Business & City in Brief

Two jailed for tax fraud

Bernard Cunningham, a barrister and brother-in-law of the leading barrister Helena Kennedy, and Christopher Charlton, a former director of Derby Football Club, were jailed for 15 months and five years respectively by Judge Henry Benson at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday for tax fraud.

Charlton was convicted on 11 counts of promoting fraudulent tax savings schemes to clients of his firm, Charltons. Cunningham was convicted on two counts of falsely misrepresenting or concealing the true nature of purchases and commissions paid by several companies to other businesses.

Ryland placing

Ryland Group, the motor distributor, is placing 11 million shares at 80p, giving the company a market capitalisation of pounds 22.7m. Net proceeds of the placing will be pounds 7.48m. Dealings are expected to commence on September 22. The chairman, Peter Whale, said the proceeds would be used to reduce borrowings and fund acquisitions.

Spanish stake

Pearson, on behalf of the Financial Times, is to purchase a further 8 per cent stake in Recoletos Cia Editorial, the Spanish newspaper publishing group in which it already holds a 39 per cent stake.

Lloyd's venture

JIB Group and Swiss Bank Corporation are establishing a joint venture company, Jardine Lloyd's Advisers, a members' agent and Lloyd's adviser. It will carry on the business previously operated by Jardine (Lloyd's Underwriting Agents) and will work closely with SBC on developing new sources of corporate capital for Lloyd's 1995.

Chemistry team

The Secretary of State for Health, Virginia Bottomley, has appointed Sir Richard Sykes, deputy chairman and chief executive of Glaxo Holdings, to head a joint industry/government team to promote inward investment in the pharmaceutical sector.

Jardine firms delist

Hongkong Land and Mandarin Oriental, subsidiaries of Jardine Matheson, have decided to withdraw their secondary listing of ordinary shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange from 31 March next year.

Dumping decision

The European Commission will decide within the next week whether to impose anti- dumping duties on colour television sets from five Asian countries and Turkey, a Commission spokesman said. Reports suggest the Commission may soon announce duties exceeding 20 per cent on sets from China, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Turkey.

World Markets

New York: A sharp gain in US production last month hit shares and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 20.53 points at 3,933.35 by the close.

Tokyo: Corporate stock selling was the main feature as the Nikkei average retreated 123.12 points to close at 19,796.26.

Hong Kong: A late buying spree lifted the market out of its lethargy and took the Hang Seng index 105.88 points - more than 1 per cent - ahead to 9,968.52.

Sydney: Following Wall Street higher, the All Ordinaries index added 8.2 points to 2,059.

Bombay: Sustained buying in a few selected issues raised the index 18.78 points to 4,622.93.

Johannesburg: A surge in the gold price barely moved lacklustre shares. The overall index ended 14 points in arrears at 5,826.

Paris: Shares plunged heavily as US statistics rekindled concern about inflation. The CAC-40 index fell 52.71 points to 1,924.59.

Frankfurt: Bond weakness restricted gains. The DAX index firmed 4.75 points to 2,118.73.

Zurich: Lower bond futures and the US data combined to send the SPI 11.58 lower to 1,723.62.

London: Report, page 13.