News Highlights: Top Equities Stories Of The Day

=UPDATE: RYANAIR 2Q NET PFT UP, BUT SEES 3Q, 4Q MATERIAL LOSS Ryanair Holdings PLC Monday said second-quarter net profit rose 34.8% on substantially lower fuel prices, but it expects to make a material loss during the second half as winter yields fall 20%. (published 0629 GMT) =FAURECIA BUYS EMCON TECHNOLOGIES,PEUGEOT STAKE DILUTED Car parts maker Faurecia SA Monday said it's buying US EMCON Technologies in an all-share deal, a move which will dilute the holding of French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen in Faurecia. (published 0631 GMT) KUDELSKI URGES TO OPENTV HLDR TO TENDER SHRS; IGNORE ARCADIA Kudelski SA Monday urged shareholders of OpenTV Corp. to tender their stock to the Swiss firm at $1.55 a share, and to ignore a letter sent by investor Arcadia Capital last week discouraging shareholders from doing so. (published 0612 GMT) =LINDE 3Q NET PROFIT DOWN 4.5%; CONFIRMS 2009 OUTLOOK Industrial gases and engineering company Linde AG Monday reported a milder-than-expected 4.5% fall in third-quarter net profit and confirmed its conservative full-year outlook. (published 0643 GMT) =3RD UPDATE: MYER DEBUTS ON ASX, SHARES TRADE AT DEEP DISCOUNT Shares in Australia's largest department store chain Myer Holdings Ltd. hit the boards at a deep discount to their offer price in a closely-watched market debut Monday. (published 0421 GMT) =UPDATE: LONGFOR SEEKS UP TO US$1.05 BLN IN HK IPO -SOURCES Chongqing-based Longfor Properties Co., is seeking to raise up to US$1.05 billion in an initial public offering ahead of its Hong Kong listing, undaunted by lackluster investor reception toward a slew of recent real estate offerings, people familiar with the situation said Monday. (published 0342 GMT) =2ND UPDATE: CAPITAMALLS ASIA PLANS RAISING UP TO S$2.8B IN IPO-SOURCE CapitaMalls Asia Ltd, the shopping mall unit of Singapore developer CapitaLand Ltd, plans to raise between S$2.3 billion and S$2.8 billion through an initial public offering, a person familiar with the transaction said Monday. (published 0658 GMT) RIO TINTO CFO: COMPANY HAS REPAID A FURTHER US$1.5B OF DEBT Rio Tinto Ltd. Chief Financial Officer Guy Elliott said Monday the company has paid down a further US$1.5 billion as part of a drive to achieve an A credit rating. (published 2347 GMT) RIO TINTO CEO SEES OPPORTUNITIES TO COOPERATE WITH CHINALCO Rio Tinto Ltd. Chief Executive Tom Albanese said Monday he still sees opportunities for the company to cooperate with Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco. (published 2241 GMT) JAPAN'S LOPRO FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION; DEBT Y21.8B Lopro Corp., a lender listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange, said Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection with debts totalling Y21.8 billion. (published 0515 GMT) SOUTH KOREA DISPLAY INDUSTRY TO INVEST KRW28.5T FOR CAPEX BY 2013 South Korean display makers will invest at least KRW8.2 trillion in capital expenditure by next year and up to a total of KRW28.5 trillion by 2013, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Monday. (published 0234 GMT) HYUNDAI MOBIS, LG CHEM TO INVEST KRW40B IN BATTERY JV Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's largest auto parts maker by output, said Monday it will build a KRW40 billion lithium ion battery plant through a joint venture with LG Chem Ltd. by 2013. (published 0237 GMT) =UPDATE: SK C&C RAISES IPO SIZE BY 20% TO $455M ON STRONG DEMAND SK C&C Co., an affiliate of SK Group, said Monday it raised the size of its initial public offering by 20% to KRW540 billion, due to robust demand. (published 0501 GMT) EVERGREEN MARINE SWINGS TO JANUARY-SEPTEMBER NET LOSS NT$7.29B Evergreen Marine Corp. Ltd., Taiwan's largest container shipping company by revenue, said Monday it swung to a net loss for the nine months ended Sept. 30 of NT$7.29 billion, from a net profit of NT$1.49 billion a year earlier. (published 0627 GMT) CHINA'S CHINEXT BOARD OPENS WITH 27 OF ITS 28 STOCKS LIMIT DOWN China's new Nasdaq-style stock market, ChiNext, opened for its second day of trading Monday with 27 of its 28 stocks hitting the 10% daily downside limit after they all posted spectacular gains on their collective debut Friday. (published 0144 GMT) QANTAS AIRWAYS SEP PASSENGER NUMBERS UP 6.6% ON YEAR Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's largest carrier, said Monday its passenger numbers rose 6.6% to 3.42 million in September, from 3.21 million a year before. (published 2237 GMT) INFRATIL EXERCISES PUT OPTION, LUEBECK AIRPORT RETURNS TO CITY New Zealand utilities investor Infratil Limited. said it has exercised its put option regarding its 90% shareholding in Germany's Luebeck Airport and ownership has transferred back to the City of Luebeck. (published 2003 GMT)