European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 4, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 4, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters today s tip Hercules aerospace will Lay off nearly 400 employees in March bringing to about 2,000 the number of jobs lost to cutbacks in . Defense spending Over the past two years. The latest reduction is due to the air forces termination of two development contracts for the Small intercontinental ballistic missile Hercules officials said in Magna Utah on monday. Hercules was involved in the missiles third stage and a laser ordnance firing system. A we sincerely regret the Impact this has on affected employees and their families a said . Peterson vice president and general manager of the Utah aerospace division. Hercules employment in Utah now totals less than 3,000 at the main Plant in Magna and at operations in Clearfield and the Tekoa test Range in the Western desert. Conversion rates London up a tuesdays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $351.65 an ounce Sliver at $4.13. March 2 March 3 British Pound.1.7520 1.7393 German mark.1.6435 1.6550 French franc.5.5622 5.6250 dutch guilder.1.8475 1.0640 belgian franc.33.73 34.12 italian lira.1,227.45 1,240.45 Swiss franc.1.4905 1.5005 greek drachma.189.24 190.75 turkish lira.5,871.60 5,909.00 saudi arabian riyal.3.7501 3.7502 Spanish peseta.103.30 103.68 portuguese escudo.141.00 141.95 Canadian dollar.1.1827 1.1890 austrian schilling.11.5325 11.6125 norwegian krone.6.42 6.44 danish krone.6.3560 6.3685 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rates concerns the Sale of German Marks and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and these will be 1.61 Marks to a Dollar and $1.78 for a Pound through wednesday based on tuesdays noontime Price fixings. Rents rising in Chicago Chicago up a apartment dwellers in the Chicago area can expect rent increases of 2 percent to 5.5 percent this Spring a report said monday. Inland property management the biggest landlord in the area with 35,000 apartment units said its rents will increase a maximum 5.5 percent. Increases last year ranged from 4 to 8 percent the Chicago Sun times said. In addition to holding Down rents apartment management companies Are trying to lure renters with offers of two months free rent and parking Cable television health club memberships and moving expenses the newspaper said. Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones dosing Range of averages monday High lev close change 3298.97 3242.40 3275.27 up 7.60 1454.04 1416.48 1443.01 up 14.76 206.37 203.81 204.99 off 0.63 1192.83 1169.98 1184.20 up 4.76 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks Rise in consumer spending belies pessimism in Economy Washington a the government reported monday that consumer spending Rose Only slightly in january but analysts noted it was to pfc third straight increase against falling incomes and reports of waning Confidence in the Economy. A at least they re not As pessimistic in their actions As they Are in sentiment a economist Daryl Delano of Cahners economics in Newton mass., said of Consumers. A conference Board Survey showed consumer Confidence fell in january after leveling off a month earlier. The Commerce department said personal consumption totalled $3.97 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate up from $3.96 trillion in december. Consumption which had fallen 0.2 percent in october Rose 0.5 percent in both november and december. A Consumers were not leading the Economy out of the recession but they were not dragging it into one either a David Berson an economist with the Federal National mortgage association said of the slight gain. Consumer spending accounts for two pm expands operations in Europe London apr in the United states general motors corp. Is shutting 21 plants and laying off 74,000 people to Cope with the largest loss in . Corporate history. But in Europe pm is opening plants hiring workers and posting bigger profits than any other automaker. The result is that the european operations which stretch from its Vauxhall factories in Britain to Small Assembly lines in Turkey Are playing a key role in keeping the no. 1 . Car maker going. A we had a very very Good year a Bob Eaton president of pm Europe said by Telephone from his Headquarters in Zurich Switzerland. The contrast has not gone unnoticed. Europe the worlds largest Auto Market has become a blueprint Tor Gmys strategy to reverse its financial tailspin in the United states. Those plans grew clearer last week As pm identified 12 american plants slated for shutdown. Autoworkers who bucked the National Union and offered to work the kind of hours that helped pm make a profit in Europe were the big winners. The Auto giants overseas Success partly stems from a sales spurt in unified Germany representing 40 percent of Gmys european Market. But analysts also cite unusually flexible work practices a including round the clock shifts. Pm can replace old european models faster than its competitors a in five years rather than eight to 10. Pm ranks fourth among european automakers and has been increasing its share but it Hasni to gone hell Bent for the no. 1 spot in Europe a said John Lawson an analyst with Nomura research Institute in London. A it will want to make More cars and it will want to make them profitably and aiming for the no. 1 spot Isnit necessarily a recipe for High margins a Lawson said. Gmys North american car and truck operations lost $4.5 billion last year meanwhile it earned $1.76 billion in Europe an 8 percent decline from 1990. Eaton attributed the european profit thirds of the nations Economy and thus is vital to a continued economic recovery. Spending was held in Check by a 0.1 percent drop in personal incomes to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $4,928 trillion Down from $4,931 trillion in december. A Cost of living adjustment in several Federal Transfer payment programs an increase in unemployment insurance Benefit payments and a pay raise for Federal government employees was offset by a decline in farm subsidies and increased social Security withholding. The difference Between spending and incomes contributed to a 5.3 percent savings rate in january Down from 5.5 percent in december but still above the 4.9 percent rate a month earlier. A 0.9 percent decline in purchases of usually Long lasting and expensive durable goods helped hold Down consumption. A automobile sales fell in january but have already demonstrated a pickup in data available so far for february a said economist Marilyn Schaja of Donaldson Lufkin amp Jenrette a new York securities dealer. Domestic automakers have reported sales gains in each of the three 10-Day periods through mid february. Disposable incomes a incomes after taxes a also edged Down 0.1 percent after jumping 1.1 percent a month earlier. The decline matched a similar drop in november. A key element of the income category a wages and salaries a fell $14.6 billion nearly wiping out a $18.8 billion gain in december. The income and spending figures were not adjusted for inflation. When adjusted disposable incomes slipped 0.2 percent. Inflation adjusted consumer spending was up just 0.1 percent the smallest increase since a 0.4 percent Advance in october. Consumption Rose 0.3 percent in november and 0.2 percent in december. Spending on durable goods a usually expensive items such As cars and carpets a fell $4.2 billion for the third straight monthly decline. 1 general motors corp. Financial profile pm quarterly losses in billions of dollars 1990 1991 in i ii Iii in �?�2.5 pm Domestic vehicle sales in millions of dollars 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 big 3 combined losses in billions of dollars 1990 1991 in i ii Iii in �?�2.1 .2.3 4k -2.9 pm net earnings and Revenue a net sales and Revenue i i net income or loss in billions of dollars 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 -$4.5 5? j$3.8 p$a2 pm pm but p$3j i $0.95 $123.0 $124.7 $126.9 $123.6 $114.9 $115.6 $106.7 $93.1 $82.5 $67.7 i $69.2 0.32 source Bloomberg financial markets slowdown to Gmys Midsummer switch in production to its new generation Astra from its Wadett which was Europe a second Best Selling car in 1990, after the Volkswagen Golf. In contrast Ford motor co. Lost $1.08 billion in Europe in 1991 largely because of a slump in Britain that also Hurt its Jaguar luxury car unit. Pm said its total european car sales Rose 1 percent to 1.64 million in 1991 a we. J. Castello from 1.63 million in 1990, giving it 12.2 percent of Europe a Auto sales. Gmys German car sales Rose 25 percent to 713,400 cars from 569,800. Pm Europe plans to expand its car production capacity by 25 percent to 2 million by 1995. A a we re right on target for that a Eaton said. A we had a lot of excess demand around and we expect to continue to have excess