51.   Its profits have declined sharply because of a slump in the uranium market and increasing costs at the aging plants.

52.   Most companies interviewed said profits have declined, with lower profits expected in the next two years.

53.   Norsk Hydro explained that profits declined anyway, mainly because a larger share of income came from the heavily-taxed oil and natural gas sector.

54.   For the nine-month period, Matsushita said that if MCA was excluded, then the pretax profit would have declined eight percent.