However some of the excess seems destined for expanding the Italian and French operations

However, some of the excess seems destined for expanding the Italian and French operations. Barclays’ proposed sale of its BZW stockbroking arm would suggest one player eager to keep its eyes trained on more prosaic, but more rewarding businesses.Still with the conversion stocks, Woolwich’s shares have also reached record levels. With about pounds 600m of surplus capital floating about, the equivalent of 38p a share, shareholders can expect a mini-bonanza as the company embarks on a share buy-back operation. At pounds 2.1bn, the group would be attractive to several players looking to buy a profitable, low-cost, high-growth mortgage machine. Longer term view, the Rock is not yet a candidate for inclusion in the FTSE 100, but it may be only a matter of a year or two before that is a serious prospect.

At present, the shares would need to rise to 500p, for it to warrant full blue-chip status. Tracker funds and the like, goes the argument, would then have to weigh into the shares, sending them even higher.And finally, there is Northern Rock the takeover candidate. Earnings per share were up 20 per cent over the same period to 4.8p.Is there a gold mine under Northern Rock? The shares closed at 473p on Friday – an astonishing level given that most analysts thought 450p was the upper limit achievable. Of course this could, and perhaps very probably is, no more than a technical reaction, further provoked by market makers squeezing the stock. For that reason, it could all too easily end, if not in tears, then with some substantial declines. For the small conversion shareholders who want to lock in their gains, the answer seems clear: sell your shares now.

Finance director Ian Blackburn is confident it will have achieved sales of pounds 20m within two years.Tomorrow, a contingent of analysts will descend for a site visit. They are likely to be impressed by the hi-tech appearance; Perkins believes it is the most modern factory of its kind in Europe, and is keen to boast of the strict hygiene regime and controlled operating environment.Brokers forecast a range of pre-tax profits from around pounds 27m to pounds 28m for the full year to 31 December 1997, rising to up to pounds 32m in 1998. Its recent interim results saw profit before tax surge 27 per cent to pounds 14.1m. Perkins Foods, the fresh-to-frozen and chilled foods group, has secured significant orders from two supermarket chains for its new factory outside Barnsley. The two have, between them, ordered sales of 30 tonnes per week, split evenly between wafer-thin ham and wafer thin chicken and turkey.
The factory, which cost pounds 4m to build, with another pounds 2m earmarked to be spent early next year, will be able to generate pounds 30m in sales when it is in full swing. Japan’s contractors are struggling to service 12 trillion yen in interest-bearing debt which has been left over from land bought during the 1980s asset-inflated bubble.In contrast, Japanese bonds are likely to rise on pessimism that the economic outlook will remain too shaky to withstand higher interest rates.Copyright: IOS & Bloomberg.

Of the 161 half- year earnings revisions announced since mid-September, 63 per cent have been lower.Sliding land prices and record bankruptcies are also weighing on investors Contractors as a group fell nearly 4 per cent this week. Heavyweights ranging from Hitachi to Mitsukoshi to Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Ltd cut profit forecasts or projected losses, blaming Japan’s skidding economy. Mitsubishi Electric Corp, which makes consumer electronics, climbed 5.5 per cent to 444; Sharp Corp, a maker of audio equipment and computers, added 2.9 per cent to 1,080.Car manufacturers rose 1.1 per cent as a group with Honda Motor Co rising 2.4 per cent to 4,350.Stocks dependent on domestic demand, including contractors and retailers, may fall next week following a spate of bad economic news.The Bank of Japan’s “tankan” survey of business sentiment, released Wednesday, showed consumer spending has not recovered since an April sales tax increase with confidence fading throughout the nation’s industries.A parade of Japanese companies this week lowered their earnings forecasts for the half-year ended 30 September. “The only saviour is that Western economies are strong, particularly the US,” – meaning strong sales for exporters.The dollar’s strengthening against the yen by as much as one yen on Friday may also help exporters.Sony Corp, which relies on exports for about two-thirds of its sales, rose 2.6 per cent to 11,800. Still, with inflation benign and interest rates falling, neither are stocks likely to tumble any time soon.Copyright: IOS & Bloomberg. The performance of Japanese stocks is likely to be mixed this week as gains by exporters on strong overseas demand offset declines in the rest of the market on pessimism over corporate earnings.