[ { "title": "GANTOS INC 4TH QTR JAN 31 NET", "body": "Shr 43 cts vs 37 cts\n Net 2,276,000 vs 1,674,000\n Revs 32.6 mln vs 24.4 mln\n Year\n Shr 90 cts vs 69 cts\n Net 4,508,000 vs 3,096,000\n Revs 101.0 mln vs 76.9 mln\n Avg shrs 5,029,000 vs 4,464,000\n NOTE: 1986 fiscal year ended Feb 1, 1986\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 16:54:10.55", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8001" }, { "title": "CHEMLAWN CORP, ECHOLAB INC SIGN DEFINITIVE MERGER AGREEMENT\n", "date": "20-MAR-1987 16:57:13.73", "topics": [ "acq" ], "id": "8002" }, { "title": "LDC FOOD AID NEEDS DECLINE IN 1986/87 - USDA", "body": "Total food aid needs in 69 of the\nleast developed countries declined in 1986/87, as requirments\nfell in many countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, the\nU.S. Agriculture Department said.\n In a summary of its World Agriculture Report, the\ndepartment said grain production in sub-Saharan Africa was a\nrecord high in 1986, with gains in almost every country.\n However, food needs in Central America rose, worsened by\ndrought-reduced crops and civil strife.\n Record wheat production in 1986/87 is pushing global wheat\nconsumption for food to a new high, and higher yielding\nvarieties have been particularly effective where spring wheat\nis a common crop, it said.\n However, may developing countries in tropical climates,\nsuch as Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central\nAmerica, are not well adapted for wheat production, and\nimproved varieties are not the answer to rising food needs, the\ndepartment said.\n World per capita consumption of vegetable oil will rise in\n1986/87 for the third straight year.\n Soybean oil constitutes almost 30 pct of vegetable oil\nconsumption, while palm oil is the most traded, the department\nsaid.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 16:57:26.14", "topics": [ "grain", "wheat", "oilseed", "soybean", "veg-oil" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8003" }, { "title": "U.S. SUGAR PROGRAM CUT SENT TO CONGRESS BY USDA", "body": "The U.S. Agriculture Department \nformally transmitted to Congress a long-awaited proposal to\ndrastically slash the sugar loan rate and compensate growers\nfor the cut with targeted income payments.\n In a letter to the Congressional leadership accompanying\nthe \"Sugar Program Improvements Act of 1987\", Peter Myers,\nDeputy Agriculture Secretary, said the Reagan administration\nwants the sugar loan rate cut to 12 cents per pound beginning\nwith the 1987 crop, down from 18 cts now.\n Sugarcane and beet growers would be compensated by the\ngovernment for the price support cut with targeted income\npayments over the four years 1988 to 1991. The payments would\ncost an estimated 1.1 billion dlrs, Myers said.\n The administration sugar proposal is expected to be\nintroduced in the House of Representatives next week by Rep.\nJohn Porter, R-Ill.\n Congressional sources said the program cut is so drastic it\nis unlikely to be adopted in either the House or Senate because\npolitically-influential sugar and corn growers\nand high fructose corn syrup producers will strongly resist.\n The direct payment plan outlined by the administration \ntargets subsidies to small cane and beet growers and gradually\nlowers payments over four years. It also excludes from payment\nany output exceeding 20,000 short tons raw sugar per grower.\n For example, on the first 350 tons of production, a grower\nwould receive 6 cts per lb in fiscal 1988, 4.5 cts in 1989, 3\ncts in 1990 and 1.5 cts in 1991.\n The income payments would be based on the amount of\ncommercially recoverable sugar produced by a farmer in the 1985\nor 1986 crop years, whichever is less, USDA said.\n Myers said the administration is proposing drastic changes\nin the sugar program because the current high price support is\ncausing adverse trends in the sugar industry.\n He said the current program has artificially stimulated\ndomestic sugar and corn sweetener production which has allowed\ncorn sweeteners to make market inroads.\n U.S. sugar consumption has declined which has resulted in a\n\"progressive contraction\" of the sugar import quota to only one\nmln short tons this year, he said. This has hurt cane sugar\nrefiners who rely on imported sugar processing.\n Furthermore, USDA said the current sugar program gives\noverseas manufacturers of sugar-containing products a\ncompetitive advantage. The result has been higher imports of\nsugar-containing products and a flight of U.S. processing\nfacilities overseas to take advantage of cheaper sugar.\n USDA also said the current program imposes a heavy cost on\nU.S. consumers and industrial users. In fiscal 1987, USDA said\nconsumers are paying nearly two billion dlrs more than\nnecessary for sugar.\n \"Enactment of this bill will reduce the price gap between\nsweeteners and help to correct or stabilize the many adverse\nimpacts and trends which the sugar industry is currently\nfacing,\" Myers said.\n The following table lists the rate of payments, in cts per\nlb, to growers and the quantity covered, in short tons\nrecoverable raw sugar, under the administration's proposal to\ncompensate sugar growers with targeted payments.\n QUANTITY 1988 1989 1990 1991\nFirst 350 tons 6.000 4.500 3.000 1.500\nOver 350 to 700 5.750 4.313 2.875 1.438\nOver 700 to 1,000 5.500 4.125 2.750 1.375\nOver 1,000 to 1,500 5.000 3.750 2.500 1.250\nOver 1,500 to 3,000 4.500 3.375 2.250 1.125\nOver 3,000 to 6,000 3.500 2.625 1.750 0.875\nOver 6,000 to 10,000 2.250 1.688 1.125 0.563\nOver 10,000 to 20,000 0.500 0.375 0.250 0.125\nOver 20,000 tons nil nil nil nil \n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:00:29.12", "topics": [ "sugar", "grain", "corn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8004" }, { "title": " 4TH QTR NET", "body": "Shr 24 cts vs 26 cts\n Net 1.5 mln vs 1.3 mln\n Revs 40.5 mln vs 33.5 mln\n Year\n Shr 80 cts vs 82 cts\n Net 4.9 mln vs 4.1 mln\n Revs 143.0 mln vs 121.1 mln\n Avg shrs 6.1 mln vs 5.0 mln\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:00:52.39", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "canada" ], "id": "8005" }, { "title": "TEXAS INSTRUMENTS BEGINS BUILDING PLANT", "body": "Texas Instruments Inc said construction\nwill begin in April on a new plant near Denton, Texas, on 193\nacres owned by the company.\n It said the plant will initially employ between 1,000 and\n1,500 people, and will be used by its Defense Systems and\nElectronics Group for producing electronic equipemnt. The plant\nis expected to be operational in late 1988.\n Separately, the company said it leased about 185,000 square\nfeet of a complex in Texas for its Defense Systems group. It\nplans to transfer about 700 employees to work at the site by\nthe third quarter of 1987.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:01:28.16", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8006" }, { "title": "VMS MORTGAGE LP MONTHLY CASH PAYOUT", "body": "VMS Mortgage L.P. said it declared a\nregular monthly cash distribution of nine cts a depositary unit\nfor the month of March, payable May 14, record April One.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:06:31.28", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8007" }, { "title": "LITTLE EFFECT SEEN FROM COLD STORAGE REPORT", "body": "The USDA monthly cold storage report\nfor meats is expected to have little, if any, effect on\nlivestock and meat futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange\nMonday and daily fundamentals will likely provide the bulk of\ndirection, livestock analysts said.\n The increase of 66.4 mln lbs in total poultry offsets the\n22.6 mln lbs decline in total red meats. Fundamentals may\nprovide most of the direction in futures on Monday, they said.\n \"I think the market is going to be looking at some other\nthings and accentuate whatever the action of cash markets might\nbe early next week,\" Jerry Gidel, livestock analyst for GH\nMiller, said.\n Shearson Lehman livestock analyst Chuck Levitt said futures\nwill be in the shadow of a little larger seasonal hog\nmarketings pace next week. Also, Easter ham business was\ncompleted this week and there may be less aggressive interest\nfor pork in general next week.\n \"We needed some help from the cold storage report to avert\na possible setback next week in the pork complex,\" Levitt said.\n Analysts agreed with CME floor traders and called the belly\nfigure neutral to slightly negative. Although belly stocks were\ndown 33 pct from last year, they exceeded the average\nexpectation and actually showed a lighter than expected decline\nfrom last month due to an adjustment to last month's holdings,\nthey said.\n However, analysts noted that the amount of bellies put in\nstorage has been light since the beginning of March and this is\na potentially bullish situation.\n Glenn Grimes, agronomist at the University of Missouri,\nsaid, \"I would not look for (belly) storage during the next\nmonth or two to be heavier than a year ago - I think it will be\nless.\"\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:06:47.92", "topics": [ "livestock", "pork-belly" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8008" }, { "title": "STRIKE THREAT, LOWER TRAFFIC MAR SEAWAY OPENING", "body": "The St. Lawrence Seaway, set\nto reopen March 31 after the winter, faces another tough year\nbecause of depressed traffic levels and the possibility of the\nfirst strike in 20 years on the Great Lakes, seaway officials\nsaid.\n Depressed grain exports, rising costs, and competing modes\nof transportation are all expected to result in only a marginal\nincrease over last year's traffic levels -- and revenues -- on\nthe 2,300 mile waterway, officials said.\n In 1986, a season that ran from April 3 to December 27, the\nseaway moved 37.6 mln metric tons of freight between Montreal\nand Lake Ontario and 41.6 mln tons on the Welland Canal,\nlinking Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.\n By comparison, in 1985 about 37 mln tons of cargo traveled\nthrough the Montreal-Lake Ontario section and 42 mln through\nthe eight-lock canal.\n The waterway is expected to lose 9-10 mln Canadian dlrs\nthis year, about the same as the estimated deficit for fiscal\n1986-87 ending March 31, said William Blair, an executive\nmember of Canada's St Lawrence Seaway Authority.\n The seaway moves about one-half of Canada's exported grain.\nThose exports of the single most important commodity carried on\nthe waterway have been depressed by world surpluses.\n The Seafarers' International Union, which represents about\n2,300 workers on the Great Lakes and the ocean coasts, has said\nit will likely go on strike this spring to protest employers'\ndemands for wage rollbacks and other concessions.\n \"It's 99.9 pct (certain)--I guarantee you a strike,\" Roman\nGralewicz, head of the Seafarers' Canadian branch, has said.\n The Canadian government has called in a labor conciliator\nto try to hammer out a contract agreement between the two\nsides. The seaway authority said a walkout tying up ships on\nthe Great Lakes would badly hurt traffic.\n \"We haven't had a strike on the seaway for years...a\nprolonged strike would have a disasterous effect,\" Seaway\nAuthority spokeswoman Gay Hemsley said.\n \"These are the heaviest contract talks in the history of the\nSt Lawrence Seaway,\" George Miller, vice-president of the\nCanadian Lake Carriers Association, an association of major\nCanadian shipping companies, said recently.\n The workers' current contract expires May 31. The\nassociation said it is asking for a five per cent cut in wages\nfor the next three years, reduced crew levels and the power to\nrestructure crew dispatching.\n The association said its members recorded about a 6 mln dlrs\n(U.S.) loss in each of 1985 and 1986 due to lower traffic and\nfreight rates and increasing competition. The seaway said 1985\nwas its worst year in two decades.\n Hemsley said the seaway authority plans to raise tolls on\nthe Welland Canal by eight pct this year, compared to last\nyear's 15 pct rise, while maintaining a freeze on tolls\nthroughout the rest of the waterway.\n Canada is responsible for 13 of the seaway's 15 locks and\nabout 85 pct of its revenues and maintenance costs.\n \"We may see and hope for a steady upward climb...but we\nwon't see a major increase for a number of years,\" Hemsley said.\n A Canada-U.S. delegation to promote the seaway to shippers\nin Western Europe should result in some increased traffic this\nseason but the full benefits won't be felt for several years,\nBlair said.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:07:44.99", "topics": [ "ship", "grain" ], "places": [ "canada" ], "id": "8009" }, { "title": "CHEMLAWN , ECOLAB IN MERGER PACT", "body": "Chemlawn Corp and Ecolab Inc\nsaid they signed a definitive merger agreement under which\nEcolab will buy all outstanding Chemlawn common stock for 36.50\ndlrs a share in cash, for a total of about 370 mln dlrs.\n Under terms of the agreement, Chemlawn said it rescinded\nits previously announced rights dividend plan.\n Chemlawn previously rejected a 27 dlr a share offer from\nWaste Management Inc .\n Yesterday, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based waste disposal company\nsaid it was prepared to offer 33 dlrs a share, or about 330 mln\ndlrs, for Chemlawn, a lawn-care company.\n Chemlawn had said last week that it was negotiating with\nother possible suitors, which it did not identify.\n A Chemlawn spokesman said further details on the merger\nwould be issued later.\n Ecolab is a maker of commercial laundry detergent based in\nSt. Paul, Minn. For its first six months ended December 31, the\ncompany earned 20.4 mln dlrs, or 76 cts a share, on sales of\n421.8 mln dlrs.\n Officials at Waste Management could not be reached for\nimmediate comment.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:07:50.76", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8010" }, { "title": "LILCO REVISES 1986 NET TO INCLUDE 16 MLN DLR LOSS PROVISION\n", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:10:14.07", "topics": [ "earn" ], "id": "8011" }, { "title": "FALCON CABLE SETS INITIAL DISTRIBUTION", "body": "Falcon Cable Systems Co said\nits set an initial quarterly cash distribution of 53.75 cts per\nunit, payable May 15 to unitholders of record March 31.\n The partnership made its initial public offering in\nDecember, 1986.\n Falcon said it expects to pay cash distributions to limited\npartners at an annual rate of 2.15 dlrs per unit, through\nDecember 31, 1989.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:12:06.51", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8012" }, { "title": "GENERAL DYNAMICS GETS 67.9 MLN DLR CONTRACT", "body": "The Electric Boat Division of\nGeneral Dynamics Corp is being awarded a 67.9 mln dlr\nmodification to a Navy contract for architectural, engineering\nand hardware development work for a submarine improvement\nprogram, the Defense Department said.\n It said the work is expected to be completed September 30,\n1987.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:12:35.20", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8013" }, { "title": "SONAT UNIT FILES FOR DEBENTURE OFFERING", "body": "Southern Natural Gas Co, a unit of\nSonat Inc, said it filed with the Securities and Exchange\nCommission a registration statement covering a 100 mln dlr\nissue of debentures due 1999.\n Proceeds will be used, together with funds from the\ncompany's operations, to redeem Southern Natural's 15 pct\nsinking fund debentures of 1991.\n The company named Goldman, Sachs and Co, Lazard Freres and\nCo and Merrill Lynch Capital Markets as managing underwriters\nof the offering.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:15:01.04", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8014" }, { "title": "BIDS AWARDED FOR ELK HILLS CRUDE OIL", "body": "The U.S. Department of Energy said\nit has awarded bids for about 90,000 barrels per day, bpd, of\ncrude oil from the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve in\nCalifornia. The contract period runs from April one through\nJuly one, the DOE said.\n Successful bidders, the amount of crude oil and the price\nper bbl according to the DOE are as follows - \n Texaco Inc's Texaco Trading and Transport 15,000 bpd\nat 15.79 dlrs and 2,200 bpd at 15.19 dlrs, Beacon Oil Co 7,000\nbpd at 15.66 dlrs and 2,500 bpd at 16.04 dlrs, Golden West\nRefining 8,110 bpd at 15.42 dlrs.\n Successful bidders, the amount of oil and price per bbl,\naccording to the DOE continue as follows -\n Chevron's Chevron USA Inc 3,000 bpd at 14.51 dlrs and\n4,000 bpd at 14.61 dlrs, Chevron International Oil Co 2,600 bpd\nat 14.41 dlrs and 2,800 bpd at 14.51 dlrs, Newhall Refining Co\n6,000 bpd at 15.82 dlrs, Caljet Inc 4,000 bpd at 15.32 dlrs,\nCasey Co 4,000 bpd at 15.45 dlrs.\n Also, Cryssen Refining Inc 4,000 bpd at 15.47 dlrs,\nEdgington Oil Co 4,000 bpd at 15.54 dlrs, Sound Refining Inc\n3,100 bpd at 15.51 dlrs, Atlantic Richfield Co 3,000 bpd\nat 15.75 dlrs.\n Successful bidders, the amount of crude oil and the price\nper bbl according to the DOE continue as follows -\n Orkin Inc 2,679 bpd at 15.24 dlrs, Lunday-Thagard Co 2,511\nbpd at 15.27 dlrs, Golden Eagle Refining 2,500 bpd at 15.37\ndlrs, MacMillan Ring-Free Oil Co 1,000 bpd at 15.81 dlrs, 1,000\nbpd at 15.71 dlrs and 230 bpd at 16.02 dlrs, Mock Resources\n2,000 bpd at 15.76 dlrs, Petro-Diamond 2,000 bpd at 15.46 dlrs.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:16:21.60", "topics": [ "crude" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8015" }, { "title": "MONTGOMERY STREET INCOME MONTHLY DIVIDEND", "body": "Mthly div 15 cts vs 15 cts\n Pay April 15\n Record April 1\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:20:28.92", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8016" }, { "title": " YEAR LOSS", "body": "Oper shr loss 12 cts vs profit four cts\n Oper loss 1,069,000 vs profit 339,000\n Revs 12.8 mln vs 10.9 mln\n Note: 1986 shr and net exclude extraordinary gain of\n382,000 dlrs or four cts share. 1985 shr and net exclude\nextraordinary gain of 183,000 dlrs or two cts share\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:20:54.85", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "canada" ], "id": "8017" }, { "title": "GRUMMAN GETS 109.1 MLN DLR NAVY CONTRACT", "body": "Grumman Aerospace Corp is being\nawarded a 109.1 mln dlr increment of funds to a Navy contract\nfor 12 EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare aircraft, the Defense\nDepartment said.\n It said the work is expected to be completed in July 1989.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:21:38.85", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8018" }, { "title": "MORTON THIOKOL GETS 61.4 MLN DLR CONTRACT", "body": "Morton Thiokol Inc's Wasatch\nOperations is being awarded a 61.4 mln dlr contract\nmodification finalizing a previously awarded contract for\nmissile rocket motors for Terrier, Tarter and Aegis ships, the\nDefense Department said.\n It said the work is expected to be completed in October \n1987.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:23:12.99", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8019" }, { "title": "INVESTMENT FIRM HAS 7.1 PCT OF CYCLOPS CREDIT CANADA PLACED ON CREDITWATCH", "body": "Canadian Bond Rating Service said it\nplaced Chrysler Credit Canada Ltd, a subsidiary of Chrysler\nCorp , on creditwatch until all financial details concerning\nthe proposed acquisition of American Motors Corp are\nfinalized.\n The creditwatch affects Chrysler Credit Canada's short term\nnotes, guaranteed notes, debentures and the recently completed\n75 mln dlr 9.25 Eurobond issue due April 15, 1993.\n Canadian Bond Rating Service said that, based on facts\ncurrently available on the proposed transaction, it does not\nanticipate the necessity of a downgrade.\n Canadian Bond Rating Service said Chrysler Credit Canada\nshort term notes are now rated A-2 (high) and guaranteed notes\nand debentures are rated B plus plus (high).\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:27:19.61", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "canada" ], "id": "8021" }, { "title": "LILCO REVISES 1986 NET TO INCLUDE LOSS", "body": "Long Island Lighting Co said\nit revised its preliminary 1986 net income to include a 16 mln\ndlrs after tax provision for its investment in the Jamesport\nNuclear units.\n Due to the provision, it said its revised 1986 net income\nwas 316.7 mln dlrs or 2.13 dlrs per share after deducting for\npreferred stock dividend requirements, which were not paid in\neither 1986 or 1985.\n It had earlier reported 1986 income of 332.7 mln dlrs or\n2.28 dlrs per share.\n LILCO also said its board authorized contracts for its \ncorporate officers calling for payment of one year's salary,\nand continuation of insurance and retirement benefits if the\ncompany changes hands and these officers lose their jobs.\n LILCO said none of these contracts will result in\nadditional costs to its customers.\n Lilco said the downward revision in its 1986 earnings is a\nreserve established to reflect a settlement agreement with the\nstaff of New York State's Public Service Commission respecting\nthe utility's spending on a nuclear power station planned for,\nbut never built at, Jamestown, N.Y.\n The company declined to detail the settlement, explaining\nthe settlement has not been approved by the commission. Lilco\nwas seeking to include costs totaling 118 mln dlrs for the\nabandoned nuclear power plant project in its rate base, a\nspokeswoman said.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:27:55.93", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8022" }, { "title": "ROGERS ADOPTS RIGHTS PLAN", "body": "Rogers Corp said its board\napproved a shareholder rights plan designed to protect its\nshareholders in the event of an attempted hostile takeover.\n Rogers said the plan is not being adopted in response to\nany specific takeover attempt.\n Under the plan, shareholders may buy one share of common\nstock at 65 dlrs for each share held. The rights will be\nexercisable only if a person or group acquires 20 pct or more\nof Rogers' shares or announces an offer for 30 pct or more.\n The dividend distribution will be made March 30 to holders\nor record on that date.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:29:58.63", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8023" }, { "title": "WALL STREET SURVIVES TRIPLE EXPIRATIONS", "body": "The four-times-a-year \"triple\nwitching hour\" did not jolt Wall Street as much as it has in\nthe past.\n Market averages finished sharply higher as stock index\nfutures, index options and options on individual stocks expired\nsimultaenously. Some analysts warned part of the gain may be\nretraced next week. But there were signs Wall Street is getting\nused to the phenomeon which causes a huge burst of activity in\nthe final minutes. Officials of the New York Stock Exchange\nsaid the day went smoothly and efficiently.\n \"This has been one of the few times that the consensus has\nbeen right,\" said Jim Creber, trader at Miller, Tabak, Hirsch\nand Co.\n He expects a \"follow-through\" Monday and Tuesday to the\nadvance which lifted the Dow Jones Industrial Average 34 points\nfor the day and 75 points for the entire week.\n Creber, whose firm was one of the first to get involved in\narbitrage activity involving index futures and options, said\nthe general trend of the market has been upward for months.\n\"Every time the market comes in, somebody comes along with more\nmoney,\" he said.\n He said investors adding to Individual Retirement Accounts\nprior to a mid-April tax deadline and buying from Japanese\ninvestors are apparently helping push stocks higher.\n Ron Feinstein, an analyst with Dean Witter Reynolds Inc,\nsaid reports of heavy Japanese buying, just prior to the end of\nthe fiscal year in Japan, fueled bullish sentiment.\n He said investors who had long positions in stocks hedged\nwith short positions in index futures rolled the expiring March\nfutures over into June contracts. But he added different\nplayers with other goals also were active and there was no\nsimple explanation of the market's gyrations.\n For example, Feinstein noted the June contract for the June\nStandard and Poor's 500 stock index future hit 300 about 15\nminutes prior to the close of NYSE trading. In 12 minutes, the\ncontracted dipped to 297.50. \"That could have been a wave of\nselling from institutional people making a roll,\" he said.\n It was the first time a nearby contract of the S and P 500\nhit 300. The cash index closed at a record 298.17. \"It looks\nlike the market is going to continue to go higher,\" he said.\n \"Triple expirations didn't really mean that much, it was a\nstrong day for stocks,\" said Steve Chronowitz of Smith Barney,\nHarris Upham and Co.\n Chronowitz said the stock market has been underpinned by\n\"good solid buying interest\" which will cushion any pullback.\n Other investors who were long futures and short stocks\nbought stocks on the close today instead of rolling over, said\nMark Zurack of Goldman, Sachs and Co. He cautioned against\n\"over-dramatizing\" the day's activity, which said was more a\nreflection of fundamental strength in the markets.\n Leigh Stevens of PaineWebber Group Inc said what he saw was\nmostly covering of short positions in stocks as index options\nand individual options expired. He said there could be a\ndecline early next week in the stock market.\n \"It looked like it worked well today,\" said Howard Kramer,\nasssistant director of market regulation for the Securities and\nExchange Commission. But he said all of the data will have to\nbe analyzed next week.\n He said there was relatively little commotion at the close,\nwith about 50 mln shares changing hands in the final minute\ncompared to 85 mln in the triple expirations three months\nearlier. He noted the Dow industrials jumped about 12 points in\nthe closing minutes, a modest move for a 2333-point index.\n Kramer pointed out an SEC-NYSE measure to curb volatility,\ndisclosure of \"market-on-close\" orders in 50 major stocks 30\nminutes prior to the end of trading, showed imbalances of\nmodest proportions. The disclosures are aimed at evening out\nvolatility by attracting orders on the opposite side of the\nimbalance.\n The data showed more buy orders than sell orders for 47\nstocks, a preponderance of sell orders for only one stock, and\nno significant imbalance for two stocks. The NYSE had tightened\na rule governing what type of market on close orders can be\naccepted in the final half hour.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:32:18.21", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8024" }, { "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:39:14.71", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8025" }, { "title": "SUNBELT NURSERY GROUP INC 2ND QTR FEB 28", "body": "Shr loss 40 cts vs loss 29 cts\n Net loss 1.5 mln vs loss 1.1 mln\n Revs 28.9 mln vs 28.5 mln\n Six months\n Shr loss 99 cts vs loss 69 cts\n Net loss 3.7 mln vs loss 2.6 mln\n Revs 52.5 mln vs 51.7 mln\n \n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:40:10.54", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8026" }, { "title": "MARCOM TELECOMMUNICATIONS 2ND QTR JAN 31", "body": "Oper shr loss five cts vs loss six cts\n Oper net loss 157,688 vs loss 96,573\n Revs 1,094,331 vs 1,378,973\n Avg shrs 3,315,654 vs 1,661,023\n Six mths\n Oper shr loss seven cts vs loss 24 cts\n Oper net loss 198,555 vs loss 394,589\n Net 2,243,377 vs 2,440,850\n Avg shrs 2,796,848 vs 1,637,592\n NOTE: Current year 2nd qtr and six mths excludes a loss\n10,767 dlrs for discontinued operations.\n Prior year 2nd qtr and six mths excludes a loss of 54,686\ndlrs and 112,565 dlrs for discontinued operations.\n Full name of company is Marcom Telecommunications Inc.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:41:26.30", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8027" }, { "title": "EASTPARK REALTY TRUST QTLY DIV", "body": "Qlty div 25 cts vs 25 cts prior\n Payable April 22\n Record April 10\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:43:13.77", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8028" }, { "title": "CANADA'S CLARK SEES TRADE AS MOST URGENT PROBLEM", "body": "Trade is the most urgent problem\nfacing U.S.-Canadian relations because of a pressing need to\nreach a new bilateral pact within the coming months, Joe Clark,\nCanadian secretary of state for external affairs, said.\n Negotiators for the two countries have been meeting for\nmore than a year in an effort to work out an agreement.\n \"The most urgent problem now is the trade question because\nthat has to be decided within the next 10 months,\" Clark told\nthe Commonwealth Club of California. \"We have a fast track\nauthority from your Congress for approval or rejection of\nwhatever the negotiators achieve.\"\n Clark said that, as a practical matter, an initial\nagreement must be reached by late September or early October.\n He listed environmental questions, particularly acid rain,\nand defense as the second and third most important bilateral\nissues facing Ottawa and Washington.\n On Wednesday, President Reagan announced that he will seek\n2.5 billion dlrs from Congress to address the acid rain\nproblem. Some interpreted the move as a goodwill gesture in\nadvance of his annual meeting, on April 5-6 in Ottawa, with\nPrime Minister Brian Mulroney.\n In a question-and-answer session with the public affairs\ngroup, Clark said that the two countries must find better\nmechanisms for resolving their trade disputes.\n \"This rash of countervailing actions, where we acted on\ncorn and you acted on soft wood and we both said they were\nquasijudicial -- the dispute resolution mechanisims in place\nnow are not working adequately in either of our interests,\" he\nsaid.\n Ottawa also is seeking to change some of Washington's rules\non government procurement that penalize Canadian businesses, he\nsaid.\n \"There are a number of Canadian companies that, in order to\nsecure substantial contracts in the United States, have had to\nmove their head offices out of our country into your country\nbecause you have national procurement requirements,\" he said.\n In turn, he added, the United States would like to change\nsome of the procurement requirements that exist at the\nprovincial government level in Canada.\n Clark declined to forecast the outcome of the discussions.\n \"What will come out of it remains for the negotiators, in\nthe first instance, to propose, and then governments and\ncongresses will have judge,\" he said.\n In his prepared remarks, Clark said that the United States\nhas tended to take Canada for granted, although it exports to\nits northern neighbor more than twice what it exports to Japan.\n\"Yet you bought almost 10 per cent more from Japan last year\nthan you bought from Canada,\" he said. REUTER\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:44:23.79", "topics": [ "trade" ], "places": [ "canada", "usa" ], "id": "8029" }, { "title": "ESSEX CORP YEAR END LOSS", "body": "Oper shr loss 11 cts vs profit 33 cts\n Oper net loss 132,000 vs profit 408,000\n Revs 25.2 mln vs 23.0 mln\n NOTE: 1986 and 1985 oper net excludes a loss of 636,000\ndlrs or 52 cts per share and a loss of 994,000 dlrs or 80 cts\nper share for discontinued operations.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:45:15.30", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8030" }, { "title": "U.S. LAUNCHES INDONESIAN COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE", "body": "NASA launched an Indonesian\ncommunications satellite aboard a Delta rocket, marking the\nfirst international payload to be put into orbit since the\nChallenger disaster more than a year ago.\n The 43 mln dlr satellite, the Palapa B2-P, was launched as\nthe result of an agreement reached last year between President\nRonald Reagan and Indonesia's President Suharto when they met\non Bali.\n \n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:45:24.11", "places": [ "usa", "indonesia" ], "id": "8031" }, { "title": " YEAR OCT 31 LOSS", "body": "Shr loss 19.22 dlrs vs loss 3.90 dlrs\n Net loss 276.4 mln vs loss 45.6 mln\n Revs 85.4 mln vs 113.3 mln\n NOTE: Shr results after deducting preferred share dividends\nof 13.1 mln dlrs in both periods.\n Current loss includes a 125 mln dlr writedown of oil and\ngas properties, a 67 mln dlr writeoff of deferred charges, a\n22.5 mln dlr loss on disposal of U.K. properties, a 21.2 mln\ndlr equity loss from affiliate Sulbath Exploration ltd and a\n4.6 mln dlr loss on other investments.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:50:45.11", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "canada" ], "id": "8032" }, { "title": "ALBERTA BUDGET SETS TAX INCREASE, LOWER DEFICIT", "body": "The Alberta provincial\ngovernment will increase its general corporate tax rate on\nApril 1 to 15 pct from 11 pct under its 1987-88 budget\nannounced today, provincial treasurer Dick Johnston said.\n The budget forecasts the 1987-88 provincial deficit to be\n1.90 billion dlrs, compared to a forecast deficit of 3.30\nbillion dlrs for fiscal 1987, which ends March 31, Johnston\nsaid.\n The budget forecasts fiscal 1988 revenues of 8.63 billion\ndlrs and expenditures of 10.42 billion dlrs, Johnston said.\n The provincial budget raises combined personal and\ncorporate income taxes by about 20 pct, Johnston said.\n Johnston told a news conference taxes were increased after\nrevenues from oil and gas taxes fell by 64 pct last year and\nare not expected to increase sharply in the short term.\n The provincial government expects resource tax revenues for\nfiscal 1987 to fall to 1.30 billion dlrs from a previously\nestimated 2.20 billion dlrs, compared to 3.60 billion dlrs\ncollected in fiscal 1986 before the collapse in oil prices.\n Johnston told reporters he needed to raise taxes in order\nto begin moving towards a balanced budget in 1990-91.\n Johnston said the personal income tax increase takes three\nforms. The basic provincial tax rate rises to 46.5 pct from\n43.5 pct of the basic federal income tax rate.\n The provincial budget also imposed a temporary eight pct\nsurtax on individuals with taxable income of more than 36,000\ndlrs, he said.\n In addition, the government levied a flat one pct surtax on\nall individuals with taxable income.\n Johnston said overall government spending of 10.42 billion\ndlrs represents a cut of 4.4 pct, but various grants and tax\ncredits for agriculture and energy industries will remain.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:51:40.27", "places": [ "canada" ], "id": "8033" }, { "title": "WISCONSIN ELECTRIC OFFERS PREFERRED", "body": "Wisconsin Electric Power Co said it\nbegan a public offering of 700,000 shares of serial preferred\nstock, 6-3/4 pct series, 100 dlrs par value, at a price of 100\ndlrs per share.\n The shares are being offered pursuant to a shelf\nregistration covering 700,000 sahres of serial preferred stock\nwhich the company filed on February 19, 1987.\n Proceeds will be used to redeem outstanding preferred stock\nor for repayment of short-term indebtedness.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:54:04.61", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8034" }, { "title": "TEXAS AIR UNIT SELLS EQUIPMENT-BACKED DEBT", "body": "Continental Airlines Inc, a unit of\nTexas Air Corp, is offering 350 mln dlrs of equipment-backed\ndebt securities in three tranches and another 150 mln dlrs of\nsenior notes due 1997, said lead manager Drexel Burnham.\n A 100 mln dlr offering of first priority secured equipment\ncertificates due 1992 was given a 10 pct coupon and par\npricing. This tranche is non-callable to maturity.\n A 125 mln dlr issue of second priority secured equipment\ncertificates due 1995 has an 11 pct coupon and par pricing and\nan equal-sized offering of third priority certificates due 1999\nwas given an 11-3/8 pct coupon and par pricing.\n The second two tranches of the equipment-backed deal are\nnon-callable for five years, Drexel said.\n Continental's 10-year notes were assigned an 11-1/2 pct\ncoupon and priced at par. They are non-callable for five years.\nTexas Air has guaranteed the scheduled payments of interest and\nprincipal for the senior notes.\n The securities are rated B-2 by Moody's and B by Standard\nand Poor's. Kidder Peabody, Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney\nco-managed the issues. Proceeds, estimated at 486 mln dlrs,\nwill be used to repay about 254 mln dlrs of bank debt, with the\nremainder added to working capital, Continental said.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 17:55:02.25", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8035" }, { "title": "STANWOOD CORP 4TH QTR JAN 3", "body": "Shr loss 1.12 dlrs vs profit one cts\n Net loss 1.7 mln vs profit 8,000 dlrs\n Revs 31.8 mln vs 42.1 mln\n Year\n Shr loss 51 cts vs profit 57 cts\n NEt loss 780,000 vs profit 876,000\n Revs 117.8 mln vs 117.3 mln\n NOTE:1986 4th qtr includes loss of 911,000 for termination\nof licensing agreement and loss of 319,000 dlr for termination\nof womens wear operation.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:00:25.76", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8036" }, { "title": "GUEST SUPPLY GETS SHAREHOLDER SUIT", "body": "Guest Supply INc said a\nshareholder sued it and certain officers and directors,\nalleging misrepresentations and omissions in the prospectus for\nthe company's September 1986 public offering.\n Guest said the complaint is without merit and will defend\nthe action vigorously.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:01:38.04", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8037" }, { "title": "CONABLE SAYS BRAZIL DEBT MORATORIUM IS TEMPORARY", "body": "World Bank President Barber Conable\nsaid he believed Brazil's decision to suspend foreign debt\ninterest payments is temporary.\n Conable in a wide-ranging television interview to be shown\non public broadcasting tomorrow said Brazil now has the\nattention of its creditors and must come up with a plan\ndesigned to reform its economy.\n \"I think the Brazilians have the attention of many of their\ncreditors, but they must come up with a plan that will persuade\npeople that the Brazilian economy is going to be put on a\ncourse that will result in some growth.\"\n Turning to Japan, Conable said the role of that country has\nbeen increasing in the World Bank and is expected to continue\nto do so.\n He said that Japan had made an additional 450 mln dlr\npledge to the International Development Association, an\nindication that it agrees that it must provide more help in\nline with its economic position.\n Conable said there was no indication that the Soviet Union\nwas serious about joining the International Monetary Fund and\nWorld Bank. He said they would have to get convertible currency\nand open their books and the Soviets \"don't usually do that.\"\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:01:49.51", "organisations": [ "worldbank", "imf" ], "places": [ "usa", "brazil", "japan" ], "id": "8038" }, { "title": "SULPETRO LOSS DUE TO WRITEDOWNS, ASSET DISPOSALS", "body": " said its 1986\nfiscal year net loss of 276.4 mln dlrs, or 19.22 dlrs per\nshare, was due to several factors, the largest of which was a\nwritedown of 125.0 mln dlrs of oil and gas properties.\n Sulpetro also recorded a writeoff of deferred charges\namounting to 67.0 mln dlrs, a loss of 22.5 mln dlrs on the\ndisposal of all properties in the United Kingdom and an equity\nloss of 21.2 mln dlrs from affiliate Sulbath Exploration Ltd.\n There was also a loss on other investments of 4.6 mln dlrs\nand a loss on operations of 36.1 mln dlrs after interest,\ndepletion, depreciation and income tax recoveries.\n In the fiscal year ended October 31, 1985, Sulpetro had a\nnet loss of 45.6 mln dlrs, or 3.90 dlrs per share.\n The company also said its non-recourse project financing\nfor the Irish-Lindergh heavy oil field remains in default due\nto continuing low oil prices.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:06:35.19", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "canada" ], "id": "8039" }, { "title": "AMERICAN EXPRESS TO DISCUSS SHEARSON DEAL", "body": "American Express Co's board of\ndirectors Monday will discuss the company's arrangement to sell\n13 pct of Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc to Nippon Life Insurance\nCo, a company spokesman said.\n The spokesman would not say whether the board is planning\nto vote on the understanding between American Express and\nNippon Life. The Shearson stake is to be sold for 530 mln dlrs,\nAmerican Express has said.\n The spokesman also would not comment on speculation that\nthe board was to discuss a sale of securities to the public.\n Monday's board meeting is a regular monthly meeting. The\nplan to sell part of Shearson to Nippon Life must be approved\nby the American Express board and Japan's Ministry of Finance.\n Earlier, American Express and Shearson said they were\nsubpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. American\nExpress said it was subpoenaed for documents pertaining to\nsecurities transactions of American Express and Fireman's Fund.\nShearson was subpoenaed for documents related to transactions\nwith Jefferies and Co and others.\n The American Express spokesman said he could not comment on\nwhether any officials of the firm were subpoenaed.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:07:55.50", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8040" }, { "title": "NATURAL GAS SEEN RECAPTURING SOME MARKET SHARE", "body": "Higher crude oil prices will raise\ndemand for natural gas, helping it to reclaim market share lost\nto heavy oil when prices plunged in 1986, analysts said.\n The analysts said that these efforts will be most\nsuccessful in the industrial sectors of the economy with large\nand growing energy requirements.\n \"Natural gas stands a good chance to recapture the share of\noil supplied to electric utilities that it lost to the residual\nfuel industry last year,\" Michael Smolinski, an energy\neconomist with Data Resources Inc, told Reuters.\n An estimated 200,000 barrels per day of residual fuel went\ninto the utilities market at the expense of natural gas last\nyear when world oil prices plunged, Smolinski said. \n Assuming oil prices hold above 15 dlrs a barrel, national\naverage gas prices delivered to the utilities at a projected\n2.10 to 2.25 dlrs per mln Btu would be very competitive,\nMichael German, vice president of economic analysis at American\nGas Association said.\n The average delivered prices at the end of January were\n2.10 dlrs per mln Btu, compared with 3.26 dlrs a year ago.\n \"We expect natural gas to regain 250 to 400 billion cubic\nfeet (of demand) in the overall energy market in the second and\nthird quarter (1987),\" he said.\n In addition to price competitiveness, availability will be\nan important factor persuading energy users to switch to gas,\nFrank Spadine, senior energy economist with Bankers Trust Corp.\nin New York noted.\n Spadine said the mild winter in many parts of the North\nAmerican continent has led to a build up of gas inventories and\nless would be necessary to replenish underground storage this\nspring freeing gas for spot sales.\n These forecasts develop a strong counterpoint to the fears\nthat natural gas suplies would be tight and prices\nsignificantly higher given a sharp decline in drilling last\nyear.\n AGA's German contended that despite the drilling decline,\nmuch of U.S. proved reserves could be brought to production\nquickly through developments such as the infill drilling which\npermits more wells to be drilled in proved reserve basins.\n Citing recent EIA statistics, German said, the gas surplus\nwas likely to contract from three trillion cubic feet in 1986\nto two trillion cubic feet in 1987, but the surplus would not\ngo away until 1990.\n Smolinski of Data Resources agreed that the surplus would\npersist until 1990. While gas supplies may tighten in certain\nconsuming areas, notably in California and in the Northeast\nU.S., an overall shortfall appeared remote.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:11:31.62", "topics": [ "crude", "nat-gas", "fuel" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8041" }, { "title": "LOUISIANA LAND ASSUMES INEXCO'S DEBT", "body": "Louisiana Land and Exploration Co\nsaid it assumed the obligation to pay the principal and\ninterest on the 8-1/2 pct convertible subordinated debentures\ndue September 1, 2000 of Inexco Oil Co, a unit of Louisiana\nLand.\n Effective March 23, the debentures will be listed as the\ndebentures of Louisiana Land, LLXOO.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:14:24.22", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8042" }, { "title": "MACMILLAN BLOEDEL TO REDEEM DEBENTURES", "body": "MacMillan Bloedel\nLtd said it will redeem all outstanding nine pct series J\ndebentures on April 27, 1987 for 34.9 mln U.S. dlrs, plus a\npremium of one pct and accrued and unpaid interest.\n The series J debentures were issued in Europe in 1977 and\nwere due February 1992, the company said.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:16:46.86", "places": [ "canada" ], "id": "8043" }, { "title": "U.S. SENATORS SAY SANCTIONS LIKELY ON MICROCHIPS", "body": "The United States will likely impose\nsanctions soon on imports of Japanese microchips, senators said\ntoday after a private meeting with Commerce Secretary Malcolm\nBaldrige.\n Although the senators said Baldrige told them no decision\nwould be taken until a final determination is made on whether\nJapanese microchips were dumped in the United States, they said\nthey were virtually sure Japan would face penalties.\n President Reagan's trade policy advisory group, of which\nBaldrige is a member, will meet on the issue Wednesday.\n \"I am confident we will see action taken,\" Sen. John McCain,\nan Arizona Republican, told reporters.\n \"I am expecting sanctions at least, and even more than\nsanctions,\" Sen. Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican, said.\n The senators, several congressmen and U.S. semiconductor\nindustry representatives met with Baldrige and State Department\nofficials to discuss Japan's alleged violations of a September\n1986 agreement to stop dumping its microchips in the United\nStates and other countries.\n They recommended Japanese firms be penalized through\ntariffs or import duties over the next six to 12 months for\ncontinuing to dump microchips. The violations were worth 100\nmln dls to the Japanese semiconductor industry, they said.\n Asked if Baldrige intended to recommend sanctions, Sen.\nPete Wilson told reporters, \"The clear import of what he said is\nthat there will be.\"\n \"Japan can't just say they will comply. We think sanctions\nmust be applied,\" for past violations of the agreement, the\nCalifornia Republican said.\n The semiconductor industry produces microprocessor chips\nwhich are used in high technology products ranging from radios\nto defence missile guidance systems.\n Sen. James McClure, an Idaho Republican, said Baldrige told\nthem the administration had not made a final determination that\nJapanese companies had dumped semiconductor microchips below\nthe cost of production in the United States or other countries.\n But McClure said senators told him, \"There is no doubt\ndumping is going on,\" based on evidence such as invoices of\npurchases of the Japanese products.\n The two countries signed a pact last September in which\nJapan agreed to stop selling its microchips in the United\nStates and other countries below production costs and to allow\nthe U.S. semiconductor industry access to the Japanese market.\n In return, the United States waived its right to impose\nimport duties on the Japanese microchips.\n Japanese officials have said they have lived up to the pact\nand have asked Japanese chip-makers to further slash output to\nsave the pact.\n Japan has frequently been the target of congressional\ndiscouragement over last year's record 169-billion-dlr trade\ndeficit. Tokyo had a 59-billion-dlr surplus with the United\nStates last year and had large surpluses with other countries.\n The Senate yesterday unanimously passed a resolution\ncalling for action against Japan for violations of the pact\nsince September. The resolution will be introduced in the House\nnext week by Rep. Bob Matsui, a California Democrat.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:19:27.03", "topics": [ "trade" ], "places": [ "usa", "japan" ], "id": "8044" }, { "title": "MULTI-MEDIA SEES YEAR END LOSS", "body": "Multi-Media Barter Ltd said it expects\nto report a net loss of 820,000 dlrs or 17 cts a share for the\nyear ended December 31, compared to a loss of 553,000 or 11 cts\na share in the prior year.\n The fourth quarter resulted in a net loss of 227,000 or\nfour cts compared to a loss of 330,000 or six cts a shares last\nyear.\n It said it is currently in the process of restructuring by\nreducing expenses and streamlining operations and has cut\nexpenses from 50,000 dlrs to less than 15,000 dlrs a month.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:20:01.80", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8045" }, { "title": "WIEBOLDT'S TO CLOSE EIGHT STORES", "body": "Wieboldt's Department Stores, in\nChapter 11 bankruptcy since September 1986, said as part of an\nagreement with creditors it will operate its four largest and\nmost productive stores but close the remaining eight stores.\n It said 341 employees of its remaining 885 employees will\nbe laid off or terminated as a result.\n The company also said it established a fund of about 12 mln\ndlrs to be available for payment of creditors' claims.\n The retailer said it would continue to operate its four\nlargest and most productive Chicago area outlets - State\nStreet, Randhurst, Harlem-Irving and Ford City.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:25:06.34", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8046" }, { "title": "NATIONAL HMO CORP 2ND QTR JAN 31", "body": "Shr loss nine cts vs profit nine cts\n Net loss 478,000 vs profit 371,000\n Revs 3.4 mln vs 2.6 mln\n Six months\n Net loss 466,000 vs profit 685,000\n Revs 6.2 mln vs 5.0 mln\n NOTE:1987 net loss includes writeoff of deferred start up\ncosts totaling 490,000 dlrs.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:26:27.13", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8047" }, { "title": "MINORCO HALF YEAR DEC 31", "body": "Shr 26 cts vs 38 cts\n Net 44.0 mln vs 65.0 mln\n NOTE:1986 net includes one mln dlr extraordinary gain and\n1985 net icludes four mln dlrs extraordinary loss.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:39:41.65", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "canada" ], "id": "8048" }, { "title": "PHILIPPINE DEBT TALKS TO CONTINUE ON SATURDAY", "body": "The Philippines and its bank advisory\ncommittee completed another round of debt rescheduling talks \nand will meet again on Saturday, a senior banker said.\n Although today's negotiations did not produce a final\nagreement, the decision to meet at the weekend appears to be a\nsignal that the two sides are making progress.\n The Philippines seeks to restructure 9.4 billion dlr of its\n27.2 billion dlr foreign debt. The interest rate to be charged\non the debt and Manila's proposal to pay interest partly with\ninvestment notes instead of cash have been the main sticking\npoints in the talks.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:41:04.26", "places": [ "usa", "philippines" ], "id": "8049" }, { "title": "MINORCO SEES IMPROVED SECOND HALF", "body": "Minorco said it expects net\nearnings to be substantially stronger than the 44.0 mln dlrs\nreported for the first half.\n In reporting that first half results declined from 65.0 mln\ndlrs, Minorco said the contributions from its 50 pct investment\nin December 1985 in Adobe Resources Corp was negative as a\nresult of low oil and gas prices.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:41:09.81", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8050" }, { "title": "MINORCO SEES IMPROVED SECOND HALF", "body": "Minorco said it expects net\nearnings to be substantially stronger than the 44.0 mln dlrs\nreported for the first half.\n In reporting that first half results declined from 65.0 mln\ndlrs, Minorco said the contributions from its 50 pct investment\nin December 1985 in Adobe Resources Corp was negative as a\nresult of low oil and gas prices.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:41:20.90", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8051" }, { "title": "FDIC SAYS INDIANA BANK BECOMES 48TH TO FAIL", "body": "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp\nsaid state banking regulators closed the Morocco State Bank in\nMorrocco, Indiana, bringing the total number of banks to fail\nso far this year to 48.\n The failed bank's 14.1 mln dlrs in deposits and 9.9 mln\ndlrs of its loans and other assets will be assumed by DeMotte\nState Bank in DeMotte, Ind, the FDIC said.\n The FDIC said it will advance 3.7 mln dlrs to help the\ntransaction and would retain 5.1 mln dlrs in the failed banks\nassets.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:44:31.15", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8052" }, { "title": "U.S. ARMS NEGOTIATOR SAID TO HAVE HEART ATTACK", "body": "U.S. arms negotiator Max Kampelman\nsuffered a mild heart attack, an aide said.\n Nancy Tackett, Kampleman's staff assistant, told Reuters\nKampelman was doing well and was expected to leave George\nWashington Hospital in about a week.\n \"A full recovery is expected,\" she said.\n Kampelman did not feel well yesterday and may have\nsufffered the heart attack then, Tackett said. He had a\nregularly-scheduled physical this morning and entered the\nhospital after that, on his doctor's advice, she said.\n A hospital spokesman confirmed that Kampelman was a\npatient in the coronary care unit.\n\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:48:35.54", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8053" }, { "title": "DALLAS-BASED THRIFT CLOSED BY REGULATORS", "body": "The Federal Home Loan Bank Board\nsaid Dallas-based Vernon Savings and Loan Association, the 15th\nlargest thrift in Texas, was closed by state authorities and\nits assets, deposits and liabilities were transfered to a new\nfederally chartered association.\n Vernon, with 1.35 billion dlrs of assets and nine offices\nin Texas and Oklahoma, was closed after state regulators\nconcluded it was in unsafe and unsound condition.\n The thrift was owned by Texas businessman Donald Dixon, who\nbought it in early 1982, when it had only 120 mln dlrs in\nassets.\n The bank board said growth was accomplished largely through\nthe purchase of brokered deposits and the sale of jumbo\ncertificates of deposit, which totaled 29 pct of total deposits\nat the end of 1986.\n The bank board also said that 96 pct of its loan portfolio\nwas nonperforming as a result of sloppy loan practices.\n It said Vernon also paid excessive salaries and dividends\nto officers and directors and bought a beach house and five\nairplances for the use of thrift executives and stockholders.\n The bank board ousted the thrift's officers and directors\nand hired another Texas association to run it.\n The bank board also said it closed First Federal of\nMaryland, a federal savings association that had 115.2 mln dlrs\nin assets. It said its 118 mln dlrs in insured deposits were\ntransferred to Columbia First Federal Savings and Loan\nAssociation of Washington, D.C.\n The bank board said First Federal had engaged in unsound\nloan underwriting practices and many of the loans are now\ndeliquent. The institution experienced heavy and continuing\nlosses and became insolvent, the bank board said.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:49:16.73", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8054" }, { "title": "ECONOMIC SPOTLIGHT - BOLIVIA", "body": "Bolivia, once Latin America's most\ndelinquent debtor, is preparing for a second International\nMonetary Fund agreement after an economic stabilisation program\nhas effectively slowed inflation and reduced public spending.\n A fund spokesman said an IMF team would visit La Paz\nshortly to discuss terms of the new agreement.\n He said the IMF had disbursed 130 mln dlrs here and 20 mln\ndlrs are pending under the one year agreement that ends this\nmonth. The accord provided for a stand-by loan, a compensatory\nfinancing facility and a structural adjustment facility.\n The spokesman said that if the agreement is renewed,\nBolivia can expect a further 60-mln-dlr stand-by loan over the\nnext 12 months.\n Bolivia's agreement with the IMF, its first since 1980,\nopened the door to rescheduling negotiations with the Paris\nClub and Argentina and Brazil, which hold 2.5 billion dlrs of\nBolivia's 4.0-billion-dlr foreign debt.\n Central Bank President Javier Nogales told Reuters the\nnegotiations with the Paris Club, which have yet to be\nfinalised, had been extremely successful.\n Nogales said the Paris Club had agreed to reschedule\nBolivia's debt over 10 years with five to six years grace and\nhad waived all interest payments until the end of 1988.\n Bilateral discussions on interest rates continue, he said.\n Nogales said Bolivia was expecting some 400 mln dlrs in\ndisbursements this year from lender countries and international\nagencies, including the World Bank and the Inter-American\nDevelopment Bank, although diplomatic and banking sources put\nthe figure at closer to 300 mln dlrs.\n Nogales said Bolivia's net international reserves are\naround 250 mln dlrs, up from one mln dlrs when President Ictor\nPaz Estenssoro took office in august 1985. Nogales said the\ncapital flow on Bolivia's debt servicing versus new credits had\nchanged from a net outflow of 200 mln dlrs in 1985 to a net\ninflow of 130 mln dlrs in 1986.\n Bolivia's return from the financial wilderness follows paz\nestenssoro's economic stabilisation program. He inherited\ninflation of 23,000 pct a year, state enterprises that were\nlosing hundreds of mlns of dlrs and a currency that traded on\nthe black market at up to 16 times its official rate.\n Paz estenssoro froze public sector wages, set a market-\nrelated rate for the peso, introduced tax reforms and laid off\nthousands of workers in state corporations.\n Inflation has been running at 10 pct a year for the past\nsix months, according to the Central Bank, and the government \nexpects the economy to grow three pct this year after a 14 pct\ncontraction over the last six years.\n The government is also proposing a novel solution to its\ndebt to commercial banks, some 900 mln dlrs, on which interest\nhas not been paid since March, 1984.\n Nogales said that over the next few months Bolivia would\nmake a one-time offer to buy back all its commercial debt at\nthe price it trades on the international secondary market -- \n10-15 cents on the dlr. He said Bolivia's commercial bank\nsteering committee agreed at a meeting in New York to consider\nthe proposal, but it is still unclear what proportion of the\ncountry's creditor banks will take up the offer.\n One foreign banker speculated that Bolivia might be able to\nbuy back up to 30 pct of its commercial debt paper under the\ndeal, mostly from small banks who have written off their loans\nto the country.\n But he said the larger creditors were more interested in a\nscheme of debt-equity swaps, similar to that which has operated\nin Chile for the past two years.\n The Bolivian government has yet to draw up proposals for\ndebt-equity swaps, but the banker said it was planning to\nprivatise more than 100 state companies and these could serve\nas a basis for such a scheme.\n Foreign bankers said this type of proposal might prove\nattractive to Bolivia in the long run, especially as the\ngovernment realises that it will have to attract a large amount\nof new capital in order to grow.\n Planning Minister Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada told Reuters\nthat Bolivia was hoping for five to six billion dlrs in new\ninvestment over the next 10 to 12 years.\n The government realises that in order to remain viable,\nBolivia will need to develop new exports.\n The price of tin, which accounted for some 45 pct of\nBolivia's exports in 1984, has collapsed on the world markets,\nand gas, the country's major revenue earner, is in abundant\nsupply in the region.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:50:54.45", "topics": [ "tin" ], "organisations": [ "imf", "worldbank" ], "places": [ "bolivia" ], "id": "8055" }, { "title": "NEOAX INC 4TH QTR", "body": "Shr loss 13 cts vs loss six cts\n Net loss 1.4 mln vs loss 635,000\n Revs 40.3 mln vs 28.5 mln\n Year\n Shr profit 40 cts vs profit 26 cts\n Net profit 4.2 mln vs 2.6 mln\n Revs 166.4 mln vs 94.6 mln\n NOTE:1986 4th qtr and year net reflects dividend\nrequirements of 1.5 mln dlrs and 3.3 mln dlrs, and charges of\n257,000 dlrs and 4.6 mln dlrs respectively which is not\naccruable or payable because of pre-reorganization tax loss\ncarryforwards.\n 1985 4th qtr and year net reflects dividend requirement of\n1.1 mln dlrs and 2.3 mln dlrs, respectively, and charges of\n472,000 dlrs and 2.9 mln dlrs respectively which is not\naccruable or payable because of pre-organization tax loss\ncarryforwards.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:51:57.82", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8056" }, { "title": "PACIFIC STOCK EXCHANGE SHORT INTEREST UP", "body": "The Pacific Stock Exchange said\nthere was a total short interest of 1,413,674 shares of stock\nexclusively traded on the Exchange as of March 13, an increase\nof 102,486 shares from last month's restated total of\n1,311,188.\n The Exchange said the short interest ratio rose to 1.42\nfrom last month's ratio of 1.25.\n The ratio is based on an average daily trading volume of\n994,545 shares in the 47 issues included in the report.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 18:57:24.80", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8057" }, { "title": "U.S. SAYS STATE REGULATORS CLOSE OKLAHOMA BANK", "body": "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp \n(FDIC) said it transfered the federally insured deposits of\nMadill Bank and Trust Co, Madill, Okla, to the healthy First\nAmerican National Bank, Tishomingo, Okla., after Madill was\nclosed by Oklahoma authorities.\n The failed bank had 37.0 mln in assets and two offices.\n Madill was the 49th federally insured bank to fail so far\nthis year, the FDIC said.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 19:17:44.82", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8058" }, { "title": "SEC'S SHAD SEES WIDENING TRADING PROBES", "body": "Securities and Exchange Commission\nchairman John Shad said the SEC's investigations of\ninsider-trading on Wall Street will broaden to include other\ntypes of securities law violations.\n Shad, appearing on Cable News Network's Moneyline program,\nsaid the SEC staff will \"go down every avenue\" in which it\nfinds violations of securities laws.\n He said the SEC staff will investigate \"many more ancillary\nareas.\" These, he said, include stock \"parking\" to avoid\nrequired SEC filings on stock holdings of more than five pct\nand failures by brokerage firms to meet net capital\nrequirements.\n \n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "20-MAR-1987 19:31:41.47", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8059" }, { "title": "MAIN FEATURES OF NEW RUBBER PACT", "body": "The new International Natural Rubber\nAgreement (INRA), like the 1979 pact, will use a buffer stock\nas the sole instrument for market intervention -- excluding\nexport quotas or production controls.\n The new INRA was adopted yesterday at a session held under\nthe auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and\nDevelopment (UNCTAD).\n In many respects the main features in the new pact resemble\nthose contained in the present one.\n The reference price, currently 201.66 Malaysian/Singapore\ncts per kilo, will be maintained -- unless between now and\nOctober 22, when the 1979 INRA expires, the average of the\ndaily market indicator price remains above the upper\nintervention (\"may sell\") price (231 cts) or below the lower\nintervention (\"may buy\") price (171 cts) for six months.\n If this happened -- but delegates said it was unlikely\nconsidering that the present indicator price averages 196 cts\n-- the price would be revised under the current accord by five\npct or by whatever amount the International Natural Rubber\nCouncil decides.\n The new reference price would then be taken over for the\nnew agreement.\n Under the same circumstances in the new pact the reference\nprice would be automatically revised by five pct unless the\nCouncil decides on a higher percentage.\n Similarly, if buffer stock purchases or sales amounting to\n300,000 tonnes have been made since the last revision, the\nreference price will be lowered or raised by three pct unless\nthe Council decides on a higher percentage.\n Another change introduced in the new INRA is that price\nreviews will be held at 15-month intervals instead of 18.\n Those changes are intended to make the reference price more\nresponsive to market trends.\n As in the present accord the \"may buy\" and \"may sell\" levels\nare set at plus or minus 15 pct of the reference price, and the\n\"must buy\" and \"must sell\" levels at 20 pct of it.\n The lower and upper indicative prices (floor and ceiling\nprices) will remain fixed at 150 and 270 cents, unless the\nCouncil decides to revise them at reviews held every 30 months.\n During the negotiations, consumers abandoned a proposal\nthat the floor price be adjusted downward if the buffer stock,\ncurrently 360,000 tonnes, rose to 450,000 tonnes.\n The maximum size of the buffer stock in the new pact is the\nsame as under the present one -- 400,000 tonnes, with provision\nfor an additional contingency buffer stock of 150,000 tonnes.\n Under the new accord, the contingency buffer stock will be\nbrought in at 152 cts to defend the floor price.\n At last Friday's session, Ahmed Farouk, speaking for\nproducers, said producing nations considered that the 1979 pact\nhad served the purpose for which it had been created.\n Gerard Guillonneau of France, who spoke for consumers,\nagreed that the current agreement had worked \"relatively well.\"\n Asked about the chances of success of the new INRA,\ndelegates noted that for nearly its whole life, the 1979 accord\nhad maintained the average price above the \"must buy\" level.\n They said the agreement until now did not appear to have\nencouraged excessive production of rubber.\n In addition, provisions for borrowing to finance the buffer\nstock have now been eliminated, ruling out speculation. \"It is a\nsort of middle-of-the-road agreement,\" one delegate said.\n The new pact will be open for signature at U.N.\nHeadquarters in New York from May 1 to December 31 this year.\n To become operational, it will require ratification by\ncountries accounting for 75 pct of world exports and 75 pct of\nworld imports.\n Delegates estimate that this will take 12 to 14 months from\nnow. During the hiatus between the two agreements, the\nInternational Natural Rubber Council will remain in place.\n The pact will enter into force definitively when\ngovernments accounting for 80 pct of world exports and 80 pct\nof world imports have ratified it.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 00:49:21.32", "topics": [ "rubber" ], "organisations": [ "unctad", "inro" ], "places": [ "switzerland" ], "id": "8060" }, { "title": "DROUGHT RAVAGES CHINESE FARMLAND", "body": "A prolonged drought is ravaging more\nthan 13 mln hectares (32 mln acres) of farmland in China and\nhas cut water levels in major rivers to record lows, the China\nDaily said.\n The drought will affect both the summer harvest in the\nsouth and the spring sowing under way in the north.\n It said the most seriously affected areas are Guangdong,\nJiangxi, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hebei, Shanxi and Guangxi.\n It said that, despite bigger snowfalls this year than last\nin Hebei and Shanxi and more rainfall forecast for some areas,\nthe drought will not abate in the near future.\n This is because the drought has lasted so long that slight\nincreases in rainfall are not enough to alleviate it, the paper\nsaid.\n It said that the water level on the middle reaches of the\nYangtze has fallen to its lowest level in more than 110 years,\nso that more than 100 ports along it cannot receive ships.\n Water level of other major rivers, including the Zhujiang,\nQiantangjiang and Minjiang, have also been affected by the\ndrought, the paper added but gave no more details.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 03:03:03.14", "places": [ "china" ], "id": "8061" }, { "title": "BOLIVIAN POLICE DISPERSE UNEMPLOYED MINERS", "body": "Police fired tear gas to disperse 1,000\nunemployed miners blocking the route of West German President\nRichard Weizsaecker's motorcade to La Paz, Bolivian Information\nMinister Herman Antelo said.\n \"They were forced to use tear gas to disperse the miners\nbecause they blocked the West German president's motorcade into\nthe city,\" Antelo told journalists last night after the\nincident. Weizsaecker began a four-day visit here.\n The demonstrators were part of about 20,000 miners -- about\ntwo-thirds of the total mining workforce -- laid off by the\ngovernment to streamline the deficit-ridden state mining firms.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 03:46:06.21", "places": [ "bolivia" ], "id": "8062" }, { "title": "TAIWAN INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT FALLS, CURRENCY BLAMED", "body": "Taiwan's industrial production index,\nfell, largely as the result of the rising Taiwan dollar, by\n8.18 pct to 140.06 (base 1981) in February from a revised\n152.53 in January, the Economy Ministry said.\n It was the second consecutive monthly fall, after dropping\nnine pct in January, but it was still 26.49 pct up on February\n1986 following a very extended rise last year.\n The January figure was revised from a preliminary 154.82.\n A ministry official attributed the decline to falling\nproduction of non-metal products, textiles and transportation\nequipment, and less mining and house construction.\n The official said the decline was also caused by falling\nexports in February due to the climb of the Taiwan dollar,\nwhich has made Taiwanese products more expensive.\n He expected the decline to continue in the next few months\nbecause of further appreciation of the local dollar against the\nU.S. Currency.\n The Taiwan dollar advanced more than 15 pct against the\nU.S. Dollar since September 1985. It closed at 34.40 to the\nU.S. Dollar today, and is expected to rise to about 32 to the\ndollar by the end of this year, foreign bankers and economists\nsaid.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 04:11:13.22", "topics": [ "ipi" ], "places": [ "taiwan" ], "id": "8063" }, { "title": "NO ZIMBABWE DOLLAR DEVALUATION - CENTRAL BANK", "body": "Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank, the nation's\ncentral bank, has denied the Zimbabwe dollar would be devalued.\n Bank Governor Kombo Moyana told The Herald daily newspaper\n\"unfortunate and completely unfounded speculation that a\ndepreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar was about to occur\" had\naggravated a serious foreign exchange shortage.\n \"During February and the early part of March this\n(speculation) caused importers to bring forward their payments\nand exporters to delay as long as possible the inward\nremittance of export receipts, resulting in a significant\nslowdown in net foreign exchange inflows,\" he added.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 06:31:28.65", "topics": [ "money-fx" ], "places": [ "zimbabwe" ], "id": "8064" }, { "title": "HONG KONG LAND DETAILS MANDARIN SPIN-OFF", "body": "Hong Kong Land Co Ltd gave\ndetails of a previously announced spin-off of its 80 pct stake\nin and a 32 pct stake in\n (JSH).\n An offer document prepared by financial adviser said Hong Kong Land offers\nshareholders 200 Mandarin shares at 1.54 H.K. Dlrs each and 93\nJSH shares at 3.28 dlrs each for every 1,000 Hong Kong Land\nshares. But price of Mandarin may be lowered to 1.43 dlrs each,\nwhile shareholders may instead receive 86 JSH shares if all\nHong Kong Land's existing warrants are exercised before April\n28.\n Hong Kong Land warrants are worth 725.92 mln dlrs.\n Holders of the firm's 151.89 mln preference shares will\nreceive a similar offer as ordinary shareholders.\n The company also agreed to sell a 20 pct stake in Mandarin\nto Jardine Strategic for some 430 mln dlrs.\n Hong Kong Land said last month it is expected to receive\nnet proceeds of about 900 mln dlrs from the spin-off and the\nsum will be used either for expansion or to reduce its debts.\n Hong Kong Land shares gained 30 cts to close at eight dlrs\neach yesterday, while JSH was up 50 cts at 12.90 dlrs.\n Mandarin will commence trading on June 8.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 06:34:01.84", "places": [ "hong-kong" ], "id": "8065" }, { "title": "MALAWI INTRODUCES NEW TAXES TO BOOST REVENUE", "body": "Malawi will impose a 15 pct \"border tax\" on\nsome overseas remittances and a five pct profit tax for local\nbranches of foreign firms to boost revenue and meet a projected\n1987/88 budget deficit of 303 mln kwacha, the Malawi news\nagency reported.\n Finance Minister Dalton Katopola, presenting the new\nbudget, said other measures would include raising surtax on\ngoods and services by five points to 35 pct and imposing duty\non luxury goods and tax on statutory bodies such as the Water\nBoard.\n Malawi's economy was expected to grow 2.3 pct this year, he\nsaid.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 07:29:17.54", "places": [ "malawi" ], "id": "8066" }, { "title": "CHINA, HONG KONG FIRMS SIGNS LOAN AGREEMENT", "body": " of China and\n of Hong Kong signed an agreement to borrow five\nbillion yen from an international syndicate of banks led by the\nBank of China, the New China News Agency said.\n It said the two firms will use the money to construct the\nOlympic Hotel, with 14 storeys and 380 rooms, near Peking's\nlargest indoor stadium, to cater for participants at\ninternational competitions and tourists.\n Construction of the hotel is under way and due to be\ncompleted by June 1988, the agency added but gave no more\ndetails.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 08:18:21.73", "places": [ "china", "hong-kong" ], "id": "8067" }, { "title": "FORMER GOLD FIRM EXECUTIVES ARRESTED IN JAPAN", "body": "The public prosecutors and police\nhere arrested five former senior executives of a bankrupt gold\ndeposit business group for defrauding about 450 clients of\nabout 1.5 billion yen for gold bars which were never delivered,\npolice said.\n The case involving the Toyota Shoji Company was highlighted\nwhen its 32-year-old Chairman Kazuo Nagano was stabbed to death\nhere in public view in June, 1985.\n Television crews which had been waiting outside Nagano's\nhome filmed two men smashing their way into the home and later\nemerging with a bloodstained bayonet.\n The company, established here in 1981, undertook to hold\ngold on deposit for investors. It grew into a nationwide\nbusiness operation with 87 branch offices and 7,000 employees\nat its peak in early 1985.\n Toyota Shoji's business group collected an estimated 200\nbillion yen from about 30,000 clients, many of them pensioners\nand housewives, before the firm went bankrupt in July, 1985,\naccording to lawyers.\n Of them, some 18,000 clients claimed they could get back\nneither gold or money, suffering an aggregate loss of 150\nbillion yen, local press reports said.\n Police said the five arrested on charge of fraud today\nincluded Hiroshi Ishikawa, 47, former Toyota Shoji president,\nand a sixth former executive was placed on a wanted list.\n They were suspected of having collaborated with the late\nNagano in swindling about 1.5 billion yen from about 450 people\nin Osaka and nearby Kobe during a six month period just before\nthe firm's bankruptcy, they said.\n Today's arrest came after narly two years of joint\ninvestigation by the public prosecutors and police, who had\nquestioned about 3,000 of the firm's former employees,\npolice sources said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 08:26:48.39", "topics": [ "gold" ], "places": [ "japan" ], "id": "8068" }, { "title": "WORLD BANK LIKELY TO URGE CHANGES ON JAKARTA", "body": "World Bank President Barber Conable is\nexpected to press Indonesia, the Third World's sixth largest\ndebtor, to maintain the momentum of economic policy changes to\ntackle the slump in its oil revenues, western diplomats said.\n Conable, who flew to Indonesia yesterday from Tokyo, will\nmeet with President Suharto and senior economic ministers.\n He said on arrival that the economy of South-East Asia's\nlargest nation was being managed well, but the slump in world\noil prices called for major policy adjustments.\n Today the World Bank chief will visit Bank-funded projects\nin the eastern section of Java, Indonesia's most populous\nisland. He will see Suharto on Tuesday after a day of detailed\ndiscussions with ministers tomorrow.\n Indonesia, the only Asian member of OPEC, has been severely\nhit by last year's crash in oil prices, which cut its oil and\ngas revenues in half.\n Japan's state Export-Import Bank last month agreed to\nprovide around 900 mln dlrs in untied credits to help Indonesia\npay for its share of 21 World Bank development projects.\n Indonesia, a country of 168 mln people, has responded to\nthe oil slump by cutting spending, devaluing its currency by 31\npct, and trying to boost exports, while using foreign loans to\nbridge its deficit.\n Diplomats said that Conable was expected to press Suharto\nand leading economic ministers to maintain the pace of policy\nchange, particularly in dismantling Indonesia's high-cost\nprotected economy.\n \"Oil prices, the debt crisis, the world recession, all call\nfor major policy adjustments and external support,\" Conable said\nin his arrival statement.\n But with Indonesia facing parliamentary elections next\nmonth, he is likely to avoid anything which would imply that\nthe Bank is demanding specific changes.\n \"We believe there has been wise leadership here and the\neconomy is being very well managed,\" Conable told reporters at\nJakarta airport.\n Indonesia has official and private overseas debts totalling\n37 billion dlrs, according to the Bank, which makes it the\nThird World's sixth biggest debtor. It has received 10.7\nbillion dlrs from the World Bank since 1968.\n Conable did not spell out what further changes he would\nlike to see. Last month the Bank endorsed economic changes\nalready introduced by Indonesia, but implied it wanted more.\n Giving a 300 mln dlr loan in balance of payments support,\nthe Bank said it will monitor progress on implementation of the\ngovernment's trade reform measures, and supported its\ndetermination to promote efficiency and longer-term growth.\n Indonesia has introduced a series of measures since last\nMay to boost non-oil exports, liberalise trade and encourage\noutside investment.\n Suharto has also ordered a government committee to look\ninto which of Indonesia's 215 state-run companies could be\nsold.\n But in a report last month, the U.S. Embassy said the\ngovernment appeared divided over how far to take its reforms.\n Western analysts say that in particular the government is\nunsure how far to go with dismantling Indonesia's high-cost\nmonopolies, which control core areas of the economy.\n Central bank governor Arifin Siregar said this week that\nIndonesia faced very limited economic choices.\n It could not spend its way out of trouble because this\nwould increase the balance of payments deficit and domestic\ninflation.\n He said the main objective was to raise exports outside\nthe oil and natural gas sector.\n Indonesia's current account deficit is projected by the\ngovernment to fall to 2.64 billion dlrs in the coming financial\nyear which starts on April 1, from an estimated 4.1 billion in\n1986/87.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 23:13:52.25", "topics": [ "crude" ], "organisations": [ "worldbank" ], "places": [ "indonesia" ], "id": "8069" }, { "title": "GERMAN ECONOMY SEEN GROWING TWO PCT IN 1987", "body": "Bundesbank vice-president Helmut\nSchlesinger said that although West German economic growth was\nnot expected to be satisfactory in the first 1987 quarter, two\npct growth was still attainable for the whole of the year.\n A further rise in the value of the mark would worsen export\nprospects and have a negative effect on investments, he told\nthe Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in an interview. But if such\nan appreciation did not materialize, the economy would expand.\n The federal government has predicted a growth rate of 2-1/2\npct or more in its annual economic report published in January,\nbut some economists have said the forecast was too optimistic.\n Schlesinger said private consumption was likely to rise\nstrongly. Government expenditure and construction were also\nexpected to increase. But there was uncertainty about the\nprospects for exports and investment.\n The Bundesbank had viewed with concern the money supply\novershoot in 1986, but the sharp rise was unlikely to have an\neffect on inflation in the forseeable future. However, there\nwere potential dangers in the long run.\n Schlesinger said there was hope that in 1987 the West\nGerman money supply would grow within the three to six pct\ntarget zone set in December.\n Schlesinger said the dampening effect on inflation of the\ndrop in import prices could continue to a lesser degree for\nsome time. Prices in West Germany were likely to rise between\none and two pct this year.\n He said 1987 would be the fifth successive growth year for\nthe West German economy. Although there was a possibility of a\ndownturn at some stage in the future, there were no signs this\nwould happen in 1988.\n The main risks for the West German economy stemmed from its\nclose ties with the rest of the world, Schlesinger added.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 23:28:35.08", "places": [ "west-germany" ], "id": "8070" }, { "title": "ROSTENKOWSKI QUESTIONS SECURITIES TAX", "body": "U.S. House Ways and Means\nchairman Dan Rostenkowski said he questioned whether a U.S. Tax\non securities transactions would be appropriate.\n Rostenkowski, an Illinois Democrat, told Reuters before\naddressing the Future Industry Association that such a tax\ncould impair the international competitiveness of the U.S.\nSecurities business.\n House Speaker James Wright, a Democrat of Texas, has said a\ntax on securities transactions could help reduce the federal\ndeficit.\n Rostenkowski said he understood that Britain was exploring\nthe possibility of easing its tax burden on securities firms\nand in that context a new U.S. Tax would be especially hard\nfelt by the domestic industry.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 23:34:03.53", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8071" }, { "title": "ROSTENKOWSKI SAYS TAX RISE NEEDED, DIFFICULT", "body": "U.S. House Ways and Means\nCommittee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski said a tax increase\nprobably would be needed but that Congress and President Regan\nmight not approve one.\n Rostenkowski, an Illinois Democrat, also told the Futures\nIndustry Association that he did not think congressional tax\nwriters would approve a tax on stock transfers or ease taxes to\npromote U.S. Exports.\n He congratulated House Speaker James Wright for proposing\ntax increases to help cut the budget deficit.\n Rostenkowski said he hoped White House Chief of Staff\nHoward Baker could persuade President Reagan to support a\npackage of tax increases and spending cuts.\n He noted that Baker and Treasury Secretary James Baker both\nsupported tax increases in l982.\n Rostenkowski suggested that about 18 billion dlrs of new\ntaxes might have to be found, along with nine billion in\ndefence and spending cuts and another nine billion in domestic\nspending reductions. But, he said, proposed tax rises would be\nbrought to the floor only if House Democratic leaders felt\nthere was Republican support.\n A string of indictments of Wall Street figures could move\nsome in Congress to support a tax on stock transfers, he said.\n \"But the fact many people don't like what's happening in\nfinancial markets doesn't mean they will be hit with a tax,\" he\nsaid, noting that Wright's securities tax idea had not been\n\"fleshed out.\"\n Efforts by special interests to rewrite provisions of the\ntax reform bill will fall on deaf ears, Rostenkowski predicted.\n The chief House tax writer also predicted congress would\napprove legislation to reform the welfare system.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 23:36:45.29", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8072" }, { "title": "POLL PUTS BRITISH ALLIANCE IN SECOND PLACE", "body": "Britain's centrist Liberal-Social\nDemocratic Alliance has crept ahead of the opposition Labour\nparty to become the country's second political force, according\nto a Gallup opinion poll.\n The poll, part of a survey carried out every week by Gallup\non behalf of the ruling Conservative party, showed the\nConservatives with an eight-point lead at 38.5 pct, the\nAlliance at 30.5 and Labour at 30 pct.\n It was published in the Sunday Telegraph.\n But two other surveys, the MORI poll conducted for the\nSunday Times and the Harris poll published in the Observer\nnewspaper, gave Labour a nine-point lead over the Alliance.\n These polls showed 33 pct supported Labour against 26 pct\nfor the Alliance, a grouping of the Liberal Party and the\nSocial Democratic Party, while 39 pct backed the Conservatives.\n The Gallup poll results are the latest in a series of\nsetbacks for the Labour party, in disarray over its non-nuclear\npolicy and plagued by internal feuding.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "21-MAR-1987 23:51:41.93", "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8073" }, { "title": "NIGERIA CHANGES AUCTION RULES TO DEFEND THE NAIRA", "body": "Nigeria's Central Bank has changed the\nrules governing its foreign exchange auctions in what analysts\nsee as a means of defending the naira currency, which has\ndepreciated steadily.\n The bank said in a statement that from April 2, banks\nbidding for foreign exchange would have to pay at the rate they\noffered and not, as presently, at the rate of the lowest\nsuccessful bid made at the auction.\n This should discourage banks from bidding high to ensure\nthat they were successful while paying the lower \"marginal\" rate,\nanalysts said.\n \"It should act as a brake because banks will know that if\nthey bid high they will have to pay what they offered,\" a\nWestern diplomat commented.\n The naira has depreciated against the dollar by 62 pct\nsince the auctions, known as the Second-Tier Foreign Exchange\nMarket (SFEM), began last September 26.\n At last week's session the Nigerian currency was fixed at\n4.0 to the dollar, the third fall in a row.\n \"They were clearly worried... And this is the logical way of\ntrying to stop the trend,\" the diplomat said.\n The Central Bank also announced the auctions would be\nfortnightly, not weekly, beginning on April 2.\n It was not immediately clear whether next Thursday's\nscheduled session would still take place, nor if the bank was\nplanning to double the 50 mln dlrs which are normally on offer\nat each auction.\n Demand for foreign exchange has consistently outstripped\nsupply, encouraging banks to bid high and thus further\nweakening the naira.\n If the normal weekly allocation is not doubled at the\nfortnightly session, high demand could undermine the objective\nof the new system, analysts said.\n Although bidding banks will now pay what they offered, the\nofficial exchange rate for the naira applying to business\ntransactions will continue to be the marginal rate -- the\nlowest successful bid.\n SFEM is a central part of Nigeria's structural adjustment\nprogram, which is considered to be the most ambitious economic\nrecovery plan in Black Africa.\n The program involves setting a realistic exchange rate for\nthe naira, which was over-valued for many years, liberalising\nimports, boosting agriculture, removing subsidies and reducing\ninefficient government participation in the economy.\n The World Bank has played a prominent part in designing\nthis dramatic blue-print and in selling it to an often\nsceptical public which fears inflation and lower living\nstandards.\n Ishrat Husain, the World Bank's representative in Nigeria,\nsaid yesterday he was satisfied both with the adjustment\nprogram as a whole and the foreign exchange auctions.\n \"So far so good\" he told a meeting of bankers in Lagos,\nadding that only members of Nigeria's import-dependent elite\nwould suffer hardship while the common man would benefit.\n Fears that the program would encourage inflation were\nincorrect, he said.\n Bumper harvests had reduced rural inflation and urban\nprices had already reflected the naira's black market value\nbefore the currency was allowed to find its true level last\nSeptember.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 00:00:04.61", "topics": [ "money-fx" ], "places": [ "nigeria" ], "id": "8074" }, { "title": "ECONOMIST CALLS BRAZIL DEBT REQUEST MODEST", "body": "Brazil's attempt to seek better\nterms for paying off its 109 billion dlr foreign debt is\nresponsible and modest, a former chairman of President Reagan's\nCouncil of Economic Advisers said.\n \"I think that what Brazil is calling for -- limiting its\ndebt payments to two and one half pct of GNP -- is a\nresponsible request on their part,\" economist Martin Feldstein\nsaid at a news conference.\n \"It requires additional money on the part of the banks, but\nrather modest additional amounts.\"\n Feldstein is attending the annual meeting of the Trilateral\nCommission, a foreign policy group of more than 300 business\nand government leaders from North America, Europe and Japan.\n Feldstein, one of four members of a task force on Third\nWorld debt, said that Brazil's request would mean an additional\ncredit of three billion to four billion dlrs from banks and\ninternational agencies.\n \"Brazil's debt would increase in dollar terms but remain\nconstant in real terms. The four billion dlr increase in\nBrazil's 100 billion dlr debt would represent no increase in\nthe real inflation-adjusted size of its liability,\" he said.\n Feldstein said he believed current Third World debt\nproblems were less serious than those faced by the\ninternational monetary system in 1983 and 1985.\n However, the European representative on the task force,\nHerve de Carmoy, chief executive international for Midland Bank\nPLC, disagreed.\n He called the present situation more difficult and, in a\ndraft proposal included in the task force's report, suggested\nsetting up an institution, possibly within the World Bank, with\na fund that could deal with a future debt crisis.\n Commission discussions were closed to reporters but it was\napparent from the news conference that task force members did\nnot agree on all points in their report.\n One point of agreement, Feldstein said, was that debtor\ncountries would need additional credit in the coming years if\nthey are to enjoy satisfactory growth.\n Feldstein said the task force, which also included Koei\nNarusawa, economic adviser to the president of the Bank of\nToyko, and Paul Krugman, professor of economics at the\nMassachusetts Institute of Technology, did not agree on how\nmuch credit would be needed.\n He said they also did not reach a consensus on how willing\ninternational banks, particularly those in Japan and Europe,\nwould be to lend the money.\n The Trilateral Commission was set up in 1973 by David\nRockefeller, former head of Chase Manhattan bank, and others to\npromote closer cooperation among the three regions.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 00:08:58.41", "places": [ "usa", "brazil" ], "id": "8075" }, { "title": "SARNEY MEETS BRAZIL BUSINESS LEADERS", "body": "President Jose Sarney, whose handling\nof the economy is under attack at home and abroad, has held\nprivate talks with Brazilian business leaders worried that\ngovernment policies are leading to recession.\n Over an informal barbecue at a farm outside Sao Paulo owned\nby millionaire entrepreneur Matias Machline, Sarney met more\nthan 20 businessmen for discussion on Brazil's economic crisis.\n Business leaders said before the meeting they would be\npressing for less government interference in what they describe\nas a tightly regulated economy.\n Their concerns include the country's high rates of interest\nand tough restrictions on imports.\n Machline, president of the Sharp electronics group and a\npersonal friend of Sarney's, told television reporters outside\nhis farm that he wanted \"less government participation in the\neconomy.\"\n When the government announced a month ago that it was\nsuspending interest payments on Brazil's 68 billion dlr debt to\ncommercial banks, it said this was a means of ensuring growth\nand avoiding recession.\n But business leaders and economic analysts say there are\ngrowing signs that Brazil's economy, the eighth biggest in the\nnon-communist world, is heading for a downturn after 8 pct\ngrowth last year.\n Businessmen are deeply concerned about the effect on\nindustry of import restrictions introduced earlier this year\nbecause of the country's deteriorating trade balance.\n Cacex, the foreign trade department of the federally owned\nBanco do Brasil, has told companies they must limit their\nimports to 90 pct of what they imported in 1985.\n Business sources say that in practice importing even this\namount is difficult and they have to haggle with Cacex on a\ncase-by-case basis.\n The business daily Gazeta Mercantil reported that in many\nsectors of the economy there was a real fear that production\nlines would grind to a halt next month.\n One of those attending the talks was Mario Amato, head of\nthe powerful Sao Paulo State Industries' Federation (FIESP).\n Business sources said he would argue that unless there were\na relaxation in import controls a sharp downturn in industrial\nactivity was inevitable.\n Relations between Sarney and the business community have at\ntimes been strained and the existence of these tensions pointed\nup the importance of the meeting.\n In one bizarre dispute in January, Sarney surprised\nBrazilian business leaders by declaring that they were allies\nof the 19th century anarchist Mikhail Bakunin. This outburst\ncame after Amato warned that companies might start disobeying\ngovernment regulations on price controls.\n Brazilian press reports made much of the fact that Finance\nMinister Dilson Funaro, chief architect of the government's\neconomic policy, had not been invited to the gathering.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 00:18:26.64", "places": [ "brazil" ], "id": "8076" }, { "title": "U.S., LATIN NATIONS DELAY DECISION ON IADB", "body": "The United States and major Latin\nAmerican nations agreed to set aside sharp differences over\ncontrol of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and\nreconsider the issue this summer.\n The bank's policy-making board of governors, meeting here\nahead of this week's IADB annual meetings, put off any\ndecisions when it became apparent differences between\nWashington and the Latin countries ware too great.\n IABD officials said Washington had indicated, however, it\nmight be prepared to compromise in the future.\n The United States is the principal donor nation and has\npressed the bank, controlled by the Latin American borrowing\nnations, to cede virtual veto power over loans to Washington.\n The Reagan administration wants to make the bank part of\nits controversial strategy to resolve the debt crisis.\n The U.S. Plan calls for loans from multilateral banks like\nthe IADB to be tied to economic reforms in debtor nations which\nwould promote open markets, reduced government intervention and\ninflation-free economic growth.\n Brazil, which declared an interest payments moratorium last\nmonth, is leading a challenge to Washington's strategy and\nofficials here obviously feared any decisions that might deepen\nrifts between the United States and Third World nations.\n IADB officials also said Washington hinted at future\ncompromise. \"The U.S. Said it remains hopeful they can reach an\nagreement and expressed optimism that such a consensus could be\nreached,\" said an official who asked not to be named.\n Washington has threatened to scuttle a 20-25 billion dlr,\nfour-year capital replenishment for the bank if the veto issue\nis not resolved.\n But it has asked Congress to give it authority to finance\nits one-third share in the event agreement on voting power is\nreached. The United States controls 34.5 pct of the vote and\nwants a loan veto to exist at the 35 pct level.\n Currently, a simple majority can approve or disapprove\nloans giving the borrowing nations control of the purse strings\nand resulting in loan conditions too lax for Washington's\ntaste.\n The U.S. Strategy for dealing with the debt crisis is\nexpected to be repeated by Treasury Secretary James Baker in a\nspeech to the bank's annual meeting on Monday.\n But monetary sources expect Baker to suggest the United\nStates has some room for compromise and also to fend off other\nchallenges to its strategy by signalling Washington is open to\ninnovative solutions to the debt problem.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 00:32:49.57", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8077" }, { "title": "SPAIN GIVES CUBA 25 MLN DLR CREDIT LINE", "body": "Spain has granted Cuba a 25 mln dlr\ncredit line for the purchase of Spanish goods and services in\nthe iron and steel industry, the repair of fishing boats and\ndevelopment of industrial projects, Prensa Latina said.\n The credit line was agreed by a joint economic/industrial\ncommission.\n The commission also discussed the possible participation of\nspanish companies in the Cuban tourist industry.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 00:53:12.64", "places": [ "cuba", "spain" ], "id": "8078" }, { "title": "CALABRIAN BANK TAKEN OVER BY COMMISSIONERS", "body": "Bank of Italy governor Carlo Ciampi\nappointed three commissioners to take over the temporary\nrunning of the Cassa di Risparmio di Calabria e Lucania\n(Carical).\n The announcement, in a Bank of Italy statement, followed\nthe decision on Friday by Treasury Minister Giovanni Goria to\nsend in special commissioners after accepting the resignation\nof Carical president Francesco Sapio and hearing a report\ndetailing \"serious irregularities\" at the bank.\n Goria's decision was taken in line with a provision in\nItaly's banking legislation which allows the Treasury to\ndissolve administrative bodies in the case of \"serious\nmanagement irregularities or serious violations of legal and\nstatutory norms\" that regulate credit institutions.\n Senior officials declined to give details of the\nirregularities that had come to light at Carical, whose\nactivities are concentrated in Calabria in the toe of Italy.\n The Bank of Italy statement said the three special\ncommissioners would work under the control of the Bank of Italy\nwith the aim of safeguarding the interests of depositors, and\nensuring the normal running of Carical until a solution to its\n\"present problems\" could be found.\n The statement said it was hoped a solution could be found\nas soon as possible.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 01:06:32.02", "places": [ "italy" ], "id": "8079" }, { "title": "NEXT WORLD TRADE NEGOTIATIONS MUST SUCCEED - NZ", "body": "Ministers from more than 20\nnations were told by New Zealand that the next international\nnegotiations on liberalising trade would be the last this\ncentury and the cost of failure could not be measured.\n Trade minister Mike Moore told his colleagues at a\nwelcoming ceremony before two days of talks here that great\nprogress had been made in preparing for the negotiations which\nmust not be sidetracked.\n \"We live in troubled and dangerous times for the world\ntrading system,\" he said.\n \"We have seen that the failure of the world trading system\nhas caused great depression and conflict in the past. Our\nfailure to maintain the momentum will be at great cost to us\nall,\" Moore said.\n He added: \"The cost of failure is beyond calculation. It is\nour last hope and best opportunity this century. We will not\nget another chance before the year 2000.\"\n The ministers are in New Zealand to review world trade\nsince the \"Uruguay round\" talks last Sepember. The meeting is\nalso part of preparations for a full-scale conference of the\nGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Venice in\nJune.\n The Uruguay meeting is considered by most countries to have\nbeen particularly successful, with northern hemisphere\ncountries managing to have service industries such as banking\nand insurance included in the next full round.\n The southerners' goal of including agricultural and\ntropical products also was met.\n The meeting at this North Island tourist resort is\ndescribed by participants as informal and no declaration is\nexpected.\n Moore said one aim was to \"instil a sense of political\nurgency to avert potential economic tragedy.\"\n Another was to seek ways of popularising freer trade to\npeople who felt the pain of readjustment but could not see the\nbenefits, as well as preventing \"bush fires of confrontation\nwhile we proceed with orderly negotiations.\"\n The meeting is being attended by 25 overseas delegations\nincluding representatives of GATT and the Economic Community.\n The delegates include U.S. Trade Representative Clayton\nYeutter.\n American sources say he is ready to state that the best way\nto reverse protectionist sentiment in the United States is to\nimplement four key Uruguay proposals:\n -- an end to agricultural subsidies;\n -- inclusion of trade in services and investments in GATT\nregulations;\n -- tightening of restrictions on pirating of so-called\nintellectual property such as trademarks, patents and\ncopyrights;\n -- new rules to resolve trade disputes among GATT's 92\nmember states.\n Earlier, New Zealand sources had said French Foreign Trade\nMinister Michel Noir had pulled out of the informal GATT talks\nfor domestic political reasons.\n Cabinet chief Bernard Prauge will lead the French\ndelegation.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 01:18:07.74", "topics": [ "trade" ], "places": [ "new-zealand" ], "id": "8080" }, { "title": "FRANCE TO SIGN DISNEYLAND CONTRACT ON TUESDAY", "body": "The French government said it would sign\na contract with on Tuesday for the\nconstruction of Europe's first Disneyland amusement park.\n A statement from the office of Prime Minister Jacques\nChirac said the project, which will cost some 12 billion\nfrancs, would create up to 30,000 jobs and be built outside\nParis.\n Funding will be provided by a combination of bank loans,\npreferential financing by the French state and private\ninvestment. France has also agreed to invest two billion francs\nto extend rail and road links.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 01:32:43.80", "places": [ "france" ], "id": "8081" }, { "title": "FRANCE, BONN REACH ACCORD ON HELICOPTER DESIGN", "body": "France and West Germany have reached\nbroad agreement on design specifications for a joint combat\nhelicopter for the 1990s, the French Defence Ministry said.\n A ministry spokesman said French Defence Minister Andre\nGiraud and his West German counterpart Manfred Woerner had\n\"agreed in principle\" on a common concept for the helicopter\nduring talks in Bonn on Friday.\n A joint commission will now be formed to work with firms\ninvolved in project and present a final report by July, he\nadded.\n The project, first drafted in 1984, calls for the French\ncompany and of\nMunich to develop and build 400 helicopters for the French and\nWest German armed forces.\n Its development, seen as a test of Europe's ability to\ncollaborate on arms projects, has been dogged by different\nviews on what type of helicopter to build and how to equip it.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 01:35:23.86", "places": [ "france", "west-germany" ], "id": "8082" }, { "title": "YUGOSLAV BANKS MISHANDLED FUNDS, PAPER SAYS", "body": "More than half of Yugoslavia's banks\nhave broken the law by mishandling millions of dollars worth of\nfunds, a leading Yugoslav newspaper said.\n The daily Borba, official organ of the Yugoslav Socialist\nAlliance, said 88 of Yugoslavia's 174 commercial banks had used\n57 billion dinars for illegal purposes.\n Prime Minister Branko Mikulic told Parliament last month\nthat 75 banks had been found to have misused funds by the end\nof 1986, involving 51 billion dinars. He said the offences had\nboosted inflation, now running close to an annual 100 pct.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 01:42:45.23", "places": [ "yugoslavia" ], "id": "8083" }, { "title": "INDONESIA WILL NEED NEW SATELLITES BY 1995", "body": "Indonesia will need a new generation of\nsatellites by 1995 at the latest to link the giant archipelago\nof 13,000 islands, Telecommunications minister Achmad Tahir was\nquoted as saying.\n Speaking after the successful launch on Friday of a new\nIndonesian communications satellite from Cape Canaveral,\nFlorida, Tahir said that a new generation of satellites was\nvery important for Indonesia's domestic communications system.\n He was quoted by Indonesia's official Antara news agency as\nsaying the government would start work straight away on\npreparations and studies for the next generation of satellites.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 01:46:41.28", "places": [ "indonesia" ], "id": "8084" }, { "title": "AUSTRALIAN OFFER FOR SAN MIGUEL SHARES", "body": "Diversified investment company, , has offered 3.8 billion pesos for 38 mln shares\nin the Philippine brewing firm , a Manila newspaper\nreported.\n The Sunday Times quoted a letter sent yesterday to\nPresident Corazon Aquino from Ariadne's chairman, New Zealander\nBruce Judge, that he was offering cash equivalent to five pct\nof the nation's yearly budget to buy the shares from the\ngovernment.\n The presidential office and Ariadne representatives in\nManila were not available for comment on the report.\n The shares are the entire block seized by the government\nfrom the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) on suspicion that\nthe real owner was Eduardo Cojuangco, the former chairman of\nSan Miguel and UCPB and a close associate of deposed president\nFerdinand Marcos.\n The 38 mln shares consist of 24 mln class A stock and 14\nmln class B shares.\n Government officials have said earlier that the more\nvaluable class A shares would not be sold to foreigners.\n The offer values each share at 100 pesos -- the price at\nwhich the Philippine Social Security System suggested it might\nbuy eight mln class A shares last week.\n \"Judge's offer of 3.8 billion pesos is about five pct of the\nPhilippines' yearly budget,\" Ariadne's Philippine agent Domingo\nPanganiban was quoted as telling reporters yesterday.\n \"Mr Judge's objective in this investment is to make his\ncorporation's management expertise available to San Miguel so\nthat the company's assets can be fully utilised.\"\n San Miguel, the country's largest brewer, is also one of\nthe major manufacturers of grocery lines.\n Panganiban is quoted as saying that San Miguel could tap\nfood and liquor distribution lines in Australia, Britain, the\nU.S., New Zealand and Hong Kong through ,\na listed Australian firm in which it has 30 pct equity.\n Ariadne, with about one billion dlrs in assets and turnover\nof about two billion, has interests also in mining, real estate\nand agricultural products.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 01:49:17.41", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "philippines", "australia" ], "id": "8085" }, { "title": "INDONESIA PROTESTS AGAINST EC VEGETABLE OIL DUTY", "body": "Indonesia has protested to the European\nCommunity (EC) about its plan to raise import duties on\nvegetable oils, which will affect the country's palm oil\nexports to the EC, Trade Minister Rachmat Saleh said.\n \"Indonesia, both individually and together with other\nmembers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN),\nhas protested against the EC plan to increase duties on\nvegetable oil imports,\" he told Indonesian reporters.\n \"We very much regret the community's plan,\" he added.\n He did not say in what form the Indonesian protest was\nmade.\n Indonesia is a major palm oil producer.\n According to central bank figures, Indonesia exported\n362,700 tonnes of crude palm oil to EC countries in calendar\n1985 and 301,400 tonnes in the first 10 months of 1986.\nComplete 1986 figures are not yet available.\n Finance Minister Radius Prawiro said recently that the\nincrease in EC duties would add a new burden to ASEAN countries\nat a time when they were trying to strengthen their economies\nin the face of lower commodity prices.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 01:57:16.27", "topics": [ "veg-oil" ], "organisations": [ "ec" ], "places": [ "indonesia" ], "id": "8086" }, { "title": "ALITALIA SPA CALENDAR 1986", "body": "Provisional net profit 55 billion lire vs 48 billion\n Turnover 3,750 billion vs 3,369 billion.\n NOTE - Official results for Alitalia, Italy's national\nairline which is controlled by the state industrial holding\ncompany (Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale -IRI), are\nexpected to be announced at an annual shareholders meeting in\nApril.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 02:08:39.84", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "italy" ], "id": "8087" }, { "title": "RAIMOND EXPECTS EC-GULF PROBLEMS WILL BE SOLVED", "body": "French Foreign Minister Jean-Bernard\nRaimond predicted in a published interview a successful end to\nnegotiations to admit Gulf petrochemical exports into the\nEuropean Community (EC).\n Negotiations have been under way between the Community and\nthe six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for three years.\n Raimond, due here tomorrow from Oman for his first official\nvisit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), told the semi-official\ndaily Al-Ittihad he was confident a solution would soon be\nreached.\n \"I am confident that problems between the two big partners,\nthe GCC and the EC, will find a solution. I will work to reach\nthat solution,\" he said in the interview conducted in Paris.\n An EC decision to impose tariffs on Gulf petrochemical\nexports over a set quota has strained trade relations between\nthe two sides.\n GCC members Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE\nand Oman are threatening to impose heavy customs duties on\nEuropean exports to the Gulf if no solution is reached.\n Raimond said negotiations between the two groups took a\nlong time because there were 20 countries involved. But added:\n\"Time is now ripe and all circumstances are appropriate for\nmaking crucial progress.\"\n Referring to the Iran-Iraq war, he said efforts should\ncontinue to find a solution despite prevailing difficulties.\n He said France was continuing negotiations with Iran. Some\nproblems were solved as a result of the contacts while others\nremained unresolved. He gave no details but said: \"France wishes\nto have normal relations with Iran.\"\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 04:45:50.23", "topics": [ "pet-chem" ], "organisations": [ "ec", "gcc" ], "places": [ "uae", "france" ], "id": "8088" }, { "title": "EXPLOSION AT BP OIL REFINERY IN SCOTLAND", "body": "An explosion followed by\na fire ripped through a British Petroleum (BP) oil refinery,\nkilling one man.\n A BP spokesman said the fire was confined to one plant at\nthe 700-acre refinery at Grangemouth, 25 miles west of\nEdinburgh. The cause and extent of the damage had yet to be\ndetermined.\n Two people were killed in a previous explosion and fire at\nthe plant on March 13. That incident is still being\ninvestigated, the spokesman said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 04:52:25.73", "topics": [ "crude" ], "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8089" }, { "title": "FOREIGN SHARE OF GERMAN CAR MARKET FALLS", "body": "Foreign manufacturers' share of the\nWest German new car market fell to 30.8 pct in the first two\nmonths of this year from 33.3 pct in January/February 1986, the\nFederal Motor Office said.\n Foreign producers' sales totalled 58,484 in February\ncompared with 64,967 in February 1986, with sales in the first\ntwo months declining to 103,368 from 132,105 units in the\nyear-earlier period.\n Japan was the largest exporter to West Germany although its\nshare fell to 12.8 pct from 13.9 pct, France took 7.7 pct after\n8.6 pct, while Italy's share rose to 5.9 pct from 5.5 pct.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 05:06:28.74", "places": [ "west-germany" ], "id": "8090" }, { "title": "AUSTRALIAN PLANS PHILIPPINE BRANCH FOR TAKEOVER", "body": "The Australia based , plans to set up a branch in the Philippines to\nfulfill a prerequisite for the takeover of the Philippine\nbrewing firm, , a Hong Kong newspaper said.\n The Hong Kong Economic Journal quoted a spokesman of\nAustralian stock broker Jacksons Ltd as saying that , a listed Australian firm of which Ariadne owns\na 30 pct stake, is planning a branch in the Philippines.\n He added Jacksons is arranging an offer by Barwon to pay a\ntotal 3.8 billion pesos in cash for 38 mln San Miguel shares.\n Barwon is offering 100 pesos each for 24 mln class A San\nMiguel shares and 14 mln class B stock. But the Jacksons\nspokesman noted that the more valuable A stock would only be\nsold to Filipinos or companies registered in the Philippines.\n He said Barwon has approached the Philippine government\nwhich seized the block of shares from the United Coconut\nPlanters Bank, which is believed to be linked with the\ncountry's deposed President Ferdinand Marcos.\n He added he expects a deal to be concluded between Barwon\nand the Philippine Government in 14 days as it is the only\noffer in cash, the newspaper reported.\n Hong Kong Economic Journal also noted stock market rumours\nthat , a Hong Kong registered company which\ncontrolled by San Miguel's president Andres Soriano, is the\nother party keen on the block of San Miguel shares.\n The Philippine's Commission on Good Government ruled last\nMay against a move of Neptunia to acquire 33 mln San Miguel\nshares controlled by the brewery firm's former chairman Eduardo\nCojuangco, who is also chairman of United Coconut.\n Commissioner Ramon Diaz said at the time the government\nwould not allow a subsidiary to buy into a parent firm, adding\nSan Miguel could have offered the shares to other parties.\n The Manila newspaper Sunday Times published a letter sent\nyesterday to President Corazon Aquino from Ariadne's chairman,\nNew Zealander Bruce Judge, that he was offering cash equivalent\nto five pct of the nation's yearly budget to buy the shares\nfrom the government.\n \"Judge's offer of 3.8 billion pesos is about five pct of the\nPhilippines' yearly budget,\" Ariadne's Philippine agent Domingo\nPanganiban was quoted as telling reporters yesterday.\n Spokesmen of Ariadne, Jacksons and Neptunia were not\navailable for comment, nor any officials of the Philippines.\n , a Hong Kong listed company which\nis 69.65 pct held by Neptunia on behalf of San Miguel Corp,\nclosed 40 cents higher at 15.50 H.K. Dlrs on Friday.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 05:12:58.07", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "australia", "hong-kong", "philippines" ], "id": "8091" }, { "title": "WORKERS AT SPANISH GM UNIT CALL STRIKE", "body": "Workers at have called for five days of strikes next month in a\ndispute over this year's wage increase, union sources said.\n They said the unofficial strike calendar had been set for\nApril 2, 7, 8, 21 and 22.\n The workers are seeking a wage rise above this year's five\npct inflation target set by the government. The government and\nemployers' organisations have urged companies to hold wage\nrises below this level.\n Average wages rose 8.2 pct last year compared with an 8.3\npct increase in the cost of living.\n General Motors Espanalo was the top sales performer last\nyear among Spain's six car manufacturers.\n The Saragossa-based plant reported a 53.1 pct rise in\ndomestic sales to 538,654 units.\n Ford Espana S.A. Was second with a 27.8 pct gain over 1985.\n General Motors Espanola is 100 pct owned by General Motors\nCorp and Ford Espana is wholly-owned by Ford Motor Co\n.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 05:54:39.58", "places": [ "spain" ], "id": "8092" }, { "title": "HUSSEIN SAYS IRAN'S YEAR OF DECISIVENESS FOILED", "body": "President Saddam Hussein said Iraq had\nfoiled Iran's promise of a decisive victory in their war but\nacknowledged the latest fighting cost his nation higher losses\nthan previous battles.\n Hussein warned his frontline troops to expect further\nIranian attacks to spoil celebrations being organised\nthroughout Iraq to mark what Baghdad has hailed as the failure\nof Iran's so-called year of decisiveness.\n Iran's leadership had pledged a decisive breakthrough in\nthe 6-1/2-year-long war in the Persian year -- which ended\nyesterday -- and mounted a major offensive towards Iraq's\nsecond city of Basra, on the southern front, in January.\n Iraq has never given any casualty figures but Hussein\nconceded they were high.\n \"It was clear to all of us the fighting this time would be\nlong and severe with more blood flowing than in previous\nbattles and that we would lose more of our loved ones than we\nhave before,\" he said in a speech read on radio and television.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 06:07:09.85", "places": [ "iraq", "iran" ], "id": "8093" }, { "title": "ALITALIA REPORTS HIGHER NET PROFITS", "body": "Italy's national airline, Alitalia Spa\n, reporting a 14.6 pct rise in provisional 1986 net\nprofit, said it carried seven pct more passengers on domestic\nroutes last year, but 11.5 pct fewer passengers on flights from\nNorth America and Canada.\n Alitalia said the drop in North American traffic had been\ndue to a general fall in the numbers of American tourists\nvisiting Europe caused by fears of terrorism.\n The airline reported provisional net profit rose to 55\nbillion lire from 48 billion in 1985.\n A spokesman said Alitalia was hoping for an increase in\ntraffic with the U.S. In 1987.\n It planned to increase the number of flights from Italy to\nNew York to 19 per week, to reinstate flights to Boston and to\nre-open the direct Rome-Milan-Los Angeles service.\n The spokesman announced that from March 29, Alitalia would\nbe starting a new weekly service to Shanghai.\n For its summer 1987 programme, it would be adding 127 extra\nflights to European destinations -- an increase of 27 pct.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 06:16:41.37", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "italy" ], "id": "8094" }, { "title": "SAUDI ARABIA'S KING FAHD VISITS BRITAIN THIS WEEK", "body": "King Fahd of Saudi Arabia begins a\nfour-day state visit on Tuesday which will focus on redressing\nBritain's large trade surplus with the kingdom and reaffirming\nties between the traditionally close countries.\n British officials said King Fahd may ask Britain to restore\ndiplomatic relations with Syria, broken off by London last\nOctober after evidence in the trial of Nizar Hindawi showed\nSyrian agents were behind a plan to bomb an Israeli airliner.\n But one official said the king would be told Britain still\nneeds \"clear and sustainable evidence that the Syrians have\nrenounced state-sponsored terrorism. So far they haven't.\"\n Britain will stress its support for an international peace\nconference on the Middle East and its concern over alleged\nhuman rights abuses by Israel in the occupied West Bank and\nGaza, the officials told Reuters.\n The Saudi leader will hold talks with Prime Minister\nMargaret Thatcher and meet Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip\nduring the visit, his first to Britain since he assumed power\nin June 1982.\n King Fahd will be accompanied by his trade, defence, oil\nand health ministers, who will hold talks with their British\ncounterparts.\n Relations between the two countries have generally been\nwarm. But they were strained last year by the deportation of 35\nBritish nurses from the kingdom for illegal drinking and the\npublication of a letter by a retired British ambassador\ndescribing Saudi Arabians as incompetent and arrogant.\n Saudi Arabia is Britain's largest export market in the\nMiddle East.\n Britain exported 1.5 billion stg worth of goods to Saudi\nArabia last year while British imports from that country in the\nsame period totalled 436 mln.\n Trade officials will discuss what countertrade Britain can\noffer in return for Riyadh giving London its biggest-ever arms\nexport order.\n Under the five billion stg deal signed last year, Saudi\nArabia has agreed to buy 132 warplanes including 72 Tornado\nfighters.\n Saudi Oil Minister Hisham Nazer is likely to discuss oil\nprice stabilisation but Britain would not change its refusal to\nlimit its North Sea oil production and exports, officials said.\n Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has asked\nall oil-producing countries to help stabilise oil prices at 18\ndlrs a barrel by curbing output and exports.\n King Fahd's trip follows several visits to Saudi Arabia by\nBritish officials in recent months. Britain's Prince Charles\nand Princess Diana went to Saudi Arabia in November.\n There were two previous state tours of Britain by Saudi\nmonarchs. King Faisal visited in 1967 and King Khaled in 1981.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 06:42:31.92", "places": [ "uk", "saudi-arabia" ], "id": "8095" }, { "title": "RAFIDAIN BANK'S JORDAN BRANCH RAISES CAPITAL", "body": "The Jordan branch of Iraq's Rafidain Bank\nsaid it will raise paid-up capital to comply with the country's\nminimum requirement of five mln dinars by drawing on profits\nfrom its operations in the country.\n Jordan's government asked banks in early 1985 to comply\nwith the new capital requirement -- raised from three mln\ndinars -- by the start of 1986.\n Rafidain's Area Manager Adnan Abdul Karim al-Azzawi told\nReuters the branch had now registered its capital at the higher\nlevel but did not say how long it would take to pay it in. The\nbank's 1986 balance shows paid-up capital of 3.1 mln dinars.\n Banks in Jordan have generally complied with the higher\ncapital requirement except Chase Manhattan which decided\ninstead to close its operation, banking sources said.\n Local banks floated shares to raise extra capital, while\nthe branches of foreign banks brought in additional cash.\n Banking sources said it appeared that Jordan had made an\nexception in Rafidain's case, allowing it longer to comply.\nThey said the gesture refelcted close political ties between\nJordan and Iraq as well as Baghdad's financial difficulties.\n The Jordan branch saw pre-tax profit rise 80 pct in 1986 to\n550,332 dinars on assets of 12.6 mln dinars.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 07:54:19.48", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "jordan" ], "id": "8096" }, { "title": "BAKER DENIES DOLLAR TARGET EXISTS", "body": "U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker\nagain said the meeting of six major industrial nations in Paris\nlast month did not establish a target exchange rate for the\ndollar.\n Baker said in a television interview aired here yesterday:\n\"We don't have a target for the dollar.\" He declined to comment\non what might be a desired level for the dollar, saying: \"We\nreally don't talk about the dollar.\"\n He said protectionism was becoming \"extremely strong\" in the\nU.S. In response to widening U.S. Trade deficits and import\nbarriers in other countries.\n \"The mood in the United States is extremely disturbing. It's\nextremely strong,\" he said.\n \"As I've said before, we sort of see ourselves as engaged\nhere in a real struggle to preserve the world's free trading\nsystem, because if the largest market in the world (the U.S.)\ngoes protectionist we run the risk of moving down the same path\nthat the world did in the late 1930s,\" he said.\n While relative exchange rates had a role to play in\ndefusing the threat of protectionism, it alone did not offer\nany solution, he said.\n \"You must address this problem on the exchange rate side,\nbut it cannot be solved on the exchange rate side alone. It's\nfar more comprehensive and broad than that, and the solution of\nit requires a comprehensive approach,\" Baker said in the\ninterview.\n Baker said it would be necessary for other countries to\nadjust their currencies upwards, as well as remove their\nbarriers to U.S. Imports. But he did not elaborate or name any\ncountries.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 19:04:43.39", "topics": [ "dlr", "money-fx" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8097" }, { "title": "U.S. CREDIT MARKET OUTLOOK - MINI-REFUNDING", "body": "A hefty slice of new U.S. Treasury\nsupply is not the most welcome prospect for a slumbering credit\nmarket, but at least this week's offerings should provide it\nwith some focus, economists said.\n \"Banks and mutual funds have cash that should be put to\nwork, so the auctions should breathe some life into the market,\"\nsaid economists at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Inc.\n The Treasury will place a 25 billion dlr package of\ntwo-year, four-year and seven-year notes on the sales block\nthis week.\n The \"mini-refunding,\" which will raise 9.27 billion dlrs in\nnew cash, comprises 10 billion dlrs of two-year notes for\nauction on Tuesday, 7.75 billion dlrs of four-year notes on\nWednesday and 7.25 billion dlrs of seven-year notes on\nThursday. The market also faces the regular weekly three- and\nsix-month bill auction today, amounting to 12.8 billion dlrs.\n The mini-refunding does not come at a particularly\nauspicious time for the market. Bond prices have been drifting\nsideways in a narrow range against the backdrop of a cloudy\nU.S. Economic outlook, diminished chances of a change in\nFederal Reserve Board policy and a stable dollar.\n Moreover, the bond market's inertia has compared\nunfavourably with the rash of activity taking place in\nhigh-yield markets overseas, like the U.K., As well as in U.S.\nEquities.\n But according to the Merrill Lynch economists, there are\nsigns the pall hanging over the U.S. Bond market is lifting a\nbit.\n \"Customer activity has been light, but all on the buy-side,\nand there is a marked absence of selling,\" they said in a weekly\nreport.\n Philip Braverman of Irving Trust Securities Inc believes\nbanks will snap up the two- and four-year issues at this week's\nsales.\n \"The banks are in need of investments that provide earnings.\nThough the yield spread to the cost of carrying these\nmaturities has been wider, it is still positive,\" he said in a\nweekly market review.\n But economists agreed not even the auctions will generate\nenough impetus for a major move. This will only come once the\noverseas markets have had their run.\n \"Based on last week's events, there is little to indicate\nthat the appetite for yield has begun to wane,\" said economists\nat Salomon Brothers Inc.\n Indeed, talk persisted last week that Japanese investors\nare planning to re-weight their portfolios in favour of the\nhigher-yielding markets at the start of Japan's new fiscal year\non April 1.\n And while traditionally the Japanese have not been big\nbuyers of the shorter-dated issues on offer at this week's U.S.\nAuctions, such reports undermine market confidence.\n Even actions by the British, Australian and Canadian\nmonetary authorities to curb the rise of their currencies\nshould also enhance the attractiveness of their respective bond\nmarkets, the Salomon Brothers' economists said.\n Meanwhile, ecomomic releases are unlikely to enliven the\nU.S. Market unless they deviate widely from expectations,\neconomists said.\n This week's economic calendar begins on Tuesday with\nFebruary durable goods orders. Economists expect a rebound from\nJanuary's depressed levels.\n Peter Greenbaum of Smith, Barney, Harris Upham and Co said\nseveral areas, including transport equipment, should have\nbounced back. But a decline in military capital goods will cap\ntotal new orders. He forecasts a rise of two pct after\nJanuary's 6.7 pct slump. Some other economists foresee a gain\nas large as five pct.\n Friday's consumer price report for February is expected to\nshow an increase of about 0.3 pct after a 0.7 pct January gain.\nEconomists said energy prices -- the driving force behind the\nJanuary rise -- rose more moderately last month, while food\nprices declined.\n Meanwhile, economists warned that the federal funds rate\nwill be subject to volatility in the weeks ahead due to the\napproach of quarter-end and the mid-April tax date.\n Some economists expect the Fed to execute a bill pass this\nweek because its adding requirement increases sharply in the\nnew statement period beginning on Thursday.\n Fed funds traded at 6-1/16 pct late Friday and are expected\nto open near that level.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 19:22:20.02", "topics": [ "money-fx" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8098" }, { "title": "SWISS BANKERS PLANNING COMPROMISE ON SECRECY CURBS", "body": "Bankers, concerned about official calls\nfor curbs on Switzerland's banking secrecy, are likely to\npropose a compromise plan when they meet regulators today, the\nBankers Federation Secretary said.\n Andreas Hubschmid confirmed a report in yesterday's\nSonntagsblick the Federation would make proposals to curb the\nanonymity given to some bank clients who hide their identities\nbehind lawyers or fiduciary agents.\n \"The Sonntagsblick story goes in the right direction, and I\ncannot deny it,\" Hubschmid told Reuters.\n Hubschmid declined to confirm details, saying nothing had\nyet been decided.\n Recent allegations U.S. Officials involved in the\narms-for-Iran scandal took advantage of Swiss discretion to\nopen accounts here have added fuel to the long-running secrecy\ndebate, while Manila has said former Philippine President\nFerdinand Marcos put a fortune into banks here.\n While Swiss banks are strictly forbidden to reveal the\nnames of their clients to the outside world, a self-governing\ncode of conduct dating from 1977 requires the bankers\nthemselves know the identities of their clients.\n But the banking code, due for renewal this October, allows\na client to hide his name behind a lawyer provided the latter\nsigns the so-called \"B-form\" guaranteeing that his client is not\nmisusing his anonymity for criminal purposes.\n The Commission said at the end of last year it wanted use\nof the form drastically reduced.\n The bankers' compromise plan, Sonntagsblick said, quoting\nreliable sources, aims to eliminate abuses by differentiating\nbetween lawyers who just manage portfolios for their clients\nand those who do so only as a small part of a wider legal\nservice.\n Only in the second case, would the use of the B-form still\nbe allowed, it said. Other clients would have to give up their\nanonymity and reveal their identities to the bank.\n Commission President Hermann Bodenmann said the Commission\nwas likely to discuss the proposal at today's meeting with the\nbankers, and during its own council session on Tuesday. He\ndeclined further comment.\n The banks draw up their own rules of conduct. But banking\nanalysts said the banks cannot afford to ignore the views of\nthe Commission, which is ultimately responsible for preventing\nabuses.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 20:01:10.69", "places": [ "switzerland" ], "id": "8099" }, { "title": "SANTOS BIDS FOR OIL AND GAS COMPANY TMOC RESOURCES", "body": "Cooper Basin oil producer Santos Ltd\n said it will bid 4.00 dlrs a share for the 96.03 pct\nit does not already hold in diversified oil and gas company\n.\n Santos said the bid values TMOC at 248.5 mln dlrs. It said\nit already holds 1.91 mln of TMOC's 25 cent par shares.\n TMOC held interests outside the Cooper Basin region of\nSouth Australia and Queensland and the acquisition would\nfurther the Santos objective of developing as a broadly based\noil and gas company with interests outside its existing base in\nthe Cooper Basin, the company said in a statement.\n Santos said TMOC holds several important domestic oil and\ngas production, exploration and pipeline interests.\n In the Northern Territory it has a 43.75 pct stake in and\noperates the Mereenie oil and gas field in the Amadeus Basin\nand owns 32 pct of , owner and operator of\nthe Alice Springs to Darwin gas pipeline.\n In Queensland, TMOC has extensive interests in the Surat\nBasin, including the 100 pct owned and operated Moonie oil\nfield and 33 pct of the Boxleigh gas field.\n TMOC owns 80 pct of the which\nowns and operates the Moonie to Brisbane oil pipeline.\n TMOC also holds 25 pct of the Jackson to Moonie oil\npipeline, 20 pct owned by Santos. Output from the Naccowlah\nblock, 40 pct owned by Santos, provides the bulk of the\nthroughput of both pipelines.\n TMOC has exploration interests in a number of areas in the\nAmadeus, Surat, Eromanga and Canning basins.\n It also has oil and gas interests in Britain's North Sea,\nEcuador, and the U.S., Along with gold and base metal\nproduction through its associate , Santos said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 20:45:26.34", "topics": [ "acq", "crude", "nat-gas" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8100" }, { "title": "DEBT SOLUTION REQUIRES OPEN MARKETS, GERMAN BANKER", "body": "The solution of the world's debt\ncrisis requires open markets but a possible resurgence of\nprotectionism is the biggest danger, the president of the\nFederal Association of German Banks, Wolfgang Roeller, said.\n Roeller, who is also management board spokesman of Dresdner\nBank AG, said in a radio interview it is unlikely Brazil's\nsuspension last month of part of its interest payments would\nlead to a chain reaction in Latin America.\n It is important to increase the efficiency of debtor\ncountries to such an extent they earn sufficient currency from\nexports to repay foreign debt, he said.\n Brazil had taken a unilateral step, Roeller said, but\nBrazil had a strong and broad economic base. With the help of\nappropriate economic programmes there should be a way to bring\nback financial stability to that country.\n Roeller said action on the debt situation had to be taken\nnow. It could not be expected debtor countries would be able to\nrepay debts in the short run, even if economic conditions\nimproved. Programmes had to be developed which would strengthen\nthe economic position of these countries, to ensure world\neconomic growth so they are able to sell their products at\nadequate prices.\n Roeller said the debt crisis could only be solved in\ncoordination with governments, international organisations such\nas the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and\ncreditor banks.\n \"This is not a topic which can be solved by creditor banks\nalone,\" he said. One aim had to be to raise the credit standing\nof debtor countries to such a degree they are able to raise\nfunds on international credit markets again. He said a whole\nset of new ideas had been developed and he was convinced the\ninternational banking system would provide more funds, but the\nproblem is not just economic but also political.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 20:59:25.59", "places": [ "west-germany" ], "id": "8101" }, { "title": "GATT SUCCESS WILL TAKE PRESSURE, N.Z. MINISTER", "body": "Long term pressure by trade\nministers is necessary if the current Uruguay round of talks on\nthe General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) is to\nsucceed, New Zealand's Overseas Trade minister Mike Moore said.\n Moore told the opening meeting of trade ministers from 22\nnations gathered for informal talks on the GATT that ministers\n\"need opportunities to keep in touch and to consider how the\npolitical problems inherent in an exercise like this one can be\nfaced and resolved.\"\n Moore said the Taupo meeting is one of a series of such\ninternational gatherings, which includes the OECD ministerial\nmeeting in May and the G-7 meeting in Venice in June, enabling\nministers to maintain contact.\n World trade conditions are getting better not worse, he\nsaid.\n He said New Zealand is \"moving rapidly and of our own\ninitiative in the direction of liberalisation, and I warn you\nwe shall be looking for partners.\"\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 21:30:42.37", "topics": [ "trade" ], "organisations": [ "gatt" ], "places": [ "new-zealand" ], "id": "8102" }, { "title": "JAPAN LONG-TERM PRIME SEEN CUT TO RECORD LOW SOON", "body": "Japan's long-term banks will soon cut\ntheir prime rate, now at a record low 5.5 pct, by 0.2 or 0.3\npercentage point in response to falling secondary market yields\non their five-year debentures, long-term bankers said.\n The long-term prime rate is customarily set 0.9 percentage\npoint above the coupon on five-year bank debentures issued by\nthe long-term banks every month.\n The latest bank debentures, at 4.6 pct, have met strong\nend-investor demand on the prospect of further declines in yen\ninterest rates, dealers said. The current 5.5 pct prime rate\nhas been in effect since February 28.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 21:36:39.24", "topics": [ "interest" ], "places": [ "japan" ], "id": "8103" }, { "title": "RESERVE BANK CANCELS WEEKLY N.Z. T-BILL TENDER", "body": "The Reserve Bank said it is\ncancelling its regular weekly treasury bill tender scheduled\nfor tomorrow.\n The Bank said in a statement forecasts indicate a net cash\nwithdrawal from the system through the week.\n The Bank expects to be conducting open market operations as\nusual, and after these operations daily cash balances should\nfluctuate around 30 mln dlrs.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 21:47:39.03", "places": [ "new-zealand" ], "id": "8104" }, { "title": "COFFEE CONFERENCE ENDS WITH CALL TO CONTINUE TALKS", "body": "A meeting of eight Latin American\ncoffee producers ended with a call for continued talks aimed at\narriving at an agreement to stabilize international prices.\n A statement delivered by the conference's president,\nNicaragua's External Trade Minister Alejandro Martinez Cuenca,\nsaid the object of future meetings would be to seek\nnegotiations leading to basic export quotas.\n The meeting was attended by representatives from Brazil,\nMexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and\nNicaragua. A Panamanian representative attended the meeting as\nan observer.\n Representatives at the meeting said efforts would continue\nto be made to reach a regional consensus on export quotas which\ncould be presented to the International Coffee Organization.\n In opening the meeting, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega\nsaid the lack of an accord on export quotas was behind falling\ncoffee prices, which he said have caused billions of dollars in\nlosses to countries in the region.\n Jorio Dauster, president of the Brazilian Coffee Institute,\nsaid his government is committed to working towards an\nproducers accord in order to bring about higher prices.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 21:57:09.11", "topics": [ "coffee" ], "places": [ "nicaragua" ], "id": "8105" }, { "title": "YEUTTER SEES U.S., JAPAN VERGING ON TRADE CONFLICT", "body": "The United States and Japan\nare on the brink of serious conflict on trade, especially over\nsemiconductors, Japanese unwillingness for public bodies to buy\nU.S. Super-computers, and barriers to U.S. Firms seeking to\nparticipate in the eight billion dlr Kansai airport project,\nU.S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter said.\n He was talking to reporters yesterday on the eve of a\ntwo-day meeting of trade ministers which will review progress\nmade by committees set up after the Uruguay meeting last\nSeptember launched a new round of GATT (General Agreement on\nTariffs and Trade) talks.\n European Community (EC) commissioner Willy de Clercq\nmeanwhile told reporters conflict between the world's three\nmajor trading and economic powers -- the EC, the U.S. And Japan\n-- set a poor example for other members of GATT.\n Australian Trade Minister John Dawkins told the reporters\nbilateral retaliation at the enormous expense of the rest of\nthe world was no way to solve trade disputes.\n New Zealand trade minister Mike Moore told his colleagues\ngreat progress had been made in preparing for the current round\nof GATT negotiations which must not be sidetracked.\n The ministers have said they want to maintain the momentum\ntowards fresh negotiations or avert serious trade conflicts.\n Yeutter said the problem with international trade talks was\nthat they tended to get bogged down for years. \"Countries don't\nget very serious about negotiating until the end of the day\nwhich is, maybe, five or six years in the future.\"\n He also said he did not consider the new U.S. Congress as\nprotectionist as it was 18 months ago. \"That's a very healthy\ndevelopment,\" he added.\"If you asked me about that a year or 18\nmonths ago I would have said that it was terribly\nprotectionist.\"\n \"Members of Congress, that is the contemplative members of\nCongress, have begun to realise protectionism is not the answer\nto the 170 billion dlr trade deficit,\" Yeutter said.\n \"They've also begun to realise that you cannot legislate\nsolutions to a 170 billion dollar trade deficit so they are\nmore realistic and, in my judgement, more responsible on that\nissue than they were 12 or 18 months ago.\"\n He added, \"Whether that will be reflected in the legislation\nthat eventually emerges is another matter.\"\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 22:08:54.94", "topics": [ "trade" ], "organisations": [ "gatt" ], "places": [ "usa", "japan" ], "id": "8106" }, { "title": "PREMIER SAYS YUGOSLAVIA WILL PAY ITS DEBTS", "body": "Yugoslavia, whose economic crisis is\nunder close scrutiny by foreign creditors, will not follow\nBrazil by suspending repayments on its large foreign debt,\nPrime Minister Branko Mikulic was quoted as saying.\n Mikulic was speaking to West German journalists in an\ninterview published yesterday by the Tanjug news agency.\n He said Yugoslavia had always paid its debts and would\ncontinue to do so, but he said creditors and international\ninstitutions should show more \"understanding\" for Yugoslavia's\nsituation.\n Mikulic said Yugoslavia had \"understanding\" for what Brazil\nhad done.\n Yugoslavia has almost 100 pct annual inflation, lagging\nexports and low productivity. This month Makulic imposed\npartial freezes on wages and prices which led to widespread\nstrikes. Tanjug said in the interview Mikulic warned the army\ncould be called in if Yugoslavia's political system was\nthreatened. Official reports show Yugoslavia ended 1986 with\nhard currency debt of 19.7 billion dlrs. In 1986 it repaid a\nrecord 5.97 billion in capital and interest, reducing its\noverall debt by 996 mln dlrs.\n Government ministers told reporters last week they\nregretted Yugoslavia made such an effort in 1986. They said the\ncost to the economy had been too great.\n Earlier this month deputy prime minister Janos\nMilosavljevic said Yugoslavia needed new credits. Foreign\nMinister Raif Dizdarevic said in Caracas, \"radical changes\" in\ninterest rates and repayment times were needed.\n Western economists said Mikulic's remarks, taken with those\nof his ministers, could be a signal some problems were seen\nahead in financing the debt repayments.\n Yugoslavia's debt refinancing timetable is to be considered\nby the Paris club at the end of this month.\n The International Monetary Fund, which recently reviewed\nthe Yugoslav economy, is said by Western diplomats to be\nalarmed at what it sees as a deteriorating economic crisis here\nand the possibility of balance of payments problems later this\nyear.\n Mikulic visits West Germany next week, and debt is expected\nto figure high on the agenda of his talks with Chancellor\nHelmut Kohl.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 22:16:55.97", "places": [ "yugoslavia" ], "id": "8107" }, { "title": "NEW COOPER BASIN GAS POOL DISCOVERY REPORTED", "body": " said a\nsecond gas flow has been recorded in the Epsilon formation of\nthe Toolachee Block on PEL five and six signifying a new pool\ndiscovery.\n The Kerna Four appraisal well flowed gas at 235,038 cubic\nmeters a day with four kiloliters of condensate through a 13mm\nsurface choke over an interval of 2,374 to 2,399 meters.\n DST 1, in the Epsilon formation, was earlier reported as\nflowing gas at 237,862 cm/day, Delhi said in a statement.\n The well is two km south south east of Kerna 3, 15 km south\neast of the Dullingari field and 75 km east of Moomba.\n Delhi said the remaining objective of the well is the\nPatchawarra formation.\n Other interest holders in the Kerna Four well are: Santos\nLtd 50 pct, Delhi 30, 10, 10 pct.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 22:56:13.30", "topics": [ "nat-gas" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8108" }, { "title": "IRAN SAYS IT INTENDS NO THREAT TO GULF SHIPPING", "body": "Iran said reports that it intended to\nthreaten shipping in the Gulf were baseless, and warned the\nU.S. And other countries not to interfere in the region.\n Tehran radio, monitored by the BBC, quoted a Foreign\nMinistry spokesman as saying any attempt at interference would\nbe met by \"a strong response from Iran and other Moslems in the\nworld.\"\n U.S. Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger, in remarks\napparently unrelated to the broadcast, said the U.S. Would do\nwhatever was necessary to keep shipping lanes open in the face\nof new Iranian anti-ship missiles in the Gulf.\n The U.S. State Department said two days ago Tehran had been\ntold of U.S. Concern that Iranian anti-ship missiles posed a\nthreat to the free flow of oil from the Gulf.\n U.S. Officials have said Iran has new Chinese-made\nanti-ship \"Silkworm\" missiles, which pose a greater threat to\nmerchant ships than missiles used before.\n The Iranian spokesman said the reports that Iran intended\nto attack ships were \"misleading propaganda.\"\n He said Iraq's President Saddam Hussein was the main cause\nof tension in the Gulf and said Iran would continue to use \"all\nits legitimate means to stem the cause of tension.\"\n Weinberger said in a television interview in the U.S. \"We\nare fully prepared to do what's necessary to keep the shipping\ngoing and keep the freedom of navigation available in that very\nvital waterway.\"\n \"We aren't going into any disclosures or discussions of what\nmight happen, but we are certainly very sympathetic to and\nlistening carefully to any suggestions for our assistance in\nkeeping navigation free in that area,\" he said.\n Weinberger said U.S warship movements in the Gulf area were\nnot unusual.\n A U.S. Navy battle group led by the aircraft carrier Kitty\nHawk is currently in the northern Arabian Sea.\n The Iranian spokesman was quoted by Tehran radio as saying\nthe U.S. Was trying to build up its military presence in the\nregion.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 23:16:43.85", "topics": [ "ship" ], "places": [ "iran", "usa" ], "id": "8109" }, { "title": "BRAZIL BUSINESS LEADERS CALL FOR TALKS WITH IMF", "body": "Brazilian business leaders attending\na weekend meeting with President Jose Sarney called on the\ngovernment to seek help from the International Monetary Fund\n(IMF) in resolving its debt problems.\n The government has so far rejected suggestions that it let\nthe IMF play a role in rescheduling its 109 billion dlr debt,\nthe biggest in the Third World.\n Finance Minister Dilson Funaro has said an IMF program for\nBrazil, adopted four years ago, caused a recession and he\nbelieves another IMF program would stifle growth.\n Sarney last month suspended interest payments on Brazil's\n68 billion dlr commercial debt, a move which has found little\nfavour among the country's business community.\n Several businessmen called for a return to the IMF, arguing\nthis would give the country access to new funds and allow the\neconomy to grow. Both sides in the IMF debate say the course\nthey favour will enable Brazil to avoid recession.\n \"We have to discuss the foreign debt like Mexico does, if\nnecessary going to the IMF,\" Mario Amato, president of the Sao\nPaulo State Industries' Federation, was quoted as saying.\n An about-turn on the IMF issue would be politically very\ndifficult for the Sarney government and there are no firm\nindications such a policy reversal is in the offing.\n The person most closely associated with the anti-IMF stance\nis Finance Minister Dilson Funaro, who was not present at\nyesterday's meeting. Brazilian newspapers highlighted his\nabsence and reported that several of the 24 businessmen present\nseized the opportunity to tell Sarney they would like to see\nFunaro leave his job.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 23:33:16.42", "organisations": [ "imf" ], "places": [ "brazil" ], "id": "8110" }, { "title": "MALAYSIAN 1987 ECONOMIC GROWTH SEEN ABOVE FORECAST", "body": "The Development Bank of Singapore Ltd\n(DBS) said Malaysia's real gross domestic product growth (gdp)\nin 1987 could be 1.5 to two pct, above a budget target of one\npct.\n It said in a report that because of an economic recovery\nand higher foreign exchange reserves, the Malaysian ringgit is\nunlikely to face devaluation in the near future.\n The report was presented at a two-day investment conference\norganised by the DBS, one of Singapore's four major banks.\n The report said rising commodity prices and the continued\nexpansion of the manufacturing sector coupled with rigorous\nfiscal restraints and a more stable currency are grounds for\ncautious optimism about the Malaysian economy.\n It forecast the ringgit will remain stable at between 2.60\nand 2.70 Malaysian dlrs to the U.S. Dollar for the rest of the\nyear.\n But the report said the growth rate of Malaysia's external\ndebt remains worrying and should be controlled. It said\nMalaysia's external debt totals 48 to 49 billion Malaysian dlrs\nand its debt service ratio exceeds 20 pct.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 23:42:19.32", "topics": [ "gnp", "ringgit" ], "places": [ "malaysia" ], "id": "8111" }, { "title": "PHILIPPINE COCONUT PRODUCT EXPORTS FALL IN JANUARY", "body": "Coconut product exports fell to 163,924\ncopra tonnes in January from 196,610 tonnes in December and\n167,747 tonnes in January last year, government figures show.\n Coconut product sales earned 44.54 mln dlrs compared with\n45.30 mln in December and 49.09 mln a year earlier.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 23:45:01.69", "topics": [ "oilseed", "coconut" ], "places": [ "philippines" ], "id": "8112" }, { "title": "GERMAN STEEL SUBSIDIES CANNOT CONTINUE - MINISTER", "body": "Economics Minister Martin Bangemann said\nthe state could not continue to pour money into West Germany's\nailing steel and coal industries because the subsidies\nendangered other parts of the economy.\n \"The situation is completely absurd from an economic point\nof view,\" Bangemann told the newspaper Die Welt in an interview\nreleased ahead of publication tomorrow.\n \"We are subsidising the production of mineral coal and steel\nto an enormous extent and at the same time putting a huge\nburden on all other branches of industry and making them\nuncompetitive,\" he said.\n Bangemann said the steel and coal industries were no longer\ncapable of being competitive. Continued state subsidies would\nnot save them but would only prolong their lives artifically\nfor a few years, he said.\n \"That is why I have refused to continue subsidising them in\nthe way that we have done in the past,\" he said.\n Several steel firms have announced plans to reduce their\nworkforces, citing weak prices and lower exports due to the\nstrength of the mark and tough foreign competition.\n Bangemann said everything possible would be done to find\nnew jobs for the workers affected by the cuts.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 23:47:47.97", "topics": [ "iron-steel" ], "places": [ "west-germany" ], "id": "8113" }, { "title": "AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURERS EXPECT DOWNTURN - SURVEY", "body": "A majority of Australian\nmanufacturers expect a deterioration in the business climate,\naccording to the March survey of industrial trends by Westpac\nBanking Corp and the Confederation of Australian Industry.\n After expecting improvements in two previous quarterly\nsurveys, 56 pct of respondents reported working at less than\nsatisfactory levels, with insufficient orders nominated by 70\npct as the major constraint.\n Other constraints were capacity, 11 pct, and labour nine\npct, the survey said.\n Inflationary pressure increased during the quarter and\ninvestment plans for the next year were scaled down, which the\nsurvey said could limit activity in the medium to short term.\n Respondents reporting an increase in orders fell to 22 pct\nin March from 30 pct in December, while those with orders\naccepted but not yet delivered fell to 14 pct from 21 pct.\n Stocks of finished goods and raw materials fell sharply in\nthe March quarter and further depletion was forecast for the\nJune quarter, the survey said.\n Respondents said finance was harder to obtain, which\nWestpac chief economist Bob Graham said was probably because of\nhigh interest rates rather than the availability of money.\n Graham said he thought expectations would gradually improve\nlater this year, when the dollar might consolidate and interest\nrates ease slightly.\n He believed some manufacturers were not investing because\nthey feared the Australian dollar would get stronger.\n \"We do not believe the dollar will revalue, the (economic)\nfundamentals are for it to slip away if anything,\" he said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 23:50:59.70", "topics": [ "inventories" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8114" }, { "title": "DART GROUP FLEXIBLE ON SUPERMARKETS BID", "body": " said it told\nSupermarkets General Corp it was flexible on the price it\nwould pay to acquire the company.\n Dart has said it would offer 41.75 dlrs cash for each SGL\nshare if the SGL board recommended the offer to shareholders.\n SGL has termed the 1.62 billion dlr offer unsolicited.\n In a letter to SGL dated March 20, Dart also said it was\ndenied confidential information on SGL that would be given to\nother potential bidders.\n SGL officials could not be reached for comment.\n Dart said it was advised that a selling brochure for the\nsale of SGL had been distributed to about 20 potential buyers,\nbut not itself. These purchasers would also be given access to\nSGL's books and records and the opportunity to talk with key\nemployees.\n \"We suspect that one or more of the 20 are leveraged buyout\nfirms,\" said a source close to Dart. Analysts have said SGL\nmanagement may be considering a leveraged buyout.\n Dart said it remains interested in acquiring SGL on a\nfriendly basis and reiterated its willingness to negotiate all\nthe terms of its offer.\n Dart said SGL representatives said the company has not\nreceived any other offer.\n It said it requested the confidential information to better\nunderstand SGL, but was denied this because it refused to sign\nan agreement prohibiting it from making a bid for SGL without\nSGL's approval.\n The agreement would also have limited its ability to buy\nSGL shares, Dart said. It considered those conditions\nunreasonable in the interest of trying to negotiate a friendly\ntransaction, it said.\n Dart has just under five pct of SGL shares.\n Dart said it requested the information before its meeting\nwith SGL representatives, but held the meetings in the hope\nrepresentatives would reach an agreement.\n It said it indicated it was flexible on price, but was told\nthere were certain issues important to SGL management and while\nthey were not conditions to the deal, Dart was expected to take\nthem into account in putting together its package.\n It said the issues include an immediate payment of 5.7 mln\ndlrs to SGL chairman Leonard Lieberman, executive vice\npresident James Dougherty and financial officer Murray Levine.\n Dart said this payment was intended for the three officers'\nseverance agreements, although there was an implication that\nLieberman and Dougherty would be leaving the company of their\nown volition.\n Dart said under their present agreements, none of these\nofficers have any right to such accelerated payments. Also,\nDart said Lieberman, Dougherty and Levine are to be paid 2.6\nmln dlrs to pay their taxes. It also said top management's\nincentive shares were to be accelerated and paid for at a cost\nof six mln dlrs although there are restrictions on the shares\nunless waived by the company's compensation committee.\n Dart said it was to fund up to five mln dlrs for top\nmanagement's supplemental retirement plan.\n Dart said another issue was to agree to future severance\nobligations and future salary guarantees for top management,\nestimated at more than 15 mln dlrs in excess of obligations\nunder the company's present policy.\n Dart said despite such management payments, it agreed to\ndiscuss all aspects of its offer and in fact did try to\nnegotiate a transaction at the March 18 meeting with SGL.\n Supermarkets General owns the Path Mark supermarket chain\nand Rickels home centres.\n Dart also released a copy of a lawsuit that was being filed\nby an SGL shareholder, seeking to stop SGL from taking such\nactions as paying greenmail or enacting a poison pill defence.\n The suit also sought to have directors carry out their\nfiduciary duty.\n Greenmail is the payment at a premium for shares held by an\nunwanted suitor and a poison pill is typically the issue of\nsecurities to shareholders which make a takeover more\nexpensive.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "22-MAR-1987 23:53:11.82", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8115" }, { "title": "CHINA, PORTUGAL TO MAKE STATEMENT ON MACAO FUTURE", "body": "Talks between China and Portugal on the\nfuture of Macao have ended and the two countries will issue a\njoint statement at 5 P.M. Peking time (0900 GMT), Portuguese\nAmbassador Octavio Valerio said.\n \"We are very happy with the results,\" Valerio told reporters\nafter four days of discussions on how and when the\nPortuguese-run peninsula in southern China will be handed back\nto Peking.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 00:12:26.53", "places": [ "china", "portugal" ], "id": "8116" }, { "title": "AUSTRALIA SAID TO RELY TOO MUCH ON OIL TAXES", "body": "The government's\nover-reliance on revenue from crude oil is adversely affecting\nAustralia's economic performance, Australian Petroleum\nExploration Association (APEA) chairman Dennis Benbow said.\n Over one-third of Australia's indirect tax income is\nderived from oil at a time of falling domestic output and weak\ncrude prices, he told the APEA annual conference here.\n This dependence on oil-generated revenue distorts the\ncountry's economic performance directly by acting as a\ndisincentive to new exploration and indirectly by affecting\ntrading competitiveness through high energy costs, he said.\n Australia's medium-term liquid fuel self-sufficiency\nposition is posing a major economic threat, yet the\ngovernment's response has been to load new tax burdens on the\noil industry, Benbow said.\n Domestic oil output from existing fields is expected to\nfall to 280,000 barrels per day (bpd) in fiscal 1992/93 from\n546,000 bpd in 1985/86, reflecting mainly the decline of the\nBass Strait fields, he said.\n Bass Strait reserves are now two-thirds depleted, with the\nthree largest fields 80 pct depleted, he said.\n By 1992/93, Bass Strait output is expected to be just over\nhalf the 1985/86 level, assuming a number of so far undeveloped\nfields are brought on stream and enhanced recovery from\nexisting fields goes ahead, Benbow said.\n Government projections of output from as yet undiscovered\nfields range from 40,000 to 130,000 bpd, he said.\n Australian liquid fuel demand is forecast to rise to\n680,000 bpd in 1992/93 from 565,000 in 1985/86, implying a\ncrude oil gap of between 270,000 and 360,000 bpd in five years\ntime, he said.\n At present world oil prices and the current value of the\nAustralian dollar, annual oil imports in 1992/93 would cost\nbetween 3.2 billion and 3.6 billion dlrs, Benbow said.\n Despite intensive exploration in the early 1980's, the\naddition to reserves has been inadequate, he said.\n For example, the 409 mln barrels discovered in the five\nyears 1980-84 represent about two years' consumption, he said.\n He called on the government to review its tax policies to\nrestore incentive to exploration.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 00:13:30.96", "topics": [ "crude" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8117" }, { "title": "BAKER WARNS AGAINST FORGIVENESS OF LATIN DEBT", "body": "U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker said\nany attempt to declare blanket debt forgiveness for major Latin\nAmerican debtor nations might damage the world economy.\n In an article in Monday's edition of the Miami Herald,\nBaker also criticised the concept of short-term debt relief,\ncalling it a \"dramatic, overnight solution.\"\n \"While these ideas may be well-intentioned and have some\npolitical appeal, they are impractical and counterproductive in\nthe long run,\" he said.\n The article was published to coincide with a three-day\nmeeting here of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).\n Baker is the chief architect of the U.S. Strategy on Third\nWorld debt.\n Brazil, the Third World's largest debtor, last month\ndeclared a moratorium on interest repayments. It has given no\nindication of when it may resume interest payments, prompting\nfears that some large U.S. Banks may be forced into substantial\ndebt writedowns and calling into question the viability of the\nU.S. Strategy.\n Baker, defending the strategy, said private commercial\nbanks have rescheduled nearly 70 billion dlrs in debt since\nOctober 1985 at longer maturities and lower interest rates.\n \"Together with expected progress in commercial bank\ndiscussions with Argentina and, we hope, Brazil, this should\nadd up to substantial new lending for the major Latin debtors\nin 1987,\" Baker wrote.\n He estimated that debt-equity conversion plans accounted\nfor 2.5 billion dlrs last year in four of the region's major\ndebtor states. Such plans allow foreign bank creditors to sell\nThird World debt at a discount to investors who then become\nstockholders in firms in these countries. \"These swaps aren't a\npanacea, but they do demonstrate how a creative free market can\nmake progress in reducing the debt burden,\" he said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 00:22:53.25", "places": [ "usa", "brazil" ], "id": "8118" }, { "title": "MINISTER PREDICTS ONE PCT INFLATION FOR SINGAPORE", "body": "Singapore will have an inflation rate\nof one pct in 1987, up from a negative 1.4 pct in 1986, Trade\nand Industry Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Parliament.\n He said the 1986 drop in the inflation rate, the first fall\nin a decade, was due largely to lower world prices for oil and\noil-related items.\n But Lee said the negative inflation rate is unlikely to be\nrepeated this year because of projected higher prices for\nprimary commodities and oil.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 00:29:41.66", "topics": [ "cpi" ], "places": [ "singapore" ], "id": "8119" }, { "title": "WOOLWORTHS LTD REPORTS 9.27 MLN DLR NET PROFIT YR END FEB 1 VS 63.20 MLN\n", "date": "23-MAR-1987 00:30:12.11", "topics": [ "earn" ], "id": "8120" }, { "title": "BRAZIL SEEKS TO REASSURE BANKS ON DEBT SUSPENSION", "body": "Brazil wants to resume interest payments\non its medium- and long-term foreign debt as soon as possible\nand is willing to discuss ways of softening the impact of the\npayments suspension on bank earnings, central bank governor\nFrancisco Gros said.\n Gros, speaking to reporters yesterday after his first\nmeeting with Brazil's bank advisory committee since he was\nappointed last month, also promised a clear statement of\nBrazil's economic policy would be made in the next few days.\n But bankers who attended the meeting with Gros said it was\ninconclusive.\n The bankers also expressed disappointment Gros could not\ngive assurances as to when interest payments on the 68 billion\ndlrs of medium- and long-term debt would restart.\n \"It was all very tentative. You can't expect to get very far\nat the first meeting,\" one banker said.\n The meeting took place on the eve of the annual meeting\nhere of the Inter-American Development Bank.\n The most urgent item on yesterday's agenda was the need for\na legal rollover of some 16 billion dlrs in trade and interbank\ncredit lines extended to Brazilian banks which expire at the\nend of March.\n Brazil has already frozen the lines to ensure it has enough\ncredit to finance its day-to-day trade and commerce, but needs\nto request a formal extension of the commitments to head off\npossible lawsuits from disgruntled creditors.\n The issue is whether the 14-bank steering committee will\nendorse Brazil's request to the 700 creditor banks worldwide or\nsimply relay it without comment.\n This delicate question was not resolved at yesterday's\nmeeting, but lawyers from both sides will try to draft suitable\nlanguage for a telex by midweek, Gros and the bankers said.\n Gros said he will also formally ask the banks for a 90-day\nrollover of some 9.6 billion dlrs of debt which originally\nmatured in 1986 and is now due to be repaid on April 15.\nBankers said the request is a legal nicety since the money is\nsubject to the moratorium.\n Once interest on Brazil's debts becomes more than 90 days\noverdue, U.S. And Canadian banks must put the loans on\nnon-performing basis and may book payments only as and when\nthey are received instead of accruing the interest in advance.\n Citicorp has estimated its profits for the first quarter\nwould be cut by 50 mln dlrs if it put Brazil on a cash basis.\nOther U.S. Banks have also warned of earnings setbacks.\n Gros said he wished the 90-day rule was more flexible and\nsaid he would be willing to sit down with the banks to see if\nthere was a way round the problem.\n He did not elaborate. But, asked whether a bridge loan\nmight be arranged to pay the interest, he said, \"It could\nhappen.\"\n Bankers said this possibility had not been raised at the\ncommittee meeting and dismissed it as inconsistent with\nBrazil's determination to find a long-term solution to the\nproblem of servicing its 110 billion dlr foreign debt.\n Gros himself said pushing the problem away for 90 days at a\ntime is not very useful. Only if Brazil has access to new loans\ncan it grow, export and pay its debts over the longer term.\n \"If the flow of funds dries up, a country like Brazil can't\nmeet all its obligations,\" he said.\n Gros defended Brazil's recent economic record, noting\ninflation slowed in February, the trade surplus rose and the\npublic sector budget was in operational surplus.\n But he said there was a need to spell out government\npolicy, especially on prices.\n \"It's necessary to clarify policy for internal and external\nreasons,\" he said, but declined to say what economic measures\nmight be introduced.\n Once policy is in place, Gros said financing talks with the\nbanks are likely to be tough and protracted, a sentiment echoed\nby the country's creditors.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 00:54:57.14", "places": [ "usa", "brazil" ], "id": "8121" }, { "title": "ISRAELI JETS RAID SOUTH LEBANON", "body": "Israeli jets bombed Palestinian\ntargets in south Lebanon for the second time in four days,\nLebanese security sources said.\n They said the planes attacked targets in the Darb al-Sim\narea a few kms east of Sidon.\n Israeli planes carried out a similar raid in the same area\non Friday, hitting two buildings used by guerrillas loyal to\nPalestinian leader Yasser Arafat.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 01:07:26.62", "places": [ "israel", "lebanon" ], "id": "8122" }, { "title": "Bell Resources says it buys 57.6 mln BHP shares, taking holding to 29.93 pct\n", "date": "23-MAR-1987 01:13:01.95", "topics": [ "acq" ], "id": "8123" }, { "title": "TAIWAN HOLDING TALKS WITH ADB, TAIWAN OFFICIAL", "body": "Taiwan is holding discussions with the\nAsian Development Bank (ADB) to try to settle a political\ndispute over its representation in the bank, a foreign ministry\nspokesman said.\n Taiwan, one of the founders of the 47-member ADB, boycotted\nthe annual meeting last year to protest against a decision to\nchange its membership name to \"Taipei, China\" after the admission\nof Peking.\n The foreign ministry spokesman said a decision on whether\nTaiwan would attend the next meeting in Japan on April 27-29\nwould depend on the results of the talks.\n \"We are looking for a fair and just solution to the question\nof representation,\" he said.\n In Manila, an ADB spokesman declined to comment on the\nstatement.\n \"We have no comment at all,\" he said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 01:14:46.84", "organisations": [ "adb-asia" ], "places": [ "taiwan", "china" ], "id": "8124" }, { "title": "WOOLWORTHS LTD YR ENDED FEB 1", "body": "Shr 4.16 cents vs 28.80\n Final Div nil vs 10.5 cents making six for year vs 16.5\n Pre-tax profit 2.68 mln dlrs vs 107.71 mln\n Net 9.27 mln vs 63.20 mln\n Turnover 5.47 billion vs 4.83 billion\n Other income 65.33 mln vs 51.68 mln\n Shrs 222.94 mln vs 219.54 mln.\n NOTE - Net is after tax credit 6.6 mln vs tax paid 43.39\nmln, depreciation 41.18 mln vs 34.10 mln, interest 42.42 mln vs\n36.23 mln and minorities 11,000 vs 1.12 mln but before\nextraordinary net profit 24.98 mln vs loss 51.71 mln\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 01:16:18.11", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8125" }, { "title": "BELL RESOURCES BOOSTS STAKE IN BHP", "body": " said it has executed\nan underwriting agreement with to\nacquire 57.6 mln ordinary shares in The Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd\n for 540 mln dlrs.\n Bell said in a statement that it now holds 29.93 pct of\nBHP's 1.2 billion shares.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 01:16:32.26", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8126" }, { "title": "JAPAN VEHICLE PRODUCTION FALLS IN FEBRUARY", "body": "Japan's vehicle output in February fell\n0.4 pct from a year earlier to 1.03 mln units for the fifth\nconsecutive monthly year-on-year drop, but February output was\nup 10 pct from a month earlier, the Japan Automobile\nManufacturers Association (JAMA) said.\n February car production totalled 651,253 units, up 0.4 pct\nfrom a year earlier, trucks 375,899, down 1.8 pct, and buses\n4,230, up 10.3 pct, he said.\n Vehicle exports are expected to show a seven pct\nyear-on-year drop in February when figures are announced on\nMarch 27, a JAMA spokesman said.\n The JAMA spokesman blamed slow sales to southeast Asia, the\nMideast and other countries except the U.S. And Europe.\n February motorcycle output fell 32.9 pct from a year\nearlier to 224,312, the 13th straight year-on-year drop, but\nwas up 4.2 pct from a month earlier, he added.\n Motorcycle exports are expected to show a 26 pct\nyear-on-year fall in February, he said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 01:22:15.49", "places": [ "japan" ], "id": "8127" }, { "title": "IADB DISPUTE HIGHLIGHTS LATIN DEBT CONFLICTS", "body": "Controversy surrounding U.S.-backed\nreforms in the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)\nunderscores the mounting challenge to Washington's current debt\nstrategy, according to Latin American officials and delegates\nto the IADB meeting that begins here today.\n The bank's policy-making board on Saturday postponed a\ndecision on the reforms until June in view of strong Latin\nAmerican opposition to U.S. Proposals to strengthen its control\nover lending to the region.\n Washington wants to involve the IADB in its debt strategy\nthrough increased lending, but as the bank's largest single\nshareholder it also wants to require countries to adopt\nfar-reaching economic reforms to qualify for loans.\n The U.S. Push for IADB reforms, which began at last year's\nmeeting in Costa Rica, is particularly sensitive in an\ninstitution Latin Americans have traditionally thought of as\ntheir own.\n \"It's almost an issue of sovereignty for the Latin\nAmericans,\" one IADB official said.\n With a 54.2 per cent voting bloc, Latin American nations\nhave had relatively easy access to 35 billion dlrs in project\nloans since the bank's founding in 1959.\n The bank has also been run for the past 12 years by a\nMexican, Antonio Ortiz Mena, who has been increasingly critical\nof U.S. Debt strategy in the last two years.\n Ortiz Mena says commercial banks must renew lending to the\nregion if debtors are to grow and repay creditors. At a news\nconference last week he warned that Latin defaults were a\ndistinct possibility in the long run.\n Brazil insists its debt service obligations should in no\nway interfere with growth priorities, a position putting the\nissue of debt relief squarely into focus for the first time,\nofficials and delegates said.\n They said creditors are not ready to discuss debt\nforgiveness and prefer to look at schemes such as debt-equity\nswaps in combination with a continuing emphasis on economic\nreforms.\n Washington wants the IADB to impose greater conditions on\nlending, and has threatened to block increased appropriations\nfor the bank if it does not get its way.\n Latin America, while retaining reservations, now accepts\nthe principle of setting greater conditions on loans, but is\nunwilling to countenance U.S. Demands for greater veto powers\non lending, officials and delegates said.\n Washington has pushed for veto power to be lowered to 35\npct from a simple majority as at present. Latin Americans are\nunwilling to go below 40 pct, which would oblige the U.S. To\nline up two other voters or voting blocs on its side.\n This attempt to weaken Latin America's voting power, and\nparticularly a threat by Washington to reduce funds to the IADB\nunless its reforms are accepted, has created considerable\nresentment among Latin Americans.\n \"Debtors have already shown considerable willingness to\nsacrifice over the last five years so economic adjustment is\nnot at issue,\" one Latin American official said.\n The region has been hoping for a seventh replenishment of\nIADB resources of at least 20 billion dlrs for 1987-90, as\nagainst 15.7 billion for the previous four-year period.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 01:32:24.61", "places": [ "usa", "brazil", "mexico" ], "id": "8128" }, { "title": "PAPER ASKS CONABLE TO PROD INDONESIA INTO CHANGES", "body": "World Bank President Barber Conable\nshould prod the government of President Suharto towards further\neconomic change, the Jakarta Post newspaper said.\n \"Conable could do Indonesia a great service if he is\nstraightforward enough to point his finger at shortcomings that\ncould be corrected,\" it said in an editorial.\n The English-language paper said the bureacracy was not\naggressive or imaginative in responding to Indonesia's economic\nproblems, which include fiscal restraints due to drastically\ndeclining oil revenues, increasing unemployment, and marketing\nproblems for its major export commodities.\n The paper said Indonesia must boost the scope for private\nbusiness initiative as well as stepping up its use of aid money\nalready committed. The World Bank has lent Indonesia 10.7\nbillion dlrs over the past 20 years.\n Conable arrived here on Saturday and will have talks with\nSuharto tomorrow. Today he was returning to Jakarta from a\nvisit to World Bank-funded projects in eastern Java, and was\nscheduled to meet leading economic ministers in the afternoon.\n Western diplomats said they expected Conable to press\nIndonesia to maintain the pace of its present economic reforms\nto cope with the slump in its oil revenues.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 01:47:36.65", "places": [ "indonesia" ], "id": "8129" }, { "title": "ARIADNE UNIT CONFIRMS BID FOR SAN MIGUEL", "body": "Ariadne group unit confirmed it offered 3.8 billion pesos in cash for the 38\nmln shares of Philippine brewing company .\n The Australia-based Barwon, 30 pct owned by New Zealander\nBruce Judge's Ariadne group, said in a statement released in\nHong Kong that a formal offer had been made to the Philippines\ngovernment, which holds the shares.\n It said it was confident the offer will be reviewed\nfavourably.\n Newspapers in Manila and Hong Kong reported at the weekend\nthat an offer had been made.\n Barwon said it was represented by Australian stockbroker\n, which forwarded a formal offer to Philippine\nPresident Corazon Aquino of 100 pesos for each of the 38.1 mln\nA and B shares of San Miguel.\n The Philippine government seized the shares, which\nrepresent a 31 pct stake in the brewery firm, from the , alleged by the government to be linked\nwith the country's deposed President Ferdinand Marcos.\n The Barwon statement said a deal is expected to be\nconcluded between Barwon and the Philippines government in 14\ndays.\n Barwon also said it made recommendations to the government\non how it could purchase the class A shares, which can only be\nheld by a Philippine national or a firm which is at least 60\npct held by a member of the country. It did not elaborate.\n The Hong Kong Economical Journal quoted a spokesman of\nJacksons as saying Barwon plans to set up a branch in the\nPhilippines to meet the criteria.\n , a locally listed firm 69.65 pct\nheld by San Miguel's affiliate, was last traded\nat 16.30 H.K. Dlrs against 15.50 dlrs on Friday.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 02:01:29.35", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "hong-kong" ], "id": "8130" }, { "title": "EXXON OFFICIAL URGES PLANNING FOR NEXT OIL SURGE", "body": "World governments\nshould prepare for an inevitable significant increase in the\nprice of oil as non-Middle East supplies diminish, Exxon Corp\n director and senior vice-president Donald McIvor said.\n Policymakers must also face up to the reality that the bulk\nof world oil reserves lies in the Middle East, he said in a\nspeech prepared for delivery to the Australian Petroleum\nExploration Association (APEA) annual conference.\n It appears ever more likely that new discoveries elsewhere\nwill not change this fact, he said.\n McIvor said 37 of the world's 30,000 oil fields contain\nabout 35 pct of all oil ever discovered.\n Only 11 of these 37 super-giant fields lie outside the\nMiddle East and only five of the 37 have been discovered in the\nlast 20 years, three of them in the Middle East, he said.\n He also said that since 1970, the world has been consuming\n20 to 25 billion barrels a year while making discoveries at the\nrate of only 10 to 15 billion barrels a year.\n More than half of remaining proved reserves are in the\nMiddle East, he said.\n McIvor said it was important to continue to search for oil\noutside the Middle East because each addition contributes to a\ndiversity of supply desirable for global political and economic\nstability.\n \"It is important to enhance the likelihood of home-country\ndiscoveries with measures such as non-discriminatory and stable\ntaxation, and minimum regulation, together with opening up of\nacreage for exploration,\" he said.\n Increasing reliance on the Middle East will also boost the\nincentive to use natural gas and synthetic sources of\npetroleum, he added.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 02:06:32.30", "topics": [ "crude" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8131" }, { "title": "TAIWAN TO BOOST FARM IMPORTS FROM U.S., EUROPE", "body": "Taiwan is expected to boost agricultural\nimports from the U.S. And Europe in calendar 1987 to help\nbalance trade, the Council of Agriculture said.\n A council official, who declined to be named, told Reuters\nthe imports, which will include about seven mln tonnes of\noilseeds, grains and dairy products, would be worth some four\nbillion U.S. Dlrs against 3.72 billion in 1986 and 3.38 billion\nin 1985.\n Taiwan's surplus with the U.S. Rose to 13.6 billion dlrs\nlast year from 10.2 billion in 1985, government figures show.\n Government figures also show Taiwan's surplus with Europe\nrose to 1.53 billion dlrs last year from 543 mln in 1985.\n Taiwan's imports of U.S. Farm produce last year amounted to\n1.41 billion dlrs against 1.52 billion in 1985.\n Imports from Europe rose to 182 mln U.S. Dlrs from 148 mln,\nthe official said.\n He attributed the decline in the value of U.S. Imports to\nfalling agricultural products prices last year.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 02:22:04.99", "topics": [ "trade", "oilseed", "grain" ], "places": [ "usa", "taiwan" ], "id": "8132" }, { "title": "AUSTRALIAN OPPOSITION LEADER SACKS PREDECESSOR", "body": "Australian opposition leader John Howard\nsacked from the shadow cabinet Andrew Peacock, who is a former\nforeign minister and Howard's predecessor, party officials\nsaid.\n The officials said the move could lead to the collapse of\nthe opposition coalition between the Liberal and National\nparties, which has been under severe strain in recent weeks.\n In a television interview yesterday prime minister Bob\nHawke said he might call an early election if strife within the\nopposition undermined business confidence and hurt Australia's\neconomic recovery.\n \"The opposition have not only destabilised themselves, they\nhave prostituted the political and economic debate by putting\nup economic nostrums and stupidities that are destabilizing\nbusiness confidence,\" Hawke said.\n Howard relegated Peacock to the back benches after the\nMelbourne Sun published an alleged telephone conversation\nbetween Peacock and another opposition member in which Peacock\nwas critical of Howard's leadership. The paper said the call\nwas recorded by an unidentified man using an electronic radio\nscanner. In a statement Howard said the conversation was\ndamaging to the party and implied disloyalty to him.\n Peacock told reporters he accepted Howard's right to \"hire\nand fire.\" He refused to answer questions about any leadership\nchallenge.\n Liberal party officials said the move against Peacock could\nencourage his supporters to mount a challenge to Howard's\nleadership. Peacock was ousted as opposition leader by Howard\nin September 1985, after losing the 1984 general election to\nHawke.\n Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, a veteran\nNational Party member, recently campaigned against Howard's\nleadership and urged his party to split from the coalition.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 02:36:36.41", "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8133" }, { "title": "AUSTRALIAN OIL TAX CUT SEEN BOOSTING OUTPUT", "body": "A 10 percentage\npoint reduction in the Australian government's maximum crude\noil levy on old oil would stabilize Bass Straits oil output,\nresources analyst Ian Story said here.\n A reduction to 70 pct from 80 pct would enable Bass Strait\noutput to be maintained at the current rate of 420,000 barrels\nper day (BPD) for the next year rather than falling to 380,000\nBPD in 1987/88, he told the Australian Petroleum Exploration\nAssociation annual conference.\n Story is an analyst with and a director of Sydney\nstockbroker Meares and Philips Ltd.\n Windfall profits taxes on Bass Strait crude are no longer\nappropriate in the current economic climate, Story said.\n The maximum 80 pct levy on old oil -- that discovered\nbefore September 1975 -- is now forcing the Broken Hill Pty Co\nLtd /Exxon Corp partnership to shut-in\nproduction, accelerating the decline in output and reducing\ngovernment revenue, he said.\n He said the producer return per barrel at a price of 30\nAustralian dlrs a barrel would rise to 2.07 dlrs from 0.80 dlrs\nif the levy was cut to 70 pct.\n \"The economics at an 80 pct levy are simply not attractive\nat oil prices below 30 dlrs,\" Story said.\n Cutting the maximum levy rate to 70 pct would create higher\nlevels of self-sufficiency, increase government revenue, boost\nexports and provide incentives for exploration and development,\nhe said.\n The government is currently reviewing the oil tax\nstructure.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 02:54:36.15", "topics": [ "crude" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8134" }, { "title": "GATT MEETING HEARS PLEA FOR AFRICAN DEBT RELIEF", "body": "Debt among African countries\nwill continue to grow and their economies remain stifled unless\ndeveloped countries lower their interest rates, Nigerian Trade\nMinister Samaila Mamman said.\n He told an informal General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade\n(GATT) meeting the widening gap between developed and\ndeveloping countries and an inequitable international economic\nsystem were major impediments to growth in developing\ncountries.\n Delegates from 23 countries are attending the GATT talks in\nthe New Zealand resort of Taupo.\n \"I wish to emphasise that the growth in the volume of the\nexternal indebtedness of African countries reflects the full\neffect of the deflationary monetary and trade policies of the\ndeveloped market economy countries,\" Mamman said.\n \"The developed market economy countries have slowed down\noutput growth thereby drying up markets for the commodity\nexports of African countries.\"\n Mamman said the World Bank estimated 35.3 billion dlrs a\nyear would be needed over the next five years for the African\ncontinent to be able to achieve a gross domestic product growth\n(GDP) rate of three to four pct by 1990.\n Yet at the same time Africa's debt service was estimated at\n24.5 billion dlrs a year between 1986 and 1990.\n \"With the best of intentions Africa cannot attain a three to\nfour pct GDP growth rate if the current high level of debt\npersists,\" Mamman said. Developed countries must seek\nalternatives to policies that resulted in the transfer of\nresources and more indebtedness, he said.\n \"The international community cannot fail to respond\npositively to the collapse of the international market for\ncommodities ... And act quickly to stabilize demand and prices\nof our commodity exports,\" he added.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 02:59:12.15", "topics": [ "interest", "gnp", "trade" ], "organisations": [ "gatt" ], "places": [ "new-zealand", "nigeria" ], "id": "8135" }, { "title": "VW EXPECTS HIGHER GERMAN MARKET SHARE IN 1987", "body": "Volkswagen AG \nexpects to increase its market share in West Germany in the\nfull year 1987 after registering gains in the first two months\nof the year, managing board chairman Carl Hahn said.\n He told Reuters in an interview that incoming orders in\nWest Germany, VW's largest single market, had been very good in\nearly 1987. Its share of the domestic car market rose to 29 pct\nin January and February from 26 pct in the year-ago period.\n Hahn declined to forecast first quarter 1987 results, or\nanswer questions about the VW currency scandal.\n Hahn said he did not want to elaborate on statements VW had\nalready issued on the affair and noted the case was now in the\nhands of state prosecutors.\n VW, like other car manufacturers, had encountered difficult\nmarket conditions in the United States in early 1987, Hahn\nsaid, without giving details.\n He declined to predict U.S. Sales for 1987 as a whole,\nsaying it was particularly difficult this year to forecast\nsales trends in North America, VW's second largest regional\nmarket after Western Europe.\n Hahn declined to comment directly on reports that 1986\nlosses at Spanish subsidiary Sociedad Espanola de Automoviles\nde Turismo (SEAT) totalled up to 27 billion pesetas or that\nthese losses were twice as high as expected.\n But he said SEAT was developing according to plan and added\nthe introduction of international accounting standards and\nchanges to VW's own had led to some corrections to SEAT's\nfigures.\n VW hoped SEAT would reach break-even point in the course of\nthis year. In 1986 SEAT's volume sales had been better than\nexpected, Hahn said.\n In January and February, 1987, SEAT's turnover in Europe\nrose 40 pct compared with the same months of 1986, Hahn said.\nIts European market share rose to 1.9 pct in January and\nFebruary from 1.6 pct a year earlier.\n Hahn said VW hoped to sign a contract with Ford Motor Co\n in the summer on the planned joint venture between the\ntwo companies' loss-making operations in Argentina and Brazil.\n A provisional joint management team was already looking at\nways of synchronising the two operations, he said. VW's\noperations in Mexico had made again made a profit in 1986, he\nadded.\n Hahn, speaking to Reuters in an interview to mark\nproduction of VW's 50 millionth car, said VW had no plans to\nmake acquisitions outside the automotive sector.\n It also did not expect to raise capital again in the\nforeseeable future after increasing capital by 25 pct in 1986\nin the biggest rights issue in West German history, Hahn said.\n In a separate interview Karl-Heinz Briam, the management\nboard member responsible for labour relations, said VW did not\ncurrently plan to increase its workforce further this year.\n All of VW's domestic plants and most of its foreign\nproduction facilities were currently operating at full\ncapacity, Briam said. The exceptions were VW's Nigerian\noperations and its Westmoreland plant in Pennsylvania.\n Hahn said VW had recently taken steps to increase the\nflexibility and improve the structure of the Westmoreland\nplant. However, VW was not planning to increase production\nthere at the moment.\n \"Most of the VW vehicles (sold in the U.S.) will, as before,\nbe built in Germany,\" Hahn said.\n Hahn said there was room for further growth in West\nGermany, and predicted that 1987 would be a good year generally\nfor the industry domestically.\n Wolfgang Lincke, head of car development at VW, said the\nincreasing environmental awareness of West German consumers\nwould allow VW to sell more \"higher value\" cars in future\ncontaining equipment such as catalytic converters, which cut\nexhaust emissions.\n Lincke declined to be drawn on when VW may introduce a\nsuccessor to its current Golf model, which in 1983 replaced the\noriginal dating from 1974.\n VW would in any case retain the Golf name. Of the 50 mln VW\ncars built since VW started commercial production after World\nWar II, nearly nine mln have been Golfs, Lincke said.\n VW, which traditionally releases its annual results in\nApril or May, said last week 1986 profit and dividend would\nboth be unchanged despite the need to make provision to cover\nthe possible loss of 480 mln marks from allegedly fraudulent\nhedging operations.\n VW has also said the currency scandal would not affect the\ncompany's investment spending.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 03:01:35.01", "places": [ "west-germany" ], "id": "8136" }, { "title": "GERMAN BOND YIELDS SEEN FALLING IN NEAR TERM ", "body": "West German bond yields could decline\nover the next few months if recent efforts to stabilize\nexchange rates, as seen in last month's Paris pact, extend to\nkeeping down European interest rates, banking economists said.\n But in the longer term domestic yields could rise under\nagreements to stimulate West Germany's economy, they said.\n The Paris agreement has so far successfully stabilized\ncurrencies with the threat of central bank intervention,\neconomists said.\n Economists speculated that G-7 countries may try to bolster\nthe pact by uncoupling U.S. and West German interest rates\nfurther when they meet for the IMF Interim Committee in April.\n\"The recent round of monetary accommodation by the Bundesbank\nand the Bank of Japan and the firming of the Federal Funds rate\nare significant. They mark an uncoupling of movements in U.S.\nand foreign interest rates,\" Salomon Bros Inc said in a recent\nstudy.\n It said narrowing of international interest rate spreads\nwas a major factor in the dollar's fall. These spreads will\nhave to be widened if the dollar is to be stabilized.\n West German Bundesbank President Karl Otto Poehl encouraged\nthe U.S. not to cut interest rates in January when the\nBundesbank cut its own rates by half a point, to avoid\nweakening the dollar.\n West German economists see room for further cuts in leading\nWest German rates if the dollar resumes its decline.\n \"It's not a taboo,\" Peter Pietsch, spokesman for Commerzbank\nAG said.\n But most economists see room for a cut in West German rates\nonly in the first half of the year, as re-emerging inflation\nwill limit room for manoeuvre later in the year.\n The Bundesbank's average yield of public paper is already\nnearing last year's low. Last week, yields fell to around 5.50\npct, not far from the 1986 low of 5.35 pct posted in mid-April.\n Economists said the trend may cause domestic investors to\nshift some funds from short to longer-term paper. Such a move\nwould tend to flatten the yield curve between short and\nlong-term rates, which has become more pronounced since the\nBundesbank lowered its discount rate.\n It might also facilitate a further cut in leading rates, as\nthe shift out of savings accounts into securities would slow\ngrowth of the Bundesbank's central bank money stock aggregate.\n But conflicting with this trend are plans to increase West\nGerman tax cuts, part of the Paris currency pact designed to\nmeet U.S. demands for faster West German growth. This move may\nforce interest rates up by creating a revenue vacuum which must\nbe filled by higher government borrowing.\n This may not occur if private sector demand for credit\nremains weak, but demand could emerge if rates begin rising.\n Economists said it appeared the government had already\nstepped up borrowing this year to accomodate revenue loss from\nother sources, including tax losses resulting from weaker than\nexpected economic growth, and higher than expected spending.\n Josef Koerner, chief economist of the West German\nIfo-Institut, said in a newspaper interview he expected 1987\ntax revenue to be some 11 billion marks below estimates by the\nWest German government in November.\n Any tax shortfall in itself is unlikely to push yields up.\nBut coupled with other factors such as waning foreign\nspeculative buying of mark bonds on the dollar's decline, long\nterm yields may to have to rise, economists said.\n Public authority borrowing in 1988 may also rise owing to\nincreases in the second phase of Bonn's tax reform package.\n The West German government is raising its total tax cuts in\n1988 by 5.2 billion marks to 14.4 billion.\n West German chancellor Helmut Kohl said last week increased\nborrowing to finance the tax reform is acceptable.\n Finance minister Gerhard Stoltenberg said last Thursday he\nwas looking for other ways to finance the reform, such as\nraising indirect taxes.\n But few economists believe the government will be able to\ngo through with its tax measures without increasing net\nborrowing.\n The Bundesbank said in its February report that it was\nwrong to believe that the first stage of the tax reform in 1986\ncould be managed without increasing deficits.\n The Bundesbank said West German public authorities borrowed\na large 21.9 billion marks in credit markets in the 1986 final\nquarter compared with 14.8 billion in fourth quarter 1985.\n The federal government took up nearly 10 billion marks of\nthe fourth quarter 1986 figures, and also drew on two billion\nmarks of Bundesbank advances at the end of the year, when it\nhad not required such a credit in the 1985 quarter.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 03:01:41.93", "topics": [ "interest" ], "places": [ "west-germany", "usa", "japan" ], "id": "8137" }, { "title": "PHILIPPINES POSTS 68 MLN DLR JANUARY TRADE DEFICIT", "body": "The Philippines posted a trade deficit\nof 68 mln dlrs in January, compared with deficits of 57 mln in\nJanuary 1986 and 28 mln in December, government figures show.\n The National Census and Statistics Office (NCSO) said\nimports of 436 mln dlrs in January were up from 371 mln in\nJanuary 1986 and 393 mln dlrs in December, while exports of 368\nmln were up on the 314 mln in January 1986 but lower than\nDecember's 421 mln.\n The country's 1987-92 medium-term development plan targets\na 9.8 pct average annual growth in exports and a 10.7 pct\ngrowth in imports, the NCSO said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 03:07:51.02", "topics": [ "trade" ], "places": [ "philippines" ], "id": "8138" }, { "title": "NAKASONE DEFENDS SALES TAX AS CAMPAIGNING BEGINS", "body": "Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone defended\nhis tax reform plans from fierce opposition, even within his\nown party, as campaigning for local elections began.\n \"Our plan to reform the nation's tax system is by no means\nwrong. Unless we reform the system now, Japan is bound to\ndecay, perhaps within the next 10 years,\" Nakasone told\nsupporters of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).\n The April 12 and 26 elections will be the first nationwide\nvote since the LDP's general election victory last July.\n Opposition parties have shown rare unity in joining to\nfight a proposed five pct sales tax, one of the main planks in\nthe tax reform package, and are now challenging the\nLDP-dominated local governments and assemblies.\n In Tokyo, incumbent Governor Shunichi Suzuki backed by the\nLDP and two centrist parties has said he cannot support the\nsales tax as it stands.\n A survey by the National Broadcasting Corporation just over\nthree weeks ago showed 70 pct of those polled said they would\ntake the tax, which Nakasone proposes to implement next\nJanuary, into consideration when they vote.\n Takako Doi, Chairwoman of the Japan Socialist Party, said\nin a speech in central Tokyo where shop-owners are opposing the\ntax \"The elections are a plebiscite against the sales tax. Your\nvote is a vote to force (Nakasone) to retract (it).\"\n The LDP is putting up its own candidates only in Iwate and\nwestern Shimane but it is supporting independents jointly with\nother parties in other prefectures.\n A close aide to Nakasone, who asked not to be identified,\nsaid he sees the sales tax having little impact on the local\nelections since almost all candidates, irrespective of party\naffiliation, are opposing it in prefectural assembly polls.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 03:08:55.65", "places": [ "japan" ], "id": "8139" }, { "title": "JAPANESE COMPOUND FEED OUTPUT FALLS IN JANUARY", "body": "Japanese compound feed output fell to\n2.06 mln tonnes in January from 2.57 mln in December, against\n2.04 mln a year earlier, Agriculture Ministry statistics show.\n January sales totalled 2.07 mln tonnes against 2.59 mln in\nDecember and 2.04 mln a year earlier, while end-month stocks\nwere 233,003 tonnes against 230,764 and 241,567.\n Base mixes for the January compound feed output included\ncorn, sorghum and soybean meal.\n Corn use totalled 993,156 tonnes, against 1.20 mln in\nDecember and 896,718 a year earlier, and its compounding ratio\nwas 48.1 pct against 46.6 pct and 43.1 pct.\n Sorghum use totalled 339,013 tonnes in January against\n459,067 in December and 412,743 a year earlier, and its\ncompounding ratio was 16.4 pct against 17.8 pct and 19.8 pct,\nthe ministry's figures shows.\n Soybean meal use amounted to 202,546 tonnes against 253,498\nand 213,287 and its compounding ratio was 9.8 pct against 9.8\npct and 10.2 pct.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 03:12:15.97", "topics": [ "meal-feed", "grain", "corn", "sorghum", "oilseed", "soybean" ], "places": [ "japan" ], "id": "8140" }, { "title": "JAPAN SAYS IT TRYING TO EXPAND DOMESTIC DEMAND", "body": "Japan has assured a meeting\nof trade ministers it is making every effort to expand domestic\ndemand and restructure its economy.\n Japanese trade representative Tsomu Hata told an informal\nGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) meeting that, in\naddition to demand boosting measures adopted last September, a\ncomprehensive economic program will be prepared after the\n1987/88 budget is approved.\n Hata, speaking at the first session of the two-day meeting,\nsaid agriculture is no exception to the goal of restructuring\nthe economy, but did not elaborate.\n Hata said protectionist pressures in the international\neconomy are as strong as ever, reflecting financial deficits,\npayment imbalances and serious unemployment in many countries.\n Despite great potential, developing economies are still\nconfronted by grave difficulties, particularly debt, he added.\n The basis for the talks is the GATT ministerial declaration\nlast September in Punta del Este, Uruguay, and the subsequent\ntrade negotiating plan agreed in Geneva.\n \"It is essential that we first reaffirm here our commitment\nto implementing that plan as scheduled,\" Hata said.\n Hata added it is not constructive to speed up negotiations\nin some areas at the expense of others.\n In order to rebuild the free trade system, it is important\nfor each participant to have domestic policies that will serve\nthis end.\n As part of its contribution, Japan plans in April to\nfundamentally improve its generalised system of preferences for\nindustrial and mining products to make Japan's domestic market\nmore open to developing countries, he said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 03:16:03.85", "topics": [ "trade" ], "organisations": [ "gatt" ], "places": [ "japan" ], "id": "8141" }, { "title": "UAE CENTRAL BANK CD YIELDS MOSTLY LOWER", "body": "Yields on certificates of deposit\noffered by the United Arab Emirates central bank were mostly\nlower than last Monday's offering, the bank said.\n The one-month issue remained at 6-1/8 pct but the two,\nthree and six-month yields fell 1/16 point to 6-1/16 pct from\n6-1/8 pct.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 03:43:32.87", "places": [ "uae" ], "id": "8142" }, { "title": "MARUBENI WINS 30 MLN DLR CHINESE CHICKEN CONTRACT", "body": "Marubeni Corp said it won a 30\nmln dlr contract from China to set up a broiler raising and\nslaughtering plant in Tianjin under a countertrade accord in\nwhich payment will be made partly by output from the plant.\n The plant, which will be completed by end-1988, will have a\ncapacity of five mln broilers a year, most of which will go to\nChina's domestic market, a company spokesman said without\ngiving further details.\n The spokesman said Marubeni plans to increase its\ncountertrade with China by helping China set up farm product\nprocessing plants and improving its food distribution system.\n Marubeni will also help China develop export markets for\nfarm products, he said.\n The company wants to increase its food trade with China to\naround 200 mln dlrs a year within a few years from 70 mln now,\nhe added.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 03:51:10.36", "places": [ "japan", "china" ], "id": "8143" }, { "title": " Bundesbank sets 28-day securities repurchase tender at fixed 3.80 pct\n", "date": "23-MAR-1987 04:27:17.00", "topics": [ "interest" ], "id": "8144" }, { "title": "BUNDESBANK SETS NEW REPURCHASE TENDER", "body": "The Bundesbank set a new tender for a\n28-day securities repurchase agreement, offering banks\nliquidity aid at a fixed rate of 3.80 pct, a central bank\nspokesman said.\n Banks must make their bids by 1000 GMT tomorrow, and funds\nallocated will be credited to accounts on Wednesday. Banks must\nrepurchase securities pledged on April 22.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 04:31:04.38", "topics": [ "money-fx", "interest" ], "places": [ "west-germany" ], "id": "8145" }, { "title": "LSI LOGIC ISSUES 100 MLN DLR CONVERTIBLE BOND", "body": "LSI Logic Corp is issuing a 100 mln dlr\nconvertible eurobond due April 14, 2002 with an indicated\ncoupon of 5-3/4 to 6-1/4 pct and priced at par, Morgan Stanley\nInternational said as lead manager.\n Terms will be fixed within five days and the conversion\npremium is expected to be 24 to 26 pct above the share price.\nThe bonds are non-callable before April 14, 1990 unless the\nshare price exceeds 130 pct of the conversion price for 20\nconsecutive trading days.\n Any calls will be at 100 plus the coupon in year one,\ndeclining in equal amounts to 100 in 1997.\n Gross fees are 2-1/2 pct, with one pct for management and\nunderwriting and 1-1/2 pct for selling, Morgan Stanley said.\n The bonds will be issued in denominations of 1,000 and\n10,000 dlrs and listed in Luxembourg. Pay date is April 14.\n Co-lead is Pru-Bache Securities.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 04:40:04.50", "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8146" }, { "title": "U.K. MONEY MARKET DEFICIT FORECAST AT 800 MLN STG", "body": "The Bank of England said it forecast a\nshortage of around 800 mln stg in the money market today.\n Among the main factors affecting liquidity, bills maturing\nin official hands and the take-up of treasury bills will drain\naround 1.18 billion stg while bankers balances below target\nwill take out some 20 mln stg.\n Partly offseting these outflows, a fall in note circulation\nand exchequer transactions will add some 355 and 55 mln stg to\nthe system respectively.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 04:55:05.37", "topics": [ "money-fx", "interest" ], "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8147" }, { "title": "NORD-EST ISSUES 392.9 MLN FRENCH FRANC BOND", "body": "Financial holding company Nord-Est is\nissuing a 392.9 mln franc, 6.25 pct, five year domestic bond\nconvertible into shares, an announcement in the Official\nBulletin (BALO) said.\n From March 26 to April 8, subscription for 1.63 mln of the\n1.64 mln bonds of 240 francs nominal each will be reserved for\nshareholders holding 13.09 mln shares of 50 francs nominal,\nrepresenting the company's capital of 654.85 mln francs, on the\nbasis of one bond for eight shares held.\n The bonds will be exchangeable from July 1 for shares on a\none for one basis.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 04:55:13.06", "places": [ "france" ], "id": "8148" }, { "title": "INDONESIA'S NON-OIL EXPORTS DECLINE IN 1986", "body": "Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports\nfell to 5.79 billion dlrs in calendar 1986 from 5.98 billion in\n1985, according to Bank Indonesia figures.\n Coffee exports rose to 753 mln dlrs from 580 mln in 1985,\nbut rubber shipments fell to 625 mln from 720 mln and tin to\n180.6 mln from 246 mln, weekly central bank figures show.\n Indonesia hopes to boost its non-oil exports to make up for\noil revenue lost because of lower prices. But the lower value\nof commodities such as timber, rubber, palm oil and tea on\nworld markets has prevented this, despite a 31 pct devaluation\nof the rupiah against the dollar in September.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:05:32.62", "topics": [ "trade", "coffee", "rubber", "palm-oil" ], "places": [ "indonesia" ], "id": "8149" }, { "title": "MODERATE EARTHQUAKE HITS SOUTHWEST JAPAN", "body": "A moderate earthquake measuring 5.5 on\nthe Richter scale shook southwestern Japan but caused no\ninjuries or damage, police said.\n The tremor, recorded at 1358 local time (0458), had its\nepicentre about 50 km offshore from the city of Miyazaki on the\nwestern Japanese island of Kyushu, they said.\n It affected almost the same area as last Wednesday's strong\nearthquake which killed two people and injured at least three,\nthey said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:07:11.66", "places": [ "japan" ], "id": "8150" }, { "title": "AUSTRALIAN MINISTER SAYS AGRICULTURE GATT PRIORITY", "body": "Australian Trade Minister\nJohn Dawkins said if the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade\n(GATT) does not give high priority to agricultural trade reform\nit will be neglecting the area of greatest crisis.\n In a statement to the informal GATT trade ministers\nconference here he said agriculture is a problem which involves\nall countries and seriously affects the debt servicing\nabilities of a number of developing countries.\n He said major countries should be showing leadership on\nthis problem.\n \"We will be giving close attention to the processes in the\nOECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) and\nelsewhere leading to the Venice economic summit where we will\nbe looking to the participants to adopt a strong commitment to\nagricultural trade reform,\" Dawkins said.\n The Venice summit is scheduled for June.\n He said Australia's interests in the Uruguay Round, the\neighth under the GATT, are wide ranging. Dawkins said he sees\nthe round as providing a timely opportunity to secure further\nmeaningful trade liberalisation in all sectors and to restore\nconfidence in the multilateral system.\n Dawkins said initial meetings of the negotiating groups\nestablished in Geneva after the GATT declaration last September\nin Punta del Este, Uruguay, have made a reasonable start, but\nit is vital that trade ministers maintain the pressure on these\nprocesses.\n \"We must see that the commitments made at Punta del Este on\nstandstill and rollback are carried into practice.\"\n The standstill and rollback of protection offers the global\ntrading system a chance to hold and wind back protection during\nthe negotiations which are expected to last up to four years,\nhe said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:07:35.95", "topics": [ "trade" ], "organisations": [ "gatt", "oecd" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8151" }, { "title": "TAIWAN ISSUES MORE CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT", "body": "The central bank issued 4.03 billion\nTaiwan dlrs of certificates of deposit (cds), bringing cd\nissues so far this year to 134.5 billion dlrs, a bank official\ntold Reuters.\n The new cds, with maturities of six months, one and two\nyears, carry interest rates ranging from 4.07 to 5.12 pct, he\nsaid.\n The issues are intended to help curb the growth of M-1b\nmoney supply, which is the result of large foreign exchange\nreserves.\n The reserves are now well over 51 billion U.S. Dlrs.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:08:49.89", "places": [ "taiwan" ], "id": "8152" }, { "title": "JAPAN ECONOMY SEEN GROWING 3.6 PCT IN 1987/88", "body": "Japan is expected to post a 3.6 pct rise\nin real gross national product in 1987/88, higher than the\nofficial 3.5 pct target, a private economic institute said.\n The Research Institute on National Economy said in a report\nthe economy will start picking up in the April-June quarter,\npartly because of an improvement in earnings performance and\ncapital spending in manufacturing industries.\n The institute assumed an average exchange rate in the year\nstarting April 1 of 150 yen to the dollar. It predicted the\nBank of Japan will not change the official discount rate in the\nyear.\n The institute forecast that Japan's exports will gradually\nrise in the year in volume terms as the dollar's fall in the\npast 18 months is likely to help prop up the U.S. Economy.\n Japan's trade surplus is expected to narrow slightly to\n90.2 billion dlrs in 1987/88 ending March 31 from an estimated\n98 billion in the current fiscal year, it said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:10:10.05", "topics": [ "gnp", "interest", "money-fx", "trade" ], "places": [ "japan" ], "id": "8153" }, { "title": "TOSHIBA SETS UP HONG KONG CIRCUIT DESIGN CENTRE", "body": "Toshiba Corp said it has set up\na design centre for large integrated circuits (LSI) in Hong\nKong.\n The centre, located at its wholly-owned Hong Kong\nsubsidiary , will start\noperations to help create new demand for semi-customized LSI\nfrom April 1.\n Toshiba has nine LSI design centres in the U.S., Europe and\nJapan.\n REUETER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:12:02.83", "places": [ "japan", "hong-kong" ], "id": "8154" }, { "title": "BOOKER PLC 1986 YEAR", "body": "Shr 27.89p vs 24.24p\n Div 9.0p vs 7.75p making 13.75p vs 12.0p\n Turnover 1.26 billion stg vs 1.19 billion\n Pretax profit 54.6 mln vs 46.5 mln\n Tax 16.5 mln vs 13.5 mln\n Interest paid 2.2 mln vs 2.4 mln\n Minority interests 2.3 mln debit vs same\n Extraordinary items 42.3 mln profit vs 5.4 mln loss\n Pretax profit includes -\n Agribusiness 28.3 mln vs 22.5 mln\n Health products 6.5 mln vs 5.4 mln\n Wholesale food distribution 8.3 mln vs 7.3 mln\n Retail food distribution 4.2 mln vs 5.9 mln\n U.K. 28.7 mln vs 27.2 mln\n U.S. 21.1 mln vs 16.1 mln\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:14:56.46", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8155" }, { "title": "PHILIPPINES CRITICISES EC FOR VEGETABLE OIL LEVY", "body": "Philippines Trade and\nIndustry Secretary Jose Concepcion told world trade ministers\nhe wondered if their agreement was of any real value after the\nEuropean Community (EC) imposed a levy on vegetable oils.\n Concepcion, speaking at an informal meeting of the General\nAgreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) here, said ministers\ndeclared in Uruguay last September that the trade of\nless-developed nations should not be disrupted.\n He said the EC not only ignored Manila's request for lower\ntariffs on coconut oil but introduced a levy on vegetable oils\nand fats that are vital exports for Southeast Asian countries.\n Concepcion said while the levy might be rejected by the EC\nCouncil of Ministers, he noted that \"I cannot help but wonder\nwhether the agreements we produce in meetings like this are of\nany real value.\"\n He also said industrialised nations saved about 65 billion\nU.S. Dlrs in 1985 through low commodity prices, but this had\naffected the ability of developing nations to import goods and\nservices.\n \"The health and the growth of world trade requires that the\nnew development of developing countries losing their share of\nworld trade be arrested and reversed,\" he said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:16:18.27", "topics": [ "trade", "veg-oil" ], "organisations": [ "ec", "gatt" ], "places": [ "philippines", "new-zealand" ], "id": "8156" }, { "title": "SOMALIA PREPARES FOREIGN INVESTMENT LAW", "body": "The Somali government has submitted\nto parliament a law offering foreign investors generous terms\nincluding customs duty exemption on all capital goods, Minister\nof State for Planning Yusuf Ali Osman said.\n Osman told reporters yesterday the new law opened all\nsectors of the Somali economy to foreign investment and allowed\nunrestricted remittance of profits and repatriation of the\nwhole value of the investment after five years.\n The law gives investors guarantees against nationalisation\nand permits them to retain 50 pct of their export earnings in\nexternal accounts, a privilege available to Somali exporters\nsince last year, he added.\n Osman described the new terms as very attractive and said\nhe expected the bill to go through within a week. Details of\nthe previous investment laws were not immediately available.\n Somalia opened its economy to private investment in the\nearly 1980s but few foreign firms have put money into the\ncountry. Osman said the two largest private foreign investments\nwere in a banana exporting venture and in a small boatyard.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:23:17.19", "places": [ "somalia" ], "id": "8157" }, { "title": "BURMA SAYS DEBT SERVICE RATIO FALLS TO 48.8 PCT", "body": "Burma's debt service ratio will have\nfallen to 48.8 pct in the fiscal year to end-March 1987 from 50\npct in 1985-1986, the official Council of People's Inspectors\n(CPI) reported.\n Western diplomats in Rangoon estimate the figure at above\n70 pct and say the country can no longer depend on foreign\nexchange reserves to cover more than a few weeks' imports.\n The CPI, which oversees government spending, said in its\nlatest report to parliament that foreign currency reserves fell\nto a record low of 407.9 mln kyats in September 1986 from 430.3\nmln in March 1986. Earlier figures were not available.\n Debt servicing cost Burma 1.62 billion kyats in 1985-1986\nwhile foreign exchange earnings -- export revenues plus loans\nand aid -- totalled 3.23 billion kyats in the same period, the\ncouncil said.\n Later figures were not available.\n Burma, which diplomats here say now has foreign debts of up\nto 3.4 billion dlrs, has applied to the United Nations to be\nreclassified as one of the world's least developed countries in\norder to qualify for softer loan and grant aid.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:30:02.91", "topics": [ "reserves", "trade" ], "places": [ "burma" ], "id": "8158" }, { "title": "INDIA BOUGHT 24,000 TONNES OF RBD OLEIN AT TENDER", "body": "The Indian State Trading Corporation\n(STC) bought four cargoes of rbd palm olein totalling 24,000\ntonnes at its vegetable oil import tender last week, traders\nsaid. Market reports on Friday said the STC had booked two\ncargoes.\n The business comprised three 6,000 tonne cargoes for June\nat 346 dlrs and 6,000 tonnes for July at 340 dlrs per tonne\ncif.\n It also secured a 20,000 tonne cargo of optional origin\nrapeseed oil for May 15/Jun 15 shipment at 321 dlrs cif.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:31:38.54", "topics": [ "veg-oil", "palm-oil", "rape-oil", "ship" ], "places": [ "uk", "india" ], "id": "8159" }, { "title": "BP GRANGEMOUTH REFINERY SHUT, HYDROCRACKER DAMAGED", "body": "The entire British Petroleum Co PLC\nrefinery at Grangemouth in Scotland has been shut down\nfollowing the explosion and fire that severely damaged the\nhydrocracker at the site, a refinery spokesman said.\n He said the rest of the 178,500 bpd refinery, including the\n19,000 bpd catalytic cracker, was undamaged. The whole refinery\nwas closed pending enquiries but a decision when to reopen the\nmain units will be taken in the next couple of days, he said.\n But there was extensive damage to the central part of the\n32,000 bpd hydrocracker, which upgrades heavy oil products to\ngasoline, and it will be out of operation for some months.\n The spokesman said BP will not suffer supply shortages as a\nresult of the explosion as it will be able to bring in product\nfrom other sources. BP has a 437,000 bpd refinery in Rotterdam,\na 181,900 bpd unit at Ingolstadt, West Germany, a 181,900 bpd\nplant at Lavera in France and a smaller Swedish plant.\n He said the explosion and fire, in which one worker was\nkilled, occurred when the hydrocracker was not in operation.\n The refinery as a whole had been operating at about half of\nits capacity since the end of January while an extensive\noverhaul was carried out on the North Side of the complex where\nthe hydrocracker is sited, he said.\n This work was scheduled to be completed by mid-April, but\nthis is now being assessed following the hydrocracker accident.\n Two people were killed in an explosion and fire in a flare\nline at the Grangemouth refinery on March 13, but the spokesman\nsaid this incident was some 100 yards from the latest accident.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:33:58.58", "topics": [ "crude" ], "id": "8160" }, { "title": "DENG SETS LIMIT TO CHINA GRAIN IMPORTS, PAPER SAYS", "body": "China's top leader Deng Xiaoping said\nChina must not import more than 10 mln tonnes of grain, Ming\nPao newspaper of Hong Kong said.\n Customs figures show that China imported 7.73 mln tonnes of\ngrain in 1986, up from 5.97 mln in 1985 but down from a record\n16.15 mln in 1982.\n The newspaper quoted Deng as saying that grain output is\none of several key issues that will influence the whole\ndevelopment of the economy. It did not give the context of his\nremarks. The 1987 grain production target is 405 mln, up from\n391 mln in 1986.\n The newspaper quoted Deng as saying that the situation has\nreached the point where \"pigs are not fed, there is not enough\ngrain and increases in output have slowed.\"\n \"We should in our overall economic planning put agriculture\nin its proper place to reach our target of 480 mln tonnes by\nthe year 2000,\" he said. \"We must avoid the situation in recent\nyears of importing more than 10 mln tonnes of grain.\"\n The paper quoted Deng as saying that the State Council has\ndecided to raise the price of five grains, including corn and\nrice, unchanged since 1978, but it gave no details.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:35:09.36", "topics": [ "grain", "corn", "rice" ], "places": [ "china" ], "id": "8161" }, { "title": "AUSTRALIA'S WOOLWORTHS LOOKS TO IMPROVED PROFITS", "body": "Woolworths Ltd said policy,\nmanagement and financial changes initiated during the 1986/87\nbusiness year should cause profits to reach more acceptable\nlevels in 1987/88 end-February 1.\n Net profit reported earlier fell 85.3 pct in the year ended\nFebruary 1.\n Results for the first month of the new year were\nencouraging after a period of uncertain consumer confidence and\ndifficult trading conditions, it said in a statement.\n The Big W discount store division and New South Wales\nsupermarkets produced very disappointing results, it added.\n Woolworths earlier reported a fall in net profit to 9.27\nmln from 63.20 mln on sales of 5.47 billion against 4.83\nbillion. Capital spending for the year was 119 mln dlrs against\n105 mln for the previous year with 50 new stores opened, but\ntotal sales were below target, Woolworths said.\n The company provided 20 mln dlrs against operating profit\nfor the year to cover mark-downs on stock.\n Extraordinary items included a 53 mln dlr profit on the\nsale of properties and investments less a 28 mln provision for\nreorganising the Big W chain.\n Woolworths is unrelated to the U.S. Group F.W. Woolworth\n. It has been the subject of takeover speculation since\n acquired a 20 pct stake last year.\n New Zealand's diversified investment group bought Safeway Stores Inc's 20 pct holding in\nWoolworths for 190 mln dlrs late last year.\n Safeway put its stake up for tender just in time to take\nadvantage of changes in U.S. Tax laws effective from the end of\nDecember, informed sources said.\n Woolworths shares closed on Australian stock exchanges\ntoday at 3.50 dlrs, down five cents from Friday.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:38:57.77", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8162" }, { "title": "BOOKER SAYS 1987 STARTS WELL", "body": "Booker Plc said 1987 had\nstarted well and the group had the resources to invest in its\ngrowth business both organically and by acquisition.\n It was commenting on figures for 1986 which showed pretax\nprofits rising to 54.6 mln from 46.5 mln previously. Profits\nfrom the U.S. Accounted for 39 pct of the total. The results\nwere broadly in line with analysts' forecasts and the company's\nshares firmed in morning trading to 421p from 413p at Friday's\nclose.\n The group ended the year with a cash surplus higher at 54\nmln stg, compared to 26 mln previously, after capital\nexpenditure which rose to 54 mln from 43 mln.\n In a statement, the company said the U.K. Agribusiness\ngroup reported excellent profits growth while health products\nprofits rose to 6.5 mln from 5.4 mln.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:40:00.46", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8163" }, { "title": "BANGLADESH FORECASTS GDP GROWTH OF 4.4 PCT", "body": "Gross domestic product is expected to\ngrow by 4.4 pct in the year ending June 30, Finance Minister\nMohammad Syeduzzaman told reporters.\n Inflation fell to an estimated 12 pct this fiscal year from\n17 pct in 1981/82, he said last night.\n The World Bank and other independent sources have said\ninflation would be around 15 pct in 1986/87.\n Syeduzzaman said remittances from expatriates would rise to\n600 mln dlrs this year from 425 mln in 1981/82.\n Foreign exchange reserves at end-June are projected at 680\nmln dlrs compared with 105 mln in 1981/82, he said.\n Syeduzzaman said the export target has been set at 900 mln\ndlrs this year against 626 mln in 1981/82. Commitments for\nforeign loans and grants total more than five billion dlrs in\n1986/87, against 3.54 billion five years previously, he said.\n The government's liberal industrial policy has attracted\ninvestment commitments totalling 250 mln dlrs, he said\n Foodgrain output is estimated at 16.4 mln tonnes this year,\nup from 16.12 mln in 1985/86 and 14.4 mln in 1981/82.\n Government officials have said Bangladesh must import\nnearly two mln tonnes of grain annually up to 1990, when the\ngovernment expects to attain self-sufficiency in food.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:40:11.52", "topics": [ "gnp", "cpi", "reserves", "grain" ], "places": [ "bangladesh" ], "id": "8164" }, { "title": " Belgian three-month treasury certificate rate cut 0.10 points to 7.40 pct\n", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:40:15.93", "id": "8165" }, { "title": "BEGHIN-SAY INCREASES CAPITAL TO FINANCE EXPANSION", "body": "French sugar group Beghin-Say, which is\n49.6 pct owned by Italy's Gruppo Ferruzzi, is to raise its\ncapital to 703 mln francs from 527 mln through a three-for-one\nissue of shares and investment certificates to finance\nexpansion, president Jean-Marc Vernes told analysts.\n For the first stage Beghin-Say will issue some 2.05 mln new\n65 franc shares at 500 francs to increase capital to 660 mln\nfrancs. The share currently trades at 734 francs. Then 658,000\nnew 65 franc investment certificates will be issued at 400\nfrancs, raising capital to 703 mln francs.\n The capital increase will bring the group around 1.2\nbillion francs in new funds to finance its expansion plans.\nThese include the possible acquisition of the Corn Products\nmaize starch plant at Haubourdin in northern France, Vernes\nsaid.\n Ferruzzi is one of several groups bidding to buy all of\nCorn Products' installations in Europe. Apart from the French\nplant, these include three factories in each of Italy and West\nGermany, two in Britain and Spain and one in the Netherlands\nand Denmark.\n Corn Products has put a 650 mln dlr price tag on the\ninstallations, and Beghin-Say estimates that acquisition of the\nHaubourdin plant would cost between 80 and 100 mln dlrs, Vernes\nsaid.\n If this bid fails, Beghin-Say would consider acquiring and\ndeveloping two other French plants, either in the maize or\nwheat starch sector.\n Beghin-Say is also planning to finance European expansion\nfor its Kaysersberg subsidiary, another major reason for its\ncapital increase.\n Kaysersberg, which was transformed from a division of\nBeghin-Say into a fully-fledged chemical subsidiary last year,\nhas been holding talks with other European companies on\npossible accords, Vernes said. He added the company could be\nintroduced onto the Paris Bourse in the near future.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 05:49:01.51", "topics": [ "acq", "grain", "corn" ], "places": [ "uk", "france", "italy", "west-germany", "spain" ], "id": "8166" }, { "title": "IRAQ REPORTS RAIDS IRAN'S NOWRUZ OIL FIELD", "body": "Iraq said its warplanes launched two\nbombing raids on Iran's offshore Nowruz oilfield in the\nnorthern Gulf today.\n A military spokesman, quoted by the official Iraqi news\nagency, said platforms at the field were reduced \"to rubble.\"\n He said attacks on the field, 55 miles northwest of Iran's\nKharg Island oil terminal, were carried out at 0600 GMT. He\nsaid today's raids \"fall within Iraq's policy to deprive Iranian\nrulers of oil revenue used to serve their aggressive aims.\"\n Iraqi planes yesterday raided the nearby Ardeshir oil\nfield, resuming attacks on Iranian targets after a month-long\nlull.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:08:19.97", "topics": [ "crude" ], "places": [ "iran", "iraq" ], "id": "8167" }, { "title": "BANK OF FRANCE SAYS NO MONEY MARKET TENDER TODAY", "body": "The Bank of France will not hold a money\nmarket intervention tender today, ruling out a further cut in\nits 7-3/4 pct intervention rate, central bank sources said.\n At the tenders, depending on market conditions, the Bank\ninjects liquidity into the market by buying up first category\npaper. But market sources said that while the recent franc\nperformance leaves room for a further quarter point cut in the\nintervention rate there was plenty of market liquidity.\n The Bank cut its rate to 7-3/4 pct from eight pct on March\n9, the first change since January 2. Interest rates also fell\nthe same week in Britain, Belgium and Italy.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:11:53.61", "topics": [ "money-fx", "interest" ], "places": [ "france" ], "id": "8168" }, { "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:13:33.73", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "south-africa" ], "id": "8169" }, { "title": "TASMANIAN PUBLIC FINANCE HAS AUSTRALIAN DLR BOND", "body": "The Tasmanian Public Finance Corp,\nguaranteed by the state of Tasmania, is issuing a 46 mln\nAustralian dlr eurobond due April 23, 1992 paying 14-3/4 pct\nand priced at 101-1/8 pct, lead manager Deutsche Bank Capital\nMarkets said.\n The bond will be available in denominations of 1,000 and\n10,000 dlrs and will be listed in Luxembourg and Frankfurt.\n Fees comprise 1-3/8 pct selling concession and 5/8 pct\nmanagement and underwriting combined.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:15:12.34", "places": [ "uk", "luxembourg", "west-germany" ], "id": "8170" }, { "title": "FINNISH EXPORT CREDIT ISSUES YEN BONDS", "body": "Finnish Export Corp is issuing a 20\nbillion yen bond maturing April 23, 1992 carrying a 4-3/8 pct\ncoupon and priced at 102-3/4, said Yamaichi Securities\nInternational (Europe) Ltd.\n The bond are payable April 23, 1987 and are available in\ndenominations of one mln yen. They will be listed on the London\nStock Exchange.\n There is a 1-1/4 pct selling concession and 5/8 pct\ncombined management and underwriting fee.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:16:07.95", "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8171" }, { "title": "BALLADUR SEES ONLY TWO PCT FRENCH GROWTH IN 1987", "body": "French 1987 growth will probably be about\ntwo pct, the same as last year, due to an international\nenvironment that is less favourable than expected, Finance\nMinister Edouard Balladur was quoted as saying.\n Treasury director Daniel Lebegue said last month that gross\ndomestic product is expected to grow by between two and 2.5 pct\nthis year, against an original target of 2.8 pct.\n Although in line with the latest Organisation for Economic\nCooperation and Development (OECD) estimate of 2.1 pct growth,\nthe forecast will be balanced by growth in investments and\nexports, Balladur said in an interview with the daily Les\nEchos.\n Last month Balladur said French GDP had grown by just two\npct last year, compared with an initial 1986 target of 2.5 pct\nand 1.1 pct growth in 1985.\n He told Les Echos he aims to reduce the 1988 budget deficit\nto 115 billion francs from this year's figure of 129 billion\nand compared with a 141 billion deficit in 1985.\n He has already announced his intention of cutting the\ndeficit to 100 billion francs in 1989.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:19:59.63", "topics": [ "gnp" ], "places": [ "france" ], "id": "8172" }, { "title": "FRENCH GDP SHOULD RISE 2.3 PCT IN 1988 - MINISTRY", "body": "French gross domestic product should grow\nby 2.3 pct in 1988 after two pct growth this year and 2.1 pct\nin 1986, the Finance Ministry said.\n The latest forecast, prepared by the National Accounts and\nBudget Commission, assumed an exchange rate of 6.20 francs to\nthe dollar this year and next and an average oil import price\nrising to 18.9 dlrs a barrel next year from 17.4 dlrs this year\nand 14.7 in 1986.\n The Commission, headed by Finance minister Edouard\nBalladur, forecast a fall in consumer price inflation to two\npct year-on-year at end-1988 from 2.4 pct at end 1987 and 2.1\npct last year.\n In annual average terms inflation would fall to two pct in\n1988 from 2.5 pct this year and 2.7 pct last year, it said.\n Trade should show a one billion franc annual surplus this\nyear and next after last year's 0.5 billion surplus, it added.\n Employment should rise by 0.1 pct a year over the next two\nyears while the state budget deficit should be cut to 2.2 pct\nof GDP in 1988 from 2.6 pct this year and 2.9 pct in 1986.\n Other forecasts prepared by the Commission indicated a 1.8\npct 1988 rise in household purchasing power, up from 1.1 pct\nthis year but less than last year's 2.9 pct, and a 1.6 pct rise\nin household consumption, compared with this year's 1.5 pct and\nlast year's 2.9 pct.\n Business investment is forecast to rise four pct a year\nthis year and next after 3.7 pct last year, with private sector\nproductive investment rising 4.9 pct in 1988 after a six pct\nrise this year and 5.5 pct in 1986.\n The Ministry said updated forecasts would be prepared\nbefore the autumn to serve as the basis for the 1988 budget,\nwhich the government is now preparing for presentation in\nSeptember.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:31:37.19", "topics": [ "gnp", "trade", "jobs", "retail" ], "places": [ "france" ], "id": "8173" }, { "title": "DANISH TRADE IN BALANCE IN FEBRUARY", "body": "Denmark's balance of payments on\ncurrent account was provisionally put at zero in February,\nagainst a 181 mln crown surplus in January and a 1.5 billion\ndeficit in February 1986, the National Statistics Office said.\n Exports rose to 13.94 billion crowns in February from 12.53\nbillion in January, against 14.16 billion in February last\nyear. February imports rose to 13.94 billion from 12.35 billion\nin January, against 15.67 billion in February 1986.\n The February figure provisionally gives a trade surplus for\n1987 of 180 mln crowns, against a 3.04 billion deficit in the\nsame 1986 period.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:34:25.91", "topics": [ "trade", "bop" ], "places": [ "denmark" ], "id": "8174" }, { "title": "SMALL DANISH BANK STOPS PAYMENTS - INSPECTORATE", "body": "A small Danish private bank, the\n6.Juli Banken A/S, stopped payments today following a need for\nconsiderably higher provisions against loan losses, the\nGovernment Bank Inspectorate said in a statement.\n Officials at the 6. Juli Bank were not immediately\navailable for comment and calls to the Copenhagen head office\nwere intercepted by an operator who said the office was closed.\n The Inspectorate statement said: \"Payments have been stopped\nout of regard for the depositors.\" This would allow closer\ninvestigation with a view to reconstruction and \"negotiations on\nthis have started.\"\n The statement said: \"The inspectors have inquired into\ncertain financial transactions involving considerable\nextraordinary income in the submission of the 1986 balance\nsheet. The inspectors have not found themselves able to approve\nthis book entry.\n \"The inspectors have further examined the bank's liquidity\nposition and its commitments and have established the need for\nconsiderably higher provisions against losses on loans.\"\n The bank is independent and has four branches in the\nCopenhagen area. Details of previous profits were not\nimmediately available.\n A spokesman for the Danish Banks Association said that the\n6.July Bank was one of the smallest of Denmark's 80 banks, with\nbalance sheet total of 861 mln crowns at end 1985, the latest\nyear for which figures were available.\n Denmark's banking legislation stipulates that equity\ncapital and savings must be at least eight pct of debt and\nguarantee commitments, higher than for many countries.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:41:27.08", "places": [ "denmark" ], "id": "8175" }, { "title": "BEGHIN-SAY SEES SOLUTION TO EC SUGAR DISPUTE", "body": "A settlement could soon be reached in the\ndispute between European sugar producers and the European\nCommunity over EC export licencing policies, Jean-Marc Vernes,\npresident of French sugar producer Beghin-Say, which is leading\nthe protest, told journalists today.\n \"Our contacts with the EC authorities over the past few days\nindicate that we are moving towards a solution,\" he said, adding\nthat if this happened the producers would withdraw the 854,000\ntonnes of sugar they have offered into intervention.\n Vernes said that the protest, involving 770,000 tonnes of\nsugar from French producers alone, was prompted by the EC's\npolicy since mid-1986 of offering export rebates which failed\nto give producers an equivalent price to that they would obtain\nby offering sugar into EC intervention.\n At last week's tender the EC Commission made an apparent\nconcession by offering a maximum rebate only 1.3 European\ncurrency units (Ecus) per 100 kilos below the level producers\nsay is needed, compared with the previous week's rebate which\nwas 2.5 Ecus below the necessary level.\n Vernes would not say what form any compromise between the\nproducers and the EC would take, but he reaffirmed the\nlong-term desire of producers to export to the world market,\nproviding they were not losing money by doing so.\n Producers can withdraw their intervention offer after April\n1, when the sugar will officially enter intervention stores, or\nat any time over the following five weeks before the official\npayment date.\n The EC has threatened to put the sugar back on the internal\nmarket if the producers refuse to withdraw their offers.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:46:33.98", "topics": [ "sugar" ], "organisations": [ "ec" ], "places": [ "france" ], "id": "8176" }, { "title": "DRESDNER DECLINES COMMENT ON SCRIP SHARE REPORT", "body": "A Dresdner Bank AG spokesman\nsaid the bank had no comment on newspaper reports that\nshareholders would be offered free subscription shares.\n Dresdner shares surged to open 10.50 marks higher at\n319.50, before climbing further. Other bank stocks also rose\nstrongly and dealers cited speculation already in the market\nthat Deutsche Bank AG would make a similar move. Such\n\"scrip\" issues, if they occurred, would mark the first time\nGerman banks had ever issued free shares.\n The varying reports said Dresdner shareholders may be\noffered one free share for every 15, 18 or 20 already held.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:50:20.95", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "west-germany" ], "id": "8177" }, { "title": "U.K. LONGER CYCLICAL INDICATOR RISES IN FEBRUARY", "body": "The U.K. Longer leading cyclical\nindicator rose in February by 5.8 pct after January's 1.9 pct\nrise, figures from the Central Statistical Office show.\n The indicator, base 1980, which shows trends in the economy\n12 months ahead, was put at 108.7 in February compared with\n102.7 in January and 99.5 in February 1986.\n The shorter leading indicator, signalling trends six months\nahead, was put at 97.1 for January, the latest month for which\ndata were available, after December's 96.5. This compared with\n98.4 in January 1986.\n The coincident indicator, designed to signal current\nturning points in the economy, was put at 91.2 in January, down\nfrom 91.9 in December and 91.6 in january 1986.\n The lagging index, which the CSO says shows a turning point\nin the economy about a year after it happens, was at 92.4 in\nJanuary, down from 92.5 in December and 93.0 a year earlier.\n The Office said leading indicators still do not show a\nconsistent picture of the likely future developments of the\nbusiness cycle in Britain.\n It said the strong rise in the longer leading index between\nDecember and February was due mainly to rises in share prices.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 06:59:51.94", "topics": [ "lei" ], "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8178" }, { "title": "AUSTRALIAN WHEAT AREA TO FALL, FORECASTER SAYS", "body": "Australian wheat plantings are\nforecast to fall to 10.40 mln hectares in 1987/88 from 11.72\nmln sown in 1986/87, Australian Wheat Forecasters Pty Ltd (AWF)\nsaid in its first preliminary crop forecast.\n But there was no reason to expect Australian production in\n1987/88 would be less than the 16.5 mln tonnes of last year,\nthe private forecaster said, as crops in New South Wales and\nQueensland suffered from poor yields last season.\n Most of the fall in plantings was expected in Western\nAustralia while state average yields would be assisted by\ngrowers sowing wheat on fallows and rest paddocks, it said.\n The main reason for a low Western Australia estimate was a\npoor profit outlook under cost, credit and yield pressures. But\nin the eastern states the wheat area should hold up provided\nthat rainfall between now and June is not less than average,\nAWF said.\n Although some farmers were saying they intended to cut back\nwheat area by 20 pct, AWF said this was unlikely since they\nneeded cash flow and there were problems with alternative\ncrops.\n \"The lack of statutory marketing for oilseeds, pulses and\noats is a cause for concern if those crops are to comprise a\nhigh proportion of growers' income,\" AWF said.\n AWF's state area forecasts in mln hectares, with 1986/87\nproduction in mln tonnes, are as follows (crop forecasts were\nnot given for the new wheat year)\n Area Crop\n 1987/88 1986/87 1986/87\n Queensland 0.82 0.82 0.95\n N.S.W. 3.07 3.17 4.40\n Victoria 1.53 1.63 3.25\n S.Australia 1.45 1.64 2.30\n W.Australia 3.53 4.46 5.60\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:01:49.26", "topics": [ "grain", "wheat" ], "places": [ "australia" ], "id": "8179" }, { "title": "FRENCH JANUARY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION FELL 1.98 PCT - OFFICIAL\n", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:09:27.27", "topics": [ "ipi" ], "id": "8180" }, { "title": "CAPTAIN CHARGED IN AQUINO BOMBING", "body": "Military authorities say an unnamed\narmy captain has been arrested for involvement in last week's\nbombing of the Philippine Military Academy.\n They told reporters the arrest of the captain had been\nordered after a search of his home revealed bombs and\nammunition.\n Four people died and 40 were injured in the blast, which\nPresident Aquino said was designed as an attempt on her life.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:12:24.82", "places": [ "philippines" ], "id": "8181" }, { "title": "U.K. MONEY MARKET SHORTAGE FORECAST REVISED DOWN", "body": "The Bank of England said it revised down\nits forecast of the deficit in the money market today to 750\nmln stg from 800 mln.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:14:27.11", "topics": [ "money-fx", "interest" ], "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8182" }, { "title": "DEBT SOLUTION REQUIRES OPEN MARKETS, GERMAN BANKER", "body": "The solution of the world's debt\ncrisis requires open markets but a possible resurgence of\nprotectionism is the biggest danger, the president of the\nFederal Association of German Banks, Wolfgang Roeller, said.\n Roeller, who is also management board spokesman of Dresdner\nBank AG, said in a radio interview it is unlikely Brazil's\nsuspension last month of part of its interest payments would\nlead to a chain reaction in Latin America.\n It is important to increase the efficiency of debtor\ncountries to such an extent they earn sufficient currency from\nexports to repay foreign debt, he said.\n Brazil had taken a unilateral step, Roeller said, but\nBrazil had a strong and broad economic base. With the help of\nappropriate economic programmes there should be a way to bring\nback financial stability to that country.\n Roeller said action on the debt situation had to be taken\nnow. It could not be expected debtor countries would be able to\nrepay debts in the short run, even if economic conditions\nimproved. Programmes had to be developed which would strengthen\nthe economic position of these countries, to ensure world\neconomic growth so they are able to sell their products at\nadequate prices.\n Roeller said the debt crisis could only be solved in\ncoordination with governments, international organisations such\nas the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and\ncreditor banks.\n \"This is not a topic which can be solved by creditor banks\nalone,\" he said. One aim had to be to raise the credit standing\nof debtor countries to such a degree they are able to raise\nfunds on international credit markets again. He said a whole\nset of new ideas had been developed and he was convinced the\ninternational banking system would provide more funds, but the\nproblem is not just economic but also political.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:14:51.62", "places": [ "west-germany", "brazil" ], "id": "8183" }, { "title": "JAPAN LONG-TERM PRIME SEEN CUT TO RECORD LOW SOON", "body": "Japan's long-term banks will soon cut\ntheir prime rate, now at a record low 5.5 pct, by 0.2 or 0.3\npercentage point in response to falling secondary market yields\non their five-year debentures, long-term bankers said.\n The long-term prime rate is customarily set 0.9 percentage\npoint above the coupon on five-year bank debentures issued by\nthe long-term banks every month.\n The latest bank debentures, at 4.6 pct, have met strong\nend-investor demand on the prospect of further declines in yen\ninterest rates, dealers said. The current 5.5 pct prime rate\nhas been in effect since February 28.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:15:32.54", "topics": [ "interest" ], "places": [ "japan" ], "id": "8184" }, { "title": "GERMAN BUSINESS CLIMATE WORSENS SLIGHTLY - INSTITUTE", "body": "The business climate in West German\nmanufacturing industry worsened slightly last month after\ndeteriorating markedly in January, the IFO economic research\ninstitute said.\n It said its February survey showed firms were also\nincreasingly pessimistic about the outlook for the coming\nmonths, causing them to cut back production plans.\n IFO blamed the worsening of the business climate and\noutlook largely on expectations of further declines in foreign\ndemand.\n More than a quarter of the firms polled said they thought\norders in hand were insufficient.\n Overall, the business climate in February could be\ndescribed as just short of satisfactory, IFO said.\n In a breakdown of responses by industrial sector, the\ninstitute said manufacturers of basic products judged the\nbusiness climate to be slightly less favourable in February\nthan in January. For the coming months they expect export\nprospects to dim and production to fall, it added.\n Chemical firms reported a slight improvement in demand but\nthey increasingly said orders on hand were insufficient.\n The business climate in the capital goods industry was\nunchanged in February compared with January, but IFO said this\nwas due entirely to positive reports from makers of commercial\nvehicles.\n Demand in the capital goods sector was generally described\nas weak, with the outlook in February cloudier than it had been\nin January, the institute said.\n The business climate in the consumer durables sector\nremained above the industry average in February. Carmakers were\nagain positive about current business but forecast a slight\nworsening of business conditions in the near future.\n In the consumer goods industry business conditions were\ndescribed as favourable in February.\n A small cutback in production meant orders on hand in this\nsector rose compared with January, the institute said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:15:38.81", "places": [ "west-germany" ], "id": "8185" }, { "title": "YEUTTER SEES U.S., JAPAN VERGING ON TRADE CONFLICT", "body": "The United States and Japan\nare on the brink of serious conflict on trade, especially over\nsemiconductors, Japanese unwillingness for public bodies to buy\nU.S. Super-computers, and barriers to U.S. Firms seeking to\nparticipate in the eight billion dlr Kansai airport project,\nU.S. Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter said.\n He was talking to reporters yesterday on the eve of a\ntwo-day meeting of trade ministers which will review progress\nmade by committees set up after the Uruguay meeting last\nSeptember launched a new round of GATT (General Agreement on\nTariffs and Trade) talks.\n European Community (EC) commissioner Willy de Clercq\nmeanwhile told reporters conflict between the world's three\nmajor trading and economic powers -- the EC, the U.S. And Japan\n-- set a poor example for other members of GATT.\n Australian Trade Minister John Dawkins told the reporters\nbilateral retaliation at the enormous expense of the rest of\nthe world was no way to solve trade disputes.\n New Zealand trade minister Mike Moore told his colleagues\ngreat progress had been made in preparing for the current round\nof GATT negotiations which must not be sidetracked.\n The ministers have said they want to maintain the momentum\ntowards fresh negotiations or avert serious trade conflicts.\n Yeutter said the problem with international trade talks was\nthat they tended to get bogged down for years. \"Countries don't\nget very serious about negotiating until the end of the day\nwhich is, maybe, five or six years in the future.\"\n He also said he did not consider the new U.S. Congress as\nprotectionist as it was 18 months ago. \"That's a very healthy\ndevelopment,\" he added.\"If you asked me about that a year or 18\nmonths ago I would have said that it was terribly\nprotectionist.\"\n \"Members of Congress, that is the contemplative members of\nCongress, have begun to realise protectionism is not the answer\nto the 170 billion dlr trade deficit,\" Yeutter said.\n \"They've also begun to realise that you cannot legislate\nsolutions to a 170 billion dollar trade deficit so they are\nmore realistic and, in my judgement, more responsible on that\nissue than they were 12 or 18 months ago.\"\n He added, \"Whether that will be reflected in the legislation\nthat eventually emerges is another matter.\"\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:16:11.07", "topics": [ "trade" ], "organisations": [ "gatt", "ec" ], "places": [ "usa", "japan", "new-zealand" ], "id": "8186" }, { "title": "PREMIER SAYS YUGOSLAVIA WILL PAY ITS DEBTS", "body": "Yugoslavia, whose economic crisis is\nunder close scrutiny by foreign creditors, will not follow\nBrazil by suspending repayments on its large foreign debt,\nPrime Minister Branko Mikulic was quoted as saying.\n Mikulic was speaking to West German journalists in an\ninterview published yesterday by the Tanjug news agency.\n He said Yugoslavia had always paid its debts and would\ncontinue to do so, but he said creditors and international\ninstitutions should show more \"understanding\" for Yugoslavia's\nsituation.\n Mikulic said Yugoslavia had \"understanding\" for what Brazil\nhad done.\n Yugoslavia has almost 100 pct annual inflation, lagging\nexports and low productivity. This month Makulic imposed\npartial freezes on wages and prices which led to widespread\nstrikes. Tanjug said in the interview Mikulic warned the army\ncould be called in if Yugoslavia's political system was\nthreatened. Official reports show Yugoslavia ended 1986 with\nhard currency debt of 19.7 billion dlrs. In 1986 it repaid a\nrecord 5.97 billion in capital and interest, reducing its\noverall debt by 996 mln dlrs.\n Government ministers told reporters last week they\nregretted Yugoslavia made such an effort in 1986. They said the\ncost to the economy had been too great.\n Earlier this month deputy prime minister Janos\nMilosavljevic said Yugoslavia needed new credits. Foreign\nMinister Raif Dizdarevic said in Caracas, \"radical changes\" in\ninterest rates and repayment times were needed.\n Western economists said Mikulic's remarks, taken with those\nof his ministers, could be a signal some problems were seen\nahead in financing the debt repayments.\n Yugoslavia's debt refinancing timetable is to be considered\nby the Paris club at the end of this month.\n The International Monetary Fund, which recently reviewed\nthe Yugoslav economy, is said by Western diplomats to be\nalarmed at what it sees as a deteriorating economic crisis here\nand the possibility of balance of payments problems later this\nyear.\n Mikulic visits West Germany next week, and debt is expected\nto figure high on the agenda of his talks with Chancellor\nHelmut Kohl.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:17:17.82", "places": [ "yugoslavia", "brazil" ], "id": "8187" }, { "title": "IRAN SAYS IT INTENDS NO THREAT TO GULF SHIPPING", "body": "Iran said reports that it intended to\nthreaten shipping in the Gulf were baseless, and warned the\nU.S. And other countries not to interfere in the region.\n Tehran radio, monitored by the BBC, quoted a Foreign\nMinistry spokesman as saying any attempt at interference would\nbe met by \"a strong response from Iran and other Moslems in the\nworld.\"\n U.S. Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger, in remarks\napparently unrelated to the broadcast, said the U.S. Would do\nwhatever was necessary to keep shipping lanes open in the face\nof new Iranian anti-ship missiles in the Gulf.\n The U.S. State Department said two days ago Tehran had been\ntold of U.S. Concern that Iranian anti-ship missiles posed a\nthreat to the free flow of oil from the Gulf.\n U.S. Officials have said Iran has new Chinese-made\nanti-ship \"Silkworm\" missiles, which pose a greater threat to\nmerchant ships than missiles used before.\n The Iranian spokesman said the reports that Iran intended\nto attack ships were \"misleading propaganda.\"\n He said Iraq's President Saddam Hussein was the main cause\nof tension in the Gulf and said Iran would continue to use \"all\nits legitimate means to stem the cause of tension.\"\n Weinberger said in a television interview in the U.S. \"We\nare fully prepared to do what's necessary to keep the shipping\ngoing and keep the freedom of navigation available in that very\nvital waterway.\"\n \"We aren't going into any disclosures or discussions of what\nmight happen, but we are certainly very sympathetic to and\nlistening carefully to any suggestions for our assistance in\nkeeping navigation free in that area,\" he said.\n Weinberger said U.S warship movements in the Gulf area were\nnot unusual.\n A U.S. Navy battle group led by the aircraft carrier Kitty\nHawk is currently in the northern Arabian Sea.\n The Iranian spokesman was quoted by Tehran radio as saying\nthe U.S. Was trying to build up its military presence in the\nregion.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:19:03.24", "topics": [ "crude", "ship" ], "places": [ "uk", "iran", "usa", "iraq" ], "id": "8188" }, { "title": "BAKER DENIES DOLLAR TARGET EXISTS", "body": "U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker\nagain said the meeting of six major industrial nations in Paris\nlast month did not establish a target exchange rate for the\ndollar.\n Baker said in a television interview aired here yesterday:\n\"We don't have a target for the dollar.\" He declined to comment\non what might be a desired level for the dollar, saying: \"We\nreally don't talk about the dollar.\"\n He said protectionism was becoming \"extremely strong\" in the\nU.S. In response to widening U.S. Trade deficits and import\nbarriers in other countries.\n \"The mood in the United States is extremely disturbing. It's\nextremely strong,\" he said.\n \"As I've said before, we sort of see ourselves as engaged\nhere in a real struggle to preserve the world's free trading\nsystem, because if the largest market in the world (the U.S.)\ngoes protectionist we run the risk of moving down the same path\nthat the world did in the late 1930s,\" he said.\n While relative exchange rates had a role to play in\ndefusing the threat of protectionism, it alone did not offer\nany solution, he said.\n \"You must address this problem on the exchange rate side,\nbut it cannot be solved on the exchange rate side alone. It's\nfar more comprehensive and broad than that, and the solution of\nit requires a comprehensive approach,\" Baker said in the\ninterview.\n Baker said it would be necessary for other countries to\nadjust their currencies upwards, as well as remove their\nbarriers to U.S. Imports. But he did not elaborate or name any\ncountries.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:26:09.90", "topics": [ "money-fx", "dlr", "trade" ], "places": [ "uk", "usa" ], "id": "8189" }, { "title": "FRENCH INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION FALLS IN JANUARY", "body": "French industrial production fell a\nseasonally adjusted 1.98 pct in January after revised unchanged\noutput in December, the National Statistics Institute (INSEE)\nsaid.\n The figure, which excludes construction and public works,\nput the January index, base 1980, at 99 after 101 in December.\nJanuary output was 1.98 pct down on January 1986.\n INSEE, which from January changed its base year to 1980\nfrom 1970, originally had December output down 2.2 pct on\nNovember, using the old base year.\n INSEE said production in January was affected by rail\nstrikes and severely cold weather.\n It said output of gas and electricity was very high but\nactivity slowed on construction sites, in quarries and in\ncertain base industries.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:26:18.78", "topics": [ "ipi" ], "places": [ "france" ], "id": "8190" }, { "title": "UNITED SCIENTIFIC UNIT LANDS 4.3 MLN DLR CONTRACT", "body": "Electro-optronic equipment makers\n said the Advanced Products\nDivision of its U.S. Subsidiary has been\nawarded a 4.3 mln dlr contract by the U.S. Army.\n The contract is for the production of high energy laser\nprotection filters for binoculars. The three year contract\nalready includes options to the value of eight mln dlrs.\n United reported pretax profit of 3.2 mln stg on turnover of\n117.9 mln stg in the year ended September 1986. The company's\nshares were unchanged on Friday's close of 243p following\ntoday's announcement.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:26:35.05", "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8191" }, { "title": "BRAZIL BUSINESS LEADERS CALL FOR TALKS WITH IMF", "body": "Brazilian business leaders attending\na weekend meeting with President Jose Sarney called on the\ngovernment to seek help from the International Monetary Fund\n(IMF) in resolving its debt problems.\n The government has so far rejected suggestions that it let\nthe IMF play a role in rescheduling its 109 billion dlr debt,\nthe biggest in the Third World.\n Finance Minister Dilson Funaro has said an IMF program for\nBrazil, adopted four years ago, caused a recession and he\nbelieves another IMF program would stifle growth.\n Sarney last month suspended interest payments on Brazil's\n68 billion dlr commercial debt, a move which has found little\nfavour among the country's business community.\n Several businessmen called for a return to the IMF, arguing\nthis would give the country access to new funds and allow the\neconomy to grow. Both sides in the IMF debate say the course\nthey favour will enable Brazil to avoid recession.\n \"We have to discuss the foreign debt like Mexico does, if\nnecessary going to the IMF,\" Mario Amato, president of the Sao\nPaulo State Industries' Federation, was quoted as saying.\n An about-turn on the IMF issue would be politically very\ndifficult for the Sarney government and there are no firm\nindications such a policy reversal is in the offing.\n The person most closely associated with the anti-IMF stance\nis Finance Minister Dilson Funaro, who was not present at\nyesterday's meeting. Brazilian newspapers highlighted his\nabsence and reported that several of the 24 businessmen present\nseized the opportunity to tell Sarney they would like to see\nFunaro leave his job.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:26:55.56", "organisations": [ "imf" ], "places": [ "brazil" ], "id": "8192" }, { "title": "GOOD DEMAND FOR COLOMBIANS ON BREMEN MARKET", "body": "The Bremen green coffee market attracted\ngood buying interest for Colombian coffee last week, while\nBrazils were almost neglected, trade sources said.\n Buyers were awaiting the opening of Brazil's export\nregistrations for May shipment, which could affect prices for\nsimilar qualities, they said.\n Colombia opened export registrations and good business\ndeveloped with both the FNC and private shippers. Prices were\nsaid to have been very attractive, but details were not\nimmediately available.\n Central Americans were sought for spot and afloat.\n In the robusta sector nearby material was rather scarce,\nwith turnover limited, the sources said.\n The following offers were in the market at the end of last\nweek, first or second hand, sellers' ideas for spot, afloat or\nprompt shipment in dlrs per 50 kilos fob equivalent, unless\nstated (previous week's prices in brackets) -\n Brazil unwashed German quals 100 (102), Colombia Excelso\n105 (110), Salvador SHG 110 (108), Nicaragua SHG 109 (same),\nGuatemala HB 111 (same), Costa Rica SHB 113 (112), Kenya AB FAQ\n142 (134), Tanzania AB FAQ 120 (same), Zaire K-5 105 (unq),\nSumatra robusta EK-1 91 CIF (same).\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:29:06.12", "topics": [ "coffee" ], "places": [ "colombia", "brazil" ], "id": "8193" }, { "title": "U.K. MONEY MARKET GIVEN 97 MLN STG ASSISTANCE", "body": "The Bank of England said it provided the\nmoney market with help of 97 mln stg in the morning session.\n This compares with the Bank's revised estimate of a 750 mln\nstg shortage in the system today.\n The central bank bought bank bills outright comprising 12\nmln stg in band one at 9-7/8 pct and 85 mln stg in band two at\n9-13/16 pct.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:35:01.82", "topics": [ "money-fx", "interest" ], "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8194" }, { "title": "BAKER WARNS AGAINST FORGIVENESS OF LATIN DEBT", "body": "U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker said\nany attempt to declare blanket debt forgiveness for major Latin\nAmerican debtor nations might damage the world economy.\n In an article in Monday's edition of the Miami Herald,\nBaker also criticised the concept of short-term debt relief,\ncalling it a \"dramatic, overnight solution.\"\n \"While these ideas may be well-intentioned and have some\npolitical appeal, they are impractical and counterproductive in\nthe long run,\" he said.\n The article was published to coincide with a three-day\nmeeting here of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).\n Baker is the chief architect of the U.S. Strategy on Third\nWorld debt.\n Brazil, the Third World's largest debtor, last month\ndeclared a moratorium on interest repayments. It has given no\nindication of when it may resume interest payments, prompting\nfears that some large U.S. Banks may be forced into substantial\ndebt writedowns and calling into question the viability of the\nU.S. Strategy.\n Baker, defending the strategy, said private commercial\nbanks have rescheduled nearly 70 billion dlrs in debt since\nOctober 1985 at longer maturities and lower interest rates.\n \"Together with expected progress in commercial bank\ndiscussions with Argentina and, we hope, Brazil, this should\nadd up to substantial new lending for the major Latin debtors\nin 1987,\" Baker wrote.\n He estimated that debt-equity conversion plans accounted\nfor 2.5 billion dlrs last year in four of the region's major\ndebtor states. Such plans allow foreign bank creditors to sell\nThird World debt at a discount to investors who then become\nstockholders in firms in these countries. \"These swaps aren't a\npanacea, but they do demonstrate how a creative free market can\nmake progress in reducing the debt burden,\" he said.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:38:10.83", "places": [ "usa", "brazil" ], "id": "8195" }, { "title": "BRAZIL SEEKS TO REASSURE BANKS ON DEBT SUSPENSION", "body": "Brazil wants to resume interest payments\non its medium- and long-term foreign debt as soon as possible\nand is willing to discuss ways of softening the impact of the\npayments suspension on bank earnings, central bank governor\nFrancisco Gros said.\n Gros, speaking to reporters yesterday after his first\nmeeting with Brazil's bank advisory committee since he was\nappointed last month, also promised a clear statement of\nBrazil's economic policy would be made in the next few days.\n But bankers who attended the meeting with Gros said it was\ninconclusive.\n The bankers also expressed disappointment Gros could not\ngive assurances as to when interest payments on the 68 billion\ndlrs of medium- and long-term debt would restart.\n \"It was all very tentative. You can't expect to get very far\nat the first meeting,\" one banker said.\n The meeting took place on the eve of the annual meeting\nhere of the Inter-American Development Bank.\n The most urgent item on yesterday's agenda was the need for\na legal rollover of some 16 billion dlrs in trade and interbank\ncredit lines extended to Brazilian banks which expire at the\nend of March.\n Brazil has already frozen the lines to ensure it has enough\ncredit to finance its day-to-day trade and commerce, but needs\nto request a formal extension of the commitments to head off\npossible lawsuits from disgruntled creditors.\n The issue is whether the 14-bank steering committee will\nendorse Brazil's request to the 700 creditor banks worldwide or\nsimply relay it without comment.\n This delicate question was not resolved at yesterday's\nmeeting, but lawyers from both sides will try to draft suitable\nlanguage for a telex by midweek, Gros and the bankers said.\n Gros said he will also formally ask the banks for a 90-day\nrollover of some 9.6 billion dlrs of debt which originally\nmatured in 1986 and is now due to be repaid on April 15.\nBankers said the request is a legal nicety since the money is\nsubject to the moratorium.\n Once interest on Brazil's debts becomes more than 90 days\noverdue, U.S. And Canadian banks must put the loans on\nnon-performing basis and may book payments only as and when\nthey are received instead of accruing the interest in advance.\n Citicorp has estimated its profits for the first quarter\nwould be cut by 50 mln dlrs if it put Brazil on a cash basis.\nOther U.S. Banks have also warned of earnings setbacks.\n Gros said he wished the 90-day rule was more flexible and\nsaid he would be willing to sit down with the banks to see if\nthere was a way round the problem.\n He did not elaborate. But, asked whether a bridge loan\nmight be arranged to pay the interest, he said, \"It could\nhappen.\"\n Bankers said this possibility had not been raised at the\ncommittee meeting and dismissed it as inconsistent with\nBrazil's determination to find a long-term solution to the\nproblem of servicing its 110 billion dlr foreign debt.\n Gros himself said pushing the problem away for 90 days at a\ntime is not very useful. Only if Brazil has access to new loans\ncan it grow, export and pay its debts over the longer term.\n \"If the flow of funds dries up, a country like Brazil can't\nmeet all its obligations,\" he said.\n Gros defended Brazil's recent economic record, noting\ninflation slowed in February, the trade surplus rose and the\npublic sector budget was in operational surplus.\n But he said there was a need to spell out government\npolicy, especially on prices.\n \"It's necessary to clarify policy for internal and external\nreasons,\" he said, but declined to say what economic measures\nmight be introduced.\n Once policy is in place, Gros said financing talks with the\nbanks are likely to be tough and protracted, a sentiment echoed\nby the country's creditors.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:38:44.33", "places": [ "brazil", "usa" ], "id": "8196" }, { "title": "IRANIAN TANKER ATTACKED OVER WEEKEND - LLOYDS", "body": "The Iranian steam tanker Avaj, 316,379\ntonnes dw, was attacked and hit at 1715 hours on March 21,\nLloyds Shipping Intelligence service reported.\n One person was killed. The tanker is owned by the National\nIranian Tanker Co.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:40:02.28", "topics": [ "ship" ], "places": [ "uk", "iran" ], "id": "8197" }, { "title": "NEXT WORLD TRADE NEGOTIATIONS MUST SUCCEED - NZ", "body": "Ministers from more than 20\nnations were told by New Zealand that the next international\nnegotiations on liberalising trade would be the last this\ncentury and the cost of failure could not be measured.\n Trade minister Mike Moore told his colleagues at a\nwelcoming ceremony before two days of talks here that great\nprogress had been made in preparing for the negotiations which\nmust not be sidetracked.\n \"We live in troubled and dangerous times for the world\ntrading system,\" he said.\n \"We have seen that the failure of the world trading system\nhas caused great depression and conflict in the past. Our\nfailure to maintain the momentum will be at great cost to us\nall,\" Moore said.\n \"The cost of failure is beyond calculation. It is our last\nhope and best opportunity this century. We will not get another\nchance before the year 2000,\" he added.\n The ministers are in New Zealand to review world trade\nsince the \"Uruguay round\" talks last September. The talks are \nalso part of preparations for a full-scale June meeting of the\nGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Venice.\n The Uruguay meeting is considered by most countries to have\nbeen particularly successful, with northern hemisphere\ncountries managing to have service industries such as banking\nand insurance included in the next full round.\n The southerners' goal of including agricultural and\ntropical products also was met.\n The meeting at this North Island tourist resort is\ndescribed by participants as informal and no declaration is\nexpected.\n Moore said one aim was to \"instil a sense of political\nurgency to avert potential economic tragedy.\"\n Another was to seek ways of popularising freer trade to\npeople who felt the pain of readjustment but could not see the\nbenefits, as well as preventing \"bush fires of confrontation\nwhile we proceed with orderly negotiations.\"\n The meeting is being attended by 25 overseas delegations\nincluding representatives of GATT and the Economic Community.\n The delegates include U.S. Trade Representative Clayton\nYeutter.\n American sources say he is ready to state that the best way\nto reverse protectionist sentiment in the United States is to\nimplement four key Uruguay proposals:\n -- an end to agricultural subsidies;\n -- inclusion of trade in services and investments in GATT\nregulations;\n -- tightening of restrictions on pirating of so-called\nintellectual property such as trademarks, patents and\ncopyrights;\n -- new rules to resolve trade disputes among GATT's 92\nmember states.\n Earlier, New Zealand sources had said French Foreign Trade\nMinister Michel Noir had pulled out of the informal GATT talks\nfor domestic political reasons.\n Cabinet chief Bernard Prauge will lead the French\ndelegation.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:50:06.42", "topics": [ "trade" ], "organisations": [ "gatt" ], "places": [ "new-zealand", "usa" ], "id": "8198" }, { "title": "SWISS SIGHT DEPOSITS RISE 743.7 MLN FRANCS", "body": "Sight deposits of commercial banks at\nthe Swiss National Bank rose 743.7 mln Swiss francs in the\nsecond 10 days of March to 8.40 billion, the National Bank\nsaid.\n Foreign exchange reserves fell 392.1 mln francs to 33.55\nbillion.\n Sight deposits are a major indicator of money market\nliquidity in Switzerland.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 07:53:48.40", "topics": [ "money-fx" ], "places": [ "switzerland" ], "id": "8199" }, { "title": "CASH CRISIS HITS UGANDAN COFFEE BOARD", "body": "Uganda's state-run Coffee Marketing\nBoard (CMB) has been suffering a cash crisis for the past two\nmonths due to a bottleneck in export shipments and\nadministrative delays in handling payments, trade sources said.\n The CMB needs between 10 and 15 billion shillings (the\nequivalent of seven to 10 mln dlrs) to pay farmers and\nprocessors for coffee already delivered, but its present export\nrevenue is insufficient to cover such expenditure, they said.\n The board's cash crisis has serious implications for the\neconomy as a whole, since coffee accounts for 95 pct of\nUganda's total exports.\n The CMB's financial difficulties first started in January\nfollowing delays in rail-freighting export consignments of\ncoffee to the ports of Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Tanga.\n These delays were caused by a shortage of railway wagons in\nUganda and bottlenecks on the ferries which transport Ugandan\nwagons across Lake Victoria to link up with the Kenyan and\nTanzanian railway systems, the sources said\n Marketing Minister John Sebaana-Kizito publicly\nacknowledged on February 19 that the CMB had run up arrears to\nlocal suppliers as a result of the shortage of transport for\nmoving exports.\n Sebaana-Kizito said at the time that the payments squeeze\nwould be resolved in two weeks.\n However, an accident to the rail ferry which plies between\nthe Ugandan lake port of Jinja and Kisumu in Kenya put it out\nof action between February 21 and March 15, causing fresh\ndelays in cargo movements.\n Coffee exports are especially sensitive to the disruption\nof rail transport since president Yoweri Museveni has banned\ntheir haulage by road in a drive to save transport costs.\n Transport difficulties meant that by early February the CMB\nwas holding unsold coffee stocks of around 750,000 bags.\n These stocks were equivalent to one quarter of Uganda's\nexpected three mln 60-kilo bag 1986/87 (October-September)\ncrop, the sources said.\n According to the sources, the board's financial problems\nhave been aggravated by long delays in processing export\nreceipts.\n The coffee board was taking about eight weeks to recycle\nexport receipts into payments to local producers, whereas\nexport bills handled by local banks took half that time to\nprocess, they said.\n The sources said the CMB's price structure had been\novertaken by Uganda's high inflation rate, unofficially\nestimated at about 200 pct, and that this was a further\ndisincentive to producers, already owed large arrears.\n \"The coffee pricing structure is wrong and three months\nbehind, the foreign exchange rate is unrealistic, and the\nsooner the so-called economic package is put in top gear, the\nbetter for the coffee industry and the economy as a whole,\" one\nof the sources said.\n The government is currently negotiating a package of\neconomic reforms with the World Bank and International Monetary\nFund aimed at underpinning a renewed inflow of foreign aid to\nhelp Uganda's economic recovery after 15 years of political\nstrife.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:03:48.25", "topics": [ "coffee", "ship" ], "places": [ "uganda" ], "id": "8200" }, { "title": "U.S. ECONOMIST CALLS BRAZIL DEBT REQUEST MODEST", "body": "Brazil's attempt to seek better\nterms for paying off its 109 billion dlr foreign debt is\nresponsible and modest, a former chairman of President Reagan's\nCouncil of Economic Advisers said.\n \"I think that what Brazil is calling for -- limiting its\ndebt payments to two and one half pct of GNP -- is a\nresponsible request on their part,\" economist Martin Feldstein\nsaid at a weekend news conference.\n \"It requires additional money on the part of the banks, but\nrather modest additional amounts.\"\n Feldstein is attending the annual meeting of the Trilateral\nCommission, a foreign policy group of more than 300 business\nand government leaders from North America, Europe and Japan.\n Feldstein, one of four members of a task force on Third\nWorld debt, said that Brazil's request would mean an additional\ncredit of three billion to four billion dlrs from banks and\ninternational agencies.\n \"Brazil's debt would increase in dollar terms but remain\nconstant in real terms. The four billion dlr increase in\nBrazil's 100 billion dlr debt would represent no increase in\nthe real inflation-adjusted size of its liability,\" he said.\n Feldstein said he believed current Third World debt\nproblems were less serious than those faced by the\ninternational monetary system in 1983 and 1985.\n However, the European representative on the task force,\nHerve de Carmoy, chief executive international for Midland Bank\nPLC, disagreed.\n He called the present situation more difficult and, in a\ndraft proposal included in the task force's report, suggested\nsetting up an institution, possibly within the World Bank, with\na fund that could deal with a future debt crisis.\n Commission discussions were closed to reporters but it was\napparent from the news conference that task force members did\nnot agree on all points in their report.\n One point of agreement, Feldstein said, was that debtor\ncountries would need additional credit in the coming years if\nthey are to enjoy satisfactory growth.\n Feldstein said the task force, which also included Koei\nNarusawa, economic adviser to the president of the Bank of\nToyko, and Paul Krugman, professor of economics at the\nMassachusetts Institute of Technology, did not agree on how\nmuch credit would be needed.\n He said they also did not reach a consensus on how willing\ninternational banks, particularly those in Japan and Europe,\nwould be to lend the money.\n The Trilateral Commission was set up in 1973 by David\nRockefeller, former head of Chase Manhattan bank, and others to\npromote closer cooperation among the three regions.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:11:04.76", "places": [ "usa", "brazil" ], "id": "8201" }, { "title": "U.S., LATIN NATIONS DELAY DECISION ON IADB", "body": "The United States and major Latin\nAmerican nations agreed to set aside sharp differences over\ncontrol of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and\nreconsider the issue this summer.\n The bank's policy-making board of governors, meeting here\nahead of this week's IADB annual meetings, put off any\ndecisions when it became apparent differences between\nWashington and the Latin countries ware too great.\n IADB officials said Washington had indicated, however, it\nmight be prepared to compromise in the future.\n The United States is the principal donor nation and has\npressed the bank, controlled by the Latin American borrowing\nnations, to cede virtual veto power over loans to Washington.\n The Reagan administration wants to make the bank part of\nits controversial strategy to resolve the debt crisis.\n The U.S. Plan calls for loans from multilateral banks like\nthe IADB to be tied to economic reforms in debtor nations which\nwould promote open markets, reduced government intervention and\ninflation-free economic growth.\n Brazil, which declared an interest payments moratorium last\nmonth, is leading a challenge to Washington's strategy and\nofficials here obviously feared any decisions that might deepen\nrifts between the United States and Third World nations.\n IADB officials also said Washington hinted at future\ncompromise. \"The U.S. Said it remains hopeful they can reach an\nagreement and expressed optimism that such a consensus could be\nreached,\" said an official who asked not to be named.\n Washington has threatened to scuttle a 20-25 billion dlr,\nfour-year capital replenishment for the bank if the veto issue\nis not resolved.\n But it has asked Congress to give it authority to finance\nits one-third share in the event agreement on voting power is\nreached. The United States controls 34.5 pct of the vote and\nwants a loan veto to exist at the 35 pct level.\n Currently, a simple majority can approve or disapprove\nloans giving the borrowing nations control of the purse strings\nand resulting in loan conditions too lax for Washington's\ntaste.\n The U.S. Strategy for dealing with the debt crisis is\nexpected to be repeated by Treasury Secretary James Baker in a\nspeech to the bank's annual meeting today (Monday).\n But monetary sources expect Baker to suggest the United\nStates has some room for compromise and also to fend off other\nchallenges to its strategy by signalling Washington is open to\ninnovative solutions to the debt problem.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:11:52.52", "places": [ "usa", "brazil" ], "id": "8202" }, { "title": "BAKER EXPECTED TO DEFEND DEBT STRATEGY", "body": "Treasury Secretary James Baker, facing\nthe toughest challenge to his Third World debt plan so far, is\nexpected today to stoutly defend the strategy.\n At an opening address to the annual meeting of the\nInter-American Development Bank here Baker is likely once again\nto bluntly reject alternative approaches like wholesale debt\nrelief.\n The speech comes after Washington delayed its bid to wrest\ncontrol of IADB lending from Latin nations.\n The Treasury Secretary is also expected, U.S. officials\nsay, to portray that attempt as a crucial element in his plan\nto promote inflation-free economic growth, open markets, and a\nmuch-reduced government role in the economies of Latin America.\n \"We have already seen substantial progress,\" Baker said in\na Miami Herald article and argued the plan was never meant to\nbe a \"quick fix\".\n But Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua and Bolivia have all\nceased servicing some or all of their debt. Brazil's interest\npayments moratorium, announced last month, is being seen as a\nmajor challenge to the Baker plan.\n Owing foreigners 109 billion dlrs, Brazil called an\nindefinite interest payments moratorium on 68 billion dlrs of\ncommercial bank debt.\n Brazilian Central Banker Francisco Gros met bankers last\nnight to begin what U.S. officials predict will be months of\nextremely tough negotiations.\n The scale of the problem is immense. Owing some 382\nbillion dlrs of foreign debt, Latin nations have since the\nstart of the decade paid out some 200 billion dlrs in interest\nand principal and received about 28 billion dlrs in new loans.\n In addition, upwards of 100 billion dlrs in capital flight\nis estimated to have left the region during that time.\n The Baker plan, unveiled in October, 1985, calls on\ncommercial and multilateral banks to increase lending by about\n29 billion dlrs in the three subsequent years to the 15 major\ndebtors engaging in fundamental economic reform.\n The theory runs that once a debtor nation has reformed its\neconomy, it can service its debt comfortably and without an\natmosphere of crisis.\n U.S. officials emphasize some 8.5 billion dlrs has been\npaid out in the first 14 months of the plan, payments of over\n70 billion dlrs of debt has been stretched out into the future \nand Washington is embracing new and innovative ideas to keep\ndebtor-creditor negotiations afloat.\n Baker is expected to underscore these points in his\naddress today.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:16:09.70", "places": [ "usa", "brazil", "ecuador", "peru", "nicaragua", "bolivia" ], "id": "8203" }, { "title": "GENERAL PARTNERS IN GENCORP PROXY FIGHT", "body": "General Partners, the group tendering\nfor all GenCorp Inc shares at 100 dlrs each, said it has\nstarted soliciting proxies against GenCorp's proposals to\nincrease its number of authorized shares outstanding, create a\nboard with staggered election dates and eliminate cumulative\nvoting.\n The proposals are to be voted on at the March 31 annual\nmeeting.\n General Partners, a partnership of privately-held and AFG Industries Inc , made the disclosure in\na newspaper advertisement.\n The partnership has already filed suit in U.S. District\nCourt in Columbus, Ohio, seeking to block a vote on the\nproposals and to invalidate GenCorp's defensive preferred share\npurchase rights.\n General Partners asked shareholders to either vote against\nthe proposals or abstain from voting on them. \n \n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:17:42.83", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8204" }, { "title": "USAIR CUTS PIEDMONT SHARES SOUGHT", "body": "USAir Group Inc said it has amended\nits 69 dlr per share tender offer for shares of Piedmont\nAviation Inc to reduce the maximum number it will accept to\n9,309,394. Previously it had sought all shares.\n In a newspaper advertisement, USAir said the offer and\nwithdrawal rights have not been extended and will still expire\nApril 3, along with the new proration period.\n On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved\nUSAir's acquisition of 51 pct of Piedmont. If USAir were to\nacquire more than 51 pct in the tender, it would be required to\nsell the excess within one week.\n USAir said receipt of the 9,309,394 shares -- which is also\nthe minimum amount it will accept -- would give it a total of\nabout 61 pct of Piedmont shares currently outstanding and 50.1\npct on a fully diluted basis.\n The company said even if the purchase of the 9,309,394\nPiedmont shares caused it to exceed the 51 pct limit, USAir\nwould waive the condition to the offer that the Transportation\nDepartment approve a voting trust agreement permitting USAir to\nbuy and hold shares under the offer pending review of USAir's\napplication to gain control of Piedmont, subject to the order\nnot being rescinded or modified in an adverse way.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:18:26.57", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8205" }, { "title": "NEW RUBBER PACT ADOPTED AT GENEVA CONFERENCE", "body": "Producers and consumers representing\nmost of world trade in natural rubber adopted a new\nInternational Natural Rubber Agreement (INRA) aimed at\nstabilizing world prices over the next five years.\n Negotiations for a new INRA, to succeed the present one\nwhich runs out next October, began nearly two years ago.\n Agreement on the new five-year pact, which uses a buffer\nstock to keep prices stable by selling or buying rubber as\nrates rise or fall, was reached at a two-week session here\nunder the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade\nand Development (UNCTAD).\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:20:02.46", "topics": [ "rubber" ], "organisations": [ "unctad" ], "places": [ "switzerland" ], "id": "8206" }, { "title": "ROSTENKOWSKI QUERIES IDEA OF U.S. SECURITIES TAX", "body": "House Ways and Means chairman\nDan Rostenkowski said he questioned whether a U.S. tax on\nsecurities transactions would be appropriate.\n The Illinois Democrat told Reuters before addressing the\nFuture Industry Association that such a tax may impair the\ninternational competitiveness of the U.S. securities business.\nHouse Speaker James Wright has said a tax on securities\ntransactions could help reduce the federal deficit.\n Rostenkowski said he understood that the U.K. is exploring\nthe possibility of easing its tax burden on securities firms.\nThus, a new U.S. tax would be especially hard felt here.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:27:01.93", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8207" }, { "title": "(CORRECTED) - BANCO DI ROMA UNIT ARRANGES", "body": "Banco di Roma (London branch) has\narranged a 200 mln dlr Euro-certificate of deposit program,\nSwiss Bank Corporation International Ltd said as sole dealer.\n The borrower also will have the option to issue\ncertificates in other available currencies, including sterling.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:27:51.40", "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8208" }, { "title": "STUDY SAYS OIL PRICE FALL SPURS BANKRUPTCIES", "body": "The sharp drop in world oil prices\nthe past year triggered a 60 pct increase in bankruptcies in\nthe country's oil states, according to a study released by the\nAmerican Petroleum Institute (API).\n API said the Dunn and Bradstreet study found that business\nfailures rose nationally by 6.9 pct in 1986 over 1985, but in\nthe \"oil patch\" of the Southwest the increase was 59.9 pct.\n It said bankruptcies in Texas were up 57.4 pct, Oklahoma,\n55.9 pct, Colorado, 55.8 pct and Louisiana, 46.6 pct.\n In Alaska, failures rose by 66.2 per cent, it said.\n API also said that three of the states with the highest\nnumber of bank failures last year were large oil and gas\nproducers - Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:29:24.79", "topics": [ "crude" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8209" }, { "title": "WORLD DEPENDENCY ON MIDEAST OIL SAID INEVITABLE", "body": "The world's dependency on the Mideast\nas the source for its petroleum is growing and nothing is going\nto stop it, Donald K. McIvor, an Exxon Corp Director and\nsenior vice president told Reuters in an interview.\n \"Non-OPEC production will begin to decline and the gap\nbetween demand and supply will widen so that the trend to\nincreasing dependence on OPEC and the Middle East is\ninevitable,\" McIvor said.\n Decreased supplies will firm prices for crude oil but are\nnot likely to change a growing dependence, McIvor said.\n McIvor, Exxon's senior vice president responsible for oil\nand gas exploration and production said that dependence would\nresult from the Mideast's large spare capacity at a time when\nthe rest of the world consumes more oil than it was finding.\n \"Since 1970 we've been consuming oil at rates of 20-25\nbillion barrels per year while making new discoveries of only\nabout 10-15 bilion barrels per year,\" McIvor said.\n \"The bulk of the inventory and more than half of the\nremaining proved reserves lies in the middle east which is\nproducing at much less than current capacity,\" he added.\n McIvor said that of the some 30,000 oil fields discovered\nso far only 37 \"one-one thousandth of the total number contained\nabout 35 pct of all the oil ever discovered.\"\n McIvor said, in response to a question, that he did not\nbelieve there were any more \"super giants\", or oil fields with\nreserves greater than five billion barrels, to be found which\nwould change the conclusion of the world's growing dependency.\n \"Of those 37 super giants only 11 lie outside the Middle\nEast. Only five of the 37 have been discovered in the past 20\nyears and only two of these lie outside the middle east\n(Cantarell in Mexico and Alaska's North Slope).\" McIvor said.\n McIvor said that many of the large fields outside the U.S.\nlike Alaska's Prudhoe Bay and the North Sea were reaching a\npeak and would soon begin to decline.\n But the Exxon executive said that there were still plenty\nof opportunities to be explored and developed outside of the\nMiddle east, particulartly in Canada, the North Sea, and\nAustralia and Africa.\n McIvor said that decisions to explore and drill in those\nareas would be depedent upon both the expectations of a higher\nprice of oil as well as the legal regime affecting the\ncompanies.\n \"The ideal regime is a stable one not one where there is a\nconstant change in policies,\" McIvor said.\n McIvor said he opposed import subsidies or tariffs used to\nincrease exploration as these only benefit one part of the\neconomy at the expense of other parts of the economy.\n Asked about the options offered this week by U.S. Energy\nSecretary Herrington to increase U.S. production McIvor said he\ncould not comment on subjects like the oil depletion allowance\nnow but \"the thrust of his (Herrington) report is valid. It has\nhighlighted the growing dependency on the Middle east and the\nneed to increase U.S. production.\"\n McIvor also said that he expected natural gas to play a\ngreater role in the future in meeting energy needs.\n \"Natural gas will have the opportunity to become an\nincreasingly important part of the worlkd's energy supply,\"\nMcIvor said.\n \"Crude oil will be used more and more as a transportation\nfuel and natural gas will be used more to generate heat, as an\nindustrial fuel,\" he added.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:31:25.03", "topics": [ "crude", "nat-gas" ], "organisations": [ "opec" ], "places": [ "usa", "canada", "australia", "mexico" ], "id": "8210" }, { "title": "S. AFRICAN CONSUMER PRICE INFLATION RISES SLIGHTLY", "body": "South African year-on-year consumer\nprice inflation rose slightly to 16.3 pct in February after\nfalling sharply to 16.1 pct in January from 18.1 pct in\nDecember, Central Statistics Office figures show.\n The monthly rise in the all items index (base 1980) was\n1.09 pct to 251.0 in February after a 1.4 pct increase to 248.3\nin January.\n A year ago the index stood at 215.8 and year on year\nconsumer price inflation at 18.05 pct.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:31:59.61", "topics": [ "cpi" ], "places": [ "south-africa" ], "id": "8211" }, { "title": "FINLAND FEBRUARY TRADE SURPLUS AT 641 MLN MARKKA", "body": "Finland had a 641 mln markka trade\nsurplus in February following an 80 mln markka surplus in\nJanuary and a 614 mln surplus in February 1986, Customs Board\npreliminary figures showed.\n Exports in February were 6.38 billion markka and imports\n5.74 billion compared with exports of 6.72 billion and imports\nof 6.64 billion in January and exports of 6.92 billion and\nimports of 6.31 billion in February last year.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:36:50.99", "topics": [ "trade" ], "places": [ "finland" ], "id": "8212" }, { "title": "WEST GERMAN BARLEY, RAPE AFFECTED BY WINTER KILL", "body": "Winter kill has probably affected West\nGerman winter barley and rapeseed to an above average degree\nthis season, West German grain trader Alfred C. Toepfer said in\nits latest report.\n It is too soon to assess the extent of the damage, but it\nis likely that northern West German crops are particularly at\nrisk because of insufficient snow cover, it said.\n The soil needs to warm up rapidly and moisture content must\nimprove to avoid further delays to spring field work, it added.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:40:42.08", "topics": [ "grain", "barley", "oilseed", "rapeseed" ], "places": [ "west-germany" ], "id": "8213" }, { "title": "N.Z. PORTS REOPEN, BUT FURTHER DISRUPTION LIKELY", "body": "New Zealand ports reopened at 0730\nhrs local time (1930 GMT March 22) after being closed since\nMarch 19 because of a strike over pay claims by watersiders, a\nWaterside Federation spokesman said.\n But industrial action by other port workers is likely to\ncause further disruption, Harbour Workers union secretary Ross\nWilson told Reuters.\n Wilson said his members are holding stopwork meetings this\nmorning to consider further stoppages over their pay claim.\n The two disputes are not related.\n Harbour Workers around the country went on strike for 24\nhours on March 16, but Wilson said any further action will\noccur on a port-by-port basis.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:47:20.72", "topics": [ "ship" ], "places": [ "new-zealand" ], "id": "8214" }, { "title": "SIERRA LEONE COUP ATTEMPT FAILED", "body": "Forces loyal to President Joseph Momoh\nfoiled an attempted coup apparently led by senior police\nofficers in Sierra Leone, government sources said.\n The revolt included an unsuccessful raid on a Freetown\nmilitary arsenal during which a police officer's driver was\nshot dead, they said. Police sources said a senior policeman\nwas arrested on suspicion of leading the coup attempt.\n There were no immediate reports in the official news media.\n Police and troops patrolled the centre of the capital and\nthere was no sign of further trouble.\n REUTER\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:47:55.65", "places": [ "sierra-leone" ], "id": "8215" }, { "title": "LIMITED PARTNERS SUE BOESKY", "body": "A group of limited partners has filed\nsuit in U.S. District Court in New York against Ivan F. Boesky\nand others, alleging that Boesky deceived them into investing\nin his partnership Ivan F. Boesky and Co LP through the\npreparation of deceptive partnership documents.\n The suit also names as defendants , investment banker for the partnership, law firm Fried,\nFrank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson and its attorney Stephen\nFraidin, and financial services company Seligmann Harris and\nCo, as well as former Drexel investment bankers Dennis A.\nLevine and Martin A. Siegel. \n Levine and Siegel have already pleaded guilty to insider\ntrading violations, as has Boesky.\n The suit alleges that partnership documents prepared by the\nlaw firm were misleading because they failed to disclose the\ncriminal violations to which Boesky later pleaded guilty.\nSeligman helped recruit investors to the partnership, according\nto the suit.\n The suit said the papers failed to disclose Drexel's\nfinancial interests in the partnership. It also said Boesky\nfailed to meet a pledge to invest at least 20 mln dlrs in the\npartnership.\n The suit seeks an unspecified amount of damages from the\npartnership and Boesky and damages from Fried, Frank and\nFraidin.\n The plaintiffs include Home Group Inc , Lincoln\nNational Corp , a number of other institutional investors\nand recently-named Morgan Stanley Group Inc asset\nmanagement unit senior advisor Lewis Lehrman.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:49:52.37", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8216" }, { "title": " MAKES ACQUISITION", "body": "Microtel Inc said it has\ncompleted the acquisition of and its\nUS Dial subsidiary, which provide long distance telephone\nservice in northeast Florida. Terms were not disclosed.\n Microtel's shareholders include Norfolk Southern Corp\n, M/A-Com Inc , Centel Corp , Alltel Corp \nand E.F. Hutton Group Inc .\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 08:56:47.81", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8217" }, { "title": "JAMESWAY CORP SETS 2-FOR-1 STOCK SPLIT, UPS CASH PAYOUT 33 PCT\n", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:00:35.28", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8218" }, { "title": " NINE MTHS", "body": "March 31, 1986 end\n Shr loss seven cts vs loss 11 cts\n Net loss 76,888 vs profit 106,885\n Revs 752,234 vs 922,036\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:02:35.77", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8219" }, { "title": "AMERICAN VARIETY ACQUISITION PACT TERMINATED", "body": " said its agreement to acquire has been terminated because First National\nwas not able to fulfill terms of the agreement.\n It said due to protracted negotiations with First National,\nseveral American Variety divisions were inoperative in 1986.\n American Variety said it is reevaluating its record and\ntape library for possible conversion to compact discs.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:08:30.42", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8220" }, { "title": "JAMESWAY SETS SPLIT, HIGHER CASH PAYOUT", "body": "Jamesway Corp said its board\ndeclared a two for one stock split and increased the quarterly\ncash dividend by 33 pct.\n The company said the dividend on the pre-split shares was\nincreased to four cts from three cts.\n It said both the split and the dividend are payable May 23\nto holders of record April 20, adding the company will have\nabout 13,860,000 shares outstanding after the split.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:12:39.06", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8221" }, { "title": "HARPER/ROW GETS EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST", "body": "Harper and Row Publishers Inc said its\nspecial committee of independent directors has received\nexpressions of interest from a considerable number of domestic\nand foreign firms with respect to restructuring or acquisition\ntransactions with the company.\n Winthrop Knowlton, chairman of special committee said \"no\ndetermination has been made by the full board as to any\ntransaction.\"\n He said the special committee and Kidder Peabody and Co Inc\nintend to engage in discussions with interested parties in an\neffort to come to a conclusion in the near future.\n Formation of the special committee was announced early last\nweek when Harper and Row said its board had taken no action on\ntwo pending acquisition proposals.\n At that time, directors also indefinately postponed a\nplanned special shareholders vote on a restructuring proposal\nwhich would have created a Class B common with 10 votes a share\nand limited transferability.\n The acquisition proposals had come from Theodore L. Cross,\nowner of about six pct of the company's stock who offered 34\ndlrs a share, and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc , which\noffered 50 dlrs a share.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:15:59.76", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8222" }, { "title": "HUMANA INC 2ND QTR SHR 44 CTS VS 54 CTS\n", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:17:49.88", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8223" }, { "title": "FRUIT/LOOM TO SELL UNIT FOR 145 MLN DLRS", "body": "Fruit of the Loom Inc said it agreed to\nsell its General Battery Corp subsidiary to Exide Corp for\nabout 145 mln dlrs in cash.\n The proposed sale will complete Fruit of the Loom's\npreviously announced plan to divest itself of unrelated\nbusinesses.\n Proceeds from the proposed transaction are more than the\nprice projected in the company's recent initial public\noffering, it said.\n Completion of the transaction is subject to a definitive\nagreement, regulatory approvals, financing and certain other\nconditions and is expected to close May one, 1987, the company\nsaid.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:18:09.61", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8224" }, { "title": "CITYQUEST MAKES 120 MLN STG BID FOR WICKES", "body": ", a newly formed company,\nis making a recommended 120 mln stg offer for builders\nmerchants and DIY (do-it-yourself) company , Wickes\nsaid in a statement.\n Undertakings to accept what is effectively a management\nbuyout have been accepted by holders of 88.9 pct of the shares.\n The statement said the offer was due to a decision by\nWickes International Corp, a member of the U.S. Wickes\nCompanies Inc group, which holds an 80.5 pct stake, to\nrealise much of its investment.\n The offer would enable Wickes to become fully independent\nand once the bid succeeded all the Wickes directors would\nbecome members of the Cityquest board.\n The offer will be of 345p cash for every Wickes share.\nWickes was last quoted at 345p compared with 275p at Friday's\nclose.\n Wickes shareholders will also have the option of taking one\nCityquest share or 205p in loan notes for every 205p of the\ncash consideration.\n Henry Sweetbaum is chairman and chief executive of both\nCityquest and Wickes, and it was intended that Cityquest's name\nwould be changed to Wickes in due course.\n Wickes came to the U.K. Unlisted Securities Market in\nJanuary, 1986 with a capitalisation of about 96 mln stg.\n Cityquest has a fully paid share capital of one mln stg. S\nG Warburg Securities has organised commitments from a group of\ninvestors to subscribe for 65 mln stg in shares and 28.2 mln\nstg in subordinated convertible loan stock. Lead investor is\nInvestors in Industry Plc\n Cityquest also has loan facilities of 30 mln stg.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:23:51.08", "topics": [ "acq" ], "places": [ "uk" ], "id": "8225" }, { "title": "HUMANA INC 2ND QTR FEB 28 NET", "body": "Shr 44 cts vs 54 cts\n Net 42.9 mln vs 53.7 mln\n Revs 983.3 mln vs 858.8 mln\n Six mths\n Shr 85 cts vs 1.11 dlrs\n Net 83.1 mln vs 109.8 mln\n Revs 1.91 billion vs 1.66 billion\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:25:46.78", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8226" }, { "title": "WINCHELL'S DONUT SETS INITIAL QUARTERLY", "body": "Winchell's Donut Houses LP\nsaid it has declared an initial quarterly dividend of 45 cts\nper unit on Class A and Class B limited partnership units,\npayable May 29 to holders of record March 31.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:26:12.50", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8227" }, { "title": "TANDON GETS 50 MLN DLR CONTRACT", "body": "Tandon Corp said it has\nagreed in principle to sell to personal computer maker during 1987 about 50 mln dlrs of 20 megabyte Winchester\ndisk drives.\n It said shipments have already begun and about 30 mln dlrs\nof the drives are scheduled for delivery during the first half.\n The drives are in half-height configuration.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:26:22.74", "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8228" }, { "title": "TRITON GROUP LTD 4TH QTR JAN 31 NET", "body": "Oper shr profit nil vs loss nil\n Oper net profit 671,000 vs loss 138,000\n Sales 104.3 mln vs 70.8 mln\n Avg shrs 101.2 mln vs 66.8 mln\n Year\n Oper shr profit six cts vs profit five cts\n Oper net profit 6,309,000 vs profit\n 5,144,000\n Sales 349.8 mln vs 303.4 mln\n Avg shrs 85.0 mln vs 76.3 mln\n NOTE: Net excludes discontinued operations nil vs gain\n196,000 dlrs in quarter and loss 293,000 dlrs vs gain 407,000\ndlrs in year.\n Net excludes tax loss carryforward 1,423,000 dlrs vs\nreversal of tax credit 625,000 dlrs in quarter and credits\n5,437,000 dlrs vs 7,261,000 dlrs in year.\n Results include U.S. Press Inc from November Three\nacquisition.\n Reuter\n\u0003", "date": "23-MAR-1987 09:26:35.29", "topics": [ "earn" ], "places": [ "usa" ], "id": "8229" }, { "title": "BLOCKBUSTER UNIT SIGNS EXCLUSIVE LICENSE", "body": "Blockbuster Entertainment Corp said its\nBlockbuster Distribution Corp unit granted an exclusive license\nagreement to