IN BRIEF (Page 16)

ING earnings rise

Dutch financial services group ING reported a 47 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, helped by the sale of its stake in ABN AMRO and said it expected a further 1 billion euros of investment gains.

Net income rose to 2.3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) from 1.57 billion a year earlier, ING Groep NV said yesterday.

Japanese growth

Japan's economy probably rebounded last quarter from a contraction three months earlier, led by exports and business investment. The pace of expansion is likely to slow in coming months, economists said.

The world's second-largest economy grew an annualized 1.9 percent in the three months ended September 30 from a 1.2 percent decline in the previous period, according to the median estimate of 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Closures take toll

British Energy Group Plc, the United Kingdom's biggest power producer, fell the most in a year in London trading after the discovery of a corroded wire forced the indefinite closure of two of its eight nuclear plants.

An inspection at the Heysham-1 power station found a corroded wire at one of that plant's two units, the company said in a statement yesterday. That followed an October 22 announcement that it discovered a similar fault at a reactor at its Hartlepool plant. All four reactors at the two plants are now shut.

Q3 sales drop

Etablissements Maurel & Prom SA, the French oil explorer, said third-quarter sales dropped 7 percent because of the weak dollar and shutdowns at a well in Colombia.

Revenue fell to 77.3 million euros from 82.8 million euros last year, the Paris-based company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Sales from oil production dropped 4 percent to 60.7 million euros.

Commission boosts Hypo

Hypo Real Estate Holding AG, the German commercial-property lender that completed the acquisition of Depfa Bank Plc last month, said third-quarter profit for the combined company rose 17 percent on higher commission income.

Pro-forma net income gained to 256 million euros from 219 million euros a year earlier, the lender said in a statement yesterday. Pro-forma pretax profit fell 11 percent to 252 million euros.

NEC loss narrows

NEC Electronics Corp, Japan's third- biggest chipmaker, said its first-half loss narrowed, helped by demand for chips used in consumer electronics, the weaker yen and lower costs.

The net loss was 3 billion yen ($26 million) in the six months ended September 30, compared with a loss of 7.39 billion yen a year earlier, the company said in a preliminary earnings statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday. NEC Electronics had previously forecast a 15 billion yen loss.

Cap Gemini climbs

Cap Gemini SA, Europe's largest computer-services company, said third-quarter sales rose 11 percent, helped by orders in Scandinavia and as a result of its February purchase of Kanbay International Inc.

Revenue rose to 2.09 billion euros from 1.88 billion euros a year earlier, Paris-based Cap Gemini said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. That was less than the 2.13 billion euros predicted by analysts.

Swiss sale

Swiss Life has agreed to sell Banca del Gottardo to Generali's Swiss banking unit BSI for a total consideration of 1.875 billion Swiss francs, it said yesterday.

The sale would add 600 million francs to Swiss Life's post-tax profit in the first half of 2008, the insurer said.

Agencies-Bloomberg News

(China Daily 11/08/2007 page16)