IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Infineon trims sails

Infineon Technologies AG, Europe's second-biggest semiconductor maker, lowered the forecast for its communication solutions unit because of lower volumes in wireless projects, including one with Nokia Oyj.

Revenue in the third quarter ending June 30 in the communication unit, which makes chips for mobile applications, will be about "flat" from the previous quarter, and earnings before interest, taxes and one-time items will fall, the Neubiberg, Germany-based company said yesterday.

Man doubles dividend

Man Group Plc, the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund manager, doubled its dividend after earnings rose 60 percent last year and its flagship fund outperformed competitors.

Man Group advanced as much as 3.5 percent in London trading after pretax profit increased more than analysts estimated to $2.08 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31.

Canadian lender falls

Royal Bank of Canada, the country's biggest bank, said profit fell for a second straight quarter on writedowns for debt investments tied to the US subprime mortgage market.

Net income for the quarter ended April 30 fell 27 percent to C$928 million ($939 million), or 70 cents a share, from C$1.28 billion, or 98 cents, a year earlier, the Toronto-based bank said yesterday in a Canada NewsWire statement.

House prices slide

UK house prices fell in May by the most since at least 1991 as the shortage of credit starved the property market of buyers, Nationwide Building Society said.

The price of an average home dropped 2.5 percent from April to 173,583 pounds, the United Kingdom's fourth-biggest mortgage lender said today in a statement. That's the largest decline since the index started in January 1991.

Porsche's plans

Porsche SE, the maker of the 911 sports car, said it still plans to increase a stake in Volkswagen AG to more than 50 percent this year as it seeks to gain control of Europe's largest automaker.

"The holding should still be increased above 50 percent during the course of this year," Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche said. The sports-car company currently owns 31 percent of Volkswagen.

Oil down

Oil fell to below $130 yesterday on signs that a demand slowdown in some markets may spread as major Asian consumers review their fuel subsidy policies.

US crude fell $1 to $130.03 a barrel by 1108 GMT. London Brent crude dropped by $1.08 to $129.85. Prices have fallen from a record high above $135 hit last week partly because of growing signs that consumer countries have trouble coping with surging prices.

Power firm's profit

British power supplier Scottish & Southern Energy posted a 13.9 percent rise in annual profit to 1.23 billion pounds yesterday, and said prices for households were still likely to rise soon.

The Perth-based company, which supplies gas and electricity to nearly 8.5 million customers in Scotland and the south of England, said the soaring oil price was putting pressure on margins at its retail business.

Possible acquisitions

Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann said Germany's biggest bank may make acquisitions to bolster consumer banking as financial markets remain challenging.

"We will not stand on the sidelines" of German banking consolidation, Ackermann told shareholders at the annual general meeting in Frankfurt yesterday. "Even if, over the past few weeks, the first signs of a stabilization of the financial markets have been observed, the challenges will continue to dominate, at least initially."

Agencies

(China Daily 05/30/2008 page16)