In Brief

The first tranche of France Telecom's share offering will be for approximately 20 per cent of its capital and will come to the market in the second half of April 1997, Francois Fillon, Post and Telecommunications Minister, said in an interview published in La Tribune today. Mr Fillon said the government wanted to "carry out the biggest popular shareholding operation ever seen in France" and 10 per cent of the shares would be offered to France Telecom's employees. The government earlier said it would retain a 51 per cent stake in France Telecom. Mr Fillon also said a third operator should be established in France besides France Telecom and Cie Generale des Eaux.

Rebel Lloyd's names said that letters sent last week by the insurance market's debt collectors were "deliberately intended to intimidate" and also ignored large sums owed by Lloyd's to its members. Christopher Stockwell, chairman of the Lloyd's Names Associations' Working Party, called the market's debt collecting activities incompetent. Lloyd's is on the point of issuing writs to about 200 names, demanding they pay their debts.

Korean electronics giant Hyundai is to invest almost pounds 1bn in Scotland, creating 700 jobs, it was confirmed yesterday. The South Korean company will build two plants to produce semiconductors at Halbeath, Dunfermline, Fife. Hyundai will invest pounds 900m in the region, marking the culmination of years of diplomatic efforts by the British Embassy in the Korean capital, Seoul. The embassy had been cultivating Hyundai for several years when the company approached diplomats with the proposal to build semiconductor production plants late last year.

Burford, the property company, is to spin off its 25 per cent-owned associate Grantchester as a separately quoted retail warehouse investment company. Following listing, Grantchester will have net assets of pounds 63.4m. Burford shareholders, who have already seen the Trocadero spun off from their company on to the Alternative Investment Market, will receive one Grantchester share for every 13 Burford shares they hold.

Banking supervisors from 140 countries have endorsed a move to overcome bank secrecy laws, which can impede regulatory efforts, and have agreed to make efforts to amend conflicting legislation by October 1998. The move is part of a wider plan to strengthen the effectiveness of banking supervision outlined in a paper published yesterday which contains 29 recommendations for improvement. The paper has was published by the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision, the central bankers' bank for developed countries, and has been signed by the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors, which comprises regulators from financial centres such as the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas, as well as other countries which are not members of either body.

Rolls-Royce said it planned to sell Bristol Aerospace Limited. Bristol employs 960 people and specialises in the repair and overhaul of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and the manufacture of aero-engine and aircraft components for Rolls-Royce and other manufacturers. It also produces missiles and rockets for military and space applications. Rolls-Royce said the company's products had moved away from what it sees as its core business. Separately, Cooper Rolls, a joint venture between Cooper Cameron Corp and Rolls-Royce, said it had received orders worth more than $100m for 10 new gas turbines and the retrofit of four units.

United Utilities is selling its process equipment division for about pounds 125m in cash and shares to United States Filter Corp. For the year-end March 1996 the division had revenue of pounds 172m. "Although the process division no longer fits with our strategy of focusing on our core utility activities, we are confident that the process businesses will make a significant and growing contribution to US Filters' world-wide operation," said Brian Staples, chief executive of United Utilities.

Moss Bros, the menswear retailer, saw first-half profits jump by 54 per cent to pounds 4.9m, boosted by strong suit sales and a good performance from the Moss Bross rentals business. The managing director, Rowland Gee, said "black tie" hires had been good during the wedding season with encouraging forecasts for corporate entertaining in the run-up to Christmas.

Investment Column, page 27