The shares, down to 449.5p on Monday, added another 4.5p to 465.5p.Schroders, the merchant bank, fell 54p to 1,393.5p on results Union, the old discount house, moved ahead 8p to 114.5p. Joseph Lewis, the Bahamas- based investor, has built a stake and there were indications he could be trying to acquire more shares.Johnson Fry, on its plans to unload its housing division, put on 5p to 169p. Fenchurch, the insurance broker, rose 2p to 99p on speculation of a US bid.Monument Oil & Gas fell 1p to 58.75p. Electra, the investment trust, sliced its stake from 11 per cent to 4.5 per cent, selling 42.5 million shares through NatWest at 57p.. George Levy was one of the best known and loved members of the London antique trade, a man who combined a winning personality with great knowledge of objects and a fervent sense of public responsibility.
After school at Oundle, Levy's first job was as a taster at a biscuit factory where he developed a lifelong fondness for eating biscuits by the packet. He then moved to Ealing Studios, where he worked as a clapperboy, eventually going on to work as a cameraman on the documentary film Idlers That Work (1949), directed by Lindsay Anderson. He spoke of his early days with ease and, in a typically humorous gesture, recently faxed an old photograph of himself holding a clapperboard to a museum curator. Railtrack, expected by many alleged experts to be shunted into the sidings, is turning out, in stock market terms, to be one of Sid's and the Government's most successful privatisation exercises. The shares, after early hesitancy, have got up a good head of steam and in brisk trading reached a new high, up 10p to 269.5p. Their performance is mystifying There is still an interesting 6.4 per cent dividend yield.
But last week the shares went ex the 13.75p dividend which had prompted considerable interest.Providing much of the impetus is the veritable treasure trove of hidden riches. Pre-tax profits soared from pounds 85.6m to pounds 116m in the first half of the year. The bank blamed elections in both the UK and US for its caution, but it is still raising its interim dividend by a third to 6p, at the top end of forecasts. The investment banking arm saw profits rise to pounds 50.7m from pounds 41.7m and Schroders said it had gained several prominent new clients Mowlem may float products unit. Schroders, one of the last remaining independent British merchant banks, delivered record half-year profits, but Win Bischoff (right) chairman, warned that conditions could become more uncertain. Most are expanding stores while others are establishing smaller high street formats.The supermarket sector is facing a renewed price war from Monday when Tesco cuts the price of 600 product lines.
