World Wire
HOECHST'S PRETAX EARNINGS JUMP</br></br>Hoechst AG, a German chemical company, said group pretax profit for the first quarter jumped 94% to 984 million marks ($715.7 million) from a year earlier. It cited Western Europe's economic recovery, Japan's reviving industrial output and economic growth in the U.S. and in emerging markets. Hoechst told its annual meeting that it expects the favorable earnings trend to continue. The unexpected results pushed Hoechst shares up 4.70 marks, or 1.6%, to 307 marks ($223.28) in Frankfurt.</br></br>BULL CONFIRMS REVENUE DROP</br></br>Cie. des Machines Bull confirmed that its first-quarter revenue fell 10% from a year earlier -- an embarrassment only two weeks after the French computer maker launched a privatization plan with rosy financial forecasts. Bull said the decline was expected and blamed it partly on lower sales at its Zenith Data Systems unit in the U.S., a drop in licensing fees and currency fluctuations. But Bull, which will post its latest results next month, stood by its 1995 forecast for revenue growth and the first annual profit since 1988.</br></br>TRADING HALTED IN HYOGO SHARES