The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 81

I OS AM.I I I IIMIS FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 17, 1989 D5 Prospect of Dividend Cut Hurts Mesa Shares i Co. in New York, said they arc already selling at a price lower than the underlying value of the company's assets. Earlier this week. Mesa decided not to convert itself back into a corporation as a way to bolster the share price by attracting more institutional and corporate investors.

As a limited partnership, Mesa is owned mainly by individual investors. Mesa indicated that it may yet decide to go the corporate route, however. In any case, Womble said, Pickens is holding onto his 4 million common shares of Mesa. Pickens could not be reached. about $100 million in assets.

He said Mesa is still in the process of selling its interest in Bicoastal formerly Singer to Leucadia National Corp. The sale would end Mesa's involvement with Singer, which began with a $150-million loan to a partnership headed by investor Paul A. Bilzerian, who was convicted of securities and tax fraud this summer. Analysts estimate that Mesa's interest in Bicoastal is worth about $70 million. Analysts were unwilling to estimate how much lower Mesa's shares may fall.

Rosario S. Ilacqua, an analyst with Nikko Securities OVER 20 IN STOCK II enn under v21ll FACTORY Invoice Amm ul ProMdTcTheDlrByTh.M.ni- fl FT riM -E a yTw-T-n JTlf Agence France-Presse Crowds line up for the Estee Lauder boutique opening in Moscow LAUDER: Pricey Cosmetics at Gorky Street Boutique America's largest distressed financial asset auction consisting of over $200 million in credit card portfolios, consumer finance FDIC assets. By order of Liberty Service Corp. Thursday, Dec. 14th at 10 ant Airport Marriott Hotel Atlanta, GA This auction offering of distressed portfolio assets is a unique opportunity for small or large collection agencies, investors and law firms.

Approximately 56,000 individual loans with average balances of $3,400 (principal and interest) will be offered in 27 packages bundled by states partial listing as follows: Lot State No. of Accounts Total Balance 2,3 CA 5,617 $23,143,087 4 GA 2,142 8,478,942 14 PA 1,723 9,993,009 17-21 TX 14,765 48,049,267 26 NY 701 3,318,708 Continued from Dl in the center of Moscow, two blocks from the Kremlin, attracted dozens of passers-by who were kept behind police barricades as Mrs. Lauder and Nanuli Shevardnadze, the wife of Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, cut the ribbon. Well-dressed Soviet women later packed the shop, the latest curiosity in a country that prides itself on its egalitarian principles.

Mrs. Lauder told the crowd gathered outside the store that the women of Moscow are already beautiful and "we are going to keep every woman beautiful." As an afterthought, she added, "we are going to keep the men beautiful, too," with sales of men's after shaves and colognes. Company President Leonard Lauder, Mrs. Lauder's son, said the company is selling its products for dollars to the Moscow City Council and the Soviet Ministry of Trade, which in turn are selling the cosmetics to Soviets for rubles. The shop itself is owned and operated by the City Council and the ministry.

The Soviet staff was trained by Estee Lauder personnel, he said. He said Estee Lauder products have been available in Moscow for Call for details and a free brochure 314-993-1222 or 415-571-7400 Ross-Dove AUCTIONEERS SINCE 1937 Company, MILLARD. ROSS KIRK DOVE. Principals GA License NRC 148 1118 Chess Drive 501 N. Lindbergh Blvd.

188 Main Street Foster City, CA 94404 St. Louis, MO 63141 Wilmington, MA 01887 (415)571-7400 (314)993-1222 (508)694-1070 FAX (415) 572-1502 FAX (314)993-4437 FAX (508)694-1074 Asset Conversion Consultants Appraisers to Corporate America leum Co. The dividend on the preferred shares remains $1.50 a share. Womble said the company's operating cash flow, which was about $68 million for the first nine months of 1989, has never met the dividend requirements, which he estimated at $222 million for the first nine months. Early this month, there were 79.1 million common shares and 87.5 million preferred shares in the hands of the partnership's unit holders.

The shortfall is due mainly to soft gas prices. In 1985, Mesa's average natural gas price was $2.68 per thousand cubic feet; for the year to date, it has averaged $1.62, Womble said. The company also faces steep interest payments $46.9 million in the third quarter on debt from its $750-million acquisition of Tenne-co Inc. gas properties last year. The company's long-term debt stood at $1.44 billion at the end of the third quarter.

The shortfall from operating cash flow has been made up through cash reserves and marketable securities, which Womble said stood at $350 million, as well as through the sale of assets. So far this year, the company has sold '89 BENTLEY TURBO WORLD'S FASTEST 4-D00R SEDAN! ULTIMATE IN LUXURY PERFORMANCE! WhiteTon 9000 mi. beauty. '90 replacement cost $167,000. Our investment price only 1 47,000.

Co Albert or Greg at. 213748-4327 (W 7488301) rag 3 Panasonic 23)55 SAtiYO ATT 1 SHARP KiLun Vk I K. I xerox brother ran FAXVtorhnuv 2IZSAftxaM 818-281-2200 1000 Stock HERE NOW! WW9 I I I WOODLAND HILLS (818) 888-2777 OPFII TIL IB P.M.I We've all heard the line: 'You only get what you pay for." But if that's so, why does it cost $100 or more for eyeglasses at other small optical offices, while we sell quality eyeglasses for only $39? A skeptic might say it's an advertising trick that we'll lure you into our stores with a low price. Then you'll discover that this price applies to only three styles from 1952. We're straight shooters When we say we sell quality glasses for $39, we mean it.

We carry over 500 frames at each store that we sell, with lenses, for $39. Second pair, same prescription, same visit, is $24. Most bifocals just $9 more. We can also save you money on over 200 specialty designer frames. But we aren't in business to push our customers into higher priced frames.

The majority of our customers find our $39 frame selection over whelming enough over 75 of our sales are from these styles. How about our lenses? It's hard to argue with our prices. But you might wonder if our lenses are as good as those in $100 glasses. Not only are our lenses as good as others', we think that in many cases they may be better. Most lenses arrive at optical offices already manufactured to a specific Eyeglasses By PATRICK LEE TIMES STAFF WRITER Mesa Limited Partnership, the independent energy company headed by Texas financier T.

Boone Pickens has seen its common share price fall sharply in the last month in a selloff by individual unit holders facing the prospect of a second dividend cut. The company's predicament contrasts strongly with its robustness in the mid-1980s, when Pickens' much publicized corporate raids on Gulf Oil Unocal Corp. and Phillips Petroleum Co. netted Mesa hundreds of millions of dollars. In the last couple of years, however, the bulk of Mesa's revenue has come from its natural gas operations, and stagnant natural gas prices and high interest payments have restricted cash available for dividend payments.

In March, the partnership cut its common dividend by 25 to an annual rate of $1.50 a share from $2. Mesa is scheduled to announce its, next quarterly distribution on Dec. 15. Mesa's treasurer, W. Mark Womble, said unit holders were informed at the time of the first cut that "a downward distribution adjustment was being contemplated for either the last quarter of this year or early 1990" if gas prices did not improve significantly.

Despite the possibility of a further dividend cut, Womble and analysts said the company's underlying energy assets including 2.25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves leave it well-positioned for a rebound once the current natural gas oversupply vanishes as expected. The problem is that such a rebound might not happen for a year or so. "It's just a question of getting from here to there," said Everett G. Titus III, an industry analyst with the investment firm of Wheat First Butcher Singer in Philadelphia. Womble said Thursday that the company had still not decided on the size or timing of any dividend adjustment.

Mesa's common shares traded as low as $7 a share before closing unchanged Thursday at $7,125 on the New York Stock Exchange. In the last year, the shares have traded as high as $13,875. Mesa's preferred shares also closed unchanged Thursday at $8.25 a share. Before Mesa cut its common dividend in March, it had held its $2-a-year level since the partnership was created in December, 1985, out of the former Mesa Petro DISNEY: Studio Tour Continued from Dl years to build, a Disney spokesman said. "I think it's going to be a big winner," said Paul C.

Marsh, an entertainment analyst with the Bateman Eichler, Hill Richards brokerage firm in Los Angeles. "Twenty miles outside Paris all you have is the Chateau de Versailles, and Louis the 14th is no match for Mickey Mouse." The French attraction will be developed, owned and operated by Euro Disneyland S.A., which is jointly owned by Walt Disney Co. and public shareholders. The French studio tour will house attractions "that explore the magic of the movies" including a backstage look at movie and television production filled with earthquakes, explosions and flash floods, the company said. Among the attractions will be a Muppet Movie ride and a high-speed Dick Tracy Crimestoppers ride.

The studio tour will feature representations of three well-known Los Angeles streets: a recreation of Hollywood Boulevard of the 1930s and '40s; trendy Melrose Avenue; and Sunset Boulevard, "a step back into the fun and innocence of the 1950s," the company said. The planned studio also will be available for rent by the European entertainment community, Disney said. The Florida studio tour has been extremely successful, noted analyst Jeffrey Logsdon of Crowell, Weedon a Los Angeles brokerage. "There's a great deal of transferability of concept and interest," he said. Merrill Lynch to Halt Business With S.

Africa Merrill Lynch Co. will discon tinue all business related to racially segregated South Africa, including trading or researching bouth Am can securities, the firm said. The move by the country's larg est brokerage broadens a policy in place since September, 1987. the firm will no longer engage in any financial or commercial transac tions with the South African gov ernment, any of its agencies or any corporation or individuals in the country. CBSFox Suing MGMUA Over Video Distribution Pact about 10 years, but only in special shops for foreigners and joint ventures accepting only hard currency.

"We want to sell to ordinary Soviet people," Leonard Lauder said. "We will charge about what you would pay in New York." Mrs. Lauder also said the prices would be about the same. For tourists, shopping at Estee Lauder will be a better deal. At the official rate, the ruble is worth $1.62, but under new regulations for tourists and other foreigners, the value of a ruble is only 16 cents, which will make the Estee Lauder shop a bargain for foreigners.

Thus, for an American tourist, eye liner that could be purchased for six rubles would be the equivalent of 96 cents. Of course, that's if the foreigner wanted to brave the long line. Mrs. Lauder said: "Every woman and every man can come to my shop. It doesn't cost much; cosmetics go a long way," she said.

The idea to open a shop for Soviet people came during a visit by Raisa Gorbachev, the wife of the Soviet president, to Mrs. Lauder in New York during a trip in 1988, Lauder officials said. ENTERTAINMENT eight years ago between the corporate ancestors of CBSFox and MGMUA. In 1981, United Artists, which was subsequently merged into MGMUA, sold its U.S. home video distribution rights to Magnetic Video a home video pioneer.

Magnetic Video was later acquired by CBSFox, a partnership formed by CBS Inc. and 20th Century Fox Film Corp. Following an earlier dispute, both groups agreed in 1985 to take turns distributing MGMUA-pro-duced films on home video. CBSFox would be entitled to distribute 45 such films under the agreement. But CBSFox alleges, among other things, that MGMUA juggled the theatrical releases of its films so that CBSFox always ended up with the video rights to films that were destined to perform poorly.

As a result, CBS said, it lost the video rights to such blockbusters as "Rain Man." which produces dramas, game shows and other programming, access to Paramount's global distribution operation, Harris said. Terms of the deal were not released. The move could also help Paramount deal with foreign television quotas established recently by the European Community, analysts said. The 12-nation alliance recently approved a non-binding quota limiting foreign programming to 50 of all transmissions. "I wouldn't think it's a matter of getting around the quotas," said Jeffrey Logsdon, an analyst with Crowell, Weedon but it could assist Paramount by providing a partner that understands the social and political climate in Europe.

Harris said Paramount's strategy was set long before the EC vote. "I think that because of the demand for programming, the quotas are going to end up being moot," he said, adding that demand for locally produced programs also will continue in Europe. By JESUS SANCHEZ TIMES STAFF WRITER CBSFox a home video distributor, claims in a lawsuit that it has lost millions of dollars in potential profit because MGMUA unfairly manipulated a video distribution agreement. In one instance, CBSFox says it ended up distributing the relatively poor-performing MGMUA film "Captive Hearts" when it could have picked up "Spaceballs," a 1987 Mel Brooks film that grossed about $200 million nearly six times more than "Captive." An MGMUA spokeswoman said the company does not comment on pending litigation. CBSFox is seeking, among other things, at least $50 million in damages and another $50 million in profit it claims MGMUA made by breaching the distribution agreement.

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studio's foreign operations as Europe nears the barrier-breaking year of 1992. Paramount's investment in Zenith, the independent production subsidiary of London-based Carlton Communications, represents an increase in Paramount's commitment to foreign production in the face of growing demand for original programming, said Mel Harris, president of Paramount's Television Group. "The primary focus is on serving the ever-expanding European market including Eastern Europe," Harris said in an interview. "That's a growth front for Paramount." Paramount already produces three television series in Canada and two in Australia. The transaction will give Zenith,.