Business and City in Brief

BUSINESS WELCOMES REFORM OF LEASE LAWS

Business groups have welcomed the Government's long-awaited decision to reform the law that forces business tenants to pay rent on leases sold years before.

Lord Mackay of Clashfern, Lord Chancellor, announced yesterday that the law of commercial property would be changed to stop tenants being held liable for rent arrears on future leases, in line with the recommendations of a Law Commission report, Landlord and Tenant Law: Privity of Contract and Estate, published in 1988.

'UNFAIR' SAYS US

US administration accused 44 countries of unfair trade practices that put American companies at a disadvantage. In the first step in a process that could lead to trade sanctions, a report by the US trade office singles out Japan as the worst offender, followed by the European Community. Mickey Cantor, the US Trade Representative, said the new administration would use the information in the annual report to dismantle barriers that rob US companies of sales.

ICI BACKS TRUST TEST

ICI will support a test case to establish how trustees of trust funds should treat the demerger of the group in June. Under a 1930 ruling, trustees may be required to treat shares in Zeneca, which will be issued to each shareholder as part of the dermerger, as income rather than capital, creating a potential problem for trusts that pay income to a life tenant - such as a widow - while reserving the capital for the beneficiaries, such as children.

dollars 880bn FOREX TRADING

Daily turnover in the world foreign exchange market rose to dollars 880bn last April from dollars 620bn in a survey three years earlier, according to the Bank for International Settlements. The UK market share of trading rose from 25 per cent to nearly 30 per cent in three years.

US ECONOMY EDGES UP

The US index of leading indicators rose 0.5 per cent in February after being flat in January, signalling further modest expansion. However, consumer confidence in March sank for the third month.

MERCK TO HOLD PRICES

Merck, the world's largest drug company, has offered to hold US price rises on individual products to inflation plus 1 per cent a year.

FERRIDAY HEARING

The jury trying John Ferriday, the former Eagle Trust boss charged with stealing more than pounds 12m, is expected to be sent out to consider its verdict today. Mr Ferriday denies five charges of theft.

HOGG PROFITS SINK

Pre-tax profits at Hogg Group, the insurance broker, fell 20.2 per cent to pounds 13.4m last year in difficult trading conditions. The final dividend of 5p is maintained, however, making an unchanged full year's payout of 8.15p.

DEUTSCHE IMPROVES

Deutsche Bank reported 1992 operating profits up 7 per cent to DM6.39bn and described earnings in the first two months of this year as satisfactory. The bank reiterated it has no plans to sell its 28 per cent stake in Daimler-Benz.

WESTMINSTER PLACING

(First Edition)

Westminster Health Care is coming to the market at 260p a share, valuing the company at pounds 132.6m. Application forms must be submitted by 10am on 7 April. The offer has been fully underwritten by the brokers, BZW.

WORLD MARKETS

NEW YORK: Secondary stocks were favoured over blue chips, with a late fall in prices aggravated by program selling. The Dow Jones average closed down 22.16 points at 3,435.11.

TOKYO: Profit-taking after recent strong gains sent the Nikkei Average plunging 371.71 to 18,591.45, a decline of 3.9 per cent.

HONG KONG: The Hang Seng index ended down 17.63 at 6,388.86 after late bargain-hunting trimmed earlier losses.

AUSTRALIA: Weakness in the banking sector helped push the All Ordinaries index 10.9 lower at 1,667.3.

JOHANNESBURG: Strong overseas interest propelled the gold index 3 per cent higher, up 35 points, to 1,205.

MILAN: The continuing political crisis depressed the MIB index 0.38 per cent to 1,049.

FRANKFURT: The DAX index eased 0.86 to 1,684.21 amid uncertainty over the direction of interest rates.

PARIS: Profit-taking trimmed the CAC-40 index 4.53 to 2,031.38, ending a run of six successive gains.

LONDON: Report, page 30.