Also....

* Rival Co., the maker of Crock-Pot and Pollenex products, said it received an unsolicited offer from an unidentified buyer and hired financial advisor NationsBanc Montgomery Securities to help it evaluate the bid. Kansas City, Mo.-based Rival, whose sales rose less than 1% to $376.9 million in the year ended June 30, didn’t give the amount of the offer. The company said it was responding to market rumors and an increase in its stock price Wednesday, when shares rose $3.50, or 47%, to $10.88. Rival shares fell 94 cents to close at $9.94 on Nasdaq.

* Martin Taylor, chief executive of Barclays Bank, the second-biggest bank in Britain, resigned as the bank issued a lower-than-expected profit forecast. Taylor, 46, said it was time for him to step down “to allow the new management team to take the business forward” but did not elaborate. Barclays also said it expected 1998 profit of at least $3.15 billion--$331 million to $496 million lower than most analysts’ estimates.