,fabri centers fca th qtr ends jan net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln mths shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 483,canada current account deficit up in quarter canada s current account deficit widened to a seasonally adjusted billion dlrs in the fourth quarter from a deficit of billion dlrs in the third statistics canada said the shortfall for the full year rose to billion dlrs from s mln dlr deficit the federal agency said the agency said the rise in the merchandise surplus to billion dlrs from billion dlrs in the third quarter was more than offset by high deficits in servicies and investment the total non merchandise deficit grew to billion dlrs from billion dlrs the current account deficit was mln dlrs in the fourth quarter of in the capital account not seasonally adjusted there was a total net inflow of billion dlrs in the fourth quarter up from a net inflow of billion dlrs in the third quarter quarter the total net capital inflow rose to billion dlrs in from billion dlr in reuter,2 |
| 6275,brazil to buy bpd of kuwaiti oil brazil will import barrels per day of crude oil from kuwait a spokesman for the state oil company petrobras said he said that unlike saudi arabia kuwait did not impose any conditions on brazil last month petrobras cancelled a mln dlr oil purchase from saudi arabia after the saudis refused to accept credit guarantees from the official bank of brazil the saudis eventually lifted the condition and brazil decided to reconfirm the purchase brazil currently consumes mln barrels of oil per day reuter,10 |
| 802,great american gta gains over mln in loans great american first savings bank said the bank recorded gains exceeding mln dlrs on sales of loans and mortgage securities valued at billion dlrs the san diego based bank said in a prepared release of its report to analysts here that the gains included mln dlrs in arbitrage profits from the premium paid for the separation of interest and principal components of new federal national mortgage association strip securities the bank said it reported a profit of more than mln dlrs on the transaction involving mln dlrs of fnma securities including the arbitrage gain great american recently announced plans to acquire capital savings bank olympia wash and last year acquired home federal savings and loan association tucson ariz and los angeles federal savings bank which resulted in new offices and three billion dlrs in assets the bank also said it plans to expand into other major western banking markets and is considering an acquisition in colorado reuter,0 |
| 1257,southtrust sotr to acquire four banks southtrust corp a billion dlr multibank holding company said it entered into agreements to acquire four florida banks with assets totalling more than mln dlrs terms of the agreements were not disclosed the four banks are central bank of volusia county with assets of mln dlrs bank of pensacola with assets of mln dlrs and vista bank which operates vista bank of volusia county with assets of mln dlrs and vista bank of marion county with assets of mln dlrs it said the agreements are subject to regulatory approval reuter,0 |
| 1732,international banknote co inc ibk th qtr loss oper shr loss cts vs loss cts oper net loss vs loss revs mln vs mln year oper shr profit nine cts vs profit two cts oper net profit vs revs mln vs mln note net excludes extraordinary tax charges of dlrs vs dlrs in quarter and credits dlrs vs dlrs in year year net includes pretax gain dlrs from termination of pension plan net includes pretax charge dlrs in quarter and gain dlrs in year from restructuring and consolidation quarter net includes dlr tax credit year net includes pretax gain mln dlrs from sale of foreign subsidiary reuter,12 |
| 4121,alc communications corp alcc loss shr loss vs loss net loss vs loss rev mln vs mln note net includes loss of mln dlrs for restructuring charges reuter,12 |
| 3375,china taiwan trade via hong kong fell in the value of trade between china and taiwan via hong kong fell pct to billion h k dlrs in from billion dlrs in hong kong s census and statistics department said taiwan s exports to china through hong kong fell to billion dlrs last year from billion in while china s exports rose to billion dlrs from mln dlrs economists in hong kong told reuters that china s controls on scarce foreign currency hurt its imports of taiwanese consumer goods such as electric fans and television sets herbal medicine and textiles were among china s chief exports to taiwan taiwan does not allow direct trade with china and indirect trade is routed mainly through hong kong reuter,48 |
| 5941,magma lowers copper price ct to cts magma copper co a subsidiary of newmont mining corp said it is lowering its copper cathode price by cent to cents a lb effective immediately reuter,6 |
| 5597,i r e financial corp if year shr cts vs cts net mln vs mln revs mln vs mln note per share data reflects elimination of shares owned by pct owned subsidiary and reflect one for three reverse stock split effective march reuter,12 |
| 5488,u s sugarbeet plantings seen rising in representatives of u s sugar grower organizations said they expect some increase the area planted to sugarbeets this year and said the prospects for the cane sugar crop also are good dave carter president of the u s beet sugar association said plantings may be up in two major beet growing states california and michigan while sowings could be down slightly in the largest producing state of minnesota overall carter predicted beet plantings would rise in the midwest and this coupled with increases in california would increase u s sugarbeet plantings slightly from the mln acres sown last year usda later today releases its first estimate of u s sugarbeet plantings in the prospective plantings report the main reason for the expected increase in beet sowings is that returns from competing crops such as soybeans and grains are just awful said carter in the midwest bankers are strongly encouraging farmers to plant sugarbeets because the u s sugar program offers a loan rate of cents per pound and because payments to farmers from beet processors are spread evenly over the growing season said luther markwart executive vice president of the american sugarbeet growers association the banks are putting a lot of pressure on these guys markwart said in some areas there are waiting lists of farmers seeking a contract with processors to plant beets markwart said usda s report today will not include any harvested area estimates for sugarcane but representatives of florida hawaii and louisiana growers said crop prospects are good horis godfrey a consultant representing florida and texas cane growers said florida cane is off to a good start because for the first time in several years there was no winter freeze although area to be harvesteed is about the same as last year cane production may be up in florida this year he said in hawaii area harvested may decline slightly this year but likely will be offset again in by increased yields said eiler ravnholt vice president of the hawaiian sugar planters association the acreage planted to sugarbeets will receive more than the usual amount of attention this year because of mounting concern that continued increases in domestic sugar production threaten the u s sugar program industry sources said the increases in beet plantings have especially caused concern among cane growers who have not expanded plantings particularly in hawaii industry officials said we haven t had a good weather year throughout the beet and cane areas in more than five years said godfrey adding that the u s may be due for a good weather year rep jerry huckaby d la chairman of the house agriculture subcommittee responsible for the sugar program has threatened to offer legislation next year to curb domestic sweetener output if growers fail to restrain output in reuter,45 |
| 6506,spartech sptn reverse stock split approved spartech corp said shareholders at the annual meeting approved a reverse stock split of the common stock on a one for five basis the company said the split was necessary in preparation for an offering of mln dlrs in convertible subordinated debentures expected to be made soon through kidder peabody and co it said the new common stock will begin trading april under the symbol sptnd separately spartech said its board appointed bradley buechler as president filling a vacancy it said lawrence powers remains as chairman buechler prior to his promotion was executive vice president and chief operating officer he will retain his duties as chief operating officer reuter,12 |
| 5802,marine midland mmb raises prime rate marine midland banks inc said it is raising its prime lending rate to pct from pct effective immediately reuter,22 |
| 919,french official reserves fall sharply in january french official reserves fell billion francs to billion at the end of january from billion at the end of december the finance ministry said in a statement it said the fall was largely due to sales of foreign currency that preceded the january realignment of the european monetary system ems foreign currency reserves fell by billion francs during the month the ministry said this reflected outflows of billion francs through operations of the french exchange stabilisation fund counterbalanced by a gain of billion francs resulting from the quarterly adjustment in the value of dollar deposits held with the european monetary cooperation fund fecom but most of the decline reflected a billion franc deficit that france built up during the month with fecom as a result of using very short term financing instruments the bank of france in conjunction with the bundesbank and other central banks intervened heavily in foreign exchange markets between late december and the january ems accord in an attempt to hold down the mark which was attracting a flight of funds from the dollar and simultaneously shore up the franc on january the mark was revalued by three pct against the french franc relieving pressure on the french currency the fall in foreign exchange reserves took these reserves to billion francs at the end of january from billion at end december gold reserves were unchanged at billion francs reserves of european currency units fell to billion francs from billion at end december claims on the international monetary fund fell mln francs to billion francs reuter,40 |
| 2727,financial trustco capital ltd hikes payout qtly div cts vs six cts pay march record march note co also declares ct qtly div on special shares issued in december with same pay and record dates reuter,12 |
| 2568,hechinger co hech th qtr net shr primary cts vs cts shr diluted cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln year shr primary cts vs cts shr diluted cts vs cts net mln vs mln sales mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 993,kodak ek buys stake in enzon enzn eastman kodak co said it has acquired an pct equity interest in enzon inc a pharmaceutical company specializing in protein therapy kodak said it secured worldwide marketing rights for three of enzon s peg enzymes used in the treatment of oxygen toxicity disorders hyperuricemia and gout the company said it acquired two mln enzon shares for mln dlrs with loans to enzon of two mln dlrs and interest of dlrs credited against the purchase price kodak said the drugs covered by the marketing rights are in initial stages of the u s food and drug administration approval process it said the investment should provide the necessary capital to complete the fda review process and provide a marketing outlet for the drugs the drugs are peg superoxide disdmutase and peg catalase for use against oxygen toxicity disorders that cause the often fatal tissue damage associated with severe burns organ transplants heart attacks and trauma and peg uricase for treatment of gout and other conditions caused by the buildup of high levels of uric acid in the body reuter,0 |
| 2549,tesco forecasts profits rise this year tesco plc tsco l said in a statement it expects pre tax profits of mln stg for the year ending february before nine mln stg of net property profits this compares with mln stg pretax profits and a net mln on property sales the previous year it said the forecast was in its formal offer document sent to hillards plc shareholders today on march tesco launched a mln stg bid for hillards the offer of new tesco ordinary shares for every hillards ordinary shares valued each hillards ordinary share at p reuter,12 |
| 4596,team inc tmi rd qtr feb net shr profit five cts vs loss cts net profit vs loss revs mln vs mln nine mths shr profit six cts vs loss dlrs net profit vs loss revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 2879,allwaste alws to buy related company allwaste inc said it entered into an agreement in principle to acquire all the outstanding common of a related air moving and industrial services company it did not disclose the name of the company allwaste which preforms air moving and related services said it will swap shares of its common valued at mln dlrs with the company it is acquiring it said the acquisition is subject to negotiation of a final agreement reuter,0 |
| 2353,u s business loans rise mln dlrs business loans on the books of major u s banks excluding acceptances rose mln dlrs to billion dlrs in the week ended march the federal reserve board said the fed said that business loans including acceptances increased mln dlrs to billion dlrs reuter,33 |
| 2867,k mart km ends talks to sell stores k mart corp said recent talks to sell remaining kresge variety stores and their underlying real estate to f w woolworth co z have ended robert stevenson k mart vice president told reuters the talks which began about six weeks ago ended he declined to give a reason kresge is the forerunner of what is now the k mart chain the name was changed to k mart in stevenson said we re selling and buying real estate in our real estate division and woolworth was interested in some of our properties the talks were of a casual nature he said the kresge stores that are scattered around the country in downtown and suburban locations he said stevenson said k mart will continue to operate the stores the stores are profitable the only decision k mart has made is that we will continue to operate them he said kresge had been a nationwide chain of variety stores reuter,0 |
| 2637,bsn corp bsn th qtr net shr two cts vs eight cts net vs revs mln vs avg shrs vs year shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs note year net includes extraordinary gain one ct shr and gain two cts from cumulative effect of accounting change reuter,12 |
| 2955,correction simmons airlines inc simm loss in chicago item headlined simmons airlines inc simm nd qtr loss please reverse qtrs for which figures are reported reuter,12 |
| 5642,dow dow amends resins price increase dow chemical co s thermoplastic resin department said it is amending a recent price increase for magnum abs a resins announced march for an effective date of april dow said that effective april the selling prices for most grades of magnum abs resins for the injection molding custom sheet and automotive markets will rise six cts a pound instead of the three cts a pound announced previously dow also said that the selling prices for performance grades of the resins to the same markets will increase eight cts a pound rather than five cts as announced before the company said that magnum abs resins for pipe extension will increase three cts a pound effective april as previously reported dow said it altered the increase to reflect changes in the industry over the past month reuter,37 |
| 4969,mcintyre mines mp completes unit sale mcintyre mines ltd said it completed the previously announced sale of all shares of wholly owned smoky river coal ltd and certain related assets to smoky river holdings ltd for a nominal cash consideration mcintyre did not specify the cash amount of the sale smoky river holdings is an alberta company controlled by michael henson former president and chief executive of mcintyre the company said mcintyre said it retained an unspecified royalty interest in smoky river coal based on net operating cash flows from the company s coal properties mcintyre also said it provided a three mln dlr last recourse letter of credit to the alberta government for smoky river coal s reclamation obligations the credit letter expires either when smoky river completes three mln dlrs of reclaiming activities or december which ever occurs first mcintyre said it also remains contingently liable for certain obligations now totalling about seven mln dlrs which will reduce over time as smoky river continues to operate mcintyre s principal asset continues to be its pct interest in falconbridge ltd falcf reuter,0 |
| 1469,analyst says dart group likely bidder for supermarkets general,0 |
| 1245,cme sets may start for lumber futures options the chicago mercantile exchange cme board of governors announced today the options on random length lumber futures will begin trading on may the contract received commodity futures trading commission cftc approval on january after being submitted for review last october initially only january march and may delivery months will be listed for trading the size of the underlying futures contract is board feet regular trading hours for the contract will be from to central time however on the first day of trading the market will open at on march the cme board amended the contract to eliminate christmas eve expirations for the january option this amendment has been submited to the cftc the cme said reuter,30 |
| 4444,exchange rates almost within g levels sumita bank of japan governor satoshi sumita said that current exchange rates are almost within the levels agreed to by six major nations last month in paris asked whether a dollar yen rate of or reflected economic fundamentals he said current rates almost reflect fundamentals sumita told reporters major nations have cooperated to bring about currency stability in line with the paris agreement which stipulated that they would closely cooperate to that end he repeated the central bank will intervene if necessary adding he did not think a dollar free fall was likely but sumita said he could not say exactly what currency levels would be considered in line with underlying economic fundamentals in paris on february britain canada france japan the u s and west germany agreed to cooperate to hold currencies around their then current levels sumita said he could not find any specific reasons behind the fall of the dollar to a record low against the yen yesterday but he said the market rushed to sell dollars as it nervously reacted to statements abroad and to developments surrounding trade tensions u s treasury secretary james baker said over the weekend that the paris pact did not encompass fixed tragets for the dollar u s trade representative clayton yeutter called u s japan relations on certain key trade issues very strained the market reacted nervously because the dollar has been moving narrowly against the yen since mid january sumita said he added he does not expect the yen dollar exchange rate to remain unstable because the market is concerned about a sharp rise of the yen the bank of japan will keep a close watch on exchange rates in line with the paris accord he added reuter,32 |
| 3667,abbey national said it cutting u k mortgage rate by pct to pct,22 |
| 6349,u s credit market outlook cautious trading u s bond trading is likely to remain cautious in the near term with a possible downward price bias as market participants focus on trends in the dollar the economy and federal reserve policy economists said most expect the economy to continue showing modest gains that the dollar has more room to fall and that the fed will keep policy essentially steady perhaps for several months until trends are clearer the market can only attempt to to establish and hold a new trading range at higher interest rates said economists at merrill lynch capital markets merrill lynch economists raymond stone and ward mccarthy said that while the fundamentals generally bode for a healthy investment climate the market will have no confidence in this environment until there is illumination of and confidence in u s dollar trade policy salomon brothers henry kaufman said the bond market highly sensitized to dollar movements could be encouraged if currency markets seem to be stabilizing or if u s and overseas economic growth is perceived as slowing sharply the crucial question however is how soon either of these developments is likely to occur kaufman said market uncertainties and the erosion of portfolio manager confidence could continue portfolio selling pressure a while longer said philip braverman chief economist at irving securities corp however braverman said that from a longer term perspective current bond prices provide a buying opportunity despite a nearly one point bond price rebound friday on unexpectedly weak march employment data key year treasury bonds lost points in price for the week as a whole and thursday s pct closing yield was a high braverman said historical evidence suggests that a long bond yield in the pct area provides a basis for optimism bonds closed at pct on friday the irving economist noted that three times last year in a similar paroxysm of pessimism the key bonds reached a similar closing yield high within three to six weeks in each instance however braverman said bond prices recovered to bring the yield down sharply by to basis points mitchell held of smith barney harris upham and co inc said that many portfolio managers now believe yields could approach nine pct by midyear which he considers unlikely held said that since late smith barney analysts have spoken about the risk that interest rates could move higher and they continue to believe that an upward bias is likely to persist over the next few months held said that in conversations with portfolio managers last week there appeared to be increasing belief that the rate rise had just begun and that yields could approach nine pct by midyear naturally that would mean a sharp bond price fall yields could rise further over the next few months but the rise should be less than the basis point rise we ve seen since the start of the year held said most expect fed policy to be neutral for bonds near term the fed is currently frozen into a fixed stance said economists at aubrey g lanston and co inc they said the fed cannot tighten policy and push up interest rates as might be appropriate to stabilize the dollar and head off renewed inflationary psychology that might harm the fragile u s economic expansion the lanston economists said the fed cannot ease its policy stance to both foster more rapid economic growth and calm domestic and third world debt jitters without the threat of causing a further decline in the dollar minutes of february s federal open market committee fomc meeting released friday showed that while the fomc left policy unchanged it was more inclined to firm rather than ease policy later if conditions in the economy foreign exchange or credit markets warranted a policy shift however economists generally believe that continued fairly sluggish u s economic growth and the financial strains on u s banks resulting from their problem loans to developing countries rule out any fed policy firming there is broad agreement among economists that the fomc at last tuesday s meeting also left fed policy unchanged this week s u s economic data are expected to have little impact february consumer instalment credit numbers are due on wednesday with march producer price data out friday there may be mild relief in some quarters that the u s purchasing managers composite index a closely watched economic indicator rose only to pct in march from pct a friday rumor had put the number far higher the index s first quarter average also was pct translating into real gnp growth of about three pct if continued through federal funds traded at pct late friday and are expected to open about there today with no fed action seen reuter,32 |
| 2864,development corp of america dca merged development corp of america said its merger with lennar corp len was completed and its stock no longer existed development corp of america whose board approved the acquisition last november for mln dlrs said the merger was effective today and its stock now represents the right to receive dlrs a share the american stock exchange said it would provide further details later reuter,0 |
| 2198,alusuisse plans further aluminium capacity cuts schweizerische aluminium ag aluz z alusuisse plans further drastic cuts in its aluminium smelting capacity and more concentration of higher value added products chief executive hans jucker said elaborating on plans disclosed in outline last september company officials said current smelting capacity of tonnes a year would be cut to between and tonnes by or they did not say where cuts might be made two years ago before selling its ormet corp subsidiary in the united states to local management and staff alusuisse had an annual capacity of tonnes reuter,1 |
| 6272,douglas computer international year net shr seven cts vs one ct net vs sales vs reuter,12 |
| 2701,transamerica income tai monthly dividend shr cts vs cts prior period pay april record march note full name transamerica income shares inc reuter,12 |
| 3321,texstyrene corp foam mths dec loss shr loss cts net loss revs mln avg shrs mln note company went public february reuter,12 |
| 1314,u s treasury proposes some s african imports the treasury proposed allowing temporary imports of south african uranium ore and uranium oxide until july under certain conditions pending clarification of anti apartheid laws passed by congress last fall the proposal to be published in the federal register next week requests written congressional and public comment within days and deals with uranium ore and oxide that is imported for u s processing and exporting to third countries the treasury said it proposed allowing the temporary imports because it felt congress had not intended when it passed the comprehensive south african sanctions bill last fall overriding president reagan s veto to hurt u s industry the domestic uranium conversion industry and the federal government s enrichment industry could be seriously injured in a manner not intended by congress if the import ban on uranium ore and oxide were implemented to bar imports for processing and export through a mistaken interpretation of the act the treasury brief said the treasury said an outright u s ban of uranium ore and oxide might cause foreign electric utilities to divert their south african origin ore and oxide to other countries including the soviet union for processing treasury said it would allow imports of the south african ore and oxide until july for processing and re export provided that the imported ore or oxide is accompanies by a license for importation issued by the nuclear regulatory commission the treasury brief also proposed allowing u s origin goods to be imported temporarily from south african state controlled organizations for repair or servicing in the united states the u s customs will allow such importation to be made under bond the brief said the south african sanctions law enacted by the united states to protest the apartheid laws of racial segregation practiced by south africa s white minority government prohibited imports of uranium ore and oxide iron and steel coal and textiles at the end of reuter,44 |
| 1195,leaseway transportation corp ltc th qtr loss oper shr loss cts vs profit cts oper net loss vs profit revs mln vs mln year oper shr profit dlrs vs profit dlrs oper net profit mln vs mln revs billion vs billion note net excludes gains from discontinued leasing operations of mln dlrs vs mln dlrs in year and mln dlrs vs mln dlrs in quarter results restated for discontinued operations net both periods includes charge dlrs from elimination of investment tax credits reuter,12 |
| 3373,swissair swsz z year net mln swiss francs vs mln div francs per share vs turnover billion vs billion reuter,12 |
| 6126,german march unadjusted jobless falls west german unemployment unadjusted for seasonal factors fell to mln in march from mln in february the federal labour office said the total represents pct of the workforce compared with pct in february the seasonally adjusted jobless total rose however in march to mln from mln in february it added in march last year the unadjusted unemployment total stood at mln and represented pct of the workforce seasonally adjusted unemployment was mln the federal labour office said the number of workers on short time rose by to and the number of vacancies increased by to labour office president heinrich franke announcing the figures said the hesitant decline in the unadjusted jobless total reflected continuing bad weather slack activity in the capital goods sector and structural changes in the coal and steel industry in a separate statement the federal statistics office said the rise in the overall number of people in employment had slowed in february the office said that according to estimates for february mln people were in work a rise of around or pct compared with the same month in it noted that in january the year on year rise was or pct and the number in work stood at mln the decline in february compared with january reflected seasonal factors it added reuter,26 |
| 5831,chase cmb buys borg warner bor unit chase manhattan corp said chase trans info a subsidiary of its chase manhattan bank n a unit has bought borg warner corp s traffic services business including an illinois processing center for an undisclosed sum borg warner traffic services provides freight bill pre audit payment and information services to industry through borg warner acceptance corp chase trans info which offers similar services is now the largest provider of information services for the transportation industry reuter,0 |
| 4006,cityquest makes mln stg bid for wickes cityquest plc a newly formed company is making a recommended mln stg offer for builders merchants and diy do it yourself company wickes plc wickes said in a statement undertakings to accept what is effectively a management buyout have been accepted by holders of pct of the shares the statement said the offer was due to a decision by wickes international corp a member of the u s wickes companies wix a inc group which holds an pct stake to realise much of its investment the offer would enable wickes to become fully independent and once the bid succeeded all the wickes directors would become members of the cityquest board the offer will be of p cash for every wickes share wickes was last quoted at p compared with p at friday s close wickes shareholders will also have the option of taking one cityquest share or p in loan notes for every p of the cash consideration henry sweetbaum is chairman and chief executive of both cityquest and wickes and it was intended that cityquest s name would be changed to wickes in due course wickes came to the u k unlisted securities market in january with a capitalisation of about mln stg cityquest has a fully paid share capital of one mln stg s g warburg securities has organised commitments from a group of investors to subscribe for mln stg in shares and mln stg in subordinated convertible loan stock lead investor is investors in industry plc cityquest also has loan facilities of mln stg reuter,0 |
| 3494,colonial commercial corp ccom th qtr net shr not given oper net profit vs loss revs vs year shr not given oper net profit vs loss revs vs note earnings from on benefit preferred shareholders until preferred shareholders equity equals or exceeds liquidating and mandatory redemption values reuter,12 |
| 4330,corrected manhattan national corp mlc th oper shr loss cts vs loss cts oper net loss vs loss revs mln vs mln mths oper shr loss six cts vs loss cts oper net loss vs loss revs mln vs mln note in item moved march company corrects its error to show loss for current mths and qtr not profit reuter,12 |
| 671,baldrige concerned about korean taiwan deficits secretary of commerce malcolm baldrige expressed concern about the continuing u s trade deficits with south korea and taiwan and said that without an adjustment in exchange rates there is little likelihood of improvement speaking to the president s export council an industry advisory group baldrige said the trade deficit issue was under discussion with those countries i feel that unless we see an exchange rate adjustment we probably won t be able to see much of a change in the large surplus that taiwan in particular has with us he said in a wide ranging discussion on u s trade matters baldrige also repeated u s concern about an attempted takeover by japan s fujitsu company of fairchild computer he said that the japanese were resisting allowing u s companies into the giant computer business while at the same time attempting to acquire control of a u s company that does major computer business in the u s market lastly baldrige said that the united states was hopeful that it could complete a free market agreement with canada by the autumn but said major issues including acid rain remained unresolved reuter,48 |
| 2525,cocoa consumers narrow gap on buffer stock issue representatives of cocoa consuming countries at an international cocoa organization icco council meeting here have edged closer to a unified stance on buffer stock rules delegates said while consumers do not yet have a common position an observer said after a consumer meeting they are much more fluid and the tone is positive european community consumers were split on the question of how the cocoa buffer stock should be operated when the icco met in january to put the new international cocoa agreement into effect delegates said at the january meeting france sided with producers on how the buffer stock should operate delegates said that meeting ended without agreement on new buffer stock rules the ec commission met in brussels on friday to see whether the ec cocoa consuming nations could narrow their differences at this month s meeting the commissioners came away from the friday meeting with an informal agreement to respond to signs of flexibility among producers on the key buffer stock issues delegates said the key issues to be addressed at this council session which divide icco members are whether non member cocoa should be eligible for buffer stock purchases and what price differentials the buffer stock should pay for different types of cocoa delegates said a consumer delegate said producers and consumers should be able to compromise on the non member cocoa question a working group comprising delegates from all producing and consuming member countries met briefly this morning then broke up into a producer meeting and an ec meeting followed by a consumer meeting producers who are in favour of the buffer stock buying a variety of grades of cocoa and oppose non member cocoa being accepted reviewed their position ahead of the working group meeting this afternoon we are waiting to see what consumers say a producer delegate said we hope they will be flexible or it will be difficult to negotiate the icco comprises member countries non members include the u s a consumer and malaysia an increasingly important producer reuter,4 |
| 5269,c o m b cmco sells three retail stores c o m b co said it sold three of its retail stores in omaha to bob cummins enterprises inc a retail closeout merchandiser it said the sale is consistent with its previously announced retail division restructuring plans reuter,0 |
| 6386,interco inc th qtr shr cts vs cts,12 |
| 4663,mine safety mnes sells south africa unit mine safety appliances co said it will sell through its german subsidiary auergesellschaft its controlling interest in msa africa pty ltd of johannesburg south africa to boart international a wholly owned subsidiary of anglo american corp of south africa ltd angl the company said the terms of the sale were not disclosed the company will operate as boart msa pty ltd it said l n short jr president of the company said it sold the unit because of slumping profits due to south africa s economic decline reuter,0 |
| 5628,royex offers dlrs shr and dlrs warrant for international corona,0 |
| 496,tylan corp tyln to sell furnace product line tylan corp aid it has retained the investment banking firm kahn and harris to sell its furnace product line the company said it has already been contacted by several potential buyers in tylan s furnace product shipments in the u s represented mln dlrs of the company s total net sales of mln dlrs reuter,0 |
| 2829,negotiators draft details of next rubber pact rubber producers and consumers who agreed last week on the central elements of a new international natural rubber pact have started work on the legal drafting of a future accord delegates said compromise on issues blocking an agreement was reached at a united nations conference on an accord to replace the current pact which expires in october the new international natural rubber agreement inra is expected to be formally adopted on friday reuter,42 |
| 418,u s leading index fell pct in january the u s index of leading indicators fell a seasonally adjusted pct in january after a revised pct december gain the commerce department said the department previously said the index rose pct in december the decline in january was the biggest for any month since july when the index fell pct the january decrease left the index at over its base of and was led by a fall in contracts and orders for plant and equipment a total of six of indicators available for january contributed to the decline besides contracts and orders for plant and equipment they were building permits manufacturers new orders for consumer goods a change in sensitive materials prices slower deliveries from vendors and higher average weekly claims for state unemployment insurance four of indicators were positive including stock prices new business formation average work week and money supply the main factor for the december upward revision was new business formation there was no revision in the pct increase in the leading indicators index for november the index of coincident indicators which measures the current economy fell pct in january after increases of pct in december and pct in november the index of lagging indicators which measures past economic activity rose pct in january after a decrease of pct in december and an increase of pct in november reuter,28 |
| 1404,control data cda to buy peripherals stake control data corp said it agreed to acquire unisys inc s uis pct stake in magnetic peripherals inc the letter of intent provides that unisys converts from an owner in magnetic peripherals to a customer of control data s data storage products group over a two year period under the agreement control data will continue to furnish disk drives to unisys it said no other details of the proposed agreement were available magnetic controls managed by the data storage products group of control data was founded in as a joint venture to maintain a technological base in data storage and supply peripheral equipment for the computer systems of its owners the venture has become a developer and manufacturer of high performance high capacity data storage products sold by control data to computer systems manafacturers worldwide it said after conversion of the unisys interest control data will own pct honeywell inc hon pct and bull s a of france six pct it said reuter,0 |
| 4034,ic inds icx to sell certain assets to mlx ic industries inc said its abex corp subsidiary agreed to sell its sintered friction materials business in italy to troy michigan based mlx corp for undisclosed terms completion of the proposed transaction is subject to approval by the italian government it said reuter,0 |
| 4025,h b fuller co full st qtr feb net shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 5189,royale belge rbvb br year non consolidated net profit billion francs vs billion turnover billion francs no direct comparison own funds billion francs vs billion after transfer of billion francs from profits and billion from sale of securities note company said the figure is slightly lower because french branches have become group subsidiaries proposed net dividend on ordinary shares francs including franc supplement due to the exceptional character of results vs francs note company was created in may by the merger of royale belge vie accidents and royale belge incendie reassurance vie accidents shareholders received eight new shares and incendie reassurance shareholders six for every share held in the old companies comparisons are therefore company calculations reuter,12 |
| 6159,australia tug crews bar foreign container ships 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 dlrs a week awarded by the arbitration commission nationally to all workers recently only about 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,43 |
| 196,sdc sydney cost review may eliminate products sdc sydney development corp earlier reporting an increased nine month operating loss said a cost control review now underway may result in cost reduction and elimination of unprofitable and non strategic products and services the company s operating loss for the nine months ended december increased to mln dlrs from a loss of mln dlrs in the prior year it said earlier revenues increased by pct to mln dlrs from year earlier mln dlrs reuter,12 |
| 4514,thomson mckinnon u s government fund dividend mthly div cts vs cts in prior month payable april six record marcxh reuter,12 |
| 5537,fed adds reserves via customer repurchases the federal reserve entered the u s government securities market to arrange billion dlrs of customer repurchase agreements a fed spokesman said dealers said federal funds were trading at pct when the fed began its temporary and indirect supply of reserves to the banking system reuter,22 |
| 1607,bank of england does not intervene in money market the bank of england said it did not operate in the money market during the morning initially the bank forecast a liqudity shortage of some mln stg for the market today overnight interbank sterling traded at the pct level for most of the morning while period rates have eased on the strength of sterling dealers said at gmt sterling s trade weighted index was up at reuter,32 |
| 3378,german net currency reserves fall billion marks to billion bundesbank,40 |
| 5451,u s leading index rose pct in february the u s index of leading indicators rose a seasonally adjusted pct in february after a revised pct january fall the commerce department said the department previously said the index fell pct in january the february increase left the index at over its base of and was led by a rise in stock prices a total of four of nine indicators available for february contributed to the increase in the index besides stock prices they were manufacturers new orders for consumer goods and materials average work week and building permits five of nine indicators were negative they were change in sensitive materials prices money supply vendor performance average weekly initial claims for state unemployment insurance and contracts and orders for plant and equipment the main factor in the january revision was contracts and orders for plant and equipment the department said december also was revised to a pct rise from an earlier pct rise due to a change in outstanding credit the index of coincident indicators which measures the current economy rose pct in february after a decline of pct in january and a rise of pct in december the index of lagging indicators which measures past economic activity decreased pct in february after increasing pct in january and falling by pct in december the department said it has suspended net business formation from the leading indicators index because it has deteriorated as a measure of change in the business population reuter,28 |
| 4283,j m resources inc in merger agreement j m resources inc said it has acquired a pct interest in dei acquisition corp from interfirst venture corp sam b myers neomar resources inc and richard l morgan all of dallas for warrants to acquire mln shares of j m stock and three mln dlrs of notes the warrants are exercisable at par value currently cts per share until march the company said if the warrants were exercised in full they would represent a pct interest in j m common stock it said amounts due under the notes are payable soleley from proceeds of the sale of securities by j m and non oil and natural gas revenues of dei j m said dei provides specialty insulation installation and asbestos removal services j m said all of its directors except jack e manning jr have resigned and myers and morgan were named to the board it said manning has resigned as president in favor of myers and will service as vice president in charge of oil and natural gas operations reuter,0 |
| 3272,arkansas best corp abz declares qtly dividend qtly div nine cts vs nine cts prior pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 2690,tech data corp tecd th qtr ends jan net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs mths shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs reuter,12 |
| 4536,pioneer standard electronics inc pios payout qtly div three cts vs three cts prior pay may one record april eight reuter,12 |
| 2746,hongkong bank says close to deal on property sale hongkong and shanghai banking corp hkbh hk is close to a deal on the sale of a commercial building in hong kong s mongkok business district a bank spokesman said he said the storey wayfoong plaza was likely to be sold for about mln h k dlrs but declined to identify the buyer the spokesman gave no further details reuter,0 |
| 3543,fed s johnson sees inflation controlled federal reserve board vice chairman manuel johnson said inflationary pressures are under control and noted wage and price pressures are very moderate johnson told a women s group that the u s was not seeing the kind of cost pressures of the past he said the trade imbalance was a serious trouble spot and strong protectionist pressures if translated into policies could ultimately lead to higher inflation and a high interest rate policy by the fed reuter,8 |
| 4023,energy factors efac to buy allied ald units energy factors inc said it has signed an agreement to acquire gwf power systems co and combustion power co inc from allied signal inc for undisclosed terms the two allied units operate and are developing cogeneration projects and small petroleum coke fueled power plants reuter,0 |
| 2913,vtx elecronics vtx sets sdtock split vtx electronics corp said its board declared a five for four stock split payable april nine to holders of record march reuter,0 |
| 3010,sceptre investment counsel ltd st qtr net period ended january shr cts vs cts net vs revs vs reuter,12 |
| 3340,mesa royalty trust mrt monthly payout mesa royalty trust mrt said unit holders of record march will receive a distribution amounting to dlrs or cts per unit payable april reuter,12 |
| 4350,illinois co op futures dissolution vote set the shareholders of illinois cooperative futures co the futures trading arm of many midwest farm cooperatives for more than years will vote wednesday on its possible dissolution the directors of the company called a special meeting and recommended its dissolution last month citing falling volume and increasing costs sources close to the organization told reuters the pullout of growmark inc which holds more than pct of the capital stock led to the call for dissolution the possible demise of the cooperative has set clearing houses scrambling for the trading business of the regional and local cooperatives that comprise its membership ironically it was growmark at that time a regional farm cooperative with major river terminal elevators that founded illinois cooperative futures on december but growmark became affiliated last year with archer daniels midland of decatur ill and markets its grain through a joint subsidiary of the two companies adm growmark with that relationship growmark no longer needs to trade futures through the cooperative said tom mulligan president of the co op membership in the company which mulligan termed a cooperative of cooperatives has declined from in a notable loss was agriindustries of iowa which became affiliated with cargill inc illinois co op s other members include such regional cooperatives as indiana grain based in indianapolis goldkist of atlanta ga midstates in toledo ohio farmland industries in kansas city mo farmers commodities des moines and harvest states in minneapolis some observors said the demise of illinois cooperative futures co is a serious blow to the cooperative system instead of banding together the individual cooperatives are forced to go their own ways said the floor manager of one cash house at the chicago board of trade such a move would destroy the cohesiveness that gives farm cooperatives an advantage in the market at a time that a few major commercial companies are growing dominant he said don hanes vice president for communications with the national council of farm cooperatives said cooperatives exist today down from five years ago the period we ve gone through in the past five years has been quite a crunch he said there s been a lot of consolidation in the marketing co ops one problem he said is the co ops sell the grain to the major commercials for export rather than exporting it themselves losing potential profits but exporting grain requires heavy investments and the multi million dollar loss posted six years ago by farmers export co a co op set up to export grains served to make folks gun shy hanes said mulligan said he believes the dissolution if it is approved is a result of change in the futures industry rather than a change in u s agricultural economics a grain dealer at one member co op said the futures arm was a convenience something that saved us a little bit of money its dissolution will force us to change our way of doing business we re sorry to see the co op go by the wayside he said but there are lot of people out there to do business with there are plenty of capable firms steven w cavanaugh vice president for grain marketing with indiana grain said he would prefer to trade futures through a chicago based cooperative in terms of clearing our business as a unit as opposed to individuals there would be economic savings he said but added the times change and with changing times come different opinions of what businesses ought to be around cavanaugh said the possible demise of the futures arm had nothing to do with its profitability i would guarantee you that this company is not in trouble it is a sound healthy organization in the year ended february the illinois cooperative reported income of mln dlrs and members equity or net worth of mln dlrs the annual report for the most recent year has not been filed under the cooperative system income from operations is returned as patronage refunds to the members income and refunds in the past five years have been declining in the year ended february the co op reported income of mln dlrs and patronage refunds of mln dlrs patronage refunds in the year ended february totalled mln dlrs you re dealing with substantially lower volume mulligan said lower volume translates into higher costs according to the company s annual report growmark owns pct of the preferred shares and four pct of the common shares of illinois cooperative futures co mulligan declined to speculate on how much of the capital growmark is entitled to he said he could not determine the figure unless the shareholders decide in favor of dissolution equity is distributed according to each member s trading volume and as a result changes from year to year however mulligan said the company could continue to meet minimum capital requirements to trade futures even if growmark pulled out reuter,17 |
| 3099,vw s audi says profit fell around pct in audi ag nsug f the pct owned subsidiary of volkswagen ag vowg f said profit in fell by around half compared with when it achieved a record mln marks net profit a rise of pct on the previous year managing board chairman wolfgang habbel told a news conference he expected both profit and turnover to rise this year compared with but he said it was questionable whether profit would return to levels he gave no figure for profit audi had predicted last year that profit would likely fall by an unspecified amount from s record levels habbel said turnover in rose to billion marks from billion in and looked certain to rise to over billion this year asked whether audi would pay a dividend to vw to help the parent company overcome its currency losses habbel said audi would ensure vw got a share of profits audi s entire net profit was paid into its own free reserves to help finance investment in the previous years vw had received pct of audi s earnings as a dividend habbel blamed the profit decline on disruptions to output caused by the introduction of the new audi model on currency factors and on negative publicity in the u s about alleged sudden acceleration of some of its audi models as reported audi s sales in the u s dropped nearly pct to last year habbel said the u s sales decline would probably bottom out in audi s worldwide car deliveries fell two pct to of the total exports fell pct to a rounded but domestic sales increased to a rounded from in habbel said the new audi had sold extremely well in the first two months of helping audi to increase its overall market share in west germany to pct from pct in the same months of sales in europe also rose but u s sales fell further he said without giving details worldwide deliveries in the first two months increased eight pct to audi said in january that car production would rise to over from in when output had fallen compared with s habbel said audi expected the rise in output to lead to further new hiring of employees at the end of audi s workforce stood at a record a rise of over reuter,12 |
| 3263,alleghany corp y declares dividend alleghany corp said its board declared a stock dividend of one share of its common for every shares outstanding as the company s dividend on its company for it said the dividend will be distributed on april to holders of record on march alleghany said cash will be paid in lieu of any fractional shares of its stock reuter,12 |
| 3204,publicker industries inc pul th qtr loss shr loss five cts vs loss cts net loss vs loss sales vs avg shrs mln vs mln year shr loss four cts vs loss cts net loss vs loss sales mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln note year net includes gain dlrs from settlement of litigation with belcher oil co dlr provision connected with resignation of former president legal settlements and costs of dlrs and dlrs in expenses from closing of contract packaging division reuter,12 |
| 3684,rainbow says brierley upsetting progressive merger rainbow corp ltd said brierley investments ltd bil is trying to disrupt rainbow s planned merger with progressive enterprises ltd rainbow chairman allan hawkins said in a statement in our opinion bil have deliberately tried to create anomalies in the market prices of rainbow and progressive shares since the merger was announced the merger announced in february involves the formation of a new company astral pacific corp ltd which rainbow and progressive shareholders will enter into on a one for one share basis both boards have approved the merger bil has said it was the mystery bidder behind a recent stand in the market for three mln progressive shares we simply regard progressive enterprises shares to be worth approximately twice as much as rainbow shares and do not think the merger as proposed is soundly based bil chief executive paul collins said in an interview in the weekly national business review newspaper published today collins was not immediately available to respond directly to hawkins statement hawkins said the merger has been assessed by independent consultants and declared fair in all respects with benefits to all shareholders we are not going to stand by while other parties distort the picture for their own strategic purposes and distract the market away from the real benefits of the merger he said in our opinion bil s actions are clearly not designed to be in the long term interests of either progressive or rainbow shareholders hawkins said reuter,0 |
| 4135,mark iv iv unit to begin conrac cax tender mark iv industries inc said it plans to begin a tender offer at dlrs a share for all outstanding shares of conrac corp cax a stamford conn maker of control instruments and telecommunications products mark iv said it owns about shares or about pct of conrac s outstanding shares the offer to be made through mark iv acquisition corp a wholly owned subsidiary will not be conditioned on any minimum number of shares being tendered the company said the tender offer will be conditioned upon among other things the completion of financing arrangements the terms and conditions of the offer will be described in documents to be filed with the securities and exchange commission and mailed to conrac shareholders as soon as possible bear stearns and co is expected to act as dealer manager for the offer it said a conrac spokesman declined comment conrac has about mln shares outstanding its shares closed off at as about shares changed hands mark iv is a williamsville n y maker of pastic products and industrial control equipment reuter,0 |
| 5447,u k money market shortage forecast revised up the bank of england said it had revised its estimate of the deficit in the money market today up to a record two billion stg before taking account of its morning operations from billion at midday the bank has provided the system with around billion stg assistance so far today reuter,32 |
| 3939,world bank likely to urge changes on jakarta world bank president barber conable is expected to press indonesia the third world s sixth largest debtor to maintain the momentum of economic policy changes to tackle the slump in its oil revenues western diplomats said conable who flew to indonesia yesterday from tokyo will meet with president suharto and senior economic ministers he said on arrival that the economy of south east asia s largest nation was being managed well but the slump in world oil prices called for major policy adjustments today the world bank chief will visit bank funded projects in the eastern section of java indonesia s most populous island he will see suharto on tuesday after a day of detailed discussions with ministers tomorrow indonesia the only asian member of opec has been severely hit by last year s crash in oil prices which cut its oil and gas revenues in half japan s state export import bank last month agreed to provide around mln dlrs in untied credits to help indonesia pay for its share of world bank development projects indonesia a country of mln people has responded to the oil slump by cutting spending devaluing its currency by pct and trying to boost exports while using foreign loans to bridge its deficit diplomats said that conable was expected to press suharto and leading economic ministers to maintain the pace of policy change particularly in dismantling indonesia s high cost protected economy oil prices the debt crisis the world recession all call for major policy adjustments and external support conable said in his arrival statement but with indonesia facing parliamentary elections next month he is likely to avoid anything which would imply that the bank is demanding specific changes we believe there has been wise leadership here and the economy is being very well managed conable told reporters at jakarta airport indonesia has official and private overseas debts totalling billion dlrs according to the bank which makes it the third world s sixth biggest debtor it has received billion dlrs from the world bank since conable did not spell out what further changes he would like to see last month the bank endorsed economic changes already introduced by indonesia but implied it wanted more giving a mln dlr loan in balance of payments support the bank said it will monitor progress on implementation of the government s trade reform measures and supported its determination to promote efficiency and longer term growth indonesia has introduced a series of measures since last may to boost non oil exports liberalise trade and encourage outside investment suharto has also ordered a government committee to look into which of indonesia s state run companies could be sold but in a report last month the u s embassy said the government appeared divided over how far to take its reforms western analysts say that in particular the government is unsure how far to go with dismantling indonesia s high cost monopolies which control core areas of the economy central bank governor arifin siregar said this week that indonesia faced very limited economic choices it could not spend its way out of trouble because this would increase the balance of payments deficit and domestic inflation he said the main objective was to raise exports outside the oil and natural gas sector indonesia s current account deficit is projected by the government to fall to billion dlrs in the coming financial year which starts on april from an estimated billion in reuter,10 |
| 1252,group to boost fairchild industries fen stake an investor group led by new york investor george soros said it was dissatisfied with fairchild industries inc management and was considering boosting its holdings to as much as pct of the aerospace and aviation company s outstanding stock the group already controls fairchild industries shares or pct of the total outstanding the group said it filed on wednesday with federal antitrust regulators for advance clearance to buy enough additional shares to increase its total stake to up to pct of the total outstanding stock the group said its representatives had met with fairchild industries officials to inform them that they do not believe management has been successful in enhancing or protecting shareholder values it said it was considering the additional share purchases to enable it to assert a greater degree of influence over the future management and policies of the issuer it said a decision on the specific level of share ownership it would seek depended on market prices future changes in management policies available financial resources and other factors the group said it also reserved the right to pursue other measures intended to influence fairchild management and policies either alone or in concert with other investors the group includes soros and quantum fund an offshore investment firm headquartered in curacao netherlands antilles that is advised by soros the group said that since its last sec filing made jan it had purchased no additional fairchild shares and had sold shares on the new york stock exchange jan a fairchild industries official later said soros had told the company he was not dissatisfied with its management contrary to the filing mr soros has told the company today that he is not dissatisfied with management fairchild s bill fulwider told reuters however fulwider said the company would have nothing to say at this time about soros disclosure that he may buy up enough additional fairchild shares to hold as much as pct of the company s outstanding stock reuter,0 |
| 5268,datron corp datr th qtr net shr cts vs cts net vs rev mln vs mln year shr cts vs cts net vs rev mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 6152,top discount rate at uk bill tender pct the top accepted rate of discount at the weekly u k treasury bill tender rose to pct from pct last week applications at the lowest accepted price of stg were allotted around pct of the amount applied for and applications above that price were allotted in full the bank of england said a total of mln stg of treasury bills was offered for sale this week last week the average rate of discount was pct reuter,22 |
| 5569,pubco corp pubo year net oper shr cts vs nine cts oper net vs revs mln vs mln note oper net excludes tax credits of vs current year results include proceeds from termination of a pension plan reuter,12 |
| 2086,new line cinema corp nln th qtr net shr cts vs nine cts net vs revs vs year shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs reuter,12 |
| 2342,john labatt ltd rd qtr shr diluted cts vs cts,12 |
| 4853,house of fabrics inc hf th qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln year shr cts vs cts net vs sales mln vs mln note prior year net both periods includes dlr charge from sale of craft showcase stores reuter,12 |
| 1391,french january m money supply rises one pct french money supply measured in terms of m rose a provisional one pct in january after falling pct in december the bank of france said m is the main money supply aggregate used by the french monetary authorities it has been joined as a second main money supply aggregate for by m which rose a provisional pct in january after falling a confirmed pct in december calculated on a three month moving average basis m rose pct year on year in the quarter based on december after rising pct in the quarter centred on september the m aggregate centred on a three month moving average rose year on year by four pct within a target range of four to six pct m rose pct after a pct fall in december m measures notes and coins in circulation plus sight deposits m adds in short term bank deposits and m adds in other short term deposits the central bank s widest measure of liquidity l rose pct in january after one pct fall in december the bank said the money supply growth reflected a net increase of sight deposits and renewed interest in money market instruments reuter,33 |
| 1627,dutch port union to meet parliamentarians today dutch port and transport union fnv is presenting its case against planned redundancies in rotterdam s general cargo sector to parliament s standing committee on social affairs today a union spokesman said with of the strong workforce on strike the union will tell the committee the government has a duty to help solve the dispute that has been disrupting the general cargo sector for more than seven weeks the spokesman added the union will also take its case against the redundancies of them planned for this year to a court in amsterdam tomorrow he added reuter,43 |
| 3741,carteret savings cbc completes sale of branches carteret savings bank said it has completed the previously announced sale of six virginia branches to charter federal savings and loan association chfd carteret said it has opened a retail banking office in vienna va as the next step in its move to build a strong presence in the washington d c baltimore md area carteret said the new bank has two offices outside baltimore which were acquired last june when carteret merged with admiral builders savings and loan association the company said it plans to open a retail banking office in downtown washington this summer plus several more offices in baltimore county and others in fairfax county va carteret said it may open more loan offices in virginia and maryland reuter,0 |
| 5579,trade war fears may prompt stock markets downturn the threatened trade war between the united states and japan is just the kind of shock that economists say could send world stock markets into a tailspin but they are not so sure if that would be a brief corrective dip or whether this week s falling share prices mark the start of a bear market it s the billion dollar question said richard o brien economist at american express international bank in london japan s trade surplus billion dlrs last year has poured into share and bond markets around the world and funded a good chunk of the huge u s budget deficit around a third of any new sale of u s treasury bonds has been bought by the japanese however japanese investors have lost money as the dollar falls and will lose more if the united states lets it fall further to cut the trade deficit the counterpart of improving the trade deficit either through a lower dollar or because the u s increases duties on japanese electronic goods may be to hit the capital inflow which has financed the budget deficit and if the u s trade deficit does fall the japanese will have less money to invest to entice u s investors to fill the gap that would be left if the japanese stopped buying u s bonds interest rates would have to soar o brien said the subsequent shift from shares to bonds could cause major falls on the world stock markets a year ago we could be pretty confident about the markets said o brien now it is much less certain buoyant share prices are supposed to reflect a booming economy but the world economy with sluggish growth at best in the industrial nations a massive load of third world debt and huge trade imbalances is not in good shape said o brien nevertheless new york analyst william raferty of smith barney harris upham said we re still in a bull market adding that corrections are a normal part of a rising market and the bear usually strikes slowly economist evelyn brody at morgan grenfell and co in london said the huge sums of money going through the world financial system will keep a floor under share and bond prices although interest by the japanese in putting their money in non dollar denominated bonds and stocks has increased it s very difficult to see where else they can put their money than in u s dollars and especially the u s treasury bond market according to david butcher a senior executive at yamaichi securities co ltd s bond operation in london he said the japanese are paying much closer attention now to the french franc and west german mark in the longer run he worries about what trade tensions and the dollar s slide will mean for securities markets reuter,48 |
| 5144,u s real earnings rose pct in february the average weekly earnings of u s workers after adjustment for inflation and seasonal changes rose pct in february after being unchanged in january the labor department said the department had earlier reported that real earnings fell pct in january but revised the figure to show earnings unchanged between february this year and february real earnings rose pct the department said the rise in february real earnings resulted from a pct increase in average hourly earnings and a pct increase in average weekly hours that was partly offset by a pct rise in the consumer price index which measures inflation the department said before seasonal adjustment weekly earnings last month averaged dlrs up from dlrs in january and up from dlrs in february reuter,20 |
| 303,green tree acceptance inc gnt sets dividend qtly dividend cts vs cts pay march record march reuter,12 |
| 1766,numac oil and gas ltd nmc year net oper shr cts vs cts oper net vs mln revs mln vs mln note cash flow mln dlrs or cts shr vs mln dlrs or dlrs shr net excludes ct shr loss from discontinued operations gross proven and probable reserves of crude oil and natural gas liquiids mln barrels off pct from a year before reuter,12 |
| 5159,arab banker says too soon for single currency gulf arab states must coordinate economic policies more closely before moving towards their goal of a unified currency system the president of the arab bankers association said hikmat nashashibi told a news conference at the end of an arab currency traders meeting we have to start with coordination of fiscal policies as a prerequisite for a common system of currencies there is quite a substantial way to go yet he said only then would a unified gulf currency system be a plausible project the six nations of the gulf cooperation council saudi arabia kuwait bahrain oman qatar and the united arab emirates have held a series of meetings this year to examine linking their currencies to a single peg in a system which bankers say could be modelled on the european monetary system ems at present five currencies are linked either officially or in practice to the u s dollar while the kuwaiti dinar is pegged to a trade weighted basket of currencies a common currency system or ems style grid would in theory foster regional trade by providing a basis for stable exchange rates but nashashibi said inter arab trade is at a very low ebb and capital flows between gulf states remain small capital markets in the arab world are still in their infancy he said nashashibi said lack of experience among arab banks a paucity of financial instruments and a legal framework that often does not recognise the western banking concept of interest have hampered the growth of arab markets reuter,32 |
| 4044,tonka tka sees lower fiscal first quarter net tonka corp said it expects results for its fiscal first quarter to end april four to decline from the record earnings of mln dlrs or cts a share and revenues of mln dlrs the toy manufacturer attributed its anticipated lower financial results to an an expected moderate decline in shipments of its pound puppies product line tonka also said it expects revenues and earnings to remain lower through the first half compared with record results of mln dlrs in revenues and mln dlrs in net earnings or dlrs a share the company said its level of shipments is good despite a conservative buying pattern on the part of retailers industry wide tonka s first quarter shipments will be down somewhat from record levels and gross profit margins will be down slightly from a year ago it said second half sales are expected to be stronger based on a return to a more traditional seasonal shipping pattern in which retailers order and stock conservatively early in the year and time large shipments for the second half it said tonka said that while the pace of order writing is trailing last year s bookings are very good for orders on several of its new product introductions for reuter,12 |
| 4720,treasury s baker says he stands by paris pact to foster stable currencies,32 |
| 4289,hughes supply inc hug th qtr net shr cts vs cts shr diluted dlrs vs dlrs net vs sales mln vs mln year shr dlrs vs dlrs shr diluted dlrs vs dlrs net vs sales mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 5489,heck s inc hex th qtr jan three net shr losses not given net loss vs loss sales mln vs mln year shr losses not given net loss mln vs loss sales mln vs mln note company operating in chapter bankruptcy year net includes four mln dlr lifo charge and dlr credit from pension plan termination reuter,12 |
| 45,bdm international bdm increases qtrly divs annual div class a cts vs cts prior annual div class b cts vs cts prior payable april one record march note full name is bdm international inc reuter,12 |
| 2474,dixons sells mln woolworth shares dixons group plc dxns l has sold mln shares in woolworth holdings plc wlth l through salomon brothers u k equity ltd a statement from salomon said the shares were placed with about to institutions in europe and the far east dixons retains one mln woolworth shares a dixons spokesman added industry sources said dixons acquired the woolworth shares in connection with its unsuccessful bid for the company last year dixons paid an average price of p per share which compares with p today woolworth closed on froday at p a dixons spokesman said the decision to retain one mln shares reflected woolworth s buoyant prospects reuter,0 |
| 3336,canadian pacific seeks buyer for maple leaf unit canadian pacific ltd said it retained wood gundy inc to seek a buyer for maple leaf mills ltd of toronto the company said maple leaf had sales of mln canadian dlrs and an after tax profit of mln canadian dlrs it is a diversified agriproducts company which produces and sells industrial and consumer flour flour based products and baked goods it also operates a fully integrated poultry business and a rendering business markets livestock and poultry feed and distributes grain through a network of country and terminal elevators reuter,0 |
| 1733,ec concerned over u s textile import moves the european community ec expressed disquiet over protectionist moves in the united states to limit imports of textiles and said it would retaliate immediately if ec exports were hit a spokeswoman for the ec commission said ec external trade commissioner willy de clercq had written to his u s counterpart special u s trade representative clayton yeutter outlining the concerns of the nation community the draft legislation under consideration by congress would impose permanent quotas on products entering the u s and seek to limit any increase to a growth in the overall trade reuter,48 |
| 2995,grace gra completes retail unit sale w r grace and co said it completed the sale of its bermans the leather experts retail business to a new company in a management led buyout grace received mln dlrs cash and will record a pretax gain of about mln dlrs in the first quarter the company said an additional pretax gain of mln dlrs will be deferred until realization is more fully assured it said the diversified chemical and industrial company said the sale completes its program to divest retail operations in addition to the cash payment grace received warrants to buy up to pct of the new company and has reinvested about pct of the proceeds in debt of the new firm financing was provided by prudential insurance co of america and affiliates reuter,0 |
| 2274,citicorp says placing brazil loans on cash basis could cut st qtr net by mln dlrs,12 |
| 5405,woodside says loss reflects lower oil prices woodside petroleum ltd wpla s said its net loss largely reflected the drop in oil prices combined with a large tax provision woodside earlier reported attributable net loss rose to mln dlrs in from mln in although group revenue rose to mln from mln it said it should have received a mln dlr tax credit but instead made a mln dlr tax provision this largely related to its vamgas ltd unit non allowable exchange losses and tax benefits from the north west shelf project not recognised in the accounts woodside said the rise in revenue largely reflected full year sales of gas and condensate from the domestic phase of the shelf project against six month sales in offsetting this was a pct fall in the cooper basin gas and liquids revenue of its pct owned vamgas unit since the balance date woodside has accepted a santos ltd stos s takeover offer for vamgas woodside said a mln dlr capital profit on the sale would be included in the accounts it said it lifted capital spending on fixed assets to mln dlrs from mln mostly on the shelf project reuter,12 |
| 203,diagnostic drs makes a bid for rospatch rpch diagnostic retrieval systems inc said it has made an offer to acquire through a wholly owned unit all outstanding shares of rospatch corp s common stock for dlrs a share cash or about mln dlrs drs a warfare systems producer said it would make the transaction through a cash tender offer for all but not less than pct of rospatch s outstanding common stock followed by a merger with rospatch a labels high technology and wood producer at the same purchase price per share drs said the deal is subject to approval by the rospatch board and the tender offer expires on march reuter,0 |
| 4759,u k money market forecast revised to deficit the bank of england said it revised its estimate of today s money market shortfall to around mln stg from a flat position reuter,32 |
| 3181,may department stores co ma raises dividend qtly div cts vs cts previously pay june record june one reuter,12 |
| 96,liquid air corp lana quarterly dividend qtly div cts vs cts pay march record march reuter,12 |
| 1873,japanese purchase of u s high tech firm opposed commerce secretary malcolm baldrige has asked the white house to consider blocking the planned japanese acquisition of a major u s computer and semiconductor maker u s officials said yesterday the officials told reporters baldrige had serious concerns on national security grounds about the sale of schlumberger ltd slb unit fairchild semiconductor inc to fujitsu ltd itsu t the officials said the sale could leave the united states overly dependent on a foreign company for equipment used in advanced missiles aircraft electronics and intelligence gathering the u s officials added the sale would also worsen the strained relations between the two countries stemming from the huge japanese trade surplus the white house economic policy council would consider the sale in the coming weeks they said defence secretary caspar weinberger s position was not known but in the past he has opposed the transfer of high technology to foreign governments or companies computers made by u s manufacturers are widely used in the world but tokyo told u s negotiators recently it prefers local manufacturers and would not buy u s supercomputers reuter,0 |
| 1090,times mirror co tmc quarterly dividend qtly div cts vs cts pay june record may reuter,12 |
| 577,goodyear gt chairman criticizes corporate raids the chairman of goodyear tire and rubber co a concern that survived a recent hostile takeover bid charged that terrorists in three piece suits are undermining the nation s industrial base in a speech to a meeting of south florida business executives goodyear chairman robert mercer lashed out at corporate raiders and takeover specialists accusing them of causing serious harm to the companies they target their interest is not in preserving and strengthening america s industrial and providing jobs he said their product is simply deals and that is not a product which a country can base a future on last year mercer fought off a takeover attempt by british industrialist sir james goldsmith but goodyear s independence was preserved at a high price mercer said the company bought back goldsmith s stock for mln dlrs giving him a mln dlr profit goodyear also paid him mln dlrs for expenses and bought about mln other shares for over two billion dlrs in an effort to trim its new debt goodyear closed down three plants mercer believes otherwise could have been saved sold its motor wheel and aerospace units and reduced its payroll by pct he said mercer who plans to testify tomorrow at a senate hearing on a proposed bill to control corporate raiders said hostile takeovers have also hurt workers reuter,0 |
| 6283,jack winter inc jwi th qtr jan loss shr loss cts vs loss seven cts net loss vs loss revs mln vs mln mths shr loss cts vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 3196,morgan bank plans warrants for gold at dlrs morgan guaranty trust co of new york plans an issue of warrants for gold bullion at dlrs an ounce lead manager morgan guaranty switzerland ag said each warrant priced at swiss francs entitled holders to acquire five ounce bars of gold in the period from april to july exercisable on wednesdays the warrants represented unsecured unsubordinated liabilities of the borrower payment was due april and a quotation on the luxembourg bourse was planned the warrants when exercised would be repaid in current dollars based on the value of gold on the exercise date the conditions represent a premium of about dlrs an ounce to the current gold price a morgan switzerland official said that on the basis of the maturity of four years and three months the pricing involved an implicit volatility of gold of pct before the warrants were in the money compared with implicit volatility of pct for the indosuez gold warrants and pct for the citibank gold warrants recent issued with maturities of and months reuter,16 |
| 5494,ferruzzi may float up to pct of paris unit gruppo ferruzzi is studying a project which could result in a public share offer of up to pct of its french unit european sugar france and could raise around mln dlrs ferruzzi chairman raul gardini said gardini told reuters the operation under consideration was aimed at international markets and that the figure of mln dlrs given in some press reports was probably about right european sugar wholly owned by ferruzzi unit eridania zuccherifici nazionali spa is expected to absorb the european corn wet milling business of cpc international inc which ferruzzi recently agreed to buy ferruzzi announced last week it had agreed in principle to buy the cpc operation for mln dlrs a ferruzzi spokesman later confirmed that the group was studying the transfer of the cpc business to european sugar along with a possible share offering in the paris unit but gave no details the flotation plan has been interpreted by financial analysts as a means of helping finance the acquisition of the cpc business reuter,0 |
| 685,wal mart stores inc wmt th qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net mln vs mln sales billion vs billion year shr dlrs vs dlrs net mln vs mln sales billion vs billion reuter,12 |
| 463,berkshire gas co bgas pays regular qtlry div qtrly div cts vs cts pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 2666,gencorp gy st qtr operating earnings rose gencorp said its first quarter earnings from operations rose four pct as sales increased six pct to mln dlrs from mln a year earlier however the company reported net income declined to mln dlrs or cts a share in the quarter ended february from mln dlrs or cts a year earlier this year s net included dlrs from the sale of assets while last years was increased mln dlrs by such sales gencorp said lower operating profits for the tire and plastics and industrial products segments were essentially offset by higher wallcovering results reuter,12 |
| 5455,thailand buys yugoslav cranes in barter deal the cabinet approved a plan for the port authority of thailand to buy six gantry cranes from metalna co of yugoslavia for about mln dlrs a government spokesman said he said thailand will pay for pct of the cost of the cranes in u s dlrs and the rest by sales of rice textiles and other commodities to yugoslavia the bangkok shipowners and agents association has appealed to the government to scrap the purchase plan it said it would be an unnecessary expense as most vessels calling at the port already have their own cargo handling equipment reuter,43 |
| 1855,u s house panel takes first trade bill votes house trade lawmakers took their first votes on measures designed to toughen u s trade laws but held over until tomorrow the most difficult votes on controversial plans to protect american industries meeting in closed session the house ways and means trade subcommittee failed to resolve one of the most sensitive issues in the bill whether they will force major foreign trading partners to severely cut their trade surpluses with the united states the subcommittee is considering a toned down version of democratic sponsored trade legislation that aims to open foreign markets but which drops last year s effort to force president reagan to retaliate with quotas or tariffs congressional aides who asked not to be identified said the lawmakers intend to wrap up their proposals tomorrow and will consider a proposal to mandate retaliation without setting specific trade penalties the legislation faces another hurdle in the full ways and means committee next week before the full house votes on it rep richard gephardt a missouri democrat who is seeking his party s presidential nomination said he may offer an amendment to call for reductions in the trade surpluses of those countries with barriers to imports of u s goods this would be a moderated version of his earlier plan to force a mandatory ten per cent annual cut in the trade surplus with the united states by japan south korea taiwan west germany and other countries with the largest trade imbalances my criteria for a good amendment sets a standard for getting the trade deficit down he told reporters the trade law changes are to become part of a major congressional and administration effort to turn around the record u s trade deficit of billion dlrs last year by opening up foreign markets and making u s products more competitive house speaker james wright a texas democrat said again today he expects the full house will approve the trade bill by may and that reagan will accept the final congressional bill i expect whatever is reported by the ways and means committee will pass we will have a good bill and an effective bill he told reporters the comprehensive trade bill will include work by other committees to ease export controls on high technology to aid u s workers displaced by foreign competition to stimulate research and development to remove foreign trade barriers and to improve education and worker training the lawmakers agreed that for the first time a u s industry could charge foreign producers with unfair competition if they deny basic worker rights such as collective bargaining safety rules and payment of a minimum wage appropriate to the country s economic development they transferred to u s trade representative clayton yeutter the powers now held by reagan to decide whether to retaliate against foreign violations of fair trade rules and whether an injured industry deserves import relief they agreed to make it easier for a company to get temporary relief from import competition but agreed the industry should provide a plan to become competitive the administration has not announced its support but yeutter said yesterday i am cautiously optimistic that the democratic led house will come up with an acceptable bill reuter,48 |
| 5730,turkey estimates growth at eight pct turkey s gross national product grew an estimated pct in at fixed prices compared with pct in the state statistics institute said reporting full year data it also said gross domestic product rose pct compared with pct in an earlier estimate from nine month data put full year gnp and gdp growth both at pct the government s gnp growth target for is five pct the same level it had set for the institute estimated per capita gnp for at dlrs up from dlrs in officials blame the high gnp growth on a surge in domestic demand stemming partly from poorly controlled municipal expenditures in the early part of the year industry grew at pct in real terms in compared with pct in while agriculture expanded pct compared with pct reuter,15 |
| 2868,institute of clinical pharm plc icpyy year shr ct vs cts net vs revs vs note dollar amounts converted from irish pounds at noon buying rate of the federal reserve bank of new york at dec of dlr per one irish pound the equivalent rate at dec was dlr equals one irsh pound full name of company is the institute of clinical pharmacology plc based in dulbin ireland reuter,12 |
| 4458,sri lankan government to stop importing sugar the food department will no longer import sugar from april senior officials of the food and cooperatives ministry and the department told reuters they said the decision was taken after the sugar importers association asked that the sugar trade be further liberalised the food department will cease trading in sugar and will no longer hold a buffer stock a senior official said he said the government has finalised an agreement with e d f man sugar ltd under which e d f man will hold a buffer stock on the government s behalf of tonnes against the tonne buffer stock usually held by the department officials said the size of the buffer stock has been reduced because the private sector will hold its own stocks the agreement with e d f man includes details such as trigger pricing mechanisms they said four months ago the department allowed the private sector to import sugar without government clearance the department and the private sector each imported around tonnes of sugar last year when national consumption was tonnes an importers association official said that even if the department no longer imports sugar we would not necessarily buy more this is because the association would still have to compete with the cooperatives wholesale establishment cwe he said the cwe is a semi government body and the official said arrangements are being made for state cooperatives and holders of food subsidy stamps to draw their sugar from it starting april ministry officials said the cwe can either import sugar or buy it from a local bonded warehousing scheme run by e d f for the past two years reuter,45 |
| 5539,eateries inc eats year net shr profit cts vs loss two cts net profit vs loss revs vs avg shrs vs reuter,12 |
| 3646,laser lser sees impact from suit on earnings laser corp said that costs associated with its defense of two shareholder lawsuits could result in a net loss for although laser expects to post earnings from operations for the year a spokesman said they might be wiped out by legal costs depending on the length of litigation in addition the company said it will ask shareholders to approve proposals to merge the company into its main subsidiary reincorporate in delaware and change the company s name reuter,12 |
| 4224,yeutter says u s japan trade difficulties remain u s trade representative clayton yeutter said he was unsure whether some of the trade issues straining u s japanese relations would be resolved before the two countries open trade talks in late april we are having high level discussions on them the issues within the united states the relationship on some of those is very strained between us japan at the moment and we need to relieve those strains at the earliest possible date he said i am not sure we can wait until late april he added yeutter is in new zealand for a two day informal meeting of trade ministers who are reviewing the uruguay round of the general agreement on trade and tariffs gatt he said he will meet the japanese delegation over the next few days but declined to discuss methods of relieving the strain between the two countries yeutter said earlier the three most contentious trade issues were semiconductors japanese government unwillingness to allow public entities to buy u s super computers and the barring of u s firms from the eight billion u s dlr kansai airport project near osaka the japanese delegation to the gatt talks said in a statement yesterday they are making major efforts to dismantle trade barriers in their country i am convinced that they are attempting to move their policies in the right direction the question is how far and how fast yeutter said reuter,48 |
| 4,am international inc am nd qtr jan oper shr loss two cts vs profit seven cts oper shr profit vs profit revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln six mths oper shr profit nil vs profit cts oper net profit vs profit revs mln vs mln avg shrs mln vs mln note per shr calculated after payment of preferred dividends results exclude credits of or four cts and or nine cts for qtr and six mths vs or six cts and or cts for prior periods from operating loss carryforwards reuter,12 |
| 6494,u s consumer credit rose billion dlrs in feb vs revised mln jan gain,21 |
| 1315,braniff inc bair th qtr loss jan shr loss cts vs loss cts net loss mln vs loss mln revs mln vs mln year shr loss cts vs profit dlr net loss mln vs profit mln revs mln vs mln note net includes extraordinary gain of mln dlrs from tax loss carryforward in year and loss of dlrs in th qtr reuter,12 |
| 5004,japan feb current account surplus billion dlrs jan billion surplus,2 |
| 4939,n y bank discount borrowings nil in week the eight major new york city banks did not borrow from the federal reserve in the week ended wednesday march a fed spokesman said it was the second half of a two week bank statement period that ended on wednesday the banks did not borrow in the first week of the period reuter,22 |
| 1220,the writer corp wrtc th qtr loss shr loss cts vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs mln vs mln year shr loss cts vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs mln vs mln reuter,12 |
| 4257,princeville pvdc gets letter of credit qintex ltd of brisbane said westpac banking corp of australia has issued a commitment letter to provide princeville development corp with the letter of credit required under qintex s proposed acquisition of princeville the letter of credit would ensure payment of princeville s contingent subordinated notes to be distributed to shareholders of record on the day immediately following completion of qintex s tender for princeville share it said issuance of the letter of credit is still subject to conditions including appropriate documentation but the letter is expected to be issued around april three qintex said as a result it has extended its tender offer for princeville shares until april three it said through yesterday it had received shares under the offer reuter,0 |
| 1566,search for british ferry s toxic cargo continues the search continued for a cargo of poisonous chemical substances loaded on the herald of free enterprise ferry which capsized in zeebrugge harbour friday a total of drums of various toxic materials which were loaded on trucks in the ship s hold have been recovered but belgian authorities warned it was essential to recover a further containers of a cyanide based solution a net has been thrown over the gaping loading doors at the front of the ship to prevent any more drums floating out salvage workers have moved cranes into place alongside the wreck of the ton roll on roll off ferry which now lies partly submerged on a sandbank outside the harbour the ferry s owner is european ferries plc majority owned by peninsular and oriental steam navigation co plc porl l the operation to right the vessel began yesterday after divers abandoned their search for more bodies experts said it could take months to refloat the ship and free the bodies estimated to be trapped amid debris the problem is that in these waters you can normally expect one working day out of four said daan kaakebeen of dutch salvage experts smit tak international of rotterdam he estimated the job itself would require working days using reinforced cables salvage experts intend to raise the ship and set it down into a trench dug alongside salvage work could pinpoint the exact cause of the loss of the ferry one of three sister vessels plying cross channel routes from england to continental europe suspicion at present is focused on the ferry s main vehicle loading doors set close to water level in london transport secretary john moore told parliament yesterday that the ship keeled over after water gushed in through the bow doors he said a major government inquiry into the disaster will be held all similar ferries sailing from britain will be inspected and owners will be asked to fit lights to give warning if bow doors are not properly closed experts carrying out tank and computer tests to determine how the accident occurred will focus attention on the ship s doors its ballast system and crew procedures he added two other investigations into the disaster have also begun one belgian and one by the ferry s owners reuter,43 |
| 1051,atlantic city electric co ate sets payout qtly div cts vs cts prior pay april record march reuter,12 |
| 1317,transportation department dismisses twa application for usair control,0 |
| 4755,lucas sees continued growth in second half lucas industries plc lucs l said its underlying performance would continue to improve in the second half but profits would be restrained by low activity in u k commercial vehicle and tractor markets as well as in north american electronics the company earlier reported a two mln stg rise in pretax profit to mln in the six months to end january the figure was some five mln below forecasts and lucas shares dropped sharply to p at gmt from last night s close of p it said it would continue with plans for all its activities to be internationally competitive and profitable costs of restructuring reorganisation employee training and retraining particularly in the uk automotive businesses together with high research and development spending would affect profits in the short term but lucas said it was exploiting growth opportunities in automotive markets especially in vehicle breaking and engine management systems recent acquisitions in north america had strengthened lucas aerospace and lucas industrial systems reuter,12 |
| 5201,b and c reorganises commercial operations british and commonwealth shipping co plc bcom l said that it would reorganise its commercial and service operations into a single public grouping with autonomous management the group has expanded rapidly in the past year through the mln stg acquisition of exco international plc and mln bid for steel brothers holdings plc it noted that its operations were now divided between financial services including money broking investment management and forfaiting and more traditional areas such as aviation hotels commodity trading and office equipment it said that each sector had exciting prospects but required different methods of management and financing b and c planned to form a new public company to hold the commercial operations and envisaged it operating with a capital of between mln and mln stg it has retained barclays de zoete wedd to advise on the introduction of independent investors to subscribe for additional capital and believes that the proportion of equity capital held by outside investors would not exceed pct of the total the statement said that with the continued support of b and c together with outside capital the new grouping would emerge as a major group in its own right with the ability to take advantages of opportunities as they arose however the group would not seek a listing for the time being b and c also said that its chairman lord cayzer planned to retire in june the company proposed that he be appointed life president and that current chief executive john gunn should take over as chairman b and c shares eased p to p at gmt reuter,43 |
| 4463,bicc plc bicc l year shr p vs p final div p making p vs p pre tax profit mln stg vs mln attributable profit mln vs mln turnover billion stg vs billion more,12 |
| 4087,iraq oil minister qassem ahmed taqi replaced iraqi news agency reports,10 |
| 3763,scat hovercraft inc scat year loss shr loss not given net loss sales note company incorporated in june fourth quarter loss dlrs reuter,12 |
| 5630,baruch foster corp bfo th qtr loss shr loss cts vs profit one ct net loss vs profit revs vs year shr loss dlrs vs profit cts net loss vs profit revs vs mln note year net includes dlr writedown of oil properties and reserves reuter,12 |
| 1053,ffb ffct sets initial quarterly dividend ffb corp parent of the first federal bank of connecticut fsb said it declared an initial quarterly dividend of five cts per share the company said the dividend is payable march to holders of record march reuter,12 |
| 2882,soros group has b f goodrich gr stake an investor group led by new york investor george soros said it acquired a pct stake in b f goodrich co common stock as an investment the group said it paid about mln dlrs for the goodrich shares which are being held by quantum fund n v a netherlands antilles investment firm advised by soros it said all the shares were bought between dec and march the group said it reserved the future right to buy additional shares and to formulate other purposes or plans regarding its goodrich investment reuter,0 |
| 5041,u s consumer prices rose pct in february u s consumer prices as measured by the consumer price index for all urban consumers cpi u rose a seasonally adjusted pct in february after a pct january gain the labor department said the cpi for urban wage earners and clerical workers cpi w rose to in february the department said prices for petroleum based energy rose sharply for a second consecutive month during february but by less than in january the department said energy prices rose pct last month after a pct rise in january accounting for one third of the overall cpi rise for the months ended in february the cpi rose an unadjusted pct transportation prices rose pct in february after a pct increase in january smaller price rises for motor fuels and declines in new car prices and finance charges were responsible for the moderation gasoline prices rose pct last month after increasing pct in january but were still pct below levels of a year ago the department said housing prices rose pct in february after a pct january increase largely due to a rise in fuel oil prices fuel oil prices were up pct in february after increasing pct in january but were still pct below price levels of february food prices rose pct last month after a pct january increase grocery store food prices were up pct the same as in january but meat poultry fish and eggs cost less for a third consecutive month the department said medical care rose pct in february to a level pct above one year ago because of higher costs for prescription and non prescription drugs and medical supplies the department said the index for apparel and upkeep rose pct in february after a pct increase in january the department said the introduction of higher priced spring merchandise particularly men s clothing was responsible for the advance prices for other goods and services rose pct in february following a pct increase in january tobacco prices up pct after a pct january increase accounted for pct of the index rise the department said reuter,8 |
| 5130,cocoa buffer differentials detailed the international cocoa organization icco council agreed standard price differentials for different origin cocoas to form part of the buffer stock buying and selling procedure consumer delegates said the buffer stock manager will accept offers for different origin cocoas according to a sliding scale of price differentials under which ghana cocoa will be pegged at a stg premium to malaysian thus if the buffer stock manager was buying cocoa based on a malaysian price of stg a tonne he would accept ghana offers up to stg differentials were fixed as follows country differential stg tonne malaysia brazil ivory coast cameroun nigeria togo ghana nigeria s differential is on landed weight terms shipping weight terms will be accepted at a stg discount to this rate reuter,4 |
| 24,america first mortgage sets special payout america first federally guaranteed mortgage fund two said it is making a special distribution of cts per exchangeable unit which includes cts from return on capital and cts from income gains reuter,12 |
| 3909,falcon cable fal sets initial distribution falcon cable systems co said its set an initial quarterly cash distribution of cts per unit payable may to unitholders of record march the partnership made its initial public offering in december falcon said it expects to pay cash distributions to limited partners at an annual rate of dlrs per unit through december reuter,12 |
| 4898,chris craft industries inc ccn regular payout chris craft industies inc said it declared a regular two pct stock dividend on both its common stock and class b common stock which is equal the two pct stock dividends the company paid for the prior quarter the dividends are payable on april to shareholders of record april six reuter,12 |
| 5959,mellon mel republic rpt lift prime rates mellon bank na of pittsburgh and republic bank of dallas have both raised their prime lending rates to pct from effective immediately reuter,22 |
| 4529,march prices fell in german state on year ago the cost of living in north rhine westphalia germany s most populous state fell pct in the month to mid march to stand pct lower than at the same time a year earlier the regional statistics office said prices had risen pct in the month to mid february but had fallen pct year on year the regional figures are considered a good guide to national inflation trends the federal statistics office is due to publish provisional national figures for march by the end of this month reuter,8 |
| 622,vendo co ven th qtr loss shr loss dlrs vs loss cts net loss vs loss sales mln vs mln mths shr loss dlrs vs profit cts net loss vs profit sales mln vs mln note prior year net includes extraordinary loss of dlrs in qtr and extraordinary profit of dlrs in year reuter,12 |
| 135,nippon light metal continues aluminium output cut nippon light metal co ltd nlgt t which has annual capacity of tonnes will continue primary aluminium production at a rate of tonnes owing to low domestic and world prices and low water supplies at its hydroelectric power plant a company official said nippon which has no plans to restore output to the tonnes a year at which it was working until late will become japan s only smelter ryoka light metal industries ltd will stop smelting in april owing to high power costs and low prices and mitsui aluminium co ltd has said it stopped smelting in february reuter,1 |
| 6403,hutton efh ends purolator pcc bid emery air freight corp said it has entered into an agreement with e f hutton group inc efh under which hutton will terminate its merger agreement with purolator courier corp and its pending dlr per share tender offer effective april under its merger agreement hutton has the right to unilaterally terminate the merger agreement under certain circumstances including its receipt of less than pct of purolator shares or the start of a higher competing tender offer such as emery s competing dlr per share offer for purolator stock yesterday hutton s pc acquisition corp subsidiary extended its tender offer which was to have expired at midnight for two more days it said it only about shares or pct of purolator shares had been tendered and not withdrawn down from an pct interest held earlier emery s bid expires april emery said pending the termination of pc acquisition s merger agreement pc has released purolator from an agreement not to discuss emery s acquisition proposal with emery emery said as a result it is renewing its request that purolatr enter into merger negotiations with it emery said if it were to acquire pct of purolator shares or control of the purolator board it has agreed not to dispute pc acquisition s right to receive fees that purolator agreed to pay if pc were unsuccessful in acquiring control of purolator due to the acquisition of control by another party the company said it has also agreed to let purolator pay all of pc acquisition s documented expenses in connection with the merger agreement up to three mln dlrs and emery has agreed to pay the amounts itself should purolator fail to do so reuter,0 |
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