Briefs

Press, 4 April 1985, Page 20

Briefs

NZ Salmon The New Zealand Salmon Company, Ltd, said it had allocated 971,000 shares in settlement of its purchase of assets in Marlborough Perna and to provide working capital for the enlarged venture. Awakino well The Awakino No. 1 oil well, off Taranaki, was at 2272 m at 6 a.m. yesterday, having progressed 39m in the previous 24 hours, Petrocorp (Exploration), Ltd, said. Drilling is continuing. Prog Ent move Progressive Enterprises, Ltd, is adopting a divisional management structure to run its recently acquired 3 Guys stores with its Foodtown supermarket chain. It had always been the intention to run Foodtown and 3 Guys as competing businesses, said Progressive’s chief executive, Mr Graeme Kelly. Mr Quentin Ross has been appointed general manager of Foodtown Supermarkets, Ltd, and Mr Brian Stanton will continue as the general manager of 3 Guys. Rheem change The chairman of Rheem New Zealand, Ltd, Mr J. G. Forsythe, is to join the board of Rheem Australia, Ltd. The appointment follows the successful completion of the acquisition by Rheem Australia of the minority interests of Rheem New Zealand. Mr Forsythe will continue as chairman of Rheem New Zealand. Bloom plant Two major Japanese firms will export a bloom plant worth SNZB6.9M to the Broken

Hill Proprietary, Ltd. Kobe Steel, Ltd, a steelmaker, and C. Itoh and Company, a general trading house, said the continuous casting plant with annual production capacity of 2M tonnes would be delivered in June, 1987. Out of Abacus Mr John Veale has retired from the board of Abacus Consolidated, Ltd, after 36 years with the group. Huge merger Two American hospital firms have agreed to one of the largest mergers in United States history outside the oil industry, giving the combined companies a market value of a SUS 6.6 billion (SNZI4.S billion). The merger between Hospital Corp, of America (HCA), the largest United States hospital management chain, and the American Hospital Supply Corp., the largest distributor of hospital supplies, was unanimously approved by the directors of both companies. Inflation down Prices paid by consumers in major non-Communist countries in 1984 showed the smallest rise in 12 years, the International Monetary Fund reported. The average increase in 21 countries was 4.8 per cent, which the fund called a sharp over-all drop from the five per cent of 1983. Though the United States had a belowaverage inflation rate of 4.3 per cent, its 1984 rate was higher than the 3.2 per cent mark of a year before. The average supply of money, considered a major element in inflation, grew only 7 per cent in the 21 countries. It was 9.9 per cent in 1983.