Business and City in Brief

Ernst & Young investigated

The Institute of Chartered Accountants is understood to be investigating Ernst & Young in connection with the audit of the failed television rental company, Sound Diffusion.

Ernst paid pounds 1.35m in an out-of-court settlement to Tunstall Group, the electronics group that claimed it lost pounds 1.9m when Sound Diffusion collapsed. Neither the institute nor Ernst would confirm the investigation. Ernst said mounting legal costs had forced it to settle without accepting liability.

Japan taped

Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry may appeal to the Gatt disputes panel over anti-dumping levies imposed on exports of cassette tapes to the EC from Japan.

BICC stake

The electric cables and construction group BICC has spent pounds 12.5m raising its shareholding in the Spanish cable-maker Grupo General Cable to 67 per cent from 55 per cent.

Williams wins

Williams Holdings, the industrial conglomerate, has won a dollars 1m (pounds 520,000) contract for a fire detection system for the US F-22 fighter plane

Racal order

Racal Electronics' subsidiary, Racal Radar Defence Systems, has won a pounds 30m contract to supply an electronic support system for new anti-submarine helicopters for the Royal Navy.

GPA downgrade

Standard and Poor's has downgraded to BBB from single-A-minus the senior debt of six units of GPA Group, following the cancellation of its planned share issue. The A-2 commercial paper rating on the parent GPA Group has been affirmed.

Philips move

Philips, the troubled Dutch electronics giant, is to lose the head of its interactive compact disc division. Gaston Bastiaens, who was charged with making a success of CD-I, is leaving in October to join Apple Computer of the US.

Bedford in store

Storehouse, the retailer, has appointed Steve Bedford, the group development director, to its board.

ASH cleared

The Department of Trade and Industry has cleared the proposed dollars 265m acquisition of Automated Security Holdings' automated loss prevention business by Sensormatic Electronics of the US.

GECC go-ahead

The European Commission has approved plans by General Electric Capital Corporation to buy the US car leasing company Avis Lease.

Nutty deal

Berisford International has sold its California-based almond processing business, Treehouse Farms, to Yorkshire Food Group for dollars 11.6 million.

US houses fall

Construction starts on new homes and apartments fell 3.2 per cent in June after an 11 per cent rise in May.

Pay rise

Gerry Whent, the chief executive of Vodafone, received a 26 per cent rise in salary from pounds 381,529 to pounds 479,237 last year.

World markets

New York: A rally following Ross Perot's withdrawal pushedthe Dow Jones industrial average 16.22 points higher to 3,361.64 at the close.

Tokyo: Profit-taking helped to send the Nikkei average back below 17,000. It closed 129.26 points down at 16,987.66.

Hong Kong: Despite heavy selling in the afternoon the Hang Seng index achieved a record high of 6,162.53, up 37.07.

Singapore: Prices tumbled across the board on institutional selling. The Straits Times index lost 18.54 points to 1,462.61.

Sydney: A firmer resources sector made up for weakness in industrials as the All Ordinaries gained 2.5 to 1,639.2.

Frankfurt: A nervous session ahead of the Bundesbank meeting took the DAX index 5.91 points higher to 1,740.53.

Paris: The German discount rate rise put paid to early gains, leaving the CAC-40 index 2.03 points easier at 1,851.23.

Milan: The new account began with slight gains in light trade.