Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Business and City In Brief

Thursday 07 July 1994 23:02 BST
Comments

3i share offer fully subscribed

The venture capital company 3i, floated last month, said its public offer of 65.4 million shares was fully subscribed.

Sir George Russell, chairman, said raising more than pounds 700m, including more than pounds 178m from the public, confirmed the attractions of 3i as a core long-term holding.

Lonrho deputy

Lonrho has appointed Sir John Leahy, one of its non-executive directors, vice-chairman. He will head a committee, comprising other non-executives and outside advisers, to nominate a chairman to succeed Rene Leclezio, when he retires shortly.

Boycott to go on

Malaysia's boycott of British companies will continue indefinitely, the Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, said at the start of a three-day official visit to France. 'We will not ever give any more government contracts to British firms,' he said.

Third fall in a row The shorter leading indicator of the UK economy fell for the third month in succession in May. The summary measure of short-term economic trends had risen continuously from the fourth quarter of 1992 to January 1994.

Empire State Trump

Donald Trump, the property tycoon, yesterday bought a 50 per cent stake in the Empire State Building in New York from Asian and European investors.

French take to tunnel

French investors showed more enthusiasm for Eurotunnel's pounds 800m rights issue than the British, taking up 93.4 per cent of the shares on offer, Banque Indosuez announced. In Britain 67.7 per cent of the rights attached to nominal shares were taken up. The rest were sold at a premium on the market.

Nike runs a profit

NIKE Inc, the American sports shoe manufacturer, yesterday reported better than expected profits of dollars 69.2m for its fourth quarter, citing strong sales in the US market. For the year ending May 31, Nike reported net income of dollars 298.8m, compared with dollars 365m last year.

Benz raises cash

Daimler-Benz, Germany's biggest industrial group, said its pounds 3bn capital raising exercise was concluded successfully. Gerhard Liener, chief financial officer, said that after the issue US investors held more than 8 per cent of the company's nominal capital.

WORLD MARKETS

New York: Stocks closed higher, boosted by investors betting today's June jobs report will not trigger an interest rate increase. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.92 to 3,688.42.

Tokyo: Investors were sidelined ahead of the G7 summit, leaving the Nikkei Average 9.01 adrift at 20,620.02.

Hong Kong: The Hang Seng index recouped early losses to end down 37 at 8,491 on late interest in property shares.

Sydney: A renewed decline in futures prices lowered the All Ordinaries index 29 to 1,962.2

Johannesburg: Firmer world markets nudged the overall index four ahead at 5,408.

Milan: The Mibtel index shed six to 11,019.

Zurich: A sharp fall in Roche's certificates led the SMI index 8.4 lower at 2,590.5.

Frankfurt: The DAX index gained 8.15 to 2,043.85 despite the Bundesbank's decision to leave key rates unchanged.

Paris: Firm bonds lifted the CAC-40 index 31.76 to 1,920.75

London: Page 26.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in