Business and City in Brief
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Your support makes all the difference.FEWER COMPANIES IN RECEIVERSHIP
The number of companies going into receivership fell in May to the lowest level since mid-1989 and was down 35 per cent on the same month last year, according to figures from Touche Ross, the accountancy firm, confirming a slow but steady economic recovery.
There were 229 company collapses in May, a 10 per cent drop on April 1993, bringing the rate of businesses going bust from 105 per week last year to 76.
US HOME SALES SURGE
The sale of single family homes in the US surged 22.7 per cent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 751,000 units - the biggest monthly increase since a 22.9 per cent leap in September 1986. However, a 0.1 per cent gain in the US index of leading indicators for April - giving a rise for the year to April of 2.5 per cent - disappointed economists, who had predicted a 0.3 per cent improvement.
STEEL PRICES RISE AGAIN
In the third round of price rises this year, British Steel will charge an average 7 per cent more for steel tubes from 4 July. This follows a recent increase in the price of strip mill products.
SHOPPING CENTRE SOLD
The receivers of Mountleigh, the property company that went bust in May 1992, yesterday exchanged contracts with Elliott Bernerd's Chelsfield for the sale of the Merry Hill shopping centre in Dudley, West Midlands. KPMG Peat Marwick still has more than 80 UK properties and numerous overseas assets to sell.
FRANCE IN THE BLACK
France had a seasonally adjusted trade surplus in February of Fr4.76bn ( pounds 585m) compared with a revised surplus in January of Fr3.33bn.
SCRIP FOR SUCCESS
Redland, the building materials group, said it received elections for enhanced scrip dividends from holders of about 451.4 million existing ordinary shares, representing 94.2 per cent of its issued ordinary share capital.
FRENCH CAR SALES PLUNGE
French new car sales fell 12.1 per cent in May. Sales by Peugeot fell 24.7 per cent.
LEAD FURNACES CLOSE
Britannia Refined Metals, owned by MIM Holdings, will close secondary lead furnaces at its Northfleet plant in Kent for July, reducing production by 3,000 tonnes.
ACCOUNT WARNING
Accounting standards being issued by the Accounting Standards Board will be enforceable in the courts, according to a legal opinion published today by the organisation in a move designed to warn off firms tempted to challenge its authority.
YAMAICHI GOES FOR GILT
Yamaichi has applied to the Bank of England to become a gilt-edged market-maker trading as Yamaichi Gilts.
WORLD MARKETS
NEW YORK: Shares edged ahead in quiet and uneventful trading, and by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.11 points at 3,553.45.
TOKYO: With investors focusing on second tier issues, the Nikkei average gained 100.29 to 20,691.7.
HONG KONG: Profit-taking in the absence of fresh incentives left the Hang Seng 53.58 lower at 7,322.23.
SYDNEY: Sentiment was buoyed by Wall Street's firmer tone and a rebound in futures. The All Ordinaries added eight points to 1,741.9.
WELLINGTON: Shares ended mixed as support for a couple of blue chip issues offset general weakness.
JOHANNESBURG: Gold shares fell sharply but finished off their lows. The overall index lost 79 points, or 2 per cent, to close at 3,902.
PARIS: A firming franc helped prices to recover before the close, leaving the CAC-40 index 3.04 points better at 1,875.84.
ZURICH: Thin trading in a directionless market lifted the Swiss Performance Index 3.59 to 1,411.08.
FRANKFURT: Cautious trade took the DAX index 5.32 higher to 1,625.21.
MILAN: Weakness in Fiat and a late bout of selling pushed the MIB down 0.58 per cent to 1,197.
LONDON: Report, page 30.
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