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Your support makes all the difference.BZW wields axe in reorganisation
Barclays de Zoete Wedd, the investment banking arm of Barclays, has shed 12 staff, including three directors, in a re- organisation of its corporate finance division following a decline in UK mergers and acquisitions business.
BZW's smaller companies team and divestitures unit disappear, while the debt/equity finance group expands.
GM loses dollars 752m
General Motors reported a dollars 752m ( pounds 473m) loss in its third quarter. Losses would have been almost double but for strong profits at non-US automotive subsidiaries. Vehicle sales in North America slipped below 1 million, but European sales fell only 1 per cent from a year ago.
Rescue on hold
The board of Independent Television News has reached no decision on the pounds 30m rescue bid from a consortium led by Carlton Communications. It meets again on 9 November.
German prices up
Consumer price inflation in western Germany rose to 3.8 per cent in October from 3.4 per cent in September.
60m pounds helicopters
Westland Helicopters has won a pounds 60m contract from the Ministry of Defence for six new Sea King Mk 3 helicopters.
Fokker go-ahead
Fokker, the Dutch aircraft group, is to proceed with its troubled deal with Deutsche Aerospace (Dasa), which will take a 51 per cent stake in the company at a price of 37 guilders ( pounds 13.60) a share.
Rich BP strike
British Petroleum has estimated recoverable reserves of at least 2 billion barrels of oil in the Cusiana field in Colombia.
Car sales hit
New UK vehicle registrations in September declined 7 per cent from a year ago.
Philips warning
Philips, the electronics giant, may shed more jobs unless unions agree to a wage cut.
Oil reserves rise
(First Edition)
Britain's North Sea oil reserves rose 6 per cent in September, boosted by the lower pound.
IoD seeks cut
(First Edition)
The Institute of Directors wants interest rates cut by 2 percentage points to stop a 'vicious circle' of decline.
Home loans up
(First Edition)
Banks lent a gross pounds 5.2bn for house purchases in the third quarter, compared with pounds 4.4bn in the second.
WORLD MARKETS
NEW YORK: Pre-election nerves kept trading dull, with shares edging lower. By the close the Dow Jones Average was down 5.13 points at 3,246.27.
TOKYO: Late index-linked selling pulled the Nikkei average down 130.7 points to 16,937.71.
HONG KONG: A morning rally petered out, and the Hang Seng index drifted to close 9.48 points easier at 6,117.5.
SYDNEY: Amid high turnover the All Ordinaries index finished virtually unchanged at 1,417.8, just half a point lower.
JOHANNESBURG: Demand for quality industrials boosted the market. The overall index added seven points to 3,017.
FRANKFURT: The expected as- you-were on interest rates brought quiet trade in which the DAX fell 16.66 to 1,493.64.
PARIS: A cut in the Bank of France's emergency funding rate came as no surprise. The CAC-40 lost 18.99 to 1,730.87.
MILAN: Consolidating its recent gains, the MIB moved up another four points to 848.
LONDON: Report, page 25.
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