British Airways Plc said on Thursday that it expected to operate 20 per cent more flights than on Wednesday, as a 72-hour strike by cabin crew, which stranded 25,000 passengers, entered its second day. "We expect to run 20 per cent more flights today and another 20 per cent more tomorrow (the last day of the strike)," BA spokesman David Budgen told Reuters. BA said it was still considering taking legal action against the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) over the legality of the cabin crew strike ballot. Of its long-haul flights from London Heathrow, BA expects to operate 53 per cent of its normal service while on short-haul services it will run 15 per cent of flights out of Terminal Four.

Daewoo, Stellar Global bid for Bulgaria's Chimco: South Korea's Daewoo and Stellar Global Corporation of Canada have bid for a 57-per cent stake in Bulgarian chemical fertiliser producer Chimco, the Privatisation Agency said on Thursday. The Agency, which opened their bids on Thursday morning, will negotiate with the two companies to select the buyer. The Agency set a minimum price of $100.2 million for the stake after Daewoo's previous bid for the plant in the town of Vratsa was deemed too low.

Daewoo set up a local subsidiary in Bulgaria in 1992. Last year, it bought 67 per cent of Sofia's luxury Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan for $22.3 million.

Bill paves way for Singapore port corporatisation: Singapore will introduce a bill on Friday to dissolve the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) as a statutory board to pave the way for its corporatisation, according to a parliamentary order paper. Communication minister Mah Bow Tan will table the bill before finance minister Richard Hu announces the city state's budget for 1997/1998.<

PSA's dissolution is necessary to allow its transformation from a government to a corporate body, scheduled for the end of the year. It will be renamed PSA Corporation and take the structure and operations of a public company with the government as its single shareholder.

AT&T to close Manama office: US telecommunications group AT&T plans to close its regional office in Manama, a Bahraini newspaper said on Thursday. The Gulf Daily News, quoting an AT&T spokeswoman in Brussels, said the office would be closed in September after more than three years of operations on the island. Company officials in Bahrain declined to comment on the report. "It's an internal reorganisation to consolidate and realign the cost structure and to meet competitive pressures," the spokeswoman said. AT&T split up into three companies in 1995. One of them, Lucent Technologies, on Wednesday opened its regional office in Manama to serve customers in the Middle East and Africa.

Dyno Nobel says signs A$65m contract: Dyno Nobel, a subsidiary of Norway's Dyno Industrier ASA said on Thursday it had signed a six-year contract with Newmont Gold to supply explosives for a copper and gold mine in Indonesia. The company, which has its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Sydney, said the contract with Newmont's Batu Hijau copper-gold project was worth more than A$65 million. It said Newmont recently began development work on the project, on the island of Sumbawa, where mineral production is expected to begin at the end of the decade.

AXA has no comment on Alcatel rumours: Insurance group AXA-UAP said on Thursday it could not comment on market talk it was selling its shares in Alcatel Alsthom. "We never comment on market rumours," a spokesman said. On Wednesday evening, bank Societe Generale also declined to comment on market talk. Stockbrokers said there was talk in the market that Societe Generale and AXA were placing their stakes in Alcatel in a deal concerning 14 million shares. A price of 752 francs per share was mentioned.

Brit Biotech shares continue slide: Shares in drugs group British Biotech Plc continued to slide on Thursday morning amid concerns over the timing of the launch of the company's two main products. The stock was down 17 pence, or 9.2 per cent, at 168 1/2 in mid-morning trading after losing 7.7 per cent on Wednesday when it announced full-year results. It touched a fresh 12-month low of 157 earlier, and has slid 55 per cent from its May 1996 peak of 377 pence. Traders said heavy selling in the US and the UK had driven the stock down after the company indicated that the launch of its lead drug, pancreatitis treatment Zacutex could be delayed by 12 months in the US, with cancer drug Marimastat at least six months behind some analysts' forecasts.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.