Guoyuan Securities Co, a brokerage based in eastern China, declined yesterday after the company said first-half profit probably fell 56 percent as the nation's stock market slumped.

Guoyuan fell 6.5 percent to 16.53 yuan at the close of trading in Shenzhen. The company said that net income in the first six months may have dropped to 409.9 million yuan (US$60 million) from a year earlier, citing unaudited results.

(Shanghai Daily July 16, 2008)