European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 19, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday May 19, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters output by the nations factories mines and utilities Rose strongly for the third straight month in april the government said in a report that gave analysts another sign the Economy had turned around. The Federal Reserve report showed april a 0.5 percent growth in Industrial production was widespread and led by a Sharp Rise in Auto production. Most analysts said the report together with a big jump in the Money Supply after two weeks of decline Means the fed is unlikely to Cut interest rates any further. Conversion rates London up mondays 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 $339.20 an ounce Silver at $4.08. May 15 May 18 British Pound.1.8200 1.8392 German mark.1.6070 1.5957 French franc.5.4360 5.3580 dutch guilder.1.8250 1.7954 belgian franc.33.21 32.92 italian lira.1,217.75 1,201.25 Swiss franc.1.4750 1.4705 greek drachma.191.10 189.12 turkish lira.6,701.00 6,663.40 saudi arabian riyal.3.7497 3.7499 Spanish peseta.101.06 99.62 portuguese escudo.134.31 132.37 Canadian dollar.1.2085 1.1983 austrian schilling.11.3775 11.2210 norwegian krone.6.3190 6.2230 danish krone.6.2525 6.1545 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rates apply to the Sale of German Marks and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and these will be 1.56 Marks to a Dollar and $1.88 for a Pound through tuesday based on mondays noontime Price fix Ings. 2 steel makers plan joint Plant Tokyo a Bethlehem steel corp. Of the United states and a japanese owned . Steel maker will build a Plant jointly in the Industry a latest .-japanese collaboration an official of Akk corp. Said monday. Bethlehem and National steel corp. Will build the new Plant in Jackson miss., the official said. Akk owns 70 percent of National steel and is Japan a fifth largest steel maker. Bethlehem steel based in Bethlehem pa., is the Only major . Steel maker that has not had a tie up with a japanese counterpart. Five other major . Steel makers have such Mutual arrangements the new Plant is scheduled to open in Early 1994 and will produce 270,000 tons of Sheet steel in its first year said the official speaking on condition of anonymity. He estimated the Cost of the Plant at $100 million. National steel the fourth largest steel maker in the United states posted a $100 million loss in 1991. Its facilities Are being reconstructed with financial and technological help from Akk the japanese economic newspaper Nihon Meizai said. Bethlehem which fell about $700 million into debt in 1991, is mapping out plans to streamline its business the paper said. Olympia amp York s demise called last fall in real estate Market by Rob Wells the associated press new York a now that the global property depression has claimed its biggest victim yet a Olympia amp York developments Ltd. A How much further will the real estate Market decline real estate analysts and Bankers say its Tough to imagine How commercial real estate can sink lower. Nearly a fifth of the nations office space is vacant and property values Are a fraction of their Peak in the mid-80s. The effect is Broad based. Many construction workers Are jobless for Lack of new demand and some Bankers Are out on the Street following a wave of Bank failures linked to defaulting real estate Loans. A How much worse can it get a asked David Kostin vice president and real estate analyst Salomon Brothers inc. To Many analysts Olympia amp Yorkus decision to seek bankruptcy Protection thursday for some of its Canadian and . Assets was no Surprise. It fits in with a stunning decline in the Market that began in the late 1980s. In fact Many suggest Olympia amp Yorkus demise Marks the end of real estates decline. A this is sort of the last fall Here a said Ken Rosen chairman for the Center of real estate and Urban economics at University of California at Berkeley. A i think we re at the Bottom of the Cycle now although not in every  the Toronto based Olympia amp York is the worlds biggest commercial landlord owning or controlling 43 million Square feet of office space worldwide. It earned that title by taking bold risks in 1977, of Ampy a owners the Reichmann Brothers stunned new York property watchers by buying eight Manhattan office buildings in the City a last property slump. But the heavy risks caught up with the company. Its Riskiest venture a the 71-acre Canary wharf office project in East London a drained an estimated $72 million a month from the company. Combined with the punishing recession Olympia amp York found Little left Over to cover Bond payments on massive office towers in cities such As Manhattan and Toronto. It was forced to restructure $12.2 billion in debt with 91 Banks from Tokyo to Toronto to London. And when some of the Banks broke rank and began moving to seize assets to cover Loans Olympia amp York scrambled into bankruptcy court. Despite the staggering size of Olympia amp Yorkus holdings real estate appraisal specialist Doug Haney in los Angeles said the demise of one single company will not depress . Property values. Nor do analysts expect of Ampy a highly publicized fall to cause lenders to further abandon commercial real estate lending. Many Banks and insurance companies gave up commercial real estate lending in Early 1990 As Federal regulators tightened loan requirements office vacancy rates skyrocketed and new Glass and steel offices found no new tenants. Harry Kelly president of cd commercial mortgage in los Angeles agreed that Olympia amp Yorkus demise probably wont scare off lenders. A what we re seeing Here started before of amp a hit the papers a Kelly said. A this is not really that surprising. This is very much the trend we be been seeing Over the past  in fact some analysts suggest Money is beginning to trickle slowly Back into commercial real estate though office projects still Are shunned. A March study by Price waterhouse real estate group said Large investors it surveyed plan a 44 percent increase in real estate investments in 1992 Over the previous year. As for Banks of Ampy a bankruptcy filing raised More questions than it answered. Bank analysts in the United states and Canada say they have Little information about specific Banks risk to the wobbling Empire. The conglomerates bankruptcy papers reported assets of $18.55 billion and liabilities of about $17 billion. The filing seeks Protection for $7.14 billion of that debt the company said. Olympia amp Yorkus property Empire a sampling of of amp a real estate Canada Toronto first Canadian place 2 7 million soft vacancy rate 19% Scotia Plaza 1 6 million soft vacancy rate 15% Exchange Tower 1.0 million so. It. Vacancy rate 17% Calgary Esso place 15 million so. It vacancy rate. 12% Ottawa . Howe building 1 1 million so. It vacancy rate 0% Edmonton City Centre building 800.000 so. It vacancy rate 26% total Canadian rental spaces 14 Milhon so. It. United states new York world financial Center 5 9 million soft vacancy rate 3% 237 Park ave. 1 1 million soft vacancy rate 0% 1290 ave. Of the americas 19 million so. It vacancy rate 3% 1 Liberty Plaza 2 0 million so to vacancy rate 5% 2 Broadway 16 million soft vacancy rate 40% Orlando 28 Olympia place 400.000 soft vacancy rate 26% Dallas 1999 Bryan St. 700.000 soft vacancy rate 14% fetal . Rental 30 Monon so. It. Source the Toronto Globe and mail a determining which Bank stands the most to lose is difficult. Bankruptcy papers say Citibank of Canada for example has $761 million in claims through financial guarantees and interest rate Swap agreements. But a spokeswoman for Citicorp the Parent holding company of Citibank said the document does no to reflect the pieces of Loans and credit risk shared by other Banks. Citicorp a total credit risk from Loans and other financial agreements to Olympia amp York is $380 million and it has written off another $100 million As bad debts the banking company said. Vote clears Way for Swiss to join world Bank if Bern Switzerland apr Swiss voters on sunday reversed decades of reluctance to join global organizations and endorsed Switzerland a membership in the world Bank and International monetary fund. Markus Lusser president of the National Bank took the vote As a sign that the Swiss also might be willing to join the european Community. A Swiss voters have realized that the world has changed since the fall of the Berlin Wall and that the time has come to open themselves up internationally a Lusser said. A referendum is planned in december on whether to join the european economic area a preliminary move to dec membership. Finance minister Otto Stich welcomed sundays vote. A a in a glad that Switzerland now can help determine policies and not just serve As contributor a he said. Switzerland has Given generously to the two Washington based organizations for years though it held Only observer status. With All 26 cantons or states reporting nearly 56 percent of voters backed membership in the if and world Bank which preside Loans and development Aid to member nations. About 37.7 percent of the 4.5 million eligible voters participated. With the end of the cold War and the collapse of the soviet bloc the Swiss government has been moving away from its strict neutrality. Business Keating s son in Law admits misusing Lincoln a amp a funds by the associated press. Los Angeles a Charles Keating  son in Law the tight knit Robert m. Wurzelbacher jr., pleaded guilty to misusing $13 million from Lincoln savings the first of t family to admit wrongdoing in inc under the plea agreement entered Friday before . District judge Mariana Pfaelzer Wurzel Bacnar will cooperate with Federal authorities. However he wont have to testify in the Federal fraud and racketeering Case against Keating and others said assistant . Attorney David a. Sklansky. Exxon plans to Cut 1,000 jobs Houston a Exxon corp., the nations largest Energy company joined other big Oil firms trimming . Operations with an announcement it would Cut about 1,00 5 jobs by August. Exxon co. U.s.a., the company a Houston based Domestic subsidiary said Friday that it will begin the reduction with a voluntary Severance program. But executives said layoffs will occur if too few employees quit