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34nat-gas
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lng imports from algeria unlikely in liquefied natural gas imports from algeria are unlikely to happen in even though its economically feasible u s industry analysts sources said youcef yousfi director general of sonatrach the algerian state petroleum agency indicated in a television interview in algiers that such imports would be made this year contract negotiations filing with the u s government and the time required to restart mothballed terminals will delay the import until daniel tulis a natural gas analyst with shearson lehman bros said sonatrach is currently negotiating with two of its former customers panhandle eastern pel and distrigas a subsidiary of cabot corp cbt to resume lng export company officials told reuters a third el paso gas a subsidiary of burlington northern bni has expressed no interest industry analysts said some imports of algerian lng were feasible on a marginal cost basis the companies that have made capital investment to handle lng import can operate profitably even in the current price environment frank spadine an energy economist with bankers trust said analysts did not forsee a major impact from algerian imports on u s prices which are currently soft but expected to trend higher by the end of a decline in gas drilling and the time lag to bring gulf of mexico productions onstream will tighten gas supplies and firm prices shearson s tulis said in this context algerian lng import would be a source of supplemental supply to u s domestic production he added company sources currently in talks with algeria agree saying that algerian lng would only serve to meet peak demand company sources also said that any negotiations with algeria would emphasize looser arrangements which would relate volumes to market requirements and prices to u s spot market values reuter
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12earn
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alatenn resources inc atng th qtr net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln mths shr dlrs vs dlrs net vs revs mln vs mln reuter
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0acq
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versatile to sell unit to vicon versatile corp said it agreed in principle to sell its alberta based versatile noble cultivators co division to vicon inc of ontario for undisclosed terms the division manufactures tillage and spraying equipment reuter
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0acq
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videotron buys into exhibit company groupe videotron ltd said it agreed to buy pct of groupe promexpo inc a company which specializes in product exhibits for three mln dlrs reuter
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12earn
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memotec data inc year net shr cts vs cts net vs revs mln vs mln note results include extraordinary gains of dlrs or cts a share in and dlrs or cts a share in reuter
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10crude
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texaco canada cuts crude prices canadian cts bbl par grade to canadian dlrs
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10crude
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texaco canada txc lowers crude postings texaco canada said it lowered the contract price it will pay for crude oil canadian cts a barrel effective today the decrease brings the company s posted price for the benchmark grade edmonton swann hills light sweet to canadian dlrs a bbl texaco canada last changed its crude oil postings on feb reuter
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10crude
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marathon petroleum reduces crude postings marathon petroleum co said it reduced the contract price it will pay for all grades of crude oil one dlr a barrel effective today the decrease brings marathon s posted price for both west texas intermediate and west texas sour to dlrs a bbl the south louisiana sweet grade of crude was reduced to dlrs a bbl the company last changed its crude postings on jan reuter
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12earn
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george weston ltd year net shr dlrs vs dlrs net mln vs mln revs billion vs billion reuter
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33money-supply
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n z money supply rises pct in december new zealand s broadly defined seasonally adjusted m money supply grew an estimated pct in december after rising a revised pct in november and pct in december last year the reserve bank said in a statement it said unadjusted m increased to an estimated billion n z dlrs from a revised billion in november and billion in december year on year m rose pct from a revised pct in november and pct in december narrowly defined year on year m growth was pct against a revised pct in november and pct a year earlier m grew to an estimated billion dlrs against a revised billion in november and billion in december year on year private sector credit grew pct in december against a revised pct in november and pct in december private sector credit grew to billion dlrs from a revised billion in november and billion in december reuter
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0acq
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circuit systems csyi buys board maker circuit systems inc said it has bought all of the stock of ionic industries inc in exchange for shares of its common following the exchange there will be shares of circuit systems stock outstanding ionic holders will own about pct of the outstanding stock of circuit systems it said ionic a maker of circuit boards had revenues of mln dlrs and pretax profits of dlrs in up from revenues of mln and pretax profits of dlrs in circuit systems said reuter
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12earn
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mail boxes etc mail rd qtr jan net shr cts vs cts net vs revs vs avg shrs vs nine mths shr cts vs cts net vs revs vs reuter
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12earn
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munsingwear inc mun th qtr jan loss shr loss cts vs loss seven cts net loss vs loss revs mln vs mln year shr profit cts vs profit cts net profit vs profit revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs note per shr adjusted for for stock split july and for split may reuter
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33money-supply
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fed data suggest stable u s monetary policy latest federal reserve data suggest that the central bank voted to maintain the existing degree of pressure on banking reserves at its regular policy making meeting two weeks ago money market economists said the numbers were a little disappointing but i think we can take mr volcker at his word when he said that nothing had changed said bob bannon of security pacific national bank fed chairman paul volcker told a congressional committee last thursday that the fed s policy has been unchanged up to today although volcker s statement last thursday allayed most fears that the fed had marginally tightened its grip on reserves to help an ailing dollar many economists still wanted confirmation of a steady policy in today s data which covered the two week bank statement period ended yesterday this need for additional reassurance was made all the more acute by the fed s decision yesterday to drain reserves from the banking system by arranging overnight matched sale purchase agreements for the first time since april of last year economists added today s data showed that the draining action was for a fairly large billion dlrs economists said the one thing that caught my eye were the relatively sizeable matched sales on wednesday said dana johnson of first national bank of chicago but there was a clearly justified need for them there was nothing ominous the fed couldn t have waited until the start of the new statement period today if it had it would have missed its reserve projections added security pacific s bannon a fed spokesman told reporters that there were no large single day net miss in reserve projections in the latest week economists similarly shrugged off slightly higher than expected adjusted bank borrowings from the fed s discount window which averaged mln dlrs a day in the latest week compared with many economists forecasts of about mln for the two week bank statement period as a whole the daily borrowing average more than doubled to mln dlrs from in the prior period there were wire problems at two large banks on tuesday and wednesday so i am not too bothered about the borrowings said scott winningham of j s winningham and co the wednesday average rose to mln dlrs from mln a week earlier lending further support to the stable policy view was a relatively steady federal funds rate of about six pct in the latest week and persistently high levels of excess reserves in the banking system economists said for the time being the fed is following a neutral path with fed funds at about six to pct said darwin beck of first boston corp i expect it to continue in that vein excess reserves fell but they are still over a billion dlrs added first chicago s johnson banks excess reserves averaged billion dlrs a day in the latest statement period down from billion in the previous one after the fed declined to assign a target growth range to the wayward m money supply measure last week little attention was paid to a steeper than anticipated billion dlr jump in the week ended february looking ahead economists said the fed will have to tread a fine line between the dollar s progress in the international currency markets and the development of the domestic economy the market has perhaps exaggerated the dollar s effect on fed policy said first chicago s johnson of course it will take the dollar into account in future policy decisions but if the economy is weak it won t pull back from easing reuter
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12earn
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gti corp gti th qtr oper net oper shr profit six cts vs loss two cts oper net profit vs loss revs vs year oper shr profit cts vs loss two cts oper net profit vs loss revs mln vs mln note data does not include from discontinued operations th qtr gain of dlrs or cts per shr th qtr loss of dlrs or seven cts per shr year loss of dlrs or dlrs per shr and year loss of dlrs or cts per shr reuter
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10crude
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houston oil ho reserves study completed houston oil trust said that independent petroleum engineers completed an annual study that estimates the trust s future net revenues from total proved reserves at mln dlrs and its discounted present value of the reserves at mln dlrs based on the estimate the trust said there may be no money available for cash distributions to unitholders for the remainder of the year it said the estimates reflect a decrease of about pct in net reserve revenues and pct in discounted present value compared with the study made in reuter
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12earn
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famous restaurants inc fams th qtr loss shr loss dlrs vs loss eight cts net loss vs loss revs mln vs mln year shr loss dlrs vs profit four cts net loss vs profit revs mln vs mln note includes non recurring charges of dlrs in the th qtr and dlrs in the year for reserve for underperforming restaurants reuter
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8cpi
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japan consumer prices fall pct in january japan s unadjusted consumer price index base fell pct to in january from the previous month the government s management and coodination agency said the fall compares with a decline of pct in december the january index compared with a year earlier was down pct the first drop larger than pct since it fell pct in september food costs rose in january from december but prices fell for clothing footwear and utilities causing the overall decline for the month housing medical and educations costs increased in january compared with a year earlier but the cost of utilities gasoline and vegetables fell the unadjusted consumer price index for the tokyo area base was down pct in mid february from a month earlier at reflecting lower prices for food clothing and footwear compared with a year earlier the index was down pct due to lower vegetable fuel oil and utility costs reuter
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12earn
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avery avy sets two for one stock split avery said its board authorizerd a two for one stock split an increased in the quarterly dividend and plans to offer four mln shares of common stock the company said the stock split is effective march with a distribution of one additional share to each shareholder of record march it said the quarterly cash dividend of cts per share on the split shares a pct increase from the cts per share before the split avery said it will register with the securities and exchange commission shrortly to offer four mln additional common shares it will use the proceeds to repay debt finance recent acquisitions and for other corporate purposes reuter
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33money-supply
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federal reserve weekly m components feb week feb vs feb daily avg billions seasonally adjusted unadjusted currency vs vs demand depos vs vs other check vs vs savings vs vs small time vs vs mmdas commercial bank only vs o n repos vs o n euros vs reuter
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33money-supply
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n z central bank sees slower money credit growth monetary and credit growth rates in new zealand are not expected to continue at current levels following the reserve bank s move to tighten liquidity late last year reserve bank governor spencer russell said the monetary and credit growth figures for the december quarter were probably artifically inflated by unusually high growth in inter institutional lending activity on the short term money market russell said in a statement the bank moved to tighten liquidity when the initial signs of the recent expansion became apparent in september and october last year russell said broadly defined m figures released today showed growth of pct in the year ended december compared with pct in the year ended september annual growth of private sector credit in calendar was pct compared with pct in the september year available evidence suggests that corporate customers including non bank financial institutions have been exploiting differences between interest rates on overdrafts with trading banks and rates in the call market russell said reuter
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22interest
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japan expected to cut base rate for state bodies japan is expected to cut the base lending rate for state financial institutions to pct from as part of the recent pact by major industrial nations in paris finance ministry sources said they said the cut is based on a revision of the trust fund bureau law which should be approved by parliament on march abolishing the pct minimum interest rate on deposits with the bureau the bureau channels funds to government financial institutions for public works and other official uses they said the base lending rate for state bodies such as the japan development bank people s finance corp and the finance corporations of local public enterprises usually moves in tandem with long term prime rates the sources said however it was impossible for them to follow the last cut to pct from pct on january because the trust fund bureau rate was legally set at pct the ministry will abolish the minimum rate and introduce a market related one to resolve the problem and stimulate the domestic economy they said on tuesday the ministry allowed long term bankers to cut their prime to a record low of pct effective february the move suggested it had reached agreement with depositors using the bureau the postal savings system of the posts and telecommunications ministry and the japan welfare annuity of the ministry of health and welfare the sources said these ministries are trying to determine which market rates should be considered when setting the bureau s deposit rate the ministry sources said coupon rates on new year government bonds minus percentage points is the likeliest choice they added reuter
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5coffee
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producer split heats up coffee quota talks talks on the possibility of reintroducing global coffee export quotas have been extended into today with sparks flying yesterday when a dissident group of exporters was not included in a key negotiating forum the special meeting of the international coffee organization ico council was called to find a way to stop a prolonged slide in coffee prices however delegates said no solution to the question of how to implement quotas was yet in sight world coffee export quotas the major device used to regulate coffee prices under the international coffee agreement were suspended a year ago when prices soared in reaction to a drought which cut brazil s output by nearly two thirds brazil is the world s largest coffee producer and exporter producers and consumers now are facing off over the question of how quotas should be calculated under any future quota distribution scheme delegates said tempers flared late saturday when a minority group of eight producing countries was not represented in a contact group of five producer and five consumer delegates plus alternates which was set up to facilitate debate the big producers want to have the ball only in their court and it isn t fair minority producer spokesman luis escalante of costa rica said the majority producer group has proposed resuming quotas april using the previous ad hoc method of carving up quota shares with a promise to try to negotiate basic quotas before september delegates said their plan would perpetuate the status quo allowing brazil to retain almost all of its current pct share of the export market colombia pct ivory coast seven pct and indonesia six pct with the rest divided among smaller exporters but consuming countries and the dissident producer group have tabled separate proposals requiring quotas be determined by availability using a formula incorporating exportable production and stocks statistics their proposals would give brazil a smaller quota share and colombia and indonesia a larger share and bring a new quota distribution scheme into effect now rather than later brazil has so far been unwilling to accept any proposal that would reduce its quota share delegates said delegates would not speculate on prospects for agreement on a quota package anything is possible at this phase even adjournment of the meeting until march or april one said if the ico does agree on quotas the price of coffee on the supermarket shelf is not likely to change sinnificantly as a result industry sources said retail coffee prices over the past year have remained about steady even though coffee market prices have tumbled so an upswing probably will not be passed onto the consumer either they said reuter
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22interest
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italian treasury cuts interest on certificates the italian treasury said annual coupon rates payable march on two issues of long term treasury certificates ccts would be cut by about four percentage points compared with rates this march coupon rates on year certificates maturing march will fall to pct from pct and rates on year issues maturing in march would fall to pct from pct the treasury also cut by point six monthly coupons payable this september on six issues maturing between september and september the issues carry terms of between five and seven years and will have coupon rates of between and pct in september compared with and pct this march reuter
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10crude
|
kuwait says no plans for emergency opec talks kuwait s oil minister in remarks published today said there were no plans for an emergency opec meeting to review oil policies after recent weakness in world oil prices sheikh ali al khalifa al sabah was quoted by the local daily al qabas as saying none of the opec members has asked for such a meeting he denied kuwait was pumping above its quota of barrels of crude daily bpd set under self imposed production limits of the nation organisation traders and analysts in international oil markets estimate opec is producing up to one mln bpd above a ceiling of mln bpd agreed in geneva last december they named kuwait and the united arab emirates along with the much smaller producer ecuador among those producing above quota kuwait they said was pumping mln bpd this rumour is baseless it is based on reports which said kuwait has the ability to exceed its share they suppose that because kuwait has the ability it will do so the minister said sheikh ali has said before that kuwait had the ability to produce up to mln bpd if we can sell more than our quota at official prices while some countries are suffering difficulties marketing their share it means we in kuwait are unusually clever he said he was referring apparently to the gulf state of qatar which industry sources said was selling less than bpd of its bpd quota because buyers were resisting official prices restored by opec last month pegged to a marker of dlrs per barrel prices in new york last week dropped to their lowest levels this year and almost three dollars below a three month high of dollars a barrel sheikh ali also delivered a challenge to any international oil company that declared kuwait sold below official prices because it was charging its official price of dlrs a barrel it had lost custom he said but did not elaborate however kuwait had guaranteed markets for its oil because of its local and international refining facilities and its own distribution network abroad he added he reaffirmed that the planned meeting march of opec s differentials committee has been postponed until the start of april at the request of certain of the body s members ecuador s deputy energy minister fernando santos alvite said last wednesday his debt burdened country wanted opec to assign a lower official price for its crude and was to seek this at talks this month of opec s pricing committee referring to pressure by oil companies on opec members in apparent reference to difficulties faced by qatar he said we expected such pressure it will continue through march and april but he expected the situation would later improve reuter
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10crude
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indonesia seen at crossroads over economic change indonesia appears to be nearing a political crossroads over measures to deregulate its protected economy the u s embassy says in a new report to counter falling oil revenues the government has launched a series of measures over the past nine months to boost exports outside the oil sector and attract new investment indonesia the only asian member of opec and a leading primary commodity producer has been severely hit by last year s fall in world oil prices which forced it to devalue its currency by pct in september but the u s embassy report says president suharto s government appears to be divided over what direction to lead the economy it appears to be nearing a crossroads with regard to deregulation both as it pertains to investments and imports the report says it primarily assesses indonesia s agricultural sector but also reviews the country s general economic performance it says that while many government officials and advisers are recommending further relaxation there are equally strong pressures being exerted to halt all such moves this group strongly favours an import substitution economy the report says indonesia s economic changes have been welcomed by the world bank and international bankers as steps in the right direction though they say crucial areas of the economy like plastics and steel remain highly protected and virtual monopolies three sets of measures have been announced since last may which broadened areas for foreign investment reduced trade restrictions and liberalised imports the report says indonesia s economic growth in calendar was probably about zero and the economy may even have contracted a bit this is the lowest rate of growth since the mid s the report notes indonesia the largest country in south east asia with a population of million is facing general elections in april but the report hold out little hope for swift improvement in the economic outlook for early indications point to a slightly positive growth rate not exceeding one pct economic activity continues to suffer due to the sharp fall in export earnings from the petroleum industry growth in the non oil sector is low because of weak domestic demand coupled with excessive plant capacity real declines in construction and trade and a reduced level of growth in agriculture the report states bankers say continuation of present economic reforms is crucial for the government to get the international lending its needs a new world bank loan of mln dlrs last month in balance of payments support was given partly to help the government maintain the momentum of reform the bank said reuter
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10crude
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saudi riyal deposit rates remain firm saudi riyal interbank deposits were steady at yesterday s higher levels in a quiet market traders said they were reluctant to take out new positions amidst uncertainty over whether opec will succeed in halting the current decline in oil prices oil industry sources said yesterday several gulf arab producers had had difficulty selling oil at official opec prices but kuwait has said there are no plans for an emergency meeting of the member organisation a traditional sunday lull in trading due to the european weekend also contributed to the lack of market activity spot next and one week rates were put at pct after quotes ranging between seven six yesterday one three and six month deposits were quoted unchanged at and pct respectively the spot riyal was quietly firmer at to the dollar after quotes of yesterday reuter
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10crude
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qatar unveils budget for fiscal the gulf oil state of qatar recovering slightly from last year s decline in world oil prices announced its first budget since early and projected a deficit of billion riyals the deficit compared with a shortfall of billion riyals in the last published budget for in a statement outlining the budget for the fiscal year beginning today finance and petroleum minister sheikh abdul aziz bin khalifa al thani said the government expected to spend billion riyals in the period projected expenditure in the budget had been billion riyals sheikh abdul aziz said government revenue would be about billion riyals down by about pct on the projected revenue of billion the government failed to publish a budget due to uncertainty surrounding oil revenues sheikh abdul aziz said that during that year the government decided to limit recurrent expenditure each month to one twelfth of the previous fiscal year s allocations minus pct he urged heads of government departments and public institutions to help the government rationalise expenditure he did not say how the budget shortfall would be covered sheikh abdul aziz said plans to limit expenditure in had been taken in order to relieve the burden placed on the country s foreign reserves he added in some billion riyals had been allocated for major projects including housing and public buildings social services health education transport and communications electricity and water industry and agriculture no figure was revealed for expenditure on defence and security there was also no projection for oil revenue qatar an opec member has an output ceiling of barrels per day sheikh abdul aziz said our expectations of positive signs regarding oil price trends foremost among them opec s determination to shoulder its responsibilites and protect its wealth have helped us make reasonable estimates for the coming year s revenue on the basis of our assigned quota reuter
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32money-fx
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gulf bond stock markets lag behind gib says gulf money markets have grown reasonably well during the past decade but bond and stock markets remain to a large extent fragmented and lag behind gulf international bank bsc gib said the bank s economist henry azzam said in a review of gulf capital markets that investors have to relinquish traditional investment vehicles such as real estate foreign currency bank accounts and precious metals greater financial sophistication is needed coupled with more diversified capital market instruments and a change in the disclosure requirements on company accounts he said the gib study reviewed capital markets under three categories money markets stock and bond markets azzam said gulf states had been making greater use of short term money market instruments and banks in the region had floated various euronotes and underwriting facilities nevertheless bond and stock markets remain to a large extent fragmented and lagging behind he said most debt in the region is still raised by syndicated loans and bank facilities and very few companies had made use of stock or bond issues only kuwait has an official stock exchange while other gulf nations have yet to establish exchanges but with dwindling financial surpluses in the gulf governments are actively pursuing ways to develop capital markets and set up domestic stock exchanges azzam said he said recession stemming from sliding oil prices had clearly had a negative impact on the development of capital markets in the region in addition family firms are reluctant to go public financial awareness among investors is still lacking and investment analysis and corporate reporting standards lack depth a sharp fall in share prices in the early s prompted investors to hold on to shares hoping for an eventual recovery azzam said the absence of proper commercial law in some gulf countries and authorities apparent reluctance to adopt financial innovations had also hampered capital markets he called for clearly defined laws governing incorporation of joint stock companies and the flotation of debt instruments azzam said capital market instruments should be made available to all citizens and institutions of gulf cooperation council gcc states bahrain kuwait qatar oman saudi arabia and the united arab emirates uae some moves had been taken in this direction with bahrain allowing gcc nationals to own up to pct of locally incorporated companies azzam said gulf money markets had received greater depth from the introduction of treasury bill offerings in bahrain and the expansion of securities repurchase regulations in saudi arabia but he added there is no bond market to speak of in saudi arabia qatar oman or the uae with the last saudi riyal denominated bond issued in while bahrain plans an official stock exchange and trading in saudi arabia has picked up establishment of formal exchanges in qatar oman and the uae does not appear imminent azzam said reuter
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10crude
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saudi arabia reiterates commitment to opec pact saudi arabian oil minister hisham nazer reiterated the kingdom s commitment to last december s opec accord to boost world oil prices and stabilise the market the official saudi press agency spa said asked by the agency about the recent fall in free market oil prices nazer said saudi arabia is fully adhering by the accord and it will never sell its oil at prices below the pronounced prices under any circumstance nazer quoted by spa said recent pressure on free market prices may be because of the end of the northern hemisphere winter season and the glut in the market saudi arabia was a main architect of the december accord under which opec agreed to lower its total output ceiling by pct to mln barrels per day bpd and return to fixed prices of around dlrs a barrel the agreement followed a year of turmoil on oil markets which saw prices slump briefly to under dlrs a barrel in mid from about dlrs in late free market prices are currently just over dlrs nazer was quoted by the spa as saying saudi arabia s adherence to the accord was shown clearly in the oil market he said contacts among members of opec showed they all wanted to stick to the accord in jamaica opec president rilwanu lukman who is also nigerian oil minister said the group planned to stick with the pricing agreement we are aware of the negative forces trying to manipulate the operations of the market but we are satisfied that the fundamentals exist for stable market conditions he said kuwait s oil minister sheikh ali al khalifa al sabah said in remarks published in the emirate s daily al qabas there were no plans for an emergency opec meeting to review prices traders and analysts in international oil markets estimate opec is producing up to one mln bpd above the mln ceiling they named kuwait and the united arab emirates along with the much smaller producer ecuador among those producing above quota sheikh ali denied that kuwait was over producing reuter
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5coffee
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coffee quota talks continue no accord seen likely the international coffee organization ico council talks on reintroducing export quotas continued with an extended session lasting late into sunday night but delegates said prospects for an accord between producers and consumers were diminishing by the minute the special meeting called to stop the prolonged slide in coffee prices was likely to adjourn sometime tonight without agreement delegates said the council is expected to agree to reconvene either within the next six weeks or in september they said the talks foundered on sunday afternoon when it became apparent consumers and producers could not compromise on the formula for calculating any future quota system delegates said coffee export quotas were suspended a year ago when prices soared in response to a drought which cut brazil s crop by nearly two thirds brazil is the world s largest coffee producer and exporter reuter
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32money-fx
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zambia to retain currency auction says kaunda zambia will retain its foreign exchange auction system despite the suspension of weekly auctions since january president kenneth kaunda said we have not run away from the auction it hasn t been abolished at all he told reuters in an interview he said the system would be reintroduced after current talks with the world bank and the international monetary fund and he hoped would be backed by fresh foreign aid funds kaunda dismissed central bank statements the new auction system would be used to allocate foreign exchange to private bidders but not to fix the exchange rate kaunda said the auction system had faltered because of the government s shortage of foreign exchange to meet demand it was suspended when the kwacha s rapid devaluation and strong fluctuations made economic planning almost impossible for the government and the private sector he said weekly foreign exchange auctions began in october the kwacha fell from to the dollar to about in months in january the government was more than two months in arrears in paying foreign currency to successful bidders and the auction was suspended and replaced with a fixed exchange rate of nine kwacha to the dollar reuter
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45sugar
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indonesian sugar output seen short of target indonesia s raw sugar output is likely to be mln tonnes in calendar unchanged from and below the government s forecast of mln the u s embassy said in its agricultural outlook for indonesia bought tonnes of raw sugar on world markets in late the report said the embassy estimated indonesia s calendar raw sugar production at mln tonnes against a government estimate of mln it said that indonesia s move into sugar self sufficiency in may have been short lived the report said the government continues to promote sugarcane production through its smallholder intensification program and a relatively high guaranteed price to sugarcane producers however there are considerable indications that farmers are reluctant to plant cane because its economic return is not as good as that of other crops reuter
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0acq
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nippon kokan steel affiliates considering merger toshin steel co ltd toss t and azuma steel co ltd affiliates of nippon kokan kk nkkt t are considering a merger company spokesmen said toshin steel owned pct by nippon kokan and azuma steel owned pct by nippon kokan are expected to decide by the end of march they said both firms have been struggling with losses caused by the recession in the steel industry and the yen s appreciation azuma steel s current losses are estimated at billion yen in the year ending march against a billion loss a year earlier a spokesman said the firm employs workers toshin steel with workers has given no forecast for the year ending march but industry sources said they expected the company to show current losses of about five billion yen or more in compared with a billion loss in reuter
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48trade
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japan february interim trade surplus jumps japan s customs cleared trade surplus in the first days of february jumped to billion dlrs from billion a year earlier the finance ministry said the february interim surplus was sharply up from a mln dlr surplus in the same january period fob exports rose pct from a year earlier in the first days of february to billion while cif imports fell pct to billion the average dollar yen rates were for exports and for imports against for exports and for imports a year earlier reuter
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1alum
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nippon light metal continues aluminium output cut nippon light metal co ltd nlgt t which has annual capacity of tonnes will continue primary aluminium production at a rate of tonnes owing to low domestic and world prices and low water supplies at its hydroelectric power plant a company official said nippon which has no plans to restore output to the tonnes a year at which it was working until late will become japan s only smelter ryoka light metal industries ltd will stop smelting in april owing to high power costs and low prices and mitsui aluminium co ltd has said it stopped smelting in february reuter
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10crude
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saudi february crude output put at mln bpd saudi crude oil output last month fell to an average of mln barrels per day bpd from mln bpd in january gulf oil sources said they said exports from the ras tanurah and ju aymah terminals in the gulf fell to an average mln bpd last month from mln in january because of lower liftings by some customers but the drop was much smaller than expected after gulf exports rallied in the fourth week of february to mln bpd from mln in the third week the sources said the production figures include neutral zone output but not sales from floating storage which are generally considered part of a country s output for opec purposes saudi arabia has an opec quota of mln bpd under a production restraint scheme approved by the nation group last december to back new official oil prices averaging dlrs a barrel the sources said the two fold jump in exports last week appeared to be the result of buyers rushing to lift february entitlements before the month end last week s high export levels appeared to show continued support for official opec prices from saudi arabia s main crude customers the four ex partners of aramco the sources said the four exxon corp xon mobil corp mob texaco inc tx and chevron corp chv signed a long term agreement last month to buy saudi crude for dlrs a barrel however the sources said the real test of saudi arabia s ability to sell crude at official prices in a weak market will come this month when demand for petroleum products traditionally tapers off spot prices have fallen in recent weeks to more than one dlr below opec levels saudi arabian oil minister hisham nazer yesterday reiterated the kingdom s commitment to the december opec accord and said it would never sell below official prices the sources said total saudi refinery throughput fell slightly in february to an average mln bpd from mln in january because of cuts at the yanbu and jubail export refineries they put crude oil exports through yanbu at bpd last month compared to zero in january while throughput at bahrain s refinery and neutral zone production remained steady at around bpd each reuter
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12earn
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japan s ntt forecasts profits fall in nippon telegraph and telephone corp ntt expects its profits to fall to billion yen in the year ending march from a projected billion this year the company said total sales for the same period are expected to rise to billion yen from a projected billion this year ntt said in a business operations plan submitted to the post and telecommunications ministry ntt said it plans to make capital investments of billion yen in including billion for research and development as against a total of billion this year an ntt spokesman said increased competition from new entrants to the telecommunications field and the effect of a sales tax scheduled to be introduced next january were the major factors behind the projected decrease in profits the japanese telecommunications industry was deregulated in reuter
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43ship
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china signs world bank loan for tianjin port china has signed a mln dlr loan agreement with the world bank to partly finance new berths with an annual capacity of mln tonnes at the mln tonne a year capacity tianjin port the new china news agency said china will provide mln yuan for the project and a chinese company won a bid against other firms from seven countries to do the foundation work it said it said of the new berths will be able to handle ships of more than tonnes three will handle containers and the expansion will enable the port to handle coke non metal mineral ores and mining equipment for the first time reuter
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40reserves
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japan february external reserves record billion dlrs january billion
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40reserves
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japan february reserves record billion dlrs japan s external reserves rose to a record billion dlrs at the end of february from the previous record of billion at end january the finance ministry said end february reserves last year were billion dlrs in january the nation s foreign reserves showed the largest ever monthly increase at billion dlrs due to massive bank of japan dollar buying intervention during the month as the dollar fell briefly to an all time low of yen on january foreign exchange dealers said reuter
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5coffee
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ico talks on coffee quotas to resume at noon talks on coffee export quotas at the international coffee organization ico special council session will resume at noon gmt today following a last minute decision taken early this morning to extend the meeting hours ico officials said an member contact group will meet at midday to examine new ideas and the full council is to convene at gmt they said the extension resulted from a last ditch effort by colombia to salvage the talks which by late yesterday looked perilously close to ending without agreement on quotas delegates said reuter
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45sugar
|
indian sugar output rises in first four months india s sugar output to january in the season october september rose to mln tonnes from mln in the same period the indian sugar mills association said total offtake in the first four months of the current year was mln tonnes including tonnes imported for domestic use and tonnes for export against mln tonnes including imported for domestic use and tonnes for export in the corresponding period of factory stocks at end january were mln tonnes imported against mln imported a year earlier reuter
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0acq
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shv says it making tender offer for up to mln shares in ic gas
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12earn
|
cheung kong holdings ltd ckgh hk year shr h k dlrs vs final div cents vs making cents vs net billion dlrs vs mln note earnings excluded extraordinary gains of mln dlrs vs mln bonus issue one for four vs nil share split four for one dividend payable june books close may reuter
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0acq
|
wallenbergs fight bid for swedish match stake sweden s wallenberg group fought back a bid by the london based swedish financier erik penser to secure a large stake in swedish match smbs st one of the companies at the core of their business empire a statement issued by the wallenberg holding companies ab investor and forvaltnings ab providentia said they had taken over an option held by nobel industrier sweden ab to acquire pct of the voting rights in swedish match thre wallenbergs paid nobel industrier nobl st in which penser group has a pct stake about pct over the market price for the swedish match option the statement said swedish match s b shares open to foreign buyers closed at crowns on friday the a shares with increased voting rights closed at crowns for the restricted and for the free shares the statement said the deal increased investor s stake to pct of the voting rights and pct of the share capital while providentia is left holding pct of the voting rights and pct of the share capital in swedish match the wallenbergs stake in swedish match had previously amounted to pct of the voting rights in the company the swedish match deal will cost the wallenbergs about mln crowns share analysts said making it one of the most expensise moves the group has undertaken in the last four years to defend its far flung interests from outside predators the wallenbergs originally sold nobel industrier an arms and chemicals group to penser in to pay for buying volvo volv st out of two other key group companies atlas copco asts st and stora koppabergs skps st since then the wallenbergs were ousted as the largest shareholders in skf skfr st by skanska ab skbs st and frederik lundberg wrested control of incentive ab from them lundberg a zurich based swedish property tycoon also managed to acquire a pct stake in another wallenberg company the diary equipment firm alfa laval ab alfs st during the wallenbergs have been concentrating on building up their stake in investor and providentia to prevent any raid on the heart of their business empire but analysts say the wallenbergs position in the electrical engineering firm asea ab asea st is also too small at pct of the voting rights and there has been growing speculation that the group will be forced to sell off fringe interests to protect its core activities reuter
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0acq
|
shv says it making tender offer for ic gas shv united kingdom holding co ltd said it was making a tender offer for up to mln ordinary shares in imperial continental gas association icgs l it said in a statement the offer was on the basis of p for each ic gas ordinary and p for every one stg nominal of ic gas loan stock shv already holds mln ic gas ordinary stock units representing around pct of the current issued share capital successful completion of the offer would increase shv s stake in ic gas to mln shares representing around pct of issued share capital it said the offer capitalises ic gas at around one billion stg it said it was tendering for both ordinary stock and loan stock which when fully converted gave a total of mln ic gas ordinary it is making the tender offer through n m rothschilds ic gas said in a statement it noted the shv tender offer and the terms were being considered it said a further statement would be made as soon as possible reuter
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47tin
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atpc members find ways to curb tin exports mine and industry officials from most member states of the association of tin producing countries atpc say they have found ways to limit group exports to tonnes in the year started march according to views polled by reuter correspondents the plan to curb exports agreed in january is aimed at cutting the world surplus to tonnes from now and boosting prices to about ringgit a kilo from just over members of the seven member kuala lumpur based atpc account for some pct of the world s tin output under the atpc plan malaysia has been allocated an export quota of tonnes indonesia thailand bolivia zaire and nigeria australia has said it is not setting any export quota however the tonnage allocated to it tonnes is roughly equal to its expected output this year comment from officials in zaire was unavailable mine officials in malaysia the world s leading producer said only mines will be allowed to operate to ensure that output is limited to around tonnes in the year started march chief inspector of mines redzuan sumun told reuters that excess output of some tonnes after exports of in the one year quota period would be kept in the national stock mine owners in malaysia have welcomed the atpc export curb and asked the government not to issue new mining licences more than applications for licences are pending redzuan said the mines department would approve new mining licences only if a six month review of production trends showed that local mines were not overproducing atpc chairman and indonesia s mining and energy minister subroto has pledged his country s support for the export curb a spokesman for the state owned tin mining company pt tambang timah told reuters it would be easy for indonesia to stick to an export quota of tonnes because this was close to exports in calendar of in bangkok thai industry minister pramual sabhavasu said thailand would keep to its tonne quota and added this would not cause the local industry hardship at current prices to insure adherence the industry ministry and sole tin exporter thailand smelting and refining co would encourage bigger stockpiles and income tax exemptions would be permitted he said the thai mineral resources department is expected to disallow new tin mines opening this year to prevent excessive production industry sources said but mining industry council president dam teutong told reuters that if the tin price rose above ringgit a kilo thai miners would press for the opening of more new mines thailand exported tonnes in up from in pramual said bolivia said it expects to export less tin this year than its allocated tonne quota mining minister jaimie villalobos told reuters in la paz that bolivia expected to export about tonnes of tin in calendar he said this was due to the sacking after the tin crisis of october of about of the workers at the state mining company comibol which produces more than pct of bolivia s total exports he said there were risks in the atpc plan to cut exports but added he was confident the goals set by the plan would be achieved he did not elaborate mines power and steel minister bunu sheriff musa said in lagos that nigeria would have no difficulty keeping within its atpc quota of tonnes because its metals output had declined due to poor demand and high production costs industry sources told reuters that nigeria s output was less than tonnes last year atpc officials said they would monitor member countries export figures every three months using customs documents and make projections from such data to see if quotas were likely to be breached within the year long quota period the atpc officials said members that appeared likely to breach their quotas would be told to take remedial measures they added that if member countries were unable to fulfil their quotas their extra tonnage would be reallocated to other members at the atpc s discretion the atpc would have produced and exported an estimated tonnes of tin in without the plan non members brazil and china have pledged to cooperate with the atpc and limit their exports to and tonnes respectively during the quota period reuter
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16gold
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china s heilongjiang province boosts gold output gold output in the northeast china province of heilongjiang rose pct in from s level the new china news agency said it gave no figures it said the province china s second largest gold producer after shandong plans to double gold output by from the level china does not publish gold production figures however industry sources estimate output at about tonnes a year with exports put between and tonnes china is selling more gold abroad to offset large trade deficits in recent years western diplomats said reuter
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0acq
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sale tilney buys stake in u s insurance broker sale tilney plc said it has purchased pct of the ordinary share capital of b and r international inc a u s insurance broker for mln dlrs sale is paying mln dlrs in cash on completion with the balance plus interest to be paid in equal instalments over the next six years b and r posted pretax profit of dlrs in the year to dec when it had net tangible assets of dlrs reuter
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12earn
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estimated drop in japan corporate profits trimmed the combined profits of japan s major corporations excluding financial institutions are forecast to fall pct in the year ending march compared to the pct decline projected in late november wako research institute of economics said the private research body also said in a statement that of the firms listed on the first section of the tokyo stock exchange foresee an pct fall in sales in the year against an pct fall estimated last november current profits are projected to fall pct in on sales seen increasing by pct it said rationalisation measures taken by manufacturing industries to cope with the yen s sharp rise are beginning to brighten their business outlook the institute said it said lower interest rates which are expected to reduce corporate borrowing costs are also behind the improved performance outlook earnings performance in the non manufacturing sector will be supported by firm demand in the real estate and construction businesses it said the forecast was based on average exchange rate estimates of yen to the dollar in and yen in reuter
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22interest
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japan to promote interest rate liberalisation the bank of japan decided at a policy board meeting to promote further interest rate liberalisation by lowering the minimum denomination of regulation free large deposits and by raising the interest rate ceiling on money market certificates mmcs a central bank official said the new guideline will go into effect on april the bank said under the guideline the minimum denomination of regulation free large deposits will be lowered to mln yen from mln the interest rate ceiling of mmcs with maturities of between one year and two years will be set at percentage point below the prevailing certificate of deposit rate the bank said but the ceiling on mmcs with maturities of one year or less will remain the same or percentage point below the cd rates the minimum denomination of mmcs will be lowered to mln yen from mln the bank also said time deposit rates will be lowered by point effective march in line with the half point cut in the official discount rate on february new interest rates on two year and one year deposits at banks for example will be pct and pct per annum respectively demand deposit rates however will remain the same reuter
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40reserves
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taiwan power firm plans more foreign debt cuts state owned taiwan power co will boost its domestic borrowings to further cut its foreign debt in line with a government policy to trim the island s huge foreign exchange reserves a company official said the company s foreign debt mainly from the japanese and u s banks was cut nearly by half to billion taiwan dlrs equivalent in calendar from billion in he said its domestic borrowings however rose to billion taiwan dlrs from billion in the same period he added taiwan s foreign exchange reserves now stood at billion u s dlrs due to its record trade surplus of billion reuter
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33money-supply
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u k confirms january sterling m rise the bank of england said the broad measure of u k money supply sterling m rose a seasonally adjusted pct in january after a pct rise in december the unadjusted year on year rise was pct after pct in the year to december the narrow measure of money supply m fell by a seasonally adjusted pct in january and rose by a non adjusted pct year on year the bank said the figures confirm provisional data issued by the bank two weks ago in december m grew by a seasonally adjusted pct and by a non seasonally adjusted pct year on year the bank said sterling bank lending grew by a non seasonally adjusted billion stg in january this also confirmed provisional figures issued in february the measure of private sector liquidity psl fell pct in january but after seasonal adjustment rose pct the bank said the bank said the public sector contribution to the growth in sterling m was contractionary by about billion stg within this the public sector borrowing requirement psbr showed a repayment of billion stg while the non bank private sector s holdings of government debt fell by about billion stg there was a fall of mln stg in notes and coin in january a fall of billion stg in non interest bearing sight deposits and a rise of billion stg in interest bearing sight deposits the bank said reuter
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0acq
|
exco buys u s government securities broker exco international plc a subsidiary of british and commonwealth shipping co plc bcom l said it had agreed in principle to buy an pct stake in rmj holdings corp for about mln dlrs exco chairman richard lacy told reuters the acquisition was being made from bank of new york co inc bk n which currently holds a pct and from rmj partners who hold the remainder bank of new york and the partners will retain about pct each and these stakes will be bought over the next six years rmj is the holding company of rmj securities one of the largest u s government securities brokers it is also involved in broking notes obligations and other instruments sponsored by u s federal agencies lacy said exco had been considering buying a u s government securities broker for the past four years and had made an offer for rmj when it was sold by security pacific corp spc n in rmj was then valued at about mln dlrs b and c managing director peter goldie said rmj would be bought at about the same multiple as exco suggesting net income of around mln dlrs the company s earnings had not been hit by the halving of brokerage fees some months ago as volumes had since doubled lacy said that rmj employed some people with in the brokerage business and about in its sms unit which provided computer software for the financial services community rmj securities had offices in new york where total market turnover of u s government securities was billion dlrs a day and in london where it has billion it was also given permission last week to open an office in tokyo where total market turnover had lifted rapidly to about five billion dlrs a day the acquisition would contribute between five and pct of b and c s share earnings in on a proforma basis reuter
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0acq
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coloroll agrees to buy u s wallcoverings company coloroll group plc said it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the business and assets of wallco inc and related companies for mln dlrs miami based wallco manufactures and distributes wallcoverings and showed a pretax profit of mln dlrs on turnover of mln in the year ending june the total u s market was estimated to be worth mln dlrs in having grown by pct in the previous five years coloroll said the combined sales and profit of the enlarged coloroll u s business would be mln and four mln dlrs respectively reuter
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48trade
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sweden to go ahead with s african trade sanctions sweden s ruling social democratic party gave full power to the government to decree unilateral trade sanctions against south africa prime minister ingvar calrsson said carlsson told a news conference the party decided the fight against apartheid took priority over sweden s traditional policy of only adopting sanctions with the backing of the u n security council the government will decide later what form the trade boycott will take and when it will come into force reuter
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48trade
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japan u s set to begin high level trade talks japan and the u s kick off top level trade talks tomorrow amid signs officials from both sides are growing increasingly irritated with each other the talks held annually at sub cabinet level to review the whole gamut of u s japan economic relations will pave the way for american secretary of state george schultz s one day stop over here at end week on his way home from china faced with growing congressional protectionist pressure the u s administration is pressing japan for speedy action to reduce its still huge trade surplus u s officials said we appreciate their frustration a senior japanese government official said but we are also frustrated the official said the pct rise of the yen over the last months has hit japan hard forcing exporters to slash spending and lay off workers to make up for lost sales abroad that has not yet shown up in dollar based statistics on trade but it will he said he said the u s administration was ignoring the progress that has been made and instead emphasizing the problems that remain when it talks with congress it would only take five minutes to list their accomplishments a senior u s official replied the talks begin tomorrow with high level discussions on the economic structures of both countries and how they affect the bilateral trade imbalance which last year amounted to billion dlrs in japan s favour on the following two days the topics will range from multilateral trade talks under the auspices of the general agreement on tariffs and trade gatt to such bilateral trade problems as super computers the structural talks are intended to be free wheeling discussions among senior officials tomorrow s topics include savings and investment issues such as consumer credit and housing and the implications of government budget deficits these talks come at a particularly delicate time for the japanese government which is facing increasing domestic pressure to abandon its tight fisted fiscal policy and stimulate the sagging economy by spending more some u s officials complained japan has no intention of boosting domestic demand and imports as washington wants japanese officials in turn pointed the finger at the huge u s budget deficit as one of the main culprits for the trade imbalance that budget deficit has meant that the u s is buying more imports japan seems particularly peeved at being singled in a draft trade bill before the senate as a nation following adverserial trade practices it condemns japan without due process one japanese official said that reference spoils what is otherwise a well thought out bill introduced by democratic senator lloyd bentsen he said japan is also not totally happy with the administration s trade bill particularly its proposal to establish reciprocal access to foreign markets as one criteria for retaliatory trade action by the u s officials said nevertheless japanese officials said they remain in a weak bargaining position especially with the threat of a trade bill overhanging them we have no leverage one official admitted as a result tokyo is striving to meet u s complaints about its trade practices in a variety of fields including super computers the u s is pressing for greater access to the japanese super computer market the japanese government has sent a long questionnaire to public institutions like universities which buy the sophisticated machines in hopes of eventually setting up informal bidding procedures easily understood by all potential sellers officials said reuter
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45sugar
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india to hold white sugar buying tender india will hold a buying tender on wednesday march for two to three cargoes of white sugar for march april shipment traders said reuter
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12earn
|
carlton communications optimistic for carlton communications plc has started the current financial year well with accounts for the first four months showing a healthy increase on the same period last year and chairman m p green told the annual meeting he looked forward to with optimism the issue of mln shares in adr form had now been successfully completed he added carlton intended to increase its presence in the u s which represented pct of the world television market conditions worldwide in the television industry continued to look buoyant the chairman noted reuter
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44strategic-metal
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ec opens anti dumping enquiry into soviet mercury the european community commission said it has opened an enquiry into allegations that the soviet union is dumping mercury on the european market at below cost prices the commission said its decision follows a complaint from ec non ferrous metals producers that the sales of soviet mercury were harming their business and threatening jobs in the european industry according to the complaint soviet mercury sales in the ec had risen from zero in recent years to tonnes between august and october last year and threaten to capture pct of the ec market if they continue at the same pace the industry said the mercury was being sold at more than pct below prices charged by ec producers forcing them to cut their prices to levels that no longer covered costs the imports had caused producers heavy financial losses it said the commission said the industry would probably be unable to hold prices at current levels and that any increase would result in loss of sales and jobs the so called anti dumping procedure opened by the commission will allow all interested parties to state their cases to the authority reuter
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10crude
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gulf arab deputy oil ministers to meet in bahrain deputy oil ministers from six gulf arab states will meet in bahrain today to discuss coordination of crude oil marketing the official emirates news agency wam reported wam said the officials would be discussing implementation of last sunday s agreement in doha by gulf cooperation council gcc oil ministers to help each other market their crude oil four of the gcc states saudi arabia the united arab emirates uae kuwait and qatar are members of the organiaation of petroleum exporting countries opec and some face stiff buyer resistance to official opec prices reuter
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10crude
|
saudi arabia reiterates commitment to opec accord saudi arabian oil minister hisham nazer reiterated the kingdom s commitment to last december s opec accord to boost world oil prices and stabilize the market the official saudi press agency spa said asked by the agency about the recent fall in free market oil prices nazer said saudi arabia is fully adhering by the accord and it will never sell its oil at prices below the pronounced prices under any circumstance saudi arabia was a main architect of december pact under which opec agreed to cut its total oil output ceiling by pct and return to fixed prices of around dollars a barrel reuter
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10crude
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kuwait minister says no emergency opec talks set kuwait s oil minister said in a newspaper interview that there were no plans for an emergency opec meeting after the recent weakness in world oil prices sheikh ali al khalifa al sabah was quoted by the local daily al qabas as saying that none of the opec members has asked for such a meeting he also denied that kuwait was pumping above its opec quota of barrels of crude daily bpd crude oil prices fell sharply last week as international oil traders and analysts estimated the nation opec was pumping up to one million bpd over its self imposed limits reuter
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48trade
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taiwan plans new tariff cuts taiwan plans another round of deep tariff cuts this year to help narrow its trade surplus with the u s a senior economic planner said wang chao ming vice chairman of the council for economic planning and development told reuters taiwan would further reduce import tariffs on products sometime in the second half of this year cuts of up to pct on those items were made last year and wang said further cuts would go much deeper we have to speed up liberalisation and cut import tariffs faster and more substantially he said the united states taiwan s main trading partner has said the island s import tariffs still ranging from a high of almost pct were unacceptable it has criticised the cuts as too selective taiwan s trade surplus with the united states hit billion dlrs last year the surplus has boosted foreign exchange reserves to billion dlrs which wang said made taiwan a target for u s protectionism wang said the trade surplus and the reserves weakened taiwan s position in talks with washington over export quotas particularly for shoes textiles and machine tools which are among the island s main export earners a special taiwanese trade delegation leaves for washington tomorrow to try to renegotiate an agreement signed last year limiting exports of taiwan textiles under the accord taiwan s textile export growth was limited to pct each year until taipei has said it is losing markets to south korea and hong kong which were given more generous terms reuter
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12earn
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hutchison sees higher payout satisfactory profits hutchison whampoa ltd hwhh hk expects satisfactory profits in and will pay a higher dividend for the year chairman li ka shing said he did not make any specific projections for the company s earnings this year but he said the firm will pay a dividend of not less than cents per share after a proposed four for one stock split and a one for four bonus issue it paid total dividends of dlrs per share last year equal to cents per share adjusting for the bonus and share split hutchison which has operations ranging from trading to property and container terminals earlier reported after tax profits of billion dlrs against billion dlrs in the total excluded extraordinary gains of mln dlrs partly from the sale of some of its stake in the south china morning post the leading english language newspaper compared with mln dlrs the previous year it said it expects another mln dlr gain in from the sale of the remaining shares li said hong kong s property market remains strong while its economy is performing better than forecast with its largely export led growth gross domestic product grew by nearly nine pct last year against an initial government projection of pct but he said hong kong s large trade deficit with the u s may result in protectionist measures that will adversely affect the british colony he said all of the company s major operations showed improved results in hutchison said earlier it will sell its entire pct interest in hongkong electric holdings ltd hkeh hk to cavendish international holdings ltd itself a spin off from hongkong electric under a reorganisation announced separately hongkong electric will spin off all its non electricity related activities into cavendish which will be listed on the local stock exchange hongkong electric shareholders will receive one share in cavendish for every hongkong electric share cavendish will buy the mln hongkong electric shares from hutchison by issuing mln new shares the spin off and the sale of hongkong electric shares will give hutchison a pct stake in cavendish li said the decision to spin off cavendish is to relieve hongkong electric of public criticism of the power company for making risky investments but he denied there was pressure from the government for the spin off he said cavendish will have seven billion dlrs of assets and will be almost debt free with mln dlrs of liabilites its major assets are the hong kong hilton hotel property development and interests in husky oil ltd hyo to of canada and pearson plc pson l of britain reuter
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0acq
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scientific micro systems smsi acuires supermac scientific micro systems inc said it has acquired supermac technology a rapidly growing supplier of enhancement products and disc drive subsystems for the apple personal computer market scientific micro said it acquired all the common stock of supermac in exchange for mln shares of its own common stock the stock closed at dlrs bid on friday supermac a privately held firm based in mountain view california as is scientific micro reported a net profit of dlrs on revenue of mln dlrs in fiscal it expects its revenue to approximately double in reuter
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0acq
|
american express axp viewing shearson options american express co rumored to be considering a spinoff of part of shearson lehman brothers inc said it is studying a range of options for its brokerage unit that could improve shearon s access to capital and help it meet broadening international competition in a joint statement american express and shearson said the actions under consideration are an integral part of american express worldwide financial services strategy and that the two companies have been having both internal and external discussions on the matters american express said no decision has been reached on the strategic options and that it and shearson could ultimately decide to follow growth plans already in place last week rumors circulated on wall street that the financial services giant was considering a spinoff of part of shearson and there was speculation it may be considering selling a stake to a japanese firm analysts said the speculation also focused on american express selling pct of the profitable brokerage firm to the public there was some speculation that american express had also considered a total spinoff of shearson but the plan was considered highly unlikely analysts said american express said in the statement on sunday that it will not comment on rumors and speculation and a spokesman would not go beyond the statement the company also remained silent last thursday and friday as rumors drove american express stock up a total of dlrs in two days to bring it to a friday close at it said it issued the statement on sunday because a similar statement was being circulated to employees analysts have been divided on whether it makes sense for american express to give up a stake in the wholly owned brokerage which improved its after tax earnings by about pct in the last year some analysts said american express may consider spinning off part of shearson because it is concerned that its stock price does not fully reflect the value of the brokerage firm shearson contributed mln dlrs of american express billion dlr net in american express ambitious plans for international growth may be also enhanced by the added cash that spinning out part of shearson would bring analysts speculated that all of shearson would have a market value of about billion dlrs to some however the need for added capital is puzzling american express is in a position where they can raise capital if they need to said larry eckenfelder of prudential bache securities analysts said rumors were fed by the reorganization of shearson management wednesday chief operating officer jeffrey lane got the added previously vacant post of president the reorganization also created four new positions for chairmen of shearson s operating divisions a move analysts speculated would allow shearson to be a stand alone company analysts contacted on sunday said the statement does little to clarify last week s market speculation it does confirm however that the financial services firm which unsuccessfully attempted to expand shearson with a major acquisition last year is looking beyond its own walls for growth and positioning in the global market competition late last year shearson s takeover offer to the e f hutton group inc was rejected by hutton and analysts said there had been speculation that shearson also was rebuffed when it approached another major wall street brokerage reuter
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0acq
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ropak ropk has pct of buckhorn bkn ropak corp said it received and accepted about common shares and series a convertible preferred shares of buckhorn inc at four dlrs and dlrs each respectively in response to its tender offer that expired friday and it now owns pct of buckhorn voting power the company had owned common and preferred shares before starting the hostile tender ropak said it is borrowing the funds needed to buy the buckhorn shares from its bank lender and will not need to use any funds that another bank had committed to provide under a margin loan ropak said it waived minimum acceptance requirements to buy the shares and intends to evaluate a number of possible ways of completing an acquisition of buckhorn it said it hopes that buckhorn s board will reevaluate its position and enter into meaningful negotiations reuter
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0acq
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penril pnl seeks to sell two units penril corp said it is seeking to sell its triplett electrical instrument corp subsidiary in bluffton ohio and triplett s alltest division in hoffman estates ill as part of a plan to concentrate on its three profitable division and reduce its debt load the company also said it is evaluating a plan to satisfy its obligations under its pct subordinated notes but gave no details interest on the notes is due today penril further said director clifford l alexander jr has resigned from the board it gave no reason penril said shareholders at the annual meeting approved the limitation of directors liability reuter
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0acq
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dale burdett inc faces damage claim dale burdett inc said it faces damages claims totalling about dlrs from the former owners of burdett publications inc the company said on february its predecessor nolex development inc acquired burdett publications inc in an exchange of mln common shares for all burdett publications shares but the transaction was not qualified with the california department of corporations as a result it said the former burdett publications owners have a claim for damages against dale burdett as successor to nolex for one yuear starting january with the damages measured by the difference in values of shares exchanged plus interest from february reuter
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0acq
|
purolator pcc in buyout with hutton efh new jersey based overnight messenger purolator courier corp said it has agreed to be acquired for about mln dlrs by a company formed by e f hutton lbo inc and certain managers of purolator s u s courier business analysts have said that purolator has been for sale for some time purolator announced earlier it was mulling a takeover bid but analysts wrongly predicted the offer was from another courier company hutton lbo a wholly owned subsidiary of e f hutton group inc will be majority owner of the company hutton said the acquiring company pc acquisition inc is paying dlrs cash per share for pct of purolator s stock in a tender offer to begin thursday the rest of the shares will be purchased for securities and warrants to buy stock in a subsidiary of pc acquisition containing purolator s u s courier operations if all the shares of purolator are tendered shareholders would receive for each share dlrs cash six dlrs in debentures and a warrant to buy shares in a subsidiary of pc acquisition containing the u s courier operations hutton said in the merger shareholders would get mln dlrs aggregate amount of guaranteed debentures due of pc acquisition and warrants to buy pct of the common stock of the pc courier subsidiary hutton said the company has valued the warrants at two to three dlrs per share purolator s stock price closed at dlrs on friday while some analysts estimated the company was worth in the mid s at least one said it would be worth to dlrs this follows sales of two other purolator units it agreed recently to sell its canadian courier unit to onex capital for mln dlrs and previously sold its auto filters business purolator retains its stant division which makes closure caps for radiators and gas tanks a hutton spokesman said the firm is reviewing its options on stant purolator s courier business has been lagging that of its u s rivals because of the high price it paid in the past several years to add air delivery to its ground fleet e f hutton will provide mln dlrs of its funds to complete the transaction this so called bridge financing will be replaced later with long term debt most likely in the form of bank loans hutton said hutton lbo is committed to keeping the courier business its president warren idsal said purolator lost mln dlrs over the last two years largely due to u s courier operations which we believe the management is turning around we belive it will be a very serious competitor in the future said idsal william taggart chief executive officer of u s courier division will be chief executive officer of the new company the tender offer will be conditioned on a minimum of two thirds of the common stock being tendered and not withdrawn to the expiration of the offer as well as certain other conditions the offer will begin thursday subject to clearances from the staff of the interstate commerce commission and will expire business days after commencement unless extended reuter
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7cotton
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pakistan cotton output reaches mln bales pakistan cotton production during the current crop season sept march reached mln bales of pounds each up from last season shafi niaz chairman of the agricultural prices commission said official sources said pakistan was likely to use mln bales of cotton during the current financial year ending june after mln in and mln in they said consumption would increase due to a rise in demand for cotton yarn in domestic markets and abroad pakistan produced mln kilos of yarn in fiscal year and exported mln the state owned cotton export corporation was likely to export mln bales of cotton during the current fiscal year compared with mln last year cotton traders said the traders said there would be mln bales of cotton carryover this fiscal year compared with just over a mln bales last year reuter
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0acq
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financial santa barbara fsb to make purchase financial corp of santa barbara said it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase stanwell financial the lending operations unit of mortgage banking company stanwell mortgage for undisclosed terms reuter
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1alum
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alcan to close west german aluminium smelter alcan aluminiumwerke gmbh a subsidiary of alcan aluminium ltd al n of canada said it plans to close its aluminium smelter in ludwigshafen at the end of june a spokesman said alcan was closing the smelter with annual capacity of tonnes and employees because of high electricity costs and the low world market price of aluminium alkan had said earlier this year it would close half the plant s capacity but decided to shut down completely when talks with potential cooperation partners failed the spokesman said he declined to name the other companies involved in the talks reuter
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12earn
|
bbc ag brown boveri und cie bbcz z year parent company net profit mln swiss francs vs mln orders received billion francs vs billion sales billion francs vs billion group sales billion francs vs billion group orders billion francs vs billion reute
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0acq
|
marriott mhs to sell hotel four seasons hotels said it and vms realty partners of chicago have agreed to purchase the santa barbara biltmore hotel from marriott corp for an undisclosed amount it said the venture will rename the hotel the four seasons biltmore at santa barbara and invest over mln dlrs in improvements on the room property reuter
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12earn
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brown boveri omits dividend plans warrant bond bbc ag brown boveri und cie bbcz z said it will omit dividend in for the second consecutive year it said it planned to invite shareholders and non voting stockholders to subscribe to a warrant bond issue of around mln swiss francs to be made after the june annual meeting the value of the stock subscription rights should correspond roughly to the dividend of francs per share paid in the company also plans to issue participation certificates with a par value of mln swiss francs from which existing shareholders are excluded reuter
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0acq
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viacom said it has new national amusements mcv holdings bids
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0acq
|
laroche starts bid for neco npt shares investor david f la roche of north kingstown r i said he is offering to purchase common shares of neco enterprises inc at dlrs each he said the successful completion of the offer plus shares he already owns would give him pct of neco s common shares la roche said he may buy more and possible all neco shares he said the offer and withdrawal rights will expire at est gmt march reuter
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12earn
|
sdc sydney development corp nine mths loss period ended december oper shr loss dlrs vs loss cts oper loss vs loss revs vs note current shr and net exclude extraordinary gain of dlrs or five cts shr versus extraordinary gain of dlrs or four cts shr reuter
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0acq
|
senior engineering makes mln dlr us purchase senior engineering group plc said it reached agreement with cronus industries inc to acquire the whole share capital of south western engineering co for mln dlrs cash this sum is being financed by a term loan south western is one of the u s s leading manufacturers of heat transfer equipment with a turnover of mln dlrs and pre tax profits of mln in completion of the deal is conditional on approval under u s hart scott rodino regulations which is expected within days some dlrs is payable immediately mln dlrs payable on completion with the balance due by june reuter
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12earn
|
cheung kong chairman sees strong results in cheung kong holdings ltd ckgh hk is expecting strong results this year after reporting better than expected profits in chairman li ka shing said he did not give a specific earnings projection but he told reporters the firm will pay total dividends of not less than cents a share this year after a one for four bonus issue and a four for one stock split the company earlier declared total dividends equal to cents a share for adjusting for the stock split and bonus issue cheung kong s earnings rose to billion h k dlrs in well above market expectations of mln to one billion dlrs they compared with profits of mln dlrs in cheung kong also reported extraordinary gains of mln dlrs mainly from the firm s sale of the hong kong hilton hotel to hongkong electric holdings ltd hkeh hk for one billion dlrs it had gains of mln dlrs in li attributed the surge in earnings to a buoyant local property market and substantial increases in contributions from associated companies looking ahead should be another year of stability for the property market li said the growth in hong kong s exports is expected to stimulate the demand for industrial buildings cheung kong is cash rich and is looking for new projects in the british colony li said noting the firm is interested in a land reclamation project along the hong kong harbour and is exchanging views with the government on a proposal to build a second airport reuter
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12earn
|
whittaker corp st qtr oper shr cts vs cts
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0acq
|
viacom via receives two revised offers viacom international inc said it received revised merger offers from national amusements inc and mcv holdings inc the company said the special committee plans to meet later today to review both offers viacom said national amusements arsenal holdings inc raised the value of its offer for the viacom shares not held by national amusements in three areas national amusements holds pct of viacom s stock the cash value of the offer was raised to dlrs from the dlrs a viacom share offered february while the value of the fraction of a share of exchangeable preferred being offered was increased to dlrs a share from six dlrs the interest rate to be used to increase the cash value of the merger if delayed beyond april was raised to nine pct from eight pct and pct after may a viacom spokesman said the arsenal holdings s offer continues to include a pct interest in arsenal for present viacom shareholders viacom said mcv holdings a group which includes the company s senior management and the equitable life assurance society of the united states raised the value of its offer by increasing the value of the preferred being offered to dlrs from dlrs a share and raising the ownership in the new company to be held by present viacom shareholders to pct from pct mcv called its previous offer made february the final proposed revision of its agreement with viacom reuter
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12earn
|
waste management corp votes two for one stock split and boosts qtly dividend to cts
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0acq
|
pittston agrees to acquire wtc international in exchange of stock
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12earn
|
tuesday morning inc tues th qtr net shr dlrs vs dlrs net vs revs mln vs mln avg shrs vs year shr dlrs vs dlrs net vs sales mln vs mln avg shrs vs reuter
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0acq
|
diagnostic retrieval systems inc makes mln dlr bid for rospatch corp
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0acq
|
miller tabak has pct of penn traffic pnf miller tabak hirsch and co said it has received an accepted common shares of penn traffic co in response to its dlr per share tender offer that expired friday and together with the shares it already owned it now has about pct of penn traffic the company said penn traffic is expected to hold a special shareholders meeting later this month to approve a merger into miller tabak at the tender price it said two miller tabak representatives will be named to the penn traffic board on march four to serve as the only directors with penn traffic president and chief executive officer guido malacarne the company said it received financing for the transaction from first national bank of minneapolis and salomon inc sb reuter
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5coffee
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coffee quota talks continue but no agreement yet coffee quota talks at the international coffee organization council meeting here continued this afternoon but producers and consumers still had not reached common ground on the key issue of how to estimate export quotas delegates said the member contact group was examining a colombian proposal to resume quotas april under the ad hoc system used historically with a pledge to meet again in september to discuss how quotas would be worked out in the future they said delegates would not speculate on the prospects for agreement at this time anything could happen one delegate said reuter
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12earn
|
waste management wmx votes split ups payout waste management corp said its board voted a two for one stock split payable april record march in other action waste management directors approved an increase in the quarterly dividend to cts from cts payable april three record march reuter
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12earn
|
porex technologies porx sets initial dividend porex technologies corp said its board declared an initial annual dividend of cts per share its first payout payable march to holders of record march reuter
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12earn
|
davis water dwws declares stock dividend davis water and waste industries inc said its board declared a pct stock dividend payable march to holders of record march reuter
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12earn
|
medco containment mccs sets initial payout medco containment services inc said its board declared an initial annual dividend of cts per share its first payout payable march to holders of record march reuter
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0acq
|
pittston pco agrees to acquire wtc waf pittston co said it has tentatively agreed to acquire wtc international n v in a tax free exchange of stock pittston said it agreed to exchange common share for each of the about wtc common shares outstanding pittston said wtc s three principal shareholders who own pct of its stock are parties to this agreement they have granted pittston the right of first refusal to their shares wtc has granted pittston an option to buy wtc shares equal to poct of its outstanding stock the agreement is subject to approval of both boards and wtc shareholders pittston said described wtc as a fast growing air freight forwarding company with operations throughout the world its revenues totaled nearly mln dlrs in the year ended november and for the quarter ended on that date it earned mln dlrs on revenues of mln dlrs pittston said its burlington air express subsidiary generates about two thirds of its mln dlrs in annual revenes with its domestic air freight services reuter
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12earn
|
sdc sydney cost review may eliminate products sdc sydney development corp earlier reporting an increased nine month operating loss said a cost control review now underway may result in cost reduction and elimination of unprofitable and non strategic products and services the company s operating loss for the nine months ended december increased to mln dlrs from a loss of mln dlrs in the prior year it said earlier revenues increased by pct to mln dlrs from year earlier mln dlrs reuter
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12earn
|
multi step products inc six mths dec loss shr loss cts loss revs note initial public listing december reuter
|
40reserves
|
swiss sight deposits rise billion francs sight deposits by commercial banks at the swiss national bank rose by billion swiss francs to billion in the last days of february the national bank said foreign exchange reserves fell billion francs to billion sight deposits are an important measure of swiss money market liquidity the decline in foreign exchange reserves reflected the dismantling of swap arrangements the national bank said banknotes in circulation rose by mln francs to billion while other deposits on call mainly government funds fell billion francs to billion reuter
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0acq
|
consolidated tvx says it will issue shares to buy stakes in three brazil mining firms
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