TAKING STOCK

Telewest, Britain's biggest cable company, rose 4p to 125p on industry talk that Carlton Communications was about to pick up a 10 per cent stake worth over pounds 110m. In August, Telewest admitted it was in merger talks with rival cable operator Nynex CableComms, but nothing more has been heard since. Carlton is keen to expand its cable interests further, though taking only a small equity stake would represent a departure for Michael Green's group.

Winchester Multimedia's film sales division has secured world-wide sales rights in three feature films, two of which began production in August and will be completed in the first quarter of 1997. And The Big Garage, Winchester's first television production, has been sold to Buena Vista International. The shares held at 59.5p.