HOW BRITAIN'S BIGGEST HAVE PERFORMED

n The best-performing stock on the FT-SE 100 last week was GKN, which rose 5.6 per cent after a US court affirmed it would cut damages in a $601m (pounds 370m) claim brought by franchisees against GKN's Meineke Discount Mufflers subsidiary, clearing the way for an appeal. An appeal will take at least 18 months to work its way through the courts. GKN is currently required to pay about $390m, $30m less than it provided for damages last year.

n The second best-performing stock was the Energy Group, which rose 5.5 per cent. The electricity industry regulator announced that electricity companies will be able to charge their customers between a third and a half of what it costs utilities to open their system to national competition. These proposals are more generous than the regulator's original proposal in September 1996.

n The worst-performing stock on the FT-SE last week was Glaxo, which fell 7.1 per cent. The company said at its AGM that the strength of the pound could cut as much as 5 per cent from its profits this year. Although in volume terms, sales rose 10 per cent in the first quarter, the figures were unchanged when translated into sterling.

Copyright: IOS & Bloomberg