Business and City in Brief

Trump to raise dollars 375m on casino

Donald Trump, the New York property developer forced into bankruptcy protection in 1991, is refinancing one of three Atlantic City casinos, hoping to raise dollars 375m to reduce personal debt estimated at about dollars 200m.

The Trump Plaza filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell dollars 325m worth of first mortgage bonds and an additional dollars 50m in unsecured subordinated notes. About dollars 300m of the proceeds will be used to retire existing bonds and to buy back high-yielding preferred shares, the filing said.

RTZ joins top 10

RTZ is poised to become one of the world's 10 biggest coal mining companies following the announcement yesterday of its second US purchase in a week. Kennecott, a subsidiary, will pay Sun oil company dollars 120.5m for Cordero Mining. The deal, subject to government approval, is expected to be completed in about 30 days. Last week RTZ acquired Nerco for dollars 470m.

Offer for MIMPS

Prudential Insurance of America said it had acquired MIM Property Services, based in London, to expand its worldwide investment presence. No purchase price was disclosed. MIMPS manages about dollars 900m for institutional clients including pension funds and foundations in the US and UK. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.

Lotus buyout

General Motors confirmed yesterday that it is in talks to sell Group Lotus, the sports car maker, to a management team led by Adrian Palmer, managing director. GM bought Lotus in 1986 for pounds 22.7m.

Car maker down

Peugeot-Talbot, the car maker based in Coventry, said weak demand in Europe depressed pre-tax profits to pounds 10.2m in 1992 from pounds 50.8m previously, although turnover rose pounds 86.7m to pounds 1.53bn and UK market share improved to 7.8 per cent.

Bid suspended

The 60-day clock on Airtours' pounds 227m bid for Owners Abroad has been suspended while the Department of Trade and Industry decides whether to refer it to the Monopolies Commission.

BT payment due

The final payment for the 1991 BT share offer of 105p per share is due on Thursday in time for cheques to clear by the 2 March deadline.

France in surplus

The French current account showed a provisional, seasonally adjusted surplus of Fr7bn in December compared with a revised Fr800m deficit in November. A Fr15.7bn surplus for 1992 overall compared with a Fr33.4bn deficit previously.

New York: Gains among bank shares offset large losses in the drugs sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 20.81 points at 3,342.99.

Tokyo: With most investors sidelined by worries about the yen's strength, the Nikkei average lost 189.42 to 16,820.61.

Hong Kong: Optimism over progress in Sino-British talks on the colony's political reform helped the Hang Seng index to 6,231.88, a gain of 61.79 points.

Sydney: Across-the-board gains left the All Ordinaries index 10.2 better at 1,604.9.

Johannesburg: With gold and industrials both weaker, the index shed 25 points to 3,463.

Paris: Buying at the start of the new account took shares sharply higher. The CAC-40 index ended with a 22.06-point advance at 1,959.23.

Frankfurt: Boosted by gains in the banking sector, the DAX index added 3.35 to 1,680.74.

Milan: Bargain-hunting took prices off their lows. The MIB eased 0.36 per cent to 1,109.