IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Dividend withdrawn

Thomson SA, the world's largest supplier of set-top boxes, scrapped its dividend, reflecting the new management's plan to cut costs and boost credit worthiness. Thomson shares and perpetual bonds tumbled.

The company, whose credit rating was cut last month to junk by Moody's Investors Service after reporting a full-year loss in February, had proposed a dividend of 33 euro cents a share.

Japan rejects TCI's bid

Japan has rejected a UK hedge fund's bid to double its 9.9 percent stake in the nation's largest electricity wholesaler, marking the first time a national security law has been invoked to block foreign investment.

The government will notify the Children's Investment Fund Management Ltd that it should abandon an application to increase its stake in Electric Power Development Co, known as J-Power. The fund, known as TCI, has until April 25 to respond, the ministries of trade and finance said yesterday.

ASML profit drops

ASML Holding NV, Europe's largest maker of semiconductor equipment, said first-quarter profit fell and forecast a 10 percent drop in sales after orders reached the lowest level since 2005.

Net income dropped 4.9 percent to 145.1 million euros. First-quarter bookings for the company's $26 million machines dropped to 26 from 62 a year earlier.

JPMorgan profit declines

JPMorgan Chase & Co, the third-biggest US bank, said profit fell 50 percent after $5.1 billion of writedowns and provisions linked to subprime mortgages, bad home-equity loans and financing for leveraged buyouts. First-quarter net income dropped to $2.37 billion, the bank said.

Agencies

(China Daily 04/17/2008 page17)