From gears@eng2.uconn.eduWed Jan 31 23:16:07 1996 Date: Wed, 10 Jan 1996 12:19:14 -0500 (EST) From: ** Dagitim ** To: ** ITUMD ** Istanbul Teknik Universitesi Mezunlari Dernegi Uluslararasi Kurulusu Subject: ENDUSTRIDEN HABERLER (fwd) _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ To: ITU Alumni Scattered All Around The World _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ NEWS SUMMARY TUESDAY JANUARY 9, 1996 1. UTX: 94 1/8, +1 1/8. Vol: 106,000 shares. DJIA: 5197.68, +16.25. S&P: 618.46, +1.75. Note: Blizzard conditions forced the closing of UTC's corporate headquarters Monday. As a result, yesterday's Morning News Summary was not published. UTC's stock price Friday closed at 93, -1/4, on a volume of 278,300 shares. * * * 2. LOCKHEED MARTIN, in a startling move, announced Monday that it planned to acquire most of Loral Corp. in a complex deal valued at more than $10 billion. The remaining part of Loral, principally its space and satellite- related businesses, is expected to be put into a joint venture co-owned with Lockheed. The pact gives added strength to Lockheed Martin, already the world's largest defense company, and may spur further industry consolidation. (Wall St. Journal, Pg. A3; N.Y. Times, Pg. 47) News of the proposed transaction lifted UTC and other aerospace and defense stocks Monday. (N.Y. Times, Pg. 47; Investor's Business Daily; USA Today) The deal is a success for Loral's chairman, Bernard Schwartz, who built the company into a defense giant. (Wall St. Journal, Pg. B1) McDonnell Douglas, now the second-largest U.S. defense contractor, hasn't been drawn into the acquisition game, but investors say the company can't afford to wait much longer. (Investor's Business Daily) * * * 3. MALAYSIAN AIRLINE System said today it will buy 25 Boeing jetliners over the next five years. The order includes 10 747-400s powered by Pratt & Whitney engines and 15 777s powered by Rolls-Royce engines. Shares in UTC stock rose 3/8 to 94 1/2 in London on news of the Malaysian deal. (Reuters) * * * 4. INTERNATIONAL AERO Engines won a $120 million order from All Nippon Airways that originally was awarded to competitor CFM International. ANA said a year ago it would order CFM engines for 10 A321 aircraft, with an option for eight more. The airline decided the IAE engines would be quieter. IAE's V2500 engines for All Nippon Airways will be assembled by Rolls-Royce in England; Rolls and Pratt & Whitney are major partners in the IAE engine consortium. (Hartford Courant, Pg. F1, 1/6) * * * 5. BOEING IS reportedly close to winning a long-awaited firm order for as many as 60 planes, mostly for new versions of the Boeing 737, from General Electric's jetliner-leasing unit. A follow-on order for at least 40 Airbus jetliners is expected in coming weeks by the GE unit. (Wall St. Journal, Pg. A3; Investor's Business Daily) * * * 6. THE RESURGENT U.S. airline industry is expected to report a 1995 profit of $2 billion, its largest profit since 1989. Increased passenger traffic, a sound economy, limited fare wars and low fuel prices all helped the nation's airlines this year to repair balance sheets and prepare to buy new aircraft, according to the Air Transport Association. (Hartford Courant, Pg. B1) Airlines face millions of dollars in losses from the blizzard that has kept thousands of flights in northeastern U.S. airports grounded yesterday for the second straight day. (Investor's Business Daily) * * * 7. U.S. SALES of light vehicles for 1995 totaled 14,754,591 cars and light trucks, down 1.8% from the year-earlier 15,080,758. (Wall St. Journal, Pg. A4) The U.S. auto industry may be hard-pressed this year to improve on a lackluster 1995, as debt-ridden consumers balk at high sticker prices. (USA Today) Automotive experts believe the price of some cars and trucks could rise up to 20% by the year 2000, and fear of consumer backlash could force manufacturers to cooperate to hold down costs. (Investor's Business Daily) General Motors' chairman, John Smith, sees a good year ahead for his company. (Investor's Business Daily) Nissan warned that the demographic traits of new- and used-car buyers are converging, posing a threat to new-car sales as the prestige of owning new vehicles fades. (Wall St. Journal, Pg. C15) * * * 8. FORD MOTOR plans across-the-board incentives beginning today to spur lagging sales of its products. Rebates will cover a wide variety of vehicles, including the new Taurus, which has suffered from slower-than- expected demand. Industry analysts warned Ford could set off an industry- wide price war. (Investor's Business Daily; Wall St. Journal, Pg. A3) * * * 9. VISITORS TO UTC's home page on the World Wide Web will soon be able to "travel" to 20 cities around the world on a new geography game that demonstrates how global the company's operations are. (Hartford Courant, Pg. B1) * * * NEWS SUMMARY WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10, 1996 1. UTX: 93 3/8, -3/4. Vol: 290,400 shares. DJIA: 5130.13, -67.55. S&P: 609.45, -9.01. * * * 2. BOEING WON a 25-jet order, valued at $4 billion, from Malaysian Airline System for its 777 and 747 planes. The order set back an effort by Airbus to expand its presence on the Asian carrier's fleet. The Malaysian Airline order includes the purchase of 45 Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines for the airline's fleet of 10 Boeing 747-400s. The order is worth more than $400 million. Rolls-Royce engines will power the airline's order for 15 Boeing 777s. (Wall St. Journal, Pg. A4; N.Y. Times, Pg. D2; Hartford Courant, Pg. F1; Investor's Business Daily; Reuters; AP) * * * 3. CHINESE OFFICIALS are playing down a report in the publication China Daily criticizing foreign companies for using their financial clout to push out their Chinese partners when their operations become successful. Cited as examples were Tianjin Otis Elevator Co. and a Coca-Cola joint venture in Shenyang. But Li Zengzhong, deputy division chief of the foreign investment department of China's State Economic and Trade Commission, said, "We will ensure that in key state enterprises, the Chinese partner will always have the majority holding." (Bloomberg, 1/9) * * * 4. UNITED TECHNOLOGIES Automotive says it will close its plant in Bennettsville, S.C., by the end of March. The closing will affect 264 people. The work at Bennettsville will be moved to facilities in Illinois, Ohio and the Philippines. (The Columbia, S.C., State; Florence, S.C., Morning News; AP, 1/9) * * * 5. CHLORINE GAS created by the accidental mixing of hydrochloric acid and sodium hypochlorite (bleach) at United Technologies Automotive's plant in Columbus, Miss., Friday sent 11 people to the hospital. The 600 UTA employees evacuated from the plant returned to work four hours after the incident. (Columbus Commercial Dispatch, 1/7) * * * 6. SCHINDLER, THE Swiss maker of elevators and escalators, is emerging scarred but whole from a ruinous battle for market share with its international competitors. Profit for 1995 is expected to have dropped some 50%, but a gradual recovery is a good prospect, leading analysts to upgrade their recommendations. The lingering, unanswered question is whether Schindler stock has hit bottom. (Wall St. Journal Europe, 1/9) * * * 7. FORD FACES the prospect of deep production cuts, partly due to stiff competition and a company culture that spends heavily on product development, pushing up costs for buyers. Ford's problems are said to go beyond recent sales figures. The company is beginning to exhibit some core weaknesses that could leave it ill-equipped to meet the challenges of an industry that includes a revived GM, a creative Chrysler and a Toyota that is expected to close the decade with cheaper products and a bigger U.S. market share. Separately, Ford announced $600 rebates on nearly every car and light truck it sells. (Wall St. Journal, Pg. A1; Hartford Courant, Pg. F2; Investor's Business Daily) * * * 8. OFFICIALS FROM GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda and BMW say they plan to spend much less to develop vehicles over the next few years and warned suppliers not to expect to charge more for components. Honda Vice President Dave Nelson says the Japanese carmaker expects to spend 30% less to develop the next-generation Honda Accord. Chrysler's Thomas Stallkamp says slashing spending has become a way of life. (USA Today) * * * 9. NASA ENGINEERS are working to keep unusually cold Florida weather from delaying tomorrow morning's launching of the space shuttle Endeavour. To keep the shuttle warm, ground workers blew warm air inside and pumped warm nitrogen over the devices that steer the shuttle's boosters. NASA says there is a 70% chance that Endeavour would blast off at 4:18 a.m. Thursday as planned. ›Two of Endeavor's three main engines have Pratt & Whitney Liquid Oxygen Alternate turbopumps.| (N.Y. Times, Pg. A13) * * * 10. FRENCH STATE-controlled aerospace group Aerospatiale says it remained in the red in 1995, battered by a bitter international price war, shrinking defense budgets and a weak dollar. Aerospatiale did not indicate whether its 1995 loss would be smaller or larger than its 1994 deficit. (AP) * * * 11. VOLVO IS weighing plans to build cars and sport-utility vehicles in North America. The facility would be Volvo's first major one outside Europe. (Wall St. Journal, Pg. A3)