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Your support makes all the difference.Shake-up boosts Hammerson shares
Hammerson, the property company, saw the prices of both its classes of share rise after it announced details of its plans to enfranchise the 'A' shares.
Holders of its ordinary shares will receive two new shares for every 19 held. Holders of the 'A' shares, which have inferior voting rights, will simply have their shares converted to ordinaries.
Changes sought
The Financial Reporting Review Panel has asked BM Group, the struggling construction equipment supplier, for corrections to its 1992 cash-flow statement. About pounds 70m was classified as cash when, in the panel's view, it should have been classified as loans. The panel is also seeking a correction concerning a one-off profit in the 1992 figures.
Owners' new man
Owners Abroad has appointed Francis Baron, former managing director of WH Smith Television, as its chief executive. He replaces Howard Klein, who resigned as chairman and chief executive following a profits warning. Owners said it would soon talk with Mr Klein and Roger Allard, who also resigned as a director, about compensation for loss of office.
Pfizer restructuring
Pfizer, the US pharmaceutical company, is to cut 3,000 jobs in a restructuring of its global business. The company reported a third-quarter loss of dollars 214m on sales of dollars 1.87bn. Cyanamid, the New Jersey chemical and medical products company, said it was to cut 2,500 jobs.
Chinese cheer
China's gross domestic product grew a real 13.3 per cent in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period a year earlier, a state statistical bureau spokesman said. GDP grew a yearly 13.9 per cent in the first half against 12.8 per cent in 1992. The spokesman said that China's efforts to cool the overheated economy were bearing fruit.
Inchcape venture
Inchcape Pacific, the Hong Kong-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Inchcape, has formed a joint venture to market and distribute consumer products in the Philippines.
Hanson posts
Hanson announced the appointment of Ross Chiese as assistant chief operating officer, UK. Andrew Dougal has been appointed deputy finance director of Hanson and an associate director of the company.
Fighting back
Japan's six main steelmakers are appealing against a ruling by the US International Trade Commission that they have damaged the US steel industry by dumping corrosion-resistant steel.
World Markets
New York: Corporate earnings continued to dominate sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 6.99 points at 3,635.32 .
Tokyo: Late index-linked selling wiped out earlier gains, leaving the Nikkei average just 2.3 points easier at 20,069.91.
Hong Kong: The expected correction after recent strength took the Hang Seng index down 169.72 points to 8,861.41.
Sydney: Light profit-taking in active trade lowered the All Ordinaries 10 points to 2,075.5
Bombay: A one-hour special trading session after the end of the brokers' strike saw the index add 9.37 points to 2,720.29.
Johannesburg: Gold shares lost some of their gains in the afternoon, but the overall index held on to a 15-point advance at 3,916.
Frankfurt: With many investors switching out of Volkswagen and Daimler-Benz, the DAX index fell 6.56 points to 2,026.76.
Paris: Maintaining its winning sequence, the CAC-40 index edged up 2.33 points to 2,147.32.
Zurich: After seven record- breaking sessions, the SPI eased 1.11 points to 1,659.74.
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