Business and City in Brief

Tax rescue plan for Czech beer

(First Edition)

Czech finance minister Ivan Kocarnik said he is considering tax breaks for struggling smaller Czech breweries because beer belongs to the national heritage.

He moved away from the non-interventionist position of Vaclav Klaus's government, saying beer was a special case.

Honda exports show sharp rise

Honda bucked the trend among Japanese car makers with a 38.7 per cent rise in exports in April. Toyota's shipments were down 11.3 per cent and Mitsubishi's 30.2 per cent.

Honda's exports to the US were up 5.5 per cent, while EU sales fell 23.2 per cent.

Performance test

The CBI plans a survey among 2,000 firms to measure the impact of profit-sharing and other employee incentives on company performance.

Tooling up

Orders for US-made machine tools were 19 per cent higher in April than a year earlier, the Association for Manufacturing Technology said.

Yen warning

Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata said the yen would rise further against the dollar unless Japan carried out full-fledged market-opening measures and deregulation.

Output falling

Japan's industrial production fell 1.4 per cent in April compared with March and was 1.5 per cent lower than a year earlier, government figures show.

Orders rising

German engineering orders rose 3 per cent in real terms in April compared with the same month last year. February to April orders were up 4 per cent, the industry association VDMA said.

TODAY 31.5.94

Finals: De La Rue, Plysu, Rockwood, United Breweries.

Interim: Beaer Homes, F&C Pep IT, Stratagem.

Economy: UK provisional M0 (May). US personal income, personal consumption, new home sales (Apr). France unemplployment (Apr).

TOMORROW 1.6.94

Finals: Anglo American, Ashley, Borthwicks, Cedardata, Channel Hldgs, Kembrey, London & Overseas Freighters, Northern Ireland Electricity, Ramco Oil, Sketchley.

Interims: Aberdeen Trust, Granada, Lookers, Sperati (CA), Sturge, Usborne.

Economy: Germany industrial production (Apr; Mar revised), unemployment (May).

THURSDAY 2.6.94

Finals: Bertam, Boots, Drayton Eng & Intl Trust, Hambro Ins, Kalamasoo, Korea Asia Fund, London Ins Mkts IT, Mid Kent Hldgs, Powell Duffryn, Quadrant, RIT Captl P'ners, Rolfe & Nola, Rowe Evans Invs, Siebe, Union Intl, VSEL.

Interims: ABI Leisure, Carrs Milling, Control Techniques, MEPC, Manakin, Stakis, Western Selection, Wyndeham Press, Yorkshire Water.

Economy: UK official reserves (May), cyclical indicators (Apr). US leading indicators (Apr).

FRIDAY 3.6.94

Finals: Acorn Computer, Beverley, Boustead, Brasilian IT, Camellia, Gresham House, London Indl, Property Partnerships, Radstone Technology, Reed Executive.

Interims: Barcom, Baring Emerging Europe Trust.

Economy: US non-farm payrolls, unemployment (May).

WORLD MARKETS

New York: closed for holiday.

Tokyo: The Nikkei closed up 61.81 points at 20,838.97.

Hong Kong: Buying boosted the market. The Hang Seng closed up 53.50 points at 9,523.63.

Frankfurt: The DAX closed 22.84 down at 2,118.15 in light trading.

Paris: Overseas investors were scarce. The CAC-40 ended up 1.84 at 2,052.51.

Sydney: Shares closed lower on a lack of direction. The All Ordinaries finished 10.4 points down at 2,091.8.

London: closed for holiday.