European Business News 96-08-01

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From: The European Business News Server at <http://www.ebn.co.uk/>

Page last updated July 31 18:50 CET

CONTENTS

[01] Eurotunnel mediators get an extra three months to find a solution to debt crisis

[02] Glaxo Wellcome defies expectations

[03] BAT posts 12% increase in pretax profit

[04] Time running out in Japan-US microchip talks

[05] Both RTL and Rival Kirch sign deals with US's MCA

[06] French unemployment rises to 12.5%

[07] Stolen Nazi hoard unearthed in Switzerland

[08] The former chairman of the Mexican bank Banpais

[09] French government denies report that it plans to sell Credit Lyonnais

[10] Sony profits soar on European sales explosion

[11] World's largest glassmaker gives profit warning after slow European sales

[01] Eurotunnel mediators get an extra three months to find a solution to debt crisis

The company said it was not able to reach a final agreement with its creditor banks before the mandataires current mandate expires later Wednesday. Co-chairmen Sir Alastair Morton and Patrick Ponsolle said in a statement that, while the debt talks were running behind schedule, Eurotunnel had agreed with its banks and the French mediators, Lord Wakeham and Robert Badinter, to continue negotiations.

[02] Glaxo Wellcome defies expectations

As expected, sales of the company's new line of drugs more than offset a drop in sales of Zantac. Glaxo's U.S. patent on the anti-ulcerant drug is set to expire in 1997.

But the 15-pence dividend announced was a little less generous than some investors had expected.

[03] BAT posts 12% increase in pretax profit

[04] Time running out in Japan-US microchip talks

Negotiations are 'stalled along parallel lines,' Japanese International Trade and Industry Minister Shumpei Tsukahara said during a break in his talks with acting U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky. 'The U.S. side lacks a basic understanding of Japan's (new) proposal.'

Washington and Tokyo are divided over whether to continue government involvement in monitoring the foreign share of the Japanese microchip market.

Japanese sources said Tokyo is offering to accept the U.S. proposal for industry groups to take over the market-share surveys conducted by both governments under the expiring 1991 agreement.

This would open the way for the U.S. to compromise on its insistence on government involvement, while allowing Japan to say it has made no governmental commitment, the sources said.

[05] Both RTL and Rival Kirch sign deals with US's MCA

According to both sides, RTL's 2.25-billion-mark ($1.52 billion) long- term agreement gives it the German-language first-run free television rights through 2010 for all new and existing MCA TV International productions.

RTL and MCA agreed to co-produce at least 25 TV series in the next decade. The agreement extends a more limited cooperation deal that expires next June.

MCA's accord with Kirch Group, valued at $1 billion, includes a long-term deal giving Kirch the German pay-TV rights to Universal Studios movies.

[06] French unemployment rises to 12.5%

The number of job-seekers in France rose by 22,800, or 0.7 percent, to 3, 065,600 in June from May, the agency said.

The number of people younger than 25 looking for work increased by 1.1 percent in June compared with May, while the number of people aged 50 or older looking for work was stable, it said.

In June, the number of people who signed on with the employment agency rose to 391,400, a 4.5 percent increase from May, while 345,000 found jobs, down 2 percent from May.

The agency said that it received 194,200 job offers in April, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier and up 13 percent on the year.

[07] Stolen Nazi hoard unearthed in Switzerland

[08] The former chairman of the Mexican bank Banpais

[09] French government denies report that it plans to sell Credit Lyonnais

Daily business newspaper Les Echos reported today that the state was studying such a possibility, but did not cite any sources.

The bank, France's second-largest, lost a total 21 billion francs between 1992 and 1994.

Last year, it posted a profit of 13 million francs following the bail-out, but is expected to lose at least 1 billion francs this year. That's compared with a 700-million-franc profit projected by the bank when the bail-out was unveiled in spring 1995.

[10] Sony profits soar on European sales explosion

The Japanese electronics giant said its global net profit more than doubled to 17.10 billion yen ($159 million), up 129% over the same period last year, and its pretax profit surged 49% to 43.76 billion yen ($407 million).

Its sales worldwide totaled 1.17 trillion yen ($10.0 billion), up 30.9% from a year earlier, reflecting in large measure the yen's sharp depreciation against the dollar. The yen is currently trading at about 108 yen to the dollar, versus a record high of 79.75 yen to the dollar on April 19, 1995.

Sony said the yen's value had dropped by 22% against the dollar, 18% against the British pound and 15% against the German mark between the second quarter of 1995 and the same period in 1996.

Domestic sales surged 17% while overseas sales shot up 37%, the company said.

Sales in the United States jumped 36%, sales in Europe by 43%, and sales elsewhere overseas by 33%, Sony reported.

By product, sales by the electronics segment, including audiovisual equipment, soared 29% to 884 billion yen ($8.22 billion), accounting for 75% of the total, the company said.

Sales by the entertainment segment grew 37% to 230 billion yen ($2.14 billion) while those by the insurance-finance sector jumped 36% to 58.49 billion yen ($544 million), it said.

The company said foreign exchange gains are estimated at 170 billion yen ($1.58 billion).

For the year ending March 31, the company forecasts a consolidated net profit of 95 billion yen ($884 million) and a pretax profit of 195 billion yen ($1.81 billion) on sales of 5 trillion yen ($46.5 billion).

[11] World's largest glassmaker gives profit warning after slow European sales

Chairman Nigel Rudd told shareholders at the group's annual general meeting (AGM) that 'the outturn for the first half of the year will be somewhat lower than for the first half of last year,' due to difficult European trading conditions.

Pilkington's chairman said the difficult trading conditions in the second half of last year continued into the first quarter. 'We have responded to this, not just through the restructuring program, but also by adjusting our output levels to accommodate the slow-down in activity,' said Rudd.

'The steep fall in European glass prices, which occurred in the first calendar quarter has now been arrested, and at the end of May we announced price increases averaging around 10% across Europe, to take effect from the beginning of June,' the chairman said in a statement. He added that it's 'too early to say' whether these increases will be effective.

Away from Europe, which is Pilkington's most important market, trading conditions 'continue to show relative strength,' said Rudd.

At 1055 GMT, Pilkington shares had lost 7 pence to 183 pence, a fall of 3.68%.

From the European Business News (EBN) Server at http://www.ebn.co.uk/

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