Sunday Round-up: The main stories from yesterday's City pages

Sunday 17 October 1993 23:02 BST
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The Independent on Sunday

At least three directors of Lonrho, including its joint chief executive, Roland 'Tiny' Rowland, and his right-hand man, Paul Spicer, are receiving six-figure company pensions on top of their already substantial salaries.

This emerged as Mr Rowland prepared for a boardroom battle with Dieter Bock, his new German shareholder and joint chief executive, over Mr Bock's proposals to appoint two non-executive directors to the board. There have been no non-executives on the board for two decades.

If the two non-executive directors were voted in, Mr Bock could not remove Mr Rowland, since the company's articles of association make it impossible to remove any director without the unanimous approval of the board.

Mr Rowland has been looking for Libyan help in buying out Mr Bock.

The lion's share of the tunneling contracts on the pounds 1.8bn Jubilee Line Tube extension to London Docklands has been awarded provisionally to foreign companies.

Chaos is likely in Britain's telephone network because of buck-passing over a change of national telephone codes due in 1995.

Companies are ready to pile into the Lloyd's insurance market once it votes to let in corporate members.

Tony Clegg, former head of Mountleigh, is advising Gruss & Partners, the US firm of arbitrageurs holding 14 per cent of Greycoat, the property developer.

Share tips: buy Dia Met, Lytton Minerals, SmithKline Beecham; sell London International Group, Pilkington.

The Sunday Telegraph

Michael Grade, chief executive of Rank, has put in a proposal to pay up to pounds 400m for the Rank Films division of the Rank organisation, but has been turned down.

Duty free imports by private travellers on the 'Calais run' are now costing the Exchequer more than pounds 500m a year in lost revenue.

Intermediate Capital Group, Britain's biggest provider of mezzanine finance, has appointed SG Warburg and James Capel to groom it for a possible pounds 200m flotation early next year.

America's FBI is probing a scandal involving spurious insurance claims of up to dollars 1bn, many of them reinsured in London.

One of Wall Street's highest-earning futures and options traders, Angelos Michalopoulos, is to set up in London.

Share tips: buy Bank of Scotland, Smith New Court, Albert Fisher, WSP Holdings.

The Observer

Touche Ross, administrator of Asil Nadir's Polly Peck, is poised to sue the crashed company's former auditors, Stoy Hayward, for up to pounds 370m within weeks.

The Monopolies and Mergers Commission is set to censure scent makers for unfairly discriminating against Superdrug, the discount retailer, in a report to be published on Tuesday.

The economy is weaker than has been assumed by Treasury advisers in drawing up tax increase plans for the Budget.

LWT and Carlton Communications are showing strong interest in investing in the UK cable industry.

Share tips: buy NatWest, Premier Cons. Oilfields, Wetherspoon.

The Sunday Times

Bankers to Tiphook, the leasing group that owes more than pounds 1bn, have called in Coopers & Lybrand to investigate the accounts. The banks, led by NatWest, have asked for a full report on the assets, debts and cash flow of the world's second largest container company.

Sources close to GE capital, the leasing arm of General Electric of the US, say it is hoping to snap up the container business.

Rank Organisation has snubbed a pounds 400m second bid for its film interests from Michael Grade, the head of Channel 4.

Britain's recovery is increasingly fragile and needs interest rate cuts to keep it going, according to the British Chambers of Commerce.

National Grid, which owns the electricity transmission system in England and Wales, is heading for a float within 18 months that could value it at more than pounds 3bn.

Share tips: buy Wolseley, Turner & Newall, Wellcome, Virtuality, TT Group.

The Mail on Sunday

The threat of the dole over 3,000 workers at BAe's Manchester plant has receded.

Customers of the new Microtel mobile telephone service that starts next April are likely to be offered 100 minutes a month of free calls.

Share tips: buy ML Holdings, Morgan Crucible, Huntleigh, AB Consulting.

Sunday Express

Virgin Atlantic may fly from City airport.

Share tips: buy SmithKline Beecham; sell Rank Organisation.

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