Business and City Summary
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Your support makes all the difference.Trans World resignations
Michael Connolly has resigned as chief executive of Trans World Communications, the radio group recently the subject of a successful bid from Emap, the publishing group.
Resignations have also been accepted from three other directors, Anthony Dewhurst, Neil Jones and Rodney Walker. They have been replaced by David Grigson, Paul Firth, and Philip Seddon.
Electric response
Eastern Electricity and Manweb have accepted the new price controls announced almost two weeks ago by the industry regulator, Offer. More than half of the 12 suppliers have now agreed to the controls, which take effect in April 1995. Those which fail to do so before the 30 September deadline will be referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
Forte director
Hotels group Forte has appointed Gavin Chittick as finance director of Forte Crest, its group of business hotels. The new post is part of a process of making Forte brands more autonomous. Mr Chittick was previously finance director of the property group Burwood House.
Company debt up
The average value of long-overdue inter-company debt rose 5 per cent to a record pounds 153,000 in the second quarter, according to Trade Indemnity, a leading credit insurer.
VW plays polo
German car maker Volkswagen yesterday unveiled the DM1.8bn ( pounds 750m) revamp of its compact Polo model it hopes will regain sales lost to the Ford Fiesta and the Renault Clio. VW is presenting the car, which will cost about pounds 7,700, as 'the Golf's little brother'. The 1995 sales target is 350,000 Polos.
Coventry advance
Coventry, the UK's 15th-biggest building society, increased its interim pre-tax profits by 26 per cent to pounds 16.5m. The society's total assets rose pounds 234m to just over pounds 3bn. Martin Ritchley, chief executive, said that it would be interested in a takeover or merger with another Midlands society.
Pillar centre
Pillar Property Investment, which floated last week, has bought Northampton's Weston Favell shopping centre from Provident Mutual for pounds 28.5m. The agreement on the 14.5 acre site hinges on negotiations over the Mermaid Theatre site in Blackfriars, London.
Board acceptance
(First Edition)
John Waddington, the board games maker, said acceptances for its rights issue totalled about 94.2 per cent of those offered. Waddington announced the two-for-seven rights in July to raise pounds 42m to buy Imca Beheer, a Dutch-based supplier of folding cartons.
WORLD MARKETS
New York: A surge in long-term bond interest rates and a plummeting dollar scared off potential buyers. The Dow Jones Average closed down 3.89 points at 3,751.22.
Brussels: The Bel 20 index fell 8.02 points to 1,439.18.
Frankfurt: Fears that a declining dollar will affect export-dependent companies saw the DAX index close 25.78 lower at 2,123.79.
Milan: The Mibtel index rose 199 points to 10,809.
Paris: Futures-led trading on the back of rising long-bond yields in Europe and the US pushed the CAC-40 index down 28.70 points to 1,972.63.
Zurich: The Swiss Performance Index shed 13.03 to 1,690.9.
Johannesburg: The firmer gold price and softer financial rand helped the overall index add 48 points to 5,847.
Hong Kong: Despite weak properties the Hang Seng index rose 52.89 points to 9,457.33.
Tokyo: Futures-linked selling in thin trading saw the Nikkei 225 index close down 118.12 points at 20,394.58.
Sydney: The All Ordinaries index rose 2.3 points to 2,063.3.
London: Report, page 24.
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