1.   First Sign director Lung Tze-lam attributed the setback mainly to the sluggish market conditions in Hong Kong and China.

2.   He attributed the setback to economic austerity his government must implement in order to earn vital lending from the International Monetary Fund.

3.   The South African production setback was attributed to labor unrest at many mines.

4.   It attributed the setback to large one-off losses in the United States and the Netherlands amid the ongoing hi-tech slump and the US economic slowdown.

5.   Nomura attributed the setback largely to falling prices of microchips amid the recession in the information technology sector.