City File: What a waste

Half-year results for Waste Management International, due out tomorrow, are expected to be around pounds 75m, compared with pounds 62.5m last year. The stock represents the non-US operations of the US giant Waste Management Inc, and 20 per cent of its shares were listed in London last April at 585p. After touching 763p the shares are now trading more cheaply at around 640p which, according to Juliet Bakkar at Banque Paribas Capital Markets, makes them a long-term buy.

She says the company appears well on target, but that its shares have been held back by the rather flat earnings of the parent company, upsetting US investors who still hold around 70 per cent of Waste Management International's shares. Banque Paribas expects profits for 1993 to be pounds 178.5m, rising to pounds 228m the following year, with more acquisitions expected.