An expected doubling of the semiconductor division's profit to more than DM340m plus a turnaround to profit at the

An expected doubling of the semiconductor division's profit to more than DM340m, plus a turnaround to profit at the computers unit, Siemens Nixdorf, should help to offset exchange rate problems. Public communications networks and the power generation division, on the other hand, have seen sales decline sharply.Sales in the first nine months rose 4 per cent to DM60.2bn, while incoming orders were up 3 per cent to DM66.9bn.The workforce is expected to fall to around 370,000 by the end of the fiscal year from 376,000 on June 30. The reduction of around 6,000 jobs is less than the planned reduction of 12,000 the company mentioned a few months ago.. The Maxwell trial was halted yesterday when one of the defendants became seriously ill. Robert Bunn, 47, a former finance director of Maxwell Communication Corporation, could not attend what should have been Day 38 at the Old Bailey. Mr Justice Phillips told the jury: "I regret to say that over the weekend Mr Bunn has been taken ill. We have not yet got detailed information about his condition and so it is impossible to see precisely what implication that will have.

The immediate implication is that we cannot sit today and almost certainly not tomorrow."It is understood Mr Justice Phillips will address the court on Thursday on the subject of the trial, which started at the end of May. Legal experts predicted at that point that it would last at least six months, with some forecasting a year Over 60 witnesses are being called. Legal sources expect the final bill for the taxpayer to be pounds 25m.Mr Bunn, of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, is in the dock with two of Robert Maxwell's sons, Kevin and Ian, together with another former Maxwell aide, Larry Trachtenberg, 42, of Hampstead, North-west London.All four deny conspiracy to defraud by misusing pounds 22m worth of shares in the Israeli company Teva belonging to the pension fund to try and prop up the ailing Maxwell empire after the founder's death.Kevin alone denies a similar charge of conspiring with his father to misuse pounds 100m worth of shares in another Israeli company to pay private Maxwell company debts.Mr Bunn is being defended by Peter Rook QC and Phillip Hackett.The trial was adjourned last Friday morning because a juror had to deal with a family illness. The trial was also delayed by a day last month when Michael Hill QC, defending Larry Trachtenberg, collapsed in court with a non-serious illness.. Two rival sets of Barings bondholders are gearing up for a High Court confrontation over a $150m "pot" left over from the merchant bank's collapse which both claim is theirs.

The two groups have already fought legal actions in the UK and the Netherlands since Barings was taken over in May. They have now signed a truce which will last until the issue is decided in court starting on 30 October. When the Dutch bank ING bought Barings it allowed for the eventual repayment of a $150m loan from the Dutch subsidiary Barings BV to Baring Securities (International).Two sets of bondholders are seeking this money: holders of 1986 capital notes and holders of 1994 floating rate notes. The terms of the 1986 issue contain a special clause that if Barings BV is put into liquidation, the bondholders have no claim against it - only against the holding company Barings plc, which guaranteed the notes.Barings BV was neither put into administration nor bought by ING - it was simply left alone.If the Dutch arm is forced into liquidation, the 1986 holders, led by Bank of Egypt, are unlikely to get anything from the UK holding company.The 1994 bond agreement contains no such special clause, and holders can therefore choose whether to claim against the Dutch subsidiary or the holding company. The 1994 holders have therefore tried a number of times to put Barings BV into bankruptcy in both the UK and the Netherlands, to keep all the money for themselves.The 1986 bondholders issued a writ in March claiming that the special clause was not valid and claiming 50 cents in the dollar, or $75m.So far the 1986 group has stymied the 1994 group's efforts. In a twist to the tale, Law Debenture Trust is the trustee to both the 1986 and 1994 issues, and has had to pass the 1986 holders on to its subsidiary, LDC, in an attempt to create a "Chinese Wall".Two attempts have already been made to wind up Barings BV by two independent bondholders and by Law Debenture. The 1986 holders responded by appealing to the Dutch Central Bank, which on 3 May agreed to appoint an administrator to supervise Barings BV.This appointment blocked all bankruptcy petitions against the subsidiary, and on 3 July all the warring factions signed a truce - a standstill agreement which will last until 30 October 1994, when the issue of the special clause will be decided at the High Court in London..