21.   Still, some retailers reported declining sales.

22.   Specialty apparel chains and regional discounters continued to see declining sales.

23.   Strong overseas demand helped companies offset declining sales at home following the consumption tax increase in April.

24.   Strong overseas demand helped the companies offset declining sales at home that followed tax increases in April.

25.   That was compounded by a number of products that were less than successful, which further exacerbated the problem of declining industry sales.

26.   The acquisition comes as Chipcom, the sixth-biggest network equipment maker, faces declining sales to its biggest distributor, International Business Machines Corp.

27.   The company said Canadian contracts have ended and that declining sales in Asia may be offset by increased orders from South America.

28.   The next few months are expected to be tougher for Ford, whose profits from light trucks mask the impact of declining car sales.

29.   The next few months, however, are expected to be tougher for Ford, whose profits from light trucks mask the impact of declining car sales.

30.   The overall purpose is to help the lottery reverse a trend of declining ticket sales by allowing bigger prizes that could attract more players.