Seoul- South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co on Thursday reported a 38-per-cent drop in third-quarter profits because of falling sales and strikes that caused drops in its production.

Net income fell to 264.8 billon won (187 million dollars) from 425.5 billion won in the same quarter in 2007.

Sales shrank 14.5 per cent to 6.1 trillion won.

Despite the decrease, the earnings were higher than analysts had expected, and Hyundai also held to its sales projection for the year of 33 trillion won.

Seoul - Shares continued their freefall Thursda

Seoul - South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co said Wednesday that it was scrapping its 5.85-billion-dollar bid for US memory card maker SanDisk Corp, citing its third-quarter loss and a partnership with Samsung's rival Toshiba Corp.

Lee Yoon Woo, Samsung's chief executive officer, said in a letter to SanDisk's board that the Milpitas, California-based company faced "uncertain earnings prospects," which could worsen with the downturn in the global economy and the outlook for the chip industry.

He added that the two companies had been in negotiations for half a year without making progress on a deal.

Seoul - Shares extended their losses Wednesday on the Seoul stock exchange as investors remained worried over the impact of a global recession.

Seoul - Shares plunged Tuesday on the Seoul stock exchange on concerns over the economy despite a government stabilization package worth 130 billion dollars to prop up the troubled financial market. South Korea's currency dropped against the US dollar.

The benchmark Kospi index fell 11.53 points, or 1 per cent, to close at 1,196.1.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers 496 to 325.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market declined 2.12 points to 350.97.