Howard Smith Ltd.'s likely sale of its Australian and U.K. towage operations to Adsteam Marine Ltd would enable the sluggish company to focus on hardware and industrial supplies distribution, analysts said. The deal was also viewed as a positive for acquisitive Adsteam, already the largest operator of marine towage services in Australia's mature market. Adsteam expanded into the U.S. market in 1999 and would welcome a foothold in the U.K. market. Hardware retailer, industrial supplier and towage operator Howard Smith announced earlier that it was in talks with Adsteam but said no agreement had yet been reached. "We would see it as positive in that it's focusing the business of Howard Smith on the distribution side…