European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 20, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 20, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 17money matters Federal express corp. Stock tumbled $6 wednesday on the new York Stock Exchange two Days after the company announced plans for dramatic cuts in its european affairs. The air freight company announced plans monday to Cut its european work Force by 70 percent and contract with other cargo shippers to make Many of its deliveries within Europe. A for those who have a Short term focus they sold their Stock today a said Kevin Murphy a Market analyst with Morgan Stanley amp co. Of new York. Federal express has struggled with overseas expansion since 1985, and the company a efforts in Europe have proved More difficult and expensive than expected. Federal express Stock dropped from $55.25 per share to $49.25. Conversion rates London up a thursdays 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 s338.50 an ounce Silver at $4.03. March 18 March 19 British Pound.1.73085 1.7185 German mark.1.6495 1.6623 French franc.5.6070 5.6445 dutch guilder.1.8622 1.8697 belgian franc.34.08 34.22 italian lira.1,242.05 1,251.50 Swiss franc. 1.4960 1.5045 greek drachma.191.20 192.04 turkish lira.6,087.40 6,133.00 saudi arabian rtyal.3.7501 3.7503 Spanish peseta.104.55 105.00 portuguese escudo .142.45 143.04 Canadian dollar.1.1925 1.1930 austrian schilling.11.6425 11.6920 norwegian krone.6.494 6.522 danish krone.6.4225 6.4510 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 British pounds and German Marks to . Personnel for personal use. Through Friday these will be $1.76 for a Pound and 1.62 Marks to a Dollar based on Price fixings thursday afternoon at military banking facilities. New York Exchange new York up York Stock Exchange Stock the 15 most Active stocks in new composite trading on wednesday. Salei Lett not chg. Waste mgt ins 4,976,900 40 % off 2% blockbuster ent 3,547,000 13 i off % Glaxo holdings 2,312,400 26% off Ford motor co 2,302,800 39 up Rwjr Nabisco hid 1,997,100 9 i of at amp to company 1,976,400 39% up Rwjr Nabisco pop 1,885,600 10% unch Chrysler corp Eastman Kodak 1,768,000 17% off 1,675,300 40% up % limited inc 1,515,300 29% up Uniss Cora Philip moms 1,492,200 10% up % 1,276,900 77% o�1 % Amer express co general motors 1,205,700 22 unch 1,184,600 38% up Pepsico inc 1,183,900 32% of american Exchange new York up american Stock exert a the ten most Active stocks in Ange composite trading wednesday. Stock sales last Nat chg. Chambers Dev a 16,568,100 11 % off 19% inti Corona 550,600 4 3-16 up 1-16 Alza corp 495,800 45% up % off % us Bio science 416,000 16% Wang labs inc b new York times 402,200 6% off % 355,900 30% off % Chambers Dev b 328,200 11 % off 19 % fruit of loom 271,400 34 up % Echo Bay mines 210,700 6% up % Elan corp pc 202,600 48% up 1 % Dow Jones new York up wednesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 utilities 65 stocks a Dow Jones closing Range of averages Ciao be Oft 1.79 off 710 Oft 0 25 Oft 2.30 High 3281.98 1422.65 205.62 118101 Low 3230.10 1388.45 20324 1160.09 close 3254.25 1401.72 204 62 1169.38 foreign revenues play big role in movie Industry s 91 growth by Dave Mcnary up business writer los Angeles a All the growth in the . Movie Industry last year came from a 9 percent increase in foreign revenues while Domestic performance was Flat a study released tuesday showed. That trend should continue and keep the Industry healthy predicted Jeffrey b. Logsdon an entertainment Industry analyst with Seidler a dec securities of los Angeles. A while everyone Learned the Industry is not recession proof it fared much better in 1991 than Many other industries under the Broad a consumer umbrella a Logsdon said. A going Forward the Industry May not be in As bad a shape As the Ress continues to articulate and specs ate  Overall foreign revenues from . Movies totalled $6.6 billion last year compared with $6.1 billion in 1990. Domestic revenues remained at $7.8 billion. Logsdon predicted that by 1994, foreign revenues will exceed Domestic revenues. International revenues consisted of $2.4 billion from Heaters $2.7 billion from Home video $1.2 billion from television and $350 million from pay television. A it is logical to ask when might maturity visit the foreign markets. We do not believe any time soon a Logsdon said citing investments of More than $100 million to build new Heaters the opening of a Large new markets and an increase in video Cable and satellite services. Hollywood has been rocked in recent years by the movement of foreign Money into studios including 20th Century Fox in 1985, Columbia Tri Star in 1989, Mem in 1990 and Universal at the Start of last year. Logsdon said the increase in foreign Revenue growth a adds credibility to the foreign equity that has come into the business and May motivate More such investment. A we have yet to detect any noticeable uncertainties created by foreign ownership of four of the seven major studios a he said. The study noted that costs have been coming under Maior constraints at several studios notably Disney and Paramount with film production costs off 10 percent and distribution costs Down by 5 percent. �?o1991 was the year in which the entertainment Industry attempted to bring financial sanity to their Basic business a Logsdon said. Continued big spending by Columbia Tri Star and Carol co service inc., which produced terminator 2 judgment Day the costliest and Best performing film of 1991, kept average costs up Logsdon said. Tri Star also had the biggest Money loser of 1991, Hudson Hawk. Columbian a Best 1991 Effort was City slickers but it has been embarrassed so far this year with the Back to Back release of two flops radio flyer and gladiators. Logsdon noted that the costs of top. Line Talent will not go Down. A the demand for key Talent is too High and the stakes Are too great for the system too change a he Saia. A what is changing is a shift by sonic away from buying a packages a obtaining Multi film options from Talent and More selectively utilizing special effects stunts and other Cost intensive production activities a Logsdon said. These changes should help lower the Cost of the annual  last years Domestic Box office total fell about 3 percent to about $4.8 billion but the reports said consumer demand should pick up As the recession abates. A this could make for Good years in 1992 and 1993 if there is any upward con product at All a Sumer momentum in the Here i Eli Warners Batman returns and lethal or Logsdon said. A we think there will  Logsdon said that three sequels weapon 3 and foxes Home alone ii a have the possibility of outperforming the originals. That would be an impressive feat since Batman grossed More than $250 million domestically and Home alone topped $280 million. Quot this is the most optimistic product year since 1989,�?� he said Consumers get news Worth smiling about Santa Cruz Calif. Up a the a Cost of laughing Index has declined slightly for the first time in six years mainly because of reduced prices at comedy clubs a humor consultant said thursday. A a in a glad the inflationary spiral has stopped a said Malcolm Kushnir a lawyer turned humor consultant. A but it seems strange to say that a humor Index is  Kushnerz a Index fell 0.03 percent. It increased by 4.5 percent last year and 9.4 percent in 1990. Groucho glasses and a issues of mad and National Lampoon the Index includes the annual Price change in admission to comedy clubs in 10 . Cities prices of rubber chickens a a Arrow through the head gags issues of mad an. S magazines Tunny singing telegrams and the fee for writing a television situation comedy. The lampoons Price and admission to the second City comedy club in Chicago were the Only prices of the 17-item Index to increase on a year to year basis. The lampoons Price for its april Issue went from $2.95 to $3.95, while the clubs Price increased by $1.50 to $10.50. Prices fell for a dozen Groucho glasses from $15 to $14.40. Admission to three clubs a the comedy club in Denver comic strip in new York and the holy City zoo in san Francisco a declined. The new York clubs Price plunged from $14 to $10. A the clubs either kept their prices the same or lowered them because of Supply and demand a said Kushner who stopped practising Law nearly a decade ago. A people can see a lot of comedy on to an election year which Means More free  for free plus its Kushner said the demand for his services has remained fairly constant. A there was a cutback in spending during the War last year so i lost some business. But local companies kept hiring me because people were so  some of Kushnerz a clients include ism Chevron ask computer systems Hewlett Packard and the internal Revenue service. He is the author of the Book the Light touch How to use humor for business sue Cess. Kushner said he has no regrets about leaving the Field of Law. A my sales pitch a that if i done to get bookings ill go Back to being an attorney a still seems to be working a he said. Vow will Lay off 300 in . Auburn Hills Mich. A Volkswagen of America says it will Lay off 25 percent or 300 employees of its 1,200-member . Work Force this Spring. A a. A the intent is we want to streamline management a said Maria Leon Hauser a spokeswoman for Auburn Hills based Volkswagen of America. A it obviously will reduce costs and we 11 become More efficient. Layoff notices will be issued april 1, with departures expected by May 1, she said. Business Japan says it will Cut vehicle exports to . From wire reports Tokyo a the ministry of International Trade and Industry announced wednesday a drastic tightening of the voluntary limit on car exports to the United states in a bid to ease mounting Trade friction. Trade minister Kozo Watanabe told a news conference that Japan will trim the quota from 2.3 million vehicles a year to its no. 1 trading partner to 1.65 million for the fiscal year starting april 1, in Hopes of bolstering the american Auto Industry a sluggish performance. Trump to share Plaza new York a Donald Trump who once vowed never to sell new Yorkus fabled Plaza hotel has agreed to give lenders a 49 percent share of it As part of a big debt restructuring the hotels president said wednesday. The announcement came a week after two of Trumps financially troubled casinos in Atlantic City n.j., filed for bankruptcy court Protection to restructure $538 million in debt. Trump the flamboyant real estate Developer bought the new York City landmark hotel in 1988 for $390 million calling it a the ultimate trophy in the  but after pouring millions of dollars into hotel improvements he was forced to relinquish a substantial ownership share As part of his broader attempt to Salvage his weakened real estate and gambling Empire. Nike earnings increase Beaverton Ore. A the athletic shoe and apparel marketeer Nike inc. Said monday that its earnings Rose 17 percent in the third Quarter helped by Strong International sales. Nike a net income for the three month period which ended feb. 29, was $82.5 million or $1.08 per share up from $70.7 million or 93 cents per share in the same period last year. Sales in its third fiscal Quarter increased 8 percent to $886 million from $802.2 million in the same period last year