TAKING STOCK

o Dailywin, watchmaker for many leading brands, held at 158p. Timex has 5 per cent and is expected to exercise its option to increase its holding to 20 per cent in March at the 128p the shares were floated nearly a year ago. The company has its management in Hong Kong, manufacturing in China and a Bermudan domicile. Butterfield Securities recommends the shares. Analyst David Fitzsimon is looking for profits of pounds 2.8m this year and pounds 4.2m next.

o Union, the financial group, is attracting attention again with results due in March. There has been busy trading in the past two days with the shares up 5p at 97p. A major shareholder may have increased his stake; one possibility is Joseph Lewis who has built a 25 per cent interest in auctioneer Christie International.