News Highlights: Top Equities Stories Of The Day

=LAFARGE 3Q NET -38%; SLIGHTLY LOWERS FY VOLUME GUIDANCE Construction material and cement maker Lafarge SA Friday reported a 38% drop in third-quarter net profit on lower sales, and slightly lowered its volume guidance for the full year, but expressed confidence that volumes should pick up from the second half of 2010. (published 0620 GMT) =2ND UPDATE: DBS GROUP 3Q NET UP 49%, BEATS EXPECTATIONS DBS Group Holdings Ltd. said Friday its third-quarter net profit rose 49%, beating market expectations as net interest and fee income improved and loan loss allowances fell. (published 0128 GMT) LONGFOR HK IPO INSTITUTIONAL BOOK 6 TIMES COVERED - SOURCE The institutional tranche of Longfor Properties Co.'s initial public offering was six times subscribed, locking up US$4.9 billion worth of funds, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday. (published 0130 GMT) =UPDATE: NEC TO RAISE UP TO $1.48B VIA NEW SHARE ISSUANCE NEC Corp. said Friday it plans to raise up to Y134 billion, or about $1.48 billion, through a new share issuance aimed at boosting its weakened financial standing as it steps up capital spending. (published 0453 GMT) OLYMPUS 1H GROUP NET PROFIT Y36.19B VS Y3.60B PROFIT YEAR EARLIER Olympus Corp. said Friday its group net profit rose nearly tenfold in the fiscal first half as cost cutting measures and inventory adjustments helped offset weakness in its core imaging and information and communications markets. (published 0645 GMT) AJINOMOTO 1H GROUP NET PROFIT Y21.67B VS Y4.86B LOSS Ajinomoto Co. said Friday it earned a profit for the first fiscal half ended September, as raw materials prices fell and cost cuts cushioned its bottom line amid a slowdown in consumer demand. (published 0512 GMT) KUBOTA FIRST HALF GROUP NET PROFIT Y19.3B VS Y35.7B PROFIT Kubota Corp. said Friday its net profit in the first fiscal half ended September nearly halved from a year earlier on weak domestic demand for farming and construction equipment as well as sluggish overseas sales of engines and machinery amidst tough economic conditions. (published 0624 GMT) =2ND UPDATE:TELECOM CORP 1Q PROFIT AIDED BY DIVIDEND, TAX RELIEF Telecom Corp. of New Zealand Ltd. Friday posted a higher fiscal first-quarter net profit than expected, helped by a NZ$35 million dividend from its half-owned cable company Southern Cross Cable and NZ$39 million of relief on taxes from the year-ago quarter. (published 0030 GMT) =UPDATE: NUPLEX: LIFTS FY2010 GUIDANCE ON STRONG 1Q New Zealand-based resin and chemical maker Nuplex Industries Ltd. Friday upgraded its full-year guidance after a stronger-than-expected first quarter. (published 0021 GMT) TORAY INDUSTRIES 1H GROUP NET LOSS Y6.32B VS Y10.53B PROFIT YR EARLIER Japan's Toray Industries Inc. said Friday it swung deep into a net loss for the first half ended Sept. 30, blaming a cutback in production to adjust to weak demand. (published 0422 GMT) =UPDATE: ELPIDA TO OUTSOURCE MEMORY-CHIP PRODUCTION TO PROMOS Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. and Taiwan's ProMOS Technologies Inc. signed an agreement Friday under which Elpida will offer advanced technologies and outsource production of memory chips to ProMOS. (published 0220 GMT) AMBER ENERGY: NET PROFIT LIKELY BELOW IPO PROSPECTUS FORECAST Amber Energy Ltd., which operates three gas-fired power plants in Zhejiang province, said Thursday its net profit this year will likely be below the CNY62 million forecast in its initial public offering prospectus. (published 0141 GMT) =UPDATE: ADVANCED INFO 3Q NET DOWN 7.7% BUT BEATS EXPECTATIONS Advanced Info Service PCL, Thailand's largest mobile phone operator by subscribers, Friday posted a 7.7% drop in third-quarter net profit from a year earlier mainly due to lower sales and service revenue. (published 0613 GMT) =UPDATE: THAI OIL 3Q SWINGS TO NET PROFIT; BEATS EXPECTATIONS Thai Oil PCL said Friday it swung to a net profit in the third quarter, exceeding expectations, mainly due to an absence of inventory losses amid volatility in global oil prices last year. (published 0308 GMT) MERALCO SHARES RETREAT AFTER FIRST HOLDINGS SELLS STAKE Shares of Manila Electric Co. are retreating Friday after a major shareholder late Thursday agreed to sell a substantial stake in the company. (published 0319 GMT)