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PEMEX LOWERS FEBRUARY FAR EAST CRUDE OIL PRICES The Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) said its Far East customers would be charged 17.25 dlrs per barrel for Isthmus crude in February and 14.45 dlrs for the heavier Maya. Pemex said this was 32 cts less than January Isthmus and 15 cts less than January Maya. Far East customers, primarily Japan which buys an average 180,000 barrels per day of which 150,000 is Isthmus, pay retroactively while European and U.S. clients are charged per delivery.

N.Z. DECEMBER QUARTER RETAIL SALES FALL 13.2 PCT Retail sales in the quarter ended December 31 fell a seasonally adjusted 13.2 pct compared with a 7.8 pct rise in the September quarter and a 1.3 pct fall a year ago period, the Statistics Department said. Actual retail sales in the December quarter totalled 6.17 billion N.Z. Dlrs compared with 6.70 billion in the previous quarter and 6.10 billion a year ago period. The largest decreases in the December quarter were recorded by the same stores which recorded the highest increase in sales in the September 1986 quarter before the introduction of a 10 pct value added goods and services tax on October 1, 1986.

HUNT GROUP HAS COMDATA STAKE, SEEKS INFLUENCE An investor group led by members of the Hunt family of Dallas, Texas, told the Securities and Exchange Commission it has acquired a 6.2 pct stake in Comdata Network Inc <CDN> and may try to influence company policy. The investor group, led by Rosewood Financial Inc, said it opposes a company recapitalization plan worked out between Comdata and Mason Best Co, a Texas investment firm, which last reported holding about 9.5 pct of the company's stock. The Hunt group said it offered on March 3 to buy the entire 5.3 pct stake held by dissident shareholder Donald Carter at 14 dlrs each, but has received no reply as of yesterday. Rosewood, which is owned by the Caroline Hunt Trust Estate, whose trustees include Margaret Hunt Hill, also said it has notified the Federal Trade Commission of its intent to buy between 15 and 25 pct of Comdata's common stock. Under federal law, it cannot buy more than 15 pct of Comdata's stock until a 15 to 30 day waiting period is over, unless the FTC gives it early approval. Under the proposed Comdata recapitalization plan, the company would buy up to 10 mln of its common shares at 13.25 dlrs each. Mason Best, which belongs to CNI Parnters, a Texas partnership, would not tender any of its stake under the plan, but would instead buy another one mln Comdata common shares and would get representation on the company's board. The Hunt group said it has told Comdata that it considers required payments under the plan, such as a 1.5 mln dlr fee and the issuance of a warrant to buy 500,000 common shares to be a waste of the company's assets. The Hunt group, which also includes securities Texas firms Cypress Partners L.P and Driftwood Ltd, said it spent 15.2 mln dlrs on its 1,197,700 Comdata common shares.

CARPET FIRM UNIT CUTS ALLIED PRODUCTS<ADP> STAKE A group led by GFI Nevada Inc, a subsidiary of General Felt Industries, a Saddlebrook, N.J. carpet maker, said it cut its stake in Allied Products Corp to 169,888 shares, or 3.4 pct, from 288,652 shares, or 5.8 pct. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, GFI said it sold 114,000 Allied Products common shares on March 3 at 42 dlrs each and donated another 4,746 shares to two universities. It said its dealings in the company's common stock were for investment purposes only.

TALKS FAIL TO END BRAZILIAN SEAMEN'S STRIKE Pay talks aimed at ending a week-old national seamen's strike collapsed today and the strike will continue, a union official said. The walkout by Brazil's 40,000 seamen has idled 160 ships in various ports, Jorge Luis Leao Franco, a senior official of the National Merchant Marine Union, told Reuters. The strikers, who are seeking a 275 pct pay increase, have rejected offers of a 100 pct raise from the state oil company Petrobras and an 80 pct increase from the National Union of Maritime Navigation Companies (Syndarma). Leao Franco said eight hours of talks in Rio de Janeiro with Labor Minister Almir Pazzianotto ended today without resolving the dispute. He said six ships were idle abroad -- in the Netherlands, Spain, Venezuela, France and South Africa. Economic analysts said the strike was of major concern to the government, which has suspended interest payments on part of Brazil's foreign debt following a drastic deterioration in the country's trade balance. The head of the National Merchant Marine Authority, Murilo Rubens Habbema, was quoted today as saying that if the strike continued foreign ships could be authorized to transport Brazilian exports. "Brazil is living through a crisis at the moment and it is not conceivable that exports be hit," he told the Gazeta Mercantil newspaper.

VINER <EAVKF> VIABLE AFTER HECK'S <HEX> MOVE E.A. Viner Holdings Ltd said the earlier reported Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Heck's Inc <HEX>, in which Viner holds 408,000 shares, would not materially affect Viner's capital position or its ability to carry on its profitable brokerage business. Viner said its brokerage subsidiary, Edward A. Viner and Co had regulatory capital of 24.5 mln U.S. dlrs at year-end 1986. The company said Heck's Chapter 11 filing could, however, affect Viner's previously reported legal action to recover costs from an aborted merger agreement with Heck's. It said it and the Toussie-Viner group, with which it made the merger offer, were assessing their options regarding the Heck's investment. Viner earlier reported a fourth quarter loss of 918,000 U.S. dlrs after a 1.5 mln dlr writedown of its stake in Heck's. It earned 585,000 dlrs in the previous fourth quarter. Full-year earnings totaled 2.9 mln dlrs against a year-earlier loss of 1.5 mln dlrs. The full-year earnings included a 900,000 dlr net writedown of the Heck's stake, it said.

TWA <TWA> SUES USAIR <U> OVER POISON PILL Trans World Airlines Inc said it filed suit in Delaware Chancery Court against USAir Group Inc and its board of directors seeking to invalidate its "poison pill" anti-takeover plan. TWA vice president and general counsel Mark Buckstein said TWA also sought a declaratory judgement from the court that its 52 dlr per share takeover offer for USAir would in no way interfer with USAir's possible buyout of Peidmont Aviation Inc <PIE>. Buckstein said TWA asked the court to enjoin the enforcement of USAir's shareholder rights plan, or "poison pill." Such provisions, which typically allow for the issue of securities to shareholders in the event of a hostile takeover bid, are aimed at deterring takeovers by making them more expensive. USAir earlier today rejected TWA's offer, saying TWA's bid was an attempt to interfer with its buyout of Piedmont. USAir also had said its counsel would investigate the matter. Tonight, a spokesman for USAir said the airline had no comment on TWA's lawsuit. USAir did respond, however, to a TWA request to the Department of Transportation for permission to buy up to 51 pct of USAir stock and place the stock in a voting trust pending approval of a takeover. USAir said the request was "hastily pasted together in order to take advantage of a regulatory anamoly that would allow TWA to accomplish in a regulated environment actions that would be impermissable in the non-regulated economy at large." USAir called on the transportation department to reject TWA's request.

<IVEY PROPERTIES INC> RAISES QUARTERLY DIVIDEND Ivey Properties Inc said it raised its quarterly dividend to 18 cts a share from 14 cts and declared both an extra dividend of 27 cts a share and a 50 pct stock dividend. It said the dividends will be paid April one to shareholders of record March 16. For the stock dividend, Ivey said it will pay for fractional shares at 25 dlrs per share.

MEXICO SUSPENDS OVERSEAS COFFEE SALES Mexico has temporarily suspended overseas coffee sales due to falling prices triggered by the failure of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) meeting to agree a quota system at its latest meeting, the official Notimex news agency said. "We're just waiting a while for prices to improve," an unidentified Mexican trader told the agency. Mexico has already sold 80 pct of its export coffee produced in the year to last September, the source said. The country exports about 3.3 mln 60-kilo bags a year.

OFFSHORE INVESTMENT FIRM UPS FRANCE FUND STAKE VBI Corp, an offshore-based investment firm, told the Securities and Exchange Commission it raised its stake in the France Fund Inc <FRN> to 681,800 shares, or 9.1 pct of the total, from 551,000, or 7.4 pct. VBI, which is based in Turks and Caicos Islands, the British West Indies, said it bought the additional shares between Feb 24 and March 4. It has said it bought its France Fund stake for investment purposes only.

COSTA RICA OPTIMISTIC ABOUT REFORMING ICO Costa Rica's economy minister said he sees new hope for winning changes in the International Coffee Organisation system of export quotas. Minister Luis Diego Escalante, who serves as president of the Costa Rican Coffee Institute, said he was hopeful because of the support offered Costa Rica and other smaller producing- nations by such major consumers as the United States, Britain and the Netherlands at last week's ICO meeting in london. Escalante told a news conference here he "carried the weight of the negotiations" at the meeting by calling for larger export quotas for the smaller coffee-growing nations. Costa rica is insisting, Escalante said, on a new quota system based on a producing nation's real export capacity, once it has satisfied internal demand. "There are countries such as our own whose sales possibilities are close to or above 100 pct of their current quotas," Escalante said. At the same time, there are countries favoured by the current system that have been assigned quotas far above their export potential, he said. The current ICO quota system is "unfair and autocratic," Escalante said. Escalante attributed the nosedive in international coffee prices over the last week to speculation rather than real matters of supply and demand. "Be careful," he warned, "there's not as much coffee in the world as they say. What there is are bags of sawdust."

U.S. MONEY GROWTH SLOWS SHARPLY, ECONOMISTS SAY U.S. money supply growth is slowing down rapidly, and some economists believe that all three of the Federal Reserve's main monetary aggregates may even have contracted in February. A contraction is unlikely to be a major concern for the Fed, especially as it would follow a long period of torrid growth, but it could give the central bank extra leeway in the weeks ahead if it decided that a relaxation of monetary policy was justified on account of weakness in the economy. M-1 money supply for the week ended February 23, reported today, rose 1.9 billion dlrs to 738.5 billion, but preliminary forecasts call for a drop next week of around two billion dlrs. The monthly average in January was 737.1 billion dlrs. M-1 makes up about a quarter of M-2 and a fifth of M-3. With other components of M-2, such as money-market deposit accounts and small time deposits, also falling, the stage is set for falls in the broader aggregates too, economists say. M-1 has been largely discredited because its traditional link to economic growth has disintegrated under the impact of falling interest rates and banking deregulation. But the consistent behavior of all three aggregates is likely to impress the Fed, said Ward McCarthy of Merrill Lynch Economics Inc. "The Fed has confidence in the aggregates when they're all sending the same signal. This is going to raise some eyebrows at the Fed," McCarthy said. Stephen Slifer of Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc added, "We have some very good-looking monetary aggregate data. It's coming in a lot weaker than I thought." The economists were quick to caution that one month's data prove nothing, especially because money growth previously had been so rapid. M-1 in the last 52 weeks has grown at a 16.7 pct rate and at a 19.1 pct rate in the past 13 weeks. Moreover, some of the contraction in M-2 can probably be explained by a shift of funds from savings vehicles into the booming stock market and is thus not an indication of a slowdown in the business expansion. But the data raise the tantalizing possibility for the bond markets that the slowdown in money growth is partly a reflection of a weaker economy that needs more Fed stimulus. McCarthy noted that the slower money growth coincides with signs that the economy is losing momentum as the quarter progresses. "Some of the economic indicators are not as rosy as they were a month ago," he noted. He expects only five to six pct M-1 growth in March and rises in M-2 and M-3 of about four pct. Slifer sees stronger growth of 10 pct in M-1 and five pct or less for M-2 and M-3, but the rates would still be moderate enough to encourage the Fed to ease policy if gross national product for the first quarter proved to be weak. "You'd certainly be more inclined to ease than you would in the past." There was certainly nothing in the Fed's latest balance sheet, however, to suggest a change of policy is already under way, economists said. Discount window borrowings were in line with expectations at 233 mln dlrs a day. Robert Brusca of Nikko Securities Co International Inc argued that an easier Fed policy is unlikely to do much to solve America's most urgent economic problem, its massive trade deficit. Because of the possibility that further dollar depreciation - and thus rising inflation - may be needed to close the trade gap, Brusca said "I'm not prepared to be all that optimistic about the bond market."

WEST GERMAN FISHMEAL IMPORTS HIGHEST IN 15 YEARS West German gross fishmeal imports rose 60,260 tonnes, or 14.6 pct, last year to 471,891 tonnes, the highest level since 1972, trade sources said. Re-exports fell by 6.6 pct, resulting in a surge in net imports from 175,901 to 251,708 tonnes, an increase of 43 pct. Total West German consumption was estimated at around a high 287,000 tonnes, largely reflecting attractive prices. The sources, however, could not give comparative figures for 1985. South American producer countries supplied 97 pct of West German requirements, with Chile shipping 229,176 tonnes (1985 - 182,959) and Peru 210,513 (147,014) tonnes. The two South American countries' share of the West German market rose to 93.2 pct from 80.2 pct because imports from Ecuador fell to 21,110 tonnes in 1986 from 51,722 in 1985. West Germany imported 56,823 tonnes of fishmeal in December, up from 46,236 tonnes in the same 1985 month, with re-exports at 22,262 tonnes after 25,062 a year earlier.

SILVER STATE MINING <SSMC> SEES PRODUCTION RISE Silver State Mining Corp said it expects gold production this year to be more than double 1986's 17,458 ounces. The company's 1985 production was 2,050 ounces.

MCGRATH RENTCORP <MGRC> SEES NET RISING McGrath RentCorp said as a result of its December acquisition of Space Co, it expects earnings per share in 1987 of 1.15 to 1.30 dlrs per share, up from 70 cts in 1986. The company said pretax net should rise to nine to 10 mln dlrs from six mln dlrs in 1986 and rental operation revenues to 19 to 22 mln dlrs from 12.5 mln dlrs. It said cash flow per share this year should be 2.50 to three dlrs.

SIZZLER RESTAURANTS INTERNATIONAL INC <SIZZ> NET Shr 15 cts vs 14 cts Net 2,547,000 vs 2,242,000 Revs 56.7 mln vs 44.0 mln Avg shrs 17.6 mln vs 15.6 mln Nine mths Shr 54 cts vs 54 cts Net 9,249,000 vs 8,334,000 Revs 173.3 mln vs 134.3 mln Avg shrs 17.1 mln vs 15.5 mln

MCANDREWS AND FORBES ARE OFFERING 18.50 DLRS PER SHARE FOR REVLON STOCK MCANDREWS AND FORBES ARE OFFERING 18.50 DLRS PER SHARE FOR REVLON STOCK

PETER MILLER APPAREL GROUP 3RD QTR JAN 31 LOSS Shr loss 28 cts vs profit seven cts Net loss 931,000 vs profit 7,000 Revs 2.3 mln vs 2.0 mln Nine mths Shr loss 55 cts vs profit seven cts Net loss 1,619,000 vs profit 185,000 Revs 7.7 mln vs 7.1 mln NOTE: Shr figures adjusted for issue of 600,000 shares in October, 1986. Avg shrs not given. Full name is <Peter Miller Apparel Group Inc>.

DONEGAL <DGIC> PROJECTS FULL YEAR RESULTS Donegal Group Inc, which today reported earnings of 155,764 dlrs on revenues of 6,506,792 dlrs for the period from August 26 startup through the end of 1986, said it expects "much improved" profits for the full year 1987 on revenues of about 32 mln dlrs.

HOG AND CATTLE SLAUGHTER GUESSTIMATES Chicago Mercantile Exchange floor traders and commission house representatives are guesstimating today's hog slaughter at about 300,000 to 305,000 head versus 292,000 week ago and 316,000 a year ago. Saturday's hog slaughter is guesstimated at about 30,000 to 55,000 head. Cattle slaughter is guesstimated at about 128,000 to 130,000 head versus 129,000 week ago and 119,000 a year ago. Saturday's cattle slaughter is guesstimated at about 20,000 to 40,000 head.

U.K. MONEY MARKET GETS 350 MLN STG AFTERNOON HELP The Bank of England said it provided assistance worth 350 mln stg during the afternoon session which takes total help so far today to 446 mln stg against a shortage estimated at around 550 mln stg. The central bank purchased outright bank bills comprising 120 mln stg in band one at 10-7/8 pct and 227 mln stg in band two at 10-13/16 pct. It also bought treasury bills worth one mln stg in band one and two mln stg in band two at the same rates of interest as bank bills.

IMRE <IMRE> SELLS STOCK TO EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS IMRE Corp said it has received commitments for a group of European institutions to buy about 400,000 IMRE shares for 2,500,000 dlrs, with closing expected on March 16.

INSTRUMENTARIUM ACQUIRES NOKIA SUBSIDIARY Finland's medical group Instrumentarium Oy <INMR.HE> said it has acquired electronics components importers and marketers <Ferrado Oy> and <Insele Oy>, subsidiaries of Finland's electronics group Nokia Oy <NOKS.HE>. It said in a statement Ferrado and Insele will be merged into Instrumentarium's Professional Electronics and Information Systems Division. It did not disclose a price for the acquisitions but said it had issued 30,000 restricted B shares as partial payment to Nokia.

<M-CORP INC> YEAR DEC 28 NET Shr 73 cts vs 55 cts Net 1,691,878 vs 1,117,747 Revs 7.1 mln vs 4.9 mln Avg shrs 2.3 mln vs 2.0 mln NOTE: Share results reflect two-for-one stock split in June, 1986.

PERMIAN <PBT> RAISES CRUDE PRICES Permian Corp said that effective march 5 it raised its posted prices for crude oil 50 cts a barrel. The raise brought its posted prices for West texas Intermediate up by 50 cts to 17.00 dlrs a barrel. West Texas Sour was also raised by 50 cts to 17.00 dlrs a barrel. A Permian spokesman said that the South Louisiana sweet posted prices was also raised 50 cts a barrel to 17.35 dlrs.

AMERICAN STORES CO 4TH QTR SHR 1.57 DLRS VS 1.60 DLRS AMERICAN STORES CO 4TH QTR SHR 1.57 DLRS VS 1.60 DLRS

<FAR WEST INDUSTRIES INC> RAISES DIVIDEND Annual div four cts vs 1.76 cts Pay March 20 Record March 15

U.K. OFFICIALS STUDY SALMONELLA/CALF FEED LINK U.K. Officials are studying the possible link between the use of antibiotics in calf feeds and the spread of drug-resistant strains of salmonella in humans, a Ministry of Agriculture official said. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine yesterday stated that the spread of an unusual strain of salmonella that is resistant to the drug chloramphenicol had been shown to be linked to farms that used the drug to promote the growth of cattle. The U.K. Ministry of Agriculture is working with the Department of Health and the Public Health Laboratory to investigate the whole subject of resistant strains of salmonella. "The Ministry of Agriculture is concerned about the possible effects on human and animal health," the official said. The government is also studying a recommendation from the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) to restrict the trade of calves under 56 days old through markets. The FAWC says this would help reduce the spread of salmonella.

DOME<DMP> REPEATS DOME MINES<DM> STAKE FOR SALE Dome Petroleum Ltd's 23.2 pct stake of gold producer Dome Mines Ltd continues to be for sale "at the right price," spokesman David Annesley said in response to an inquiry. Reaffirming remarks made last year by chairman Howard Macdonald, Annesley said the company is considering selling its stake in Dome Mines. Concerning Dome Petroleum's 42 pct stake in <Encor Energy Corp Ltd>, Annesley said "Encor is a strategic investment for Dome, and we have no intention of selling it." Dome spokesman Annesley said in answer to a question that he was not aware of any negotiations now under way toward the sale of Dome Petroleum's 20.9 mln Dome Mines shares. He also declined to specify at what price the company would consider selling it shares. "Clearly today's prices of more than 15 dlrs a share (of Dome Mines stock) are very attractive," Annesley commented. "We were considering the sale 'at the right price' at a time when the shares were priced around nine to 10 dlrs," he added. A price of around 15 dlrs a share would be considered "fairly attractive," Annesley said. Annesley also Dome Petroleum may be able to sell its Dome Mines' shares at a premium to market prices. "There might be an opportunity to pick up a premium on that because it would be virtually a control block in Dome Mines," he said. Dome Mines shares traded earlier at 15-1/4 dlrs, off 1/4 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Dome Petroleum is now negotiating a plan to restructure debt of more than 6.1 billion Canadian dlrs with a group of 56 major creditors, which includes Dome Mines and Encor Energy. The company previously said it expects to detail the plan to lenders early next week.

CANADA RULES U.S. CORN INJURING CANADIAN FARMERS, UPHOLDS DUTY CANADA RULES U.S. CORN INJURING CANADIAN FARMERS, UPHOLDS DUTY

NEW DUTCH SPECIAL ADVANCES ANNOUNCED AT 5.3 PCT The Dutch central bank announced new eleven-day special advances at an unchanged 5.3 pct to aid money market liquidity, covering the period March 9 to 20. The amount will be set at tender on Monday March 9 between 0800 and 0830 GMT. The new facility will replace the current 4.8 billion guilders of seven-day advances expiring Monday. Money dealers estimated today's money market shortage at 11 to 11.25 billion guilders, barely changed from yesterday. They said call money was still relatively high at 6-1/8 to 6-1/4 pct as a result of the tight set of bids accepted by the Bank for the previous seven-day facility.

SELECTERM INC <SLTM> 4TH QTR LOSS Shr loss not given vs profit 16 cts Net loss 309,000 vs profit 426,000 Revs 6,358,000 vs 6,747,000 Year Shr profit 27 cts vs profit 76 cts Net profit 713,000 vs profit 2,021,000 Revs 24.9 mln vs 27.1 mln NOTE: Pretax net profits 113,000 dlrs vs 824,000 dlrs in quarter and 1,863,000 dlrs vs 3,606,000 dlrs in year.

STONE CONTAINER <STO> COMPLETES WAITING PERIOD Stone Container Corp said it and Southwest Forest Industries Inc <SWF> completed all waiting period requirements under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Anti-Trust Improvements Act of 1976. Stone said it will proceed with its previously proposed acquisition of Southwest.

ICO QUOTA TALKS FAILURE PARALYSE HAMBURG MARKET The failure of International Coffee Organization talks on the reintroduction of quotas has paralysed business on the Hamburg green coffee market in the past week, trade sources said. There was only sporadic activity for spot material, which was mainly requirement buying, they said, adding that pre-registered coffees were no longer available. They said they expected Brazil and Colombia to open export registrations for May shipment next week. However, the president of the Brazilian Coffee Institute, Jorio Dauster, said yesterday he had not yet decided when its registrations would reopen.

OKC LIMITED PARTNERSHIP <OKC> SETS LOWER PAYOUT OKC Limited Partnership said it will make a five ct per share distribution to unitholders, down from 15 cts in December and payable March 30 to holders of record March 18. The partnership said the payout is the largest quarterly cash distribution allowable under terms of its letter of credit.

FEBRUARY U.S. JOBS GAINS SHOW STRONGER ECONOMY Momentum in th U.S. economy may be picking up given solid across-the board increases in the February U.S. employment report, economists said. U.S. non-farm payroll employment rose 337,000 in February, twice what the financial markets expected. This follows a 319,000 gain in January, revised down from a previously reported 448,000 increase. "Even if you look at January and February together, this is still a much stronger report than the consensus expectation in the market," said Allan Leslie of Discount Corporation. Economists stressed that gains in hours worked signal much larger gains in February U.S. production and income than previously forecast. The average work week rose 0.2 hours to 35.0 hours from 34.8 hours in January. The average manufacturing work week rose 0.3 hours to 41.2 hours, the longest factory work week since November 1966, the Commerce Department said. "The gains in manufacturing employment point to a very large increase in industrial production of between 0.5 and 0.7 pct," said Joe Carson of Chemical Bank. This compares to a 0.4 pct gain in January U.S. industrial production. Peter Greenbaum of Smith Barney Harris Upham and Co Inc noted that the average wage rate increased to 8.87 dlrs an hour in February from 8.83 dlrs in January. "Combined with the increase in hours worked, this means we'll get a pretty healthy gain in personal income vis-a-vis the wage and salary disbursement," he said. Greenbaum said that February U.S. personal income should rise at least 0.5 pct after being flat in January. He said the February employment gains are consistent with his firm's first quarter U.S. real gross national product growth forecast of 3.7 pct. Economists agreed that the employment data were negative for the credit markets in that they signal a healthier economy and no easing in the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. But most said that the market need not fear tighter policy either. "This report is another reason for the Fed to not consider easing," said Ray Stone of Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Inc. "It gives them more room to address the dollar situation," he said. "If they had to nudge policy tighter, they could do so, but it's most likely they'll sit and wait." "The data have not been uniform," Stone added. "Durable goods were weak in January and now employment is strong." In January, U.S. durable goods orders dropped 7.5 pct, followed by a 4.0 pct drop in U.S. factory goods orders. U.S. retail sales fell 5.8 pct, and the U.S. merchandise trade gap widened to 14.8 billion dlrs. "Things just aren't adding up," said Steve Slifer of Lehman Goverment Securities Inc. "Consumer spending, capital spending, goverment spending, and net exports data show very weak first quarter GNP growth of one pct," he said. "The employment and production data point to a big inventory build-up, but that's what we thought in the fourth quarter and we only got 1.3 pct GNP growth." Manufacturing employment gained 50,000 after falling 15,000 in January. Economists estimated that 30,000 of the gain was accounted for by striking workers in the steel and machinery industries returning to work. Even so, some economists said that the manufacturing gains have resulted from an improving trade outlook. Jason Benderly of Goldman, Sachs and Co noted that the U.S. trade picture improved in the fourth quarter as net exports grew at a 20 pct annual rate while the rate of increase in imports fell to only six pct, and that it continues to improve in the first quarter. "Not only the official statistics for the fourth quarter, but evidence of a pick up in orders from overseas for paper products, chemicals, high-tech goods, and capital goods show that trade is improving," Benderley said. "The economy is moving between extremes," he said. "Some reports are going to look bad and some good, but first quarter GNP is going to grow in the middle at about three pct." A 287,000 gain in services employment comprised the greater part of February's employment gain. Retail services employment rose 129,000 in February, compared to a gain of 117,000 in January, previously reported at 166,000. Construction employment rose a slim 2,000 in February. But this follows a robust 113,000 gain in January, revised down from a previously reported 142,000 gain. The U.S. civilian unemployment rate was unchanged in February at 6.7 pct. This means the jobless rate has stayed at 6.7 pct for three consecutive months, the lowest reading since March 1980, the Commerce Department noted. "The Federal Reserve has to be pleased with this report," Carson said. "This takes away the Fed's flexibility to ease, but there's no reason to tighten. It's way too early for that."

AMERICAN STORES CO <ASC> 4TH QTR NET Shr 1.57 dlrs vs 1.60 dlrs Net 55.7 mln vs 56.5 mln Revs 3.7 billion vs 3.6 billion Year Shr 3.79 dlrs vs 4.11 dlrs Net 144.5 vs 154.5 mln Revs 14.0 billion vs 13.9 billion NOTE: 1986 4th qtr and yr per shr amts includes reduction of 15 cts per shr for establishment of reorganization reserves. Tax increase reduced 1986 yr per shr by 26 cts.

BAKER SAYS G-6 PACT JUST A START Treasury Secretary James Baker said the agreement among industrial nations in Paris last month is only a start in Washington's drive to intensify economic cooperation among leading countries. In a speech to the National Newspaper Association, Baker said "the six steps beginning with the Plaza Agreement and culminating in the Paris Accord, are only a start." He added "we see our role as a steward of a process in which we sit down with our industrial allies to find ways to promote more balanced international growth." The Paris agreements called trade surplus countries to strengthen their growth and on the U.S. to reduce its budget deficit. Under such circumstances, the countries agreed their currencies were within ranges broadly consistent with economic fundamentals. Baker also said he still sees "ominous" signs of pressure for protectionist trade legislation "and this pressure for protectionism is coming from new areas of society." But he also said he believed a coalition was forming that supported free trade.

FED NOT EXPECTED TO ACT IN MONEY MARKETS The Federal Reserve is unlikely to operate in the U.S. government securities market during its usual intervention period this morning, economists said. Fed funds opened comfortably at 5-15/16 pct and remained at that level. Yesterday Fed funds averaged 5.99 pct.

BOSTON BANCORP <SBOS> SETS TWO FOR ONE SPLIT Boston Bancorp said its board declared a two-for-one stock split, payable March 31, record March 17.

BAKER DENIES CHANGE IN U.S. POLICY ON DOLLAR Treasury Secretary James Baker said there has been no change in U.S. policy on the value of the dollar. Baker, when asked if the policy was changed in view of comments yesterday by a senior Commerce Department official who said he thought the Japanese yen was undervalued against the dollar by 10 to 15 pct, replied, "No." Yesterday Robert Ortner, Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, said he thought the yen was undervalued but said that was his personal view. This remark caused the dollar to drop as it appeared to conflict with a recent agreement in Paris by the United States and five other industrial nations that currency rates were at about the right level to reflect underlying economic conditions. Baker, who spoke earlier to the National Newspaper Association, declined to elaborate on his statement about U.S. policy.

6-MAR-1987 11:01:16.74 6-MAR-1987 11:01:16.74

TAFT <TFB> GIVEN DEADLINE ON BUYOUT PROPOSAL Narragansett Capital Inc <NARR> said it and Dudley S. Taft have requested a response from Taft Broadcasting Co by March 12. Earlier today, Taft Broadcasting said Taft, the company's vice chairman, and Narragansett had offered 145 dlrs for each of Taft's 9.2 mln outstanding shares. The company said the offer is conditioned on approval of its board, but a spokesman declined comment on whether or not the board has scheduled a meeting. The Narragansett/Taft group will provide the equity portion of the offer by contributing at least 125 mln dlrs in cash and Taft Broadcasting common, Narragansett said. It said the group has been advised by First Boston Inc's <FBC> First Boston Corp that the investment banker is "highly confident that financing for the acquisition can be consummated." Narragansett said the offer is subject to negotiation of a definitive merger agreement and definitive financing agreements as well as approval by regulators, Taft's board and Taft's stockholders. The Narragansett/Taft group said its letter to Taft's board states the group intends to return control over a significant portion of the company's equity to the Taft family while providing other stockholders with a means of realizing a very attractive value for their shares.

<PETER MILLER APPAREL GROUP INC> 3RD QTR LOSS period ended January 31 Shr loss 28 cts vs profit seven cts Net loss 931,000 vs profit 7,000 Sales 2,303,000 vs 2,006,000 Nine mths Shr loss 55 cts vs profit seven cts Net loss 1,619,000 vs profit 185,000 Sales 7,684,000 vs 7,059,000 Note: per share reflects issue of 600,000 shares in October 1986.

BAKER SEES LOWER JAPANESE TRADE SURPLUS U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker said the Japanese trade surplus would begin to decline this year. He told the National Newspaper Association "You're going to see a reduction in the Japanese trade surplus -- some of it this year". But he said the reduction would be due principally to the exchange rate shifts since the Plaza Agreement, and these shifts would take a long time to work their way through the system.

CINEPLEX ODEON CORP YEAR OPER SHR BASIC 1.04 DLRS VS 77 CTS CINEPLEX ODEON CORP YEAR OPER SHR BASIC 1.04 DLRS VS 77 CTS

NORDBANKEN TO AUCTION ITS FERMENTA SHARES Sweden's <Nordbanken> banking group said it would sell the 4.2 mln B free shares deposited as loan collateral by Fermenta AB's <FRMS.ST> founder and former chief executive Refaat el-Sayed and it planned to buy them up itself. The bank said the sale - by public auction on March 16 -- was because of a debtor's inability to repay an overdue loan. The B free shares closed at 16.50 crowns on the bourse's unofficial list -- down from a peak of 300 in January 1986. Nordbanken said it did not exclude accepting a suitable bid for the shares although it expected to buy them back itself. The statement said the sale did not represent any withdrawal from Nordbanken's undertakings towards the Fermenta group and that it had been sanctioned by the other main shareholders. Nordbanken is Fermenta's third largest creditor with loans of 155 mln crowns. It was one of the four Swedish banks which last month agreed to advance the group 110 mln crowns to solve its immediate liquidity problems. Together with two other main shareholders, it also advanced Fermenta an additional 65 mln crowns until a new equity issue could be made. Fermenta is due to hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on Tuesday to approve the planned equity issue. Nordbanken had to make a provision against a 200 mln crown loan to el-Sayed in its 1986 results. Fermenta's new management originally hoped to raise 160 mln crowns through the new one for four rights issue and an extra 170 mln from an issue to Nordbanken, another major creditor and shareholder <Gotabanken> and the group's new majority owner <Industrivarden AB>. The share price was to be 20 crowns. But there has been doubt over the plans since the stock fell below this level this week after Fermenta's former chairman Kjell Brandstrom said the company was in a much worse state than he thought.

UNITED INDUSTRIAL CORP <UIC> 4TH QTR LOSS Shr loss 1.27 dlrs vs profit 43 cts Net loss 17.0 mln vs profit 5,667,000 Sales 67.8 mln vs 70.1 mln Year Shr loss 69 cts vs profit 2.18 dlrs Net loss 9,174,000 vs profit 29.1 mln Sales 272.5 mln vs 269.4 mln Avg shrs 13.3 mln vs 13.4 mln NOTE: 1986 net includes tax credits of 14.5 mln dlrs in quarter and 8,408,000 dlrs in year. 1985 year net includes 616,000 dlr loss from discontinued operations and 10.6 mln dlr gain on their disposal. 1986 net both periods includes 19.1 mln dlr provision for future losses from several major projects in defense contractor subsidiary. Backlog 310 mln dlrs, up six pct from a year before. Share adjusted for 10 pct stock dividend in February 1987.

<CINEPLEX ODEON CORP> YEAR NET Oper shr basic 1.04 dlrs vs 77 cts Oper shr diluted 89 cts vs 60 cts Oper net 31.6 mln vs 12.5 mln Revs 500.6 mln vs 170.9 mln Avg shrs 29.1 mln vs 14.3 mln Note: 1985 net excludes extraordinary gain of 1,756,000 dlrs or 12 cts shr basic and eight cts shr diluted. 1986 net involves 53-week reporting period to reflect change in yr-end to coincide with calendar yr.

PROSPECT GROUP INC <PROSZ> 4TH QTR LOSS Shr loss 10 cts vs loss 50 cts Net loss 1,830,000 vs loss 3,584,000 Revs 40.7 mln vs 26.8 mln Avg shrs 19.2 mln vs 7,115,847 12 mths Shr profit 10 cts vs loss 91 cts Net profit 1,422,000 vs loss 6,195,000 Revs 185.7 mln vs 126.9 mln Avg shrs 14.8 mln vs 6,811,280 NOTES: In May 1986 Prospect raised 101,810,0000 dlrs from an initial public offering of common stock. The company purchased in March 1986 MidSouth Corp, a regional railroad company in Mississippi and Louisiana, which contributed sales of 39.5 mln dlrs and operating income of 16.3 mln dlrs during first nine months of operation.

FRANCE FUND INC <FRN> SETS INITIAL DIVIDEND France Fund Inc said its board declared an initial dividend of 1.12 dlrs per share, payable April six, to holders of record March 20. The fund said the dividend represents two cts per share for net investment income realized during 1986 and 1.10 dlrs from net taxable gains realized during the year.

HEINEKEN N.V. <HEIN.AS> 1986 YEAR Pre-tax profit 513.2 mln guilders vs 545.5 mln Net profit 285.3 mln guilders vs 265.4 mln Consolidated net turnover 6.68 billion guilders vs 6.40 billion Net profit per 25.00 guilder nominal share 11.11 guilders vs 10.33, taking into account one-for-three scrip issue last year Final dividend two guilders vs same, making total 3.50 guilders vs same

NATIONAL SECURITY INSURANCE CO <NSIC> 4TH QTR Oper shr loss 15 cts vs profit 57 cts Oper net loss 151,000 vs profit 570,000 Year Oper shr profit 2.08 dlrs vs loss 12 cts Oper net profit 2,122,000 vs loss 127,000 NOTE: Net excludes realized capital loss 19,000 dlrs vs gain 896,000 dlrs in quarter and gains 1,646,000 dlrs vs 1,331,000 dlrs in year. 1986 net both periods excludes tax credit 1,288,000 dlrs.

CYPRUS MINERALS <CYPM> NAMED IN SUITS Cyprus Minerals Co said along with about 40 other companies, it has been named a defendant in 23 product liability lawsuits filed in California by individual tireworkers aleging injury as a result of exposure to talc and other products. It said other suits are expected to be brought. Cyprus, which produces talc, said it has significant factual and legal defenses and substantial insurance coverage and does not expect the suits to have a material adverse impact on its financial condition.

DONALDSON <DCI> TO BUY MINE SAFETY <MNES> UNIT Donaldson Co Inc said it reached an agreement to buy the assets of the Filter Products Division of Mine safety Appliances Co for undisclosed terms. It said Filter Products will operate as part of Donaldson's Industrial Group and its manufacturing operations will be relocated to Dixon, Ill., from Evans City, Pa. Donaldson said the acquisition complements its microfiltration business and internal research and development efforts.

ARUNDEL CORP <ARL> 4TH QTR NET Shr 1.73 dlrs vs 1.66 dlrs Net 3,637,000 vs 3,789,000 Revs 27.6 mln vs 26.6 mln Year Shr 3.47 dlrs vs 2.34 dlrs Net 7,815,000 vs 5,340,000 Revs 94.3 mln vs 81.9 mln

GULF STATES UTILITIES <GSU> GETS QUALIFIED AUDIT Gulf States Utilities Co said auditor Coopers and Lybrand has issued a qualified opinion on 1986 financial statements. Gulf States said the audit opinion satated that without sufficient rate increases or funds from other sources, Gulf states may be unable to maintain its financial viability, which is necessary to permit the realization of its assets and the liquidation of its liabilities in the ordinary course of business. IT said it received a similar qualified opinion in 1985.

FED SETS ONE BILLION DLR CUSTOMER REPURCHASE, FED SAYS FED SETS ONE BILLION DLR CUSTOMER REPURCHASE, FED SAYS

MIDMISSISSIPPI RIVER OPENS TODAY FOR SEASON The Mississippi River is now open for barge traffic up to the Twin Cities in Minnesota after repairs were completed and the first barges moved upstream through Lock and Dam 20 near Quincy, Ill at 0600 CST today, an Army Corps of Engineers spokesman said. About 14 to 15 inches of ice were reported between locks three and four on the upper Mississippi River, but other sections were generally free of ice, the spokesman said. Midwestern weather has been so mild that barges probably could have kept loading at Mid-Mississippi River terminals through the winter, if Lock and Dam 20 had not been scheduled for repairs, he said. The Peoria and La Grange locks on the Illinois River are still scheduled to close July 13, for two months of repairs.

FED SETS ONE BILLION DLR CUSTOMER REPO The Federal Reserve entered the government securities market to arrange one billion dlrs of customer repurchase agreements, a spokesman for the New York Fed said. Fed funds were trading at 5-15/16 pct at the time of the indirect injection of temporary reserves, dealers said.

GERMAN CASH IN CIRCULATION UP AT FEBRUARY'S CLOSE Cash in circulation in West Germany rose by 2.8 billion marks in the last week of February to 121.5 billion, a gain of 8.3 pct over the same month last year, the Bundesbank said. Cash in circulation is one of two components of the West German money supply which the German central bank is targeting to grow between three and six pct this year. Gross currency reserves in the week rose by 200 mln marks to 109.5 billion. Foreign liabilities fell 100 mln to 22.9 billion, giving a net currency reserves increase of 300 mln to 86.6 billion. Commercial bank minimum reserve holdings at the Bundesbank fell 300 mln marks to 51.9 billion marks at the end of February, averaging 51.2 billion over the month. The rediscount debt of the banking system fell 800 mln marks to 55.2 billion marks, the Bundesbank said. Banks made heavy use of the Lombard emergency funding facility to meet month-end payments and borrowed 3.1 billion marks, a rise of 2.9 billion over the week before. The net position of public authorities at the Bundesbank declined 6.7 billion marks in the last week of February. The federal government drew down 3.8 billion marks of its Bundesbank cash deposits, which had stood at 4.1 billion in the third week of February, and also borrowed a 1.8 billion in credit from the central bank. Federal states' deposits fell 1.5 billion marks to 1.3 billion and their cash credits dropped 400 mln to 300 mln. The Bundesbank balance sheet total rose around 5.44 billion to 222.22 billion marks.

SUN ELECTRIC CORP <SE> 1ST QTR JAN 31 NET Shr profit 15 cts vs loss six cts Net profit 1,051,000 vs loss 381,000 Revs 50.8 mln vs 41.8 mln Avg shrs 7,033,00 vs 6,557,000 NOTE: 1987 net includes tax credits equal to six cts vs one cent in 1986.

ECUADOR SAYS SUSPENDS OIL EXPORTS DUE EARTHQUAKE Ecuador today suspended its crude oil exports indefinitely due to an earthquake last night that damaged pumping and crude transport installations, an Energy and Mines MInistry statement said. It said the state oil firm Corporacion Estatal Petrolera Ecuatoriana (CEPE) notified foreign customers that it was declaring force majeure on its crude exports due to the tremor. Ecuador"s OPEC oil output quota is 210,000 barrels per day (bpd). A senior energy ministry official said that one pumping station at El Salado on Ecuador's main pipeline was damaged. He also said an 180 metre section of the pipeline attached to the bridge over the Aguarico river collapsed. The pumping station was about 20 km from the Reventador volcano, near the epicentre of the quake, which Ecuadorean seismologists said registered six on the 12-point international Mercalli scale. The Aguarico bridge was also close to the volcano, he said. The quake struck northern Ecaudor and southern Colombia, according to Ecuadorean officials. No injuries were reported.

LEASEWAY TRANSPORTATION CORP <LTC> 4TH QTR LOSS Oper shr loss 39 cts vs profit 62 cts Oper net loss 4,628,000 vs profit 7,256,000 Revs 338.1 mln vs 327.9 mln Year Oper shr profit 1.12 dlrs vs profit 1.88 dlrs Oper net profit 13.2 mln vs 22.2 mln Revs 1.32 billion vs 1.29 billion NOTE: Net excludes gains from discontinued leasing operations of 37.6 mln dlrs vs 40.3 mln dlrs in year and 32.6 mln dlrs vs 34.3 mln dlrs in quarter. Results restated for discontinued operations. 1986 net both periods includes charge 6,300,000 dlrs from elimination of investment tax credits.

NCH CORP <NCH> 3RD QTR JAN 31 NET Shr 51 cts vs 44 cts Net 4,710,000 vs 4,086,000 Sales 109.2 mln vs 98.2 mln Nine mths Shr 1.62 dlrs vs 1.39 dlrs Net 15.0 mln vs 13.6 mln Sales 314.6 mln vs 279.7 mln

NATIONWIDE HAD 1986 PROPERTY-CASUALTY LOSS <Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co> said its property-casualty companies had a net loss of 56 mln dlrs last year while its life insurance operations earned 66.8 mln dlrs. Nationwide said its property-casualty group, the fourth-largest U.S. property-casualty insurer had a 106 mln dlr loss in 1986. Nationwide Life Insurance Co earned 62.8 mln dlrs in 1985, with last year's profit including record capital gains of 14.4 mln dlrs, up from gains of 2.6 mln dlrs the previous year. The company said its property-casualty group had a record loss from insurance operations last year of 859 mln dlrs after policyholders' dividends, up 25 pct from 1985's 710 mln dlrs. Nationwide said a surge in claims from personal auto insurance and the volatile commercial liability coverages during a period of unprecedented sales growth generated the loss. The company said over 576 mln dlrs of last year's group losses came from commercial insurance lines and 282 mln dlrs from its personal auto insurance business. Partially offsetting 1986's record insurance losses, Nationwide said, were record investment gains of 775 mln dlrs and a 28 mln dlr federal tax credit. The investment gains were up 39 pct from 1985's gains of 559 mln dlrs.

SUN <SUN> RAISES HEATING OIL BARGE PRICE Sun Co's Sun Refining and Marketing subsidiary said it increased the price it charges contract barge customers for heating oil in New York harbor 0.50 cent a gallon, effective today. They said the 0.50 cent increase brings Sun's contract barge price to 49 cts. The recent price hike represents the fifth this week, totalling 4.75 cts. The increases are following sharp spot and futures price rises, the company said.

FRENCH PRIMARY BOND MARKET SHOWS NEW SPARKLE The French primary bond market is showing signs of renewed effervescence after several weeks of lethargy and the trend is expected to continue if hopes of imminent interest rate cuts are fulfilled, market operators said. The Bank of France is generally expected to give a signal to the market, possibly at the beginning of next week, by announcing a quarter point cut in its intervention rate, which has stood at eight pct since January 2, or in its seven-day repurchase rate, set at 8-3/4 pct since January 5. The central bank's averaged-out day to day call money rate, the reference rate for interbank money market operators, which reached 8-3/4 pct on February 18 has fallen to 7-3/4 pct this week, dealers noted. The Bank of France's "open market" policy to regulate the money markets since December has been based on a floor and ceiling of rates within the limits of its intervention and seven day repurchase rates. For the moment the sentiment is of "wait and see" on rate cuts, but there are now more optimists than pessimists among market operators, a dealer for a major French bank said. Dealers said there is abundant liquidity on the bond market, noting that this week's monthly Treasury tap issue of 11.87 billion francs had a good reception and was fairly easily absorbed. The Treasury had set an upper limit on the issue of 12 billion francs and was likely to continue to try and sell as much paper as it could over coming months to meet its borrowing needs for this year of around 150 billion, one banker said. Dealers said there was no difficulty in placing liquidity in the primary market at the moment despite competition from the surge in investments on the Paris stock exchange. There has been a flood of large bond issues, but with formulas well adapted to market conditions and investor demand - with warrants or a mix of fixed and floating-rates - which have been snapped up, and with generally broadly negative fees. Dealers pointed to the recent Caisse d'Aide a l'Equipement des Collectivites Locales (CAECL) 8.90 pct two billion franc bond with warrants exchangeable for floating-rate bonds issued over 13 years and 80 days at 97.04 pct with payment date March 9, which was today quoted at -0.90 to -1.10 pct. Even classic fixed-rate issues, after being neglected since the end of last year, are finding buyers, one banker said. Dealers said that now the question was to see how the terms of imminent operations would be set, with great market interest focussed on the likely three next issues. These will include an expected four to five billion franc issue for Electricite de France, to be followed by a bond of around one billion francs for Auxiliaire du Credit Foncier, a subsidiary of the banking group Credit Foncier de France, and a new issue by tender from the mortgage agency Caisse de Refinancement Hypothecaire.

COMPUTER MEMORIES INC <CMIN> 3RD QTR LOSS Period ended December 31. Shr loss nine cts vs loss 1.92 dlrs Net loss 950,000 vs loss 21,334,000 Revs 580,000 vs 22.2 mln Nine Mths Shr loss six cts vs loss 1.23 dlrs Net loss 694,000 vs loss 13,710,000 Revs 5,129,000 vs 111.9 mln Note: Current qtr includes tax loss of 118,000 vs loss of 476,000 dlrs.

TRENWICK GROUP INC <TREN> 4TH QTR NET Oper shr profit 18 cts vs loss four cts Oper net profit 1,847,000 vs loss 282,000 Revs 25.9 mln dlrs vs 8,626,000 drs 12 mths Oper shr profit 39 cts vs loss 24 cts Oper net profit 3,262,000 vs loss 1,555,000 revs 67.5 mln vs 27.9 mln dlrs. NOTE: 1986 qtr and year excludes investment gains of 1,541,000 and 1,865,000, respectively, and 1985 qtr and year includes investment gains of 301,000 dlrs and 1,424,000.

BUSH <BSH> REVISES 4TH QTR, YEAR RESULTS UP Bush Industries Inc said that after an audit it has revised upwards its 1986 fourth quarter and year end results. On February 12 it reported unaudited results. Under the audited amounts, 1986 fourth quarter income was 1,098,978 mln dlrs, or 55 cts a share. The unaudited income for the period was 1,014,000, or 51 cts per share. For the year, the audited amounts showed earnings of 2,505,978, or 1.25 dlrs per share. The prior results reported income of 2,421,000, or 1.21 dlrs per share. Sales figures for both periods did not differ significantly from prior amounts.

FURNITURE (UFURF) UPS BENCH CRAFT (SOFA) STAKE Universal Furniture Ltd said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had increased its stake in Bench Craft Inc common stock to 2,548,975 shares or 45.3 pct of the total outstanding. Universal said its Universal Furniture Industries N.V. unit bought 235,750 Bench Craft shares March 4 in the over-the-counter market.

CLEVITE INDUSTRIES INC <CLEV> 4TH QTR OPER LOSS Oper net loss 411,000 vs profit 875,000 Sales 69.7 mln vs 70.5 mln Year Oper net profit 6,258,000 vs profit 4,785,000 Sales 299.5 mln vs 297.2 mln Note: Company made initial public offering in June, 1986. Assuming the offering had occurred on Jan. 1, 1986, operating net income per share would have been 85 cts a share for 1986. 1986 oper net excludes one-time charge of 16.8 mln dlrs, or 2.46 dlrs a share, in qtr and year due to the February 1987 sale of the company's engine parts division. Oper net for 1986 year also includes profit from discontinued operations of 360,000 dlrs, or five cts a share. Oper net for 1986 excludes extraordinary loss of 1.1 mln dlrs, or 17 cts a share, due to the June 1986 write-off of unamortized debt issue costs from the public offering. 1985 oper net excludes extraordinary profit of 1.1 mln dlrs.

CMS ADVERTISING SETS 3-FOR-2 STOCK SPLIT <CMS Advertising Inc> said its board has approved a three-for-two stock split in the form of a dividend payable March 30 to holders of record March 16. The company said a similar split was paid December eight, leaving it with 2,344,200 shares outstanding. CMS Advertising said the next split will result in a proportionate reduction in the exercise price of its stock purchase warrants to 1.67 dlrs a share from 2.50 dlrs.

CIE FINANCIERE DE PARIBAS <PARI.PA> 1986 YEAR Parent company net profit 385 mln francs vs 226.9 mln Dividend five francs vs no comparison Note - The financial and banking group was privatised by the government in January this year.

6-MAR-1987 12:28:37.20 6-MAR-1987 12:28:37.20

BANK OF ENGLAND PRESSURE HOLDS BASE RATES This week's Bank of England resistance to strong market pressure for lower interest rates succeeded in holding bank base rates at 11 pct. But at a cost of threatening the Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson's policy, stated at the end of the Paris Group of Six meeting last month, that he wanted to see sterling broadly stable about then prevailing levels, market sources said. Since then, the pound has risen to 71.8 pct on its closing trade-weighted index, up from 69.7 pct imediately after the Paris meeting and up 0.4 on the day. Today's peak at 72.0 pct was its highest since August 19. A Treasury spokesman said Lawson had said he neither wanted a substantial rise or fall in sterling. The question is therefore how large a rise he is ready to see before acting. Paul Temperton, chief economist at Merrill Lynch Europe Ltd, estimated that the government wanted to see the trade-weighted index about 72-73 pct. "Even after this action over the last few weeks, sterling's only just within striking distance of that range," he said. Other analysts agree that the government probably has some broad target range around this area. However, they said Lawson would be prepared to see the pound go higher at least in the short term, despite the risk of a loss of export competitiveness and cheaper prices on imports. "If the Bank of England keeps the interest rates as they are, what's to stop it (going higher)," said John Cox, executive director of EBC Amro Bank Ltd, a major operator on the London foreign exchange market. Cox estimates that the Bank of England has been active selling sterling over the past few days, despite the lack of general market talk of such intervention, and this has helped keep it below 1.60 dlrs. The pound rose to 1.5870 dlrs from 1.5764 yesterday and 1.5400 February 23, the day after the Paris meeting. But Cox says the government must be worried with sterling heading toward 2.95 marks and would be very concerned if it holds around these levels. He warned the Bank may run the risk of missing the interest rate boat. "If rates don't come down, the market will say they ought to have come down and will sell sterling," he said. Most dealers agree there is a good deal of "hot money" being invested in sterling, money simply attracted by high overnight or one-week rates, which could flow out at equally short notice. However, the authorities will hope that at least a proportion of the buying reflects long-term investment. "The last thing they want to do is reduce them (rates) and have to jack them back up again," said Richard Jeffrey, economist at brokerage house Hoare Govett Ltd. He said a half point cut would ensure continued support for sterling, at least in the near term. However, most analysts are still looking for a full point about March 17, Budget Day. The Bank must hold out until it sees the reaction to the Budget, said Temperton. The Budget is widely forecast to be a vote winner in the run-up to a general election, the major factor behind current bullishness in the government bond and currency markets. "Lawson wants to delay a cut in base rates until the budget. He wants it to be crowned with the glory of an interest rate cut," said Ian Harwood, economist at Warburg Securities, the equities arm of Mercury International Group. Speculation a clearing bank might break ranks and lead the way lower were confounded today. There was excitement a fall in the weekly Treasury Bill rate to 9.7 pct from 10.2 pct last Friday might mean the Bank had changed its mind. This followed the imposition of penal lending rates of 11 3/4 pct on the discount houses yesterday, and was the lowest since base rates were at 10 pct, early last October. However, with this Bill rate pertaining to three-months money, banking sources said the market could not take the cut as a guide to the Bank's intentions on short term rates.

LYNG DISAPPOINTED BY CANADA CORN INJURY DECISION U.S. Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng said he is "very disappointed" by a Canadian government finding that U.S. corn has injured Ontario Corn growers. "This action is not helpful in the context of the ongoing U.S.-Canada free trade talks or in the new round of multilateral trade negotiations," Lyng said in a statement. The Canadian government today said Ottawa would continue to apply a duty of 84.9 cents per bushel on U.S. corn imports. Lyng said the U.S. made a case that U.S. corn imports are not the cause of any problem of Canadian corn producers, adding that U.S. corn exports to Canada are declining. "Apparently they (Canada) have ignored the fact that Canadian corn and other coarse grain production is rising faster than consumption," Lyng said.

BANCROFT <BCV> SHAREHOLDERS REBUKE ZICO OFFER Bancroft Convertible Fund Inc, the target of an unfriendly cash offer by <Zico Investment Holdings Inc>, said its shareholders approved proposals requiring a 66-2/3 pct affirmative vote of all outstanding shares before fundamental changes in its status could be made. Previously, only a simple majority of outstanding shares was needed to change Bancroft's investment status from a diversified to a non-diversified fund, among other things. Bancroft said its board continues to recommend that stockholders not tender their shares to Zico, a British Virgin Islands company which it said had ties to South Africa.

INT'L TOTALIZATOR <ITSI> SEES BETTER 1ST QTR International Totalizator Systems Inc Vice President of Finance Joel Graff said he expects to report an improved first quarter compared to the 377,000 dlr loss reported in the year ago quarter. "A profit looks quite favorable," Graff said. Last week, the automated ticket systems supplier reported a loss of 1.2 mln dlrs for the 1986. Graff said "we invested heavily in 1986, which we believe will result in higher future growth and earnings for the company."

U.S. WHEAT GROWERS WANT EEP TO SOVIET UNION The U.S. National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) urged the Reagan administration offer the Soviet Union wheat under the export enhancement program (eep). In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng, NAWG stated its "strong support" for an eep offer to Moscow. "We believe that a solid case continues to exist for Soviet EEP eligibility, and the recently announced and reported Soviet purchases of U.S. corn indicate a Soviet willingness to purchase U.S. grain if it is competitively priced," NAWG said. "Consequently, we believe it is important to renew the U.S. eep offer and do all that is reasonably possible to ensure mutual adherence to the terms of the U.S.-Soviet grain agreement," the letter said.

ABN SAYS PROFIT RISE ENCOURAGING IN VIEW DOLLAR Algemene Bank Nederland N.V. <ABNN.AS> chairman Robertus Hazelhoff said the bank's 10.3 pct increase in net 1986 profit to 527 mln guilders from 478 mln in 1985 was encouraging in view of the sharply lower dollar. Hazelhoff, speaking at a press conference after the release of ABN's 1986 results, said a sharp decrease in foreign earnings had been compensated by a strong domestic performance, notably in the securities business. He said the bank was also proposing a one for 10 share-split which should facilitate trade in the bank's stock. News of the split sparked a 14 guilder rise in ABN's share price on the Amsterdam bourse to a close of 517 guilders. Prospects for 1987 hung on three uncertainties, namely the future trend of the dollar, the level of interest rates and ABN's share of equities trade, Hazelhoff said. Provisions for general contingencies were reduced in 1986 by 4.1 pct to 575 mln guilders, while taxes increased by 2.1 pct to 242 mln guilders, he added. Lower global interest rates in 1986 had nipped earnings margins via traditional lending activities, he said. Hazelhoff said ABN was unlikely to continue reducing risk provisions in the future but he noted the bank was not overly concerned about default by Latin American debtors, a factor which brokers say has distanced Dutch insititutions from bank stocks recently. He said that of the bank's estimated 25 financially troubled sovereign debtors, about one quarter were Latin American countries. These would ultimately pay up, he said. He added that losses incurred through loans to tin producers in the wake of the tin council crisis at end-1985 had been written off.

CANADIAN MONEY SUPPLY M-1 RISES 217 MLN DLRS IN WEEK, BANK OF CANADA SAID CANADIAN MONEY SUPPLY M-1 RISES 217 MLN DLRS IN WEEK, BANK OF CANADA SAID

CANADIAN MONEY SUPPLY RISES IN WEEK Canadian narrowly-defined money supply M-1 rose 217 mln dlrs to 32.80 billion dlrs in week ended February 25, Bank of Canada said. M-1-A, which is M-1 plus daily interest chequable and non-personal deposits, rose 556 mln dlrs to 75.19 billion dlrs and M-2, which is M-1-A plus other notice and personal fixed-term deposit rose 651 mln dlrs to 176.87 billion dlrs.s M-3, which is non-personal fixed term deposits and foreign currency deposits of residents booked at chartered banks in Canada, rose 992 mln dlrs to 216.03 billion dlrs. Chartered bank general loans outstanding rose 481 mln dlrs to 124.99 billion dlrs. Canadian liquid plus short term assets fell 854 mln dlrs to 35.40 billion dlrs and total Canadian dollar major assets of the chartered banks fell 118 mln dlrs to 221.20 billion dlrs. Chartered bank net foreign currency assets fell 23 mln dlrs to minus 1.92 billion dlrs. Notes in circulation totalled 16.24 billion dlrs, up 76 mln dlrs from the week before. Government cash balances fell 565 mln dlrs to 4.31 billion dlrs in week ended March 4. Government securities outstanding rose 1.25 billion dlrs to 224.09 billion dlrs in week ended March 4, treasury bills rose 950 mln dlrs to 74.55 billion dlrs and Canada Savings Bonds fell 57 mln dlrs to 44.34 billion dlrs.

USSR WHEAT BONUS OFFER SAID STILL UNDER DEBATE The Reagan administration continues to debate whether to offer subsidized wheat to the Soviet Union, but would need assurances from the Soviets that they would buy the wheat before the subsidy offer would be made, a senior U.S. Agriculture Department official said. "I think it still is under active debate whether or not it would be advisable" to make an the export enhancement offer to the Soviets, Thomas Kay, administrator of the department's Foreign Agriculture Service, told Reuters. "We'd need some assurances from them (the Soviets) that they would buy if offered" the wheat under the subsidy plan, he said. Kay called reports that such an offer was imminent "premature." The Reagan administration's cabinet-level Economic Policy Council is set to meet today to discuss, among other matters, agricultural policy but is not expected to address a wheat subsidy offer to the Soviet Union, administration officials said earlier.

SUN ELECTRIC CORP <SE> 1ST QTR JAN 31 OPER NET Oper shr profit nine cts vs loss seven cts Oper net profit 628,000 vs loss 491,000 Sales 50.7 mln vs 41.8 mln Avg shrs 7,033,000 vs 6,557,000 Note: Oper net excludes extraordinary profit of 423,000 dlrs, or six cts a shr, and 110,000 dlrs, or one ct a share, respectively, in 1987 and 1986 quarters, from utilization of tax loss carryforwards.

CETEC CORP <CEC> 4TH QTR NET Oper shr two cts vs eight cts Oper net 41,000 vs 153,000 Sales 7,456,000 vs 7,965,000 Year Oper shr 22 cts vs 50 cts Oper net 434,000 vs 1,103,000 Sales 31 mln vs 33.6 mln Note: Current qtr and year figures exclude loss from discontinued operations of 384,000 dlrs, or 20 cts per share. Prior qtr and year figures exclude losses from discontinued operations of 1.9 mln dlrs, or 88 cts per share and 2.3 mln dlrs, or 1.07 dlrs per share, respectively.

RICHTON INTERNATIONAL CORP <RIHL> 3RD QTR JAN 31 Shr 18 cts vs 39 cts Net 507,000 vs 762,000 Sales 11.3 mln vs 11.7 mln Avg shrs 2,789,000 vs 1,961,000 Nine mths Shr 39 cts vs 90 cts Net 1,076,000 vs 1,752,000 Sales 32.9 mln vs 33.3 mln Avg shrs 2,771,000 vs 1,955,000

VALTEK INC <VALT> 3RD QTR JAN 31 NET Shr 18 cts vs 19 cts Net 400,413 vs 421,451 Revs 9,343,228 vs 8,213,449 Nine mths Shr 39 cts vs 46 cts Net 853,891 vs 1,011,999 Revs 24.6 mln vs 22.3 mln

THE WRITER CORP <WRTC> 4TH QTR LOSS Shr loss 30 cts vs profit 11 cts Net loss 1,247,000 vs profit 454,000 Revs 12.3 mln vs 17.5 mln Year Shr loss 24 cts vs profit 32 cts Net loss 979,000 vs profit 1,303,000 Revs 60.6 mln vs 61.7 mln

ROCKY MOUNTAIN MEDICAL CORP <RMEDU> 1ST QTR LOSS Dec 31 Shr loss one ct Net loss 176,639 Revs 150,300 NOTE: Company went public in April 1986.

FIRST AMERICAN BANK AND TRUST <FIAMA> YEAR NET Shr 91 cts vs 1.25 dlrs Net 8,710,000 vs 11.7 mln Avg shrs 9,526,287 vs 9,362,379 NOTE: Share adjusted for 10 pct stock dividend in May 1986. Net includes loan loss provisions of 12.7 mln dlrs vs 2,400,000 dlrs.

INDIA AGAIN IN MARKET FOR SUGAR - TRADE India has called a fresh buying tender for up to four 13,000 tonne cargoes of white sugar on March 11, traders here said. The tender calls for one cargo of prompt sugar and two to three with March/April shipment sugar, or the same as the eight cargoes bought at a tender two days ago. That tender originally only sought two to three cargoes but resulted in the sale of eight. India also granted the sellers options to sell twice that amount at the same price but for April/May shipment. Depending on prices, traders said it would be likely for India again to buy more than the tonnage formally sought.

<WARRANTECH CORP> 3RD QTR DEC 31 NET Shr profit nil vs loss nil Net profit 28,565 vs loss 204,553 Revs 507,529 vs 6,563 Nine mths Shr loss nil vs loss nil Net loss 404,011 vs loss 649,495 Revs 938,345 vs 32,535

COPPER MEETING AGREES GOALS OF STUDY GROUP The world's major copper producing and consuming countries have reached "a degree of consensus" on objectives and functions of a future study group aimed at reviewing the world copper market, officials said. Governments represented at a meeting to consider a proposed forum for copper have recommended that another session be held in September to consider further the nature of such a group, a spokesman for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said. The one-week meeting, which ended today, was held to examine a U.S. Initiative to set up a copper study group. The new body would not aim at negotiating measures to stabilise depressed world prices. Its objectives would include increasing market transparency, through improved statistics, and undertaking activities aimed at developing the copper market and contributing to improvement of demand. UNCTAD's spokesman said, "Once they have agreed on detailed functions and objectives, then the way will be cleared to setting up the body."

LIFFE FEBRUARY VOLUMES DOWN, BUT EURODOLLARS UP Total futures and options turnover on the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE) fell slightly during February, although daily average Eurodollar volume set a new record, LIFFE said today. Total futures and options turnover last month was 822,378 contracts, down from January's 881,778, but sharply above the comparative February 1986 figure of 463,146 lots, it said. Eurodollar turnover during February was 140,417 lots, against January's 100,941 and the year ago figure of 81,648. The daily average was a record 7,020 lots, up four pct from the previous record, set in March 1985. February trading encompassed a new daily record of 66,087 contracts on the 19th of the month, exceeding the previous record of 61,398, which had been set on February 6, LIFFE said. FT-SE 100 index futures volume was sharply higher during February, with 22,109 contracts trading, against January's 15,279 and the year-ago level of 8,181. Open interest also set new records last month in Eurodollars at 29,372 contracts, in FT-SE 100 at 4,898 and in short sterling interest rate futures at 19,846 lots. Key futures volumes as detailed by LIFFE were: Feb'87 Jan'87 Feb'86 Long gilt 424,865 525,354 134,420 Eurodollar 140,417 100,941 81,648 Short sterling 94,720 87,619 67,640 T-bond 84,694 87,980 133,766 FT-SE 22,109 15,279 8,181 Currencies 2,799 2,112 7,737 Short gilt 74 85 6,516 Key options volumes as detailed by LIFFE were: Feb'87 Jan'87 Feb'86 Long gilt 44,640 54,329 ---- Eurodollar 3,580 1,720 2,844 T-bond 1,737 3,479 ---- Sterling 1,466 2,223 18,191 FT-SE 1,277 657 ---- Total options 52,700 62,408 23,238 (Long gilt, T-bond and FT-SE index options were not trading in February 1986).

COLOMBIAN OIL EXPORTS NOT AFFECTED BY QUAKE Colombian oil installations were not damaged by an earthquake which shook Ecuador and southern Colombia last night and there are no plans to suspend exports, a spokesman for the state-run oil company Ecopetrol said. He said no damage was reported, unlike in Ecuador where indefinite force majeure was declared on crude exports. Colombia currently produces about 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude. Exports in january totalled 123,000 bpd. The quake, which in Colombia measured between 6.5 and seven on the 12-point international Mercalli scale, caused panic among residents but no injuries were reported.

CHICAGO MILWAUKEE <CHG> GREETS SHEARSON STAKE Chicago Milwaukee Corp said it welcomed an investment by Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc in its company. Yesterday, Shearson Lehman, a subsidiary of American Express Co (AXP), disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it holds a 5.35 pct interest in Chicago Milwaukee. Chicago Milwaukee's stock edged up 2-1/8 to 138 on turnover of 8,100 shares, as one of the biggest gainers on the NYSE. The stock has been trading in a 154 to 128 range for the last 52 weeks. Edwin Jacobson, Chicago Milwaukee president, declined to comment on movement of the company's stock but said,"From an investment point of view, we are pleased to have Shearson, Lehman as a substantial investor." Shearson, Lehman purchased the shares for investment purposes and may continue buying shares depending on market conditions, according to the filing. Chicago Milwaukee, which sold its railroad interests to Soo Line Railroad Co (SOO) in February 1985, currently manages and sells its real estate which consists of 28,000 parcels in 11 states.

VAN DORN CO <VDC> SETS QUARTERLY Qtly div 27-1/2 cts vs 27-1/2 cts prior Pay May One Record April 17

M.D.C. HOLDINGS INC <MDC> SETS QUARTERLY Qtly div 10 cts vs 10 cts prior Pay March 31 Record March 16