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Britain out of euro, but firms are inMajor British companies with ties to Europe are getting ready to pay their suppliers in euros from the ...

Britain out of euro, but firms are in

Major British companies with ties to Europe are getting ready to pay their suppliers in euros from the start, even though Britain is keeping out of the single currency when it is launched next January. Although Britain will only abandon its pound or the euro in 2002 at the earliest, the international nature of trade means that the euro will be common currency in the board rooms and accounting departments of companies like British steel. Ian Fletcher, economist for the British chambers of commerce, said many companies need to be able to operate easily in the euro as a marketing and efficiency measure.

quot;There are a number of businesses that are worried they8217;re going to miss out in the early years of the euro as things are consolidated in Europe and that if they don8217;t make a move now, they8217;ll be Left out,quot; he said. British Steel, which gets much of its income from Europe, said this week that it planned to pay suppliers in Britain, Australia and Brazil in euros,although it would not force them to accept. The company, which is one of Britain8217;s main exporters and has been hit by a 30-per cent rise in sterling against the mark hopes to insulate itself from additional foreign exchange cost by using the euro.

Brazil to sell stake in Telebras

Brazil will sell its 21 percent stake in the Telebras telecom system on July 15, officials said. Luiz Carlos Mendonca de Barros, President of the National Bank for Social and Economic Development, said officials have not yet decided on any limits that will be placed on foreign ownership.

Considered one of the largest privatizations in the world, the sale is expected to bring in some 21 billion for the state. Officials at the state telecommunications agency Anatel said President Fernando Henrique Cardoso would decide on the terms of the sale before the offer is advertised on May 29. Industry observers have said they expect no limits on foreign ownership, but that any groups interested in the sale would have to haveoperations in the South American country.

US probes Microsoft again

The Justice Department is probing an alleged bid by Microsoft to persuade rival Netscape to join it in a plan to share the Internet software market, The Wall Street Journal reported. The paper, citing sources close to the case, said the department was trying to determine if Microsoft officials at a May 1995 meeting with Netscape counterparts proposed a pattern of collusion. The alleged goal would have been to neutralize the Internet software potential of Netscape, according to the paper. Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray, quoted in the Journal, strongly denied any such attempt had been made. quot;I can categorically say that we did not at any time suggest dividing up the market, period.quot;

Government investigators want to know if Microsoft at the May meeting tried to get Netscape to market its Navigator browsers exclusively for operating systems other than Microsoft8217;s Windows, the paper said. At the time Microsoft8217;sExplorer browser had not been developed and an agreement would have kept Netscape out of Microsoft8217;s market, according to the Journal.