Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp said on Thursday that its group profits were halved last business year as its computer and telecommunications businesses stumbled due to a domestic economic slump.NEC said its group net profit for the 1997-98 business year that ended on March 31 fell 54.9 percent to 41.30 billion yen ($301 million).NEC said it expects group net profit to bounce back to 55billion yen in the current business year, up 33.2 percent, but expressed concerns about a cloudy economic outlook.NEC launched a new global standard PC in October, but the NX brand failed to bolster demand.

Allianz global hidden reserves 87.7 bn dm:

German insurance group Allianz AG on Wednesday unveiled its worldwide capital investments and hidden reserves. Allianz said in a statement that its hidden reserves amounted to 87.7 billion marks ($49.6 billion) worldwide at the end of 1997 and the total value of its capital investments stood at 470 billionmarks.

Philippines' Petron workers cancel strike notice:

Philippine oil refiner Petron Corp said on Wednesday one of its workers' unions called off a notice of strike it had filed earlier.The management and union agreed the issue will be resolved by the secretary of labour and employment. We are happy that the preventive mediation efforts succeeded and the union withdrew their notice of strike, Liberador Villegas, Petron corporate secretary said.

Nikko Research sees Mazda profits growth lower:

Nikko Research Center said on Wednesday that a weaker yen will help Mazda Motor Corp boost earnings in the current business year ending next March but the rises will be far smaller than the company's forecast. Nikko Research said in a report that it sees Mazda's parentcurrent profit in 1998/99 at 30 billion yen against the company's forecast of 45 billion yen. It saw Mazda's 1998/99 group net profit at 10 billion yenagainst the company's forecast of 30 billion yen. Nikko agreed that Mazda wouldimprove on its 1997/98 actualparent current profit of 25.96 billion yen and 1997/98 actual group net loss of 6.80 billion yen.

Pall Q3 net meets consensus:

Industrial filter maker Pall Corp reported a net profit for the quarter ended May 2 in line with Wall Street expectations, after posting a loss in the same quarter a year ago. Pall also said it expected sales in the current quarter ending in August to keep pace with the growth in unit volumes and prices of the quarter ended in May, when sales grew about 8 per cent year over year. That excludes the impact of translating foreign currencies into US dollars, which is expected to reduce sales by about 3.5 per cent in the August quarter. Currency conversion lowered revenues by 3 per cent in the May quarter, the company said.

Applied Graphics completes Devon merger:

Applied Graphics Technologies Inc said it has completed its merger with Devon Group Inc. The transaction was completed for about $220 million in cash and 4.43 million shares ofApplied Graphics stock. Applied Graphics said the merger was approved by the shareholders of both companies on Wednesday. Devon will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of AppliedGraphics and Devon's principal subsidiaries will continue to operate in their present form, the company said. Applied Graphics provides outsourced digital media asset management services to magazine and newspaper publishers, advertisers, entertainment companies, cataloguers and retailers.

Time Warner, GE to form pro football league:

Time Warner Inc's Turner Broadcasting Network and General Electric's NBC broadcast network are readying plans to form a professional football league to rival the National Football League. The announcement was made late on Wednesday on NBC during the half-time of the National Basketball Association's Eastern Conference Finals game between the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers.