Seoul - Creditors of ailing Daewoo Electronics have chosen US equity firm Ripplewood Holdings as their preferred bidder after two failed attempts to sell South Korea's third-largest appliance and television maker, a South Korean bank said Wednesday.

Leading creditor Woori Bank said in Seoul that the takeover of Daewoo Electronics should be formalized by the end of this year.

New York-based Ripplewood will be granted access to Daewoo's books before the deal was signed, Woori Bank said, but declined to give details regarding the US company's offer.

Ripplewood was entering negotations with an offer of about 400 billon won, the national Yonhap news agency said, quoting industry sources.

Tokyo - Sony Corp saw its net profit plunge 71.8 per cent in the second quarter as demand for consumer electronics slowed and the yen rose in value against other major currencies, the company said Wednesday.

The Japanese electronics company reported a net profit of 20.8 billion yen (219.84 million dollars) in the July-September quarter, compared to 73.7 billion yen a year before.

Operating profit also tumbled 90.1 per cent to 11 billion from 111.6 billion yen during the second quarter a year earlier, and sales dipped 0.5 per cent to 2.07 trillion yen from 2.08 trillion yen, the company said.

Madrid - Major Spanish banking group BBVA reported Wednesday that it remained in the black after nine months this year despite the turbulence on international financial markets.

BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) said it achieved net income of 4.5 billion euros (5.6 billion dollar), down 5.4 per cent from earnings in the corresponding period of 2007.

Spain's second-biggest bank noted that last year's earnings were bloated by extraordinary income. Adjusting for that factor, then this year's nine-month earnings would have been 9.1 per cent higher.

Washington - US stock indices surged by near-unprecedented levels on Tuesday, brushing aside news that consumer confidence dipped to a record low as some investors acting on a belief that markets may be bottoming out.

Gains of more than 10 per cent by the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 followed strong stock gains earlier in the day in Europe and Asia. The Dow posted its second-largest point gain in history.

Tokyo - Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average continued to rise in early trading Wednesday, again topping the 8,000 mark.