Chip company reports downer

Profits down 90 per cent and next quarter looks no better...

French-Italian chip company STMicroelectronics has reported a 91 per cent fall in its third quarter profit and warned that it does not expect any improvement in fourth quarter results. Net profit fell to $35.8m or four cents a share, down from $415.3m a year ago. Revenue fell 11.8 per cent to $1.4bn. The company warned that it might be forced to close or sell some of its wafer plant production facilities. Earlier this summer it shut plants in Canada and California. The results come in a week scattered with dismal third quarter results from chip companies. AMD, Intel, Phillips and Texas Instruments have all reported falling revenue and profit.