IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Lufthansa profit plummets

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe's second-largest airline, said profit fell 64 percent in 2008, and predicted earnings will drop again in 2009, after the deepening global recession caused traffic to drop at the end of the year.

Net income fell to 599 million euros, or 1.31 euros a share, from 1.66 billion euros, or 3.61 euros, a year earlier, Cologne, Germany-based Lufthansa said yesterday in its annual report released at a Frankfurt press conference. Operating profit will be "considerably lower" than last year's 1.35 billion euros, while remaining "distinctly positive".