Dentsu Inc -- "Neutral"

Chiyoda Corp -- "Sell"

Asatsu-DK Inc -- "Sell" -------------------------------------------------- Goldman Sachs assigns ratings as follows: A Buy or Sell rating is determined by a stock's return potential relative to the brokerage's coverage view. The view (Attractive, Neutral or Cautious) represents the analyst's investment outlook on the stock relative to the coverage group's historical fundamentals and/or valuation. Any stock not assigned as a Buy or Sell is deemed Neutral. The return potential represents the difference between the current share price and the price target expected during a specific time horizon.

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Full year to Full year to Full year ended

Dec 31,2008 Dec 31,2008 Dec 31,2007

LATEST

PREVIOUS

YEAR-AGO

FORECAST

FORECAST

RESULTS Sales

401.00

407.50

435.01 Operating

2.70

4.70

7.13 Recurring

5.20

7.45

8.96 Net

2.40

4.40

5.35 EPS

54.34 yen

99.20 yen 116.40 yen Div

20.00 yen

35.00 yen

42.00 yen

NOTE - Asatsu-DK Inc is a major advertising agency.

For latest earnings estimates made by Toyo Keizai, please double click on.

(Tokyo Equities Desk +813 6441 1801)

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Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

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Willis acquired a 56% interest in Coyle Hamilton, the largest privately owned insurance broker in the Republic of Ireland in 2004, adding Willis to the company name (BestWire, Oct. 1, 2004).

Willis increased its ownership to 86% last year and will acquire the balance in the future, the company said.

Willis is the third-largest broker in the world based on 2007 brokerage revenue, according to the Best?s Review ranking of global brokers.

Shares of Willis Group Holdings were selling at $34.00 in afternoon trading on Aug. 27, up 0.41% from the previous close.

(By Alyn Ackermann, senior associate editor, BestWeek: Alyn.Ackermann@ambest.com)

**ELPIDA DROPS BELOW MINIMUM CONVERSION PRICE OF BOND**

Elpida Memory Inc fell 13.3 percent to 477 yen to below the minimum conversion price of a recent convertible bond issue, as fears of slowing consumer electronics demand worldwide hit Japan's main maker of PC chips.

Elpida issued a 50 billion yen ($522.9 million) convertible bond to Nomura Holdings Inc earlier this month. If its share price ends below 509 yen for 20 straight days Elpida may have to redeem those bonds.

0600 GMT

**UNIDEN PLUNGES ON WEAKER ANNUAL OUTLOOK**

Uniden Corp fell 17.5 percent to 240 yen, becoming the top percentage loser on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board, after the electronics maker slashed its annual outlook due to sluggish demand for high-end cordless phones in North America.

The company said on Wednesday it now expects an operating loss of 2.9 billion yen for the year ending March 2009, down from its previous forecast of a 4.5 billion yen profit.

0600 GMT

**ASATSU-DK DOWN AFTER CUTTING F'CAST, CS DOWNGRADE**

Shares of Asatsu-DK Inc fell 7.6 percent to 2,185 yen after Japan's third-largest advertising firm more than halved its full-year net profit forecast on Wednesday, hurt along with its rivals by the economic slump.

After the revision, Credit Suisse cut its rating on the stock to "underperform" from "neutral".

"We believe conditions are worse than it appears as ADK approaches cost-cutting limits for personnel expenses and other areas," analyst Takashi Murakami wrote in a note to clients.

"Sharp value declines for negotiable securities and other financial asset holdings, which had been a supporting factor, have negative implications too." Murakami wrote.

0441 GMT

**SHIMIZU CORP SURGES AFTER BROKERAGE UPGRADE**

Shimizu Corp, one of Japan's largest general contractors, rose 9.9 percent to 477 yen after Mitsubishi UFJ Securities hiked its rating on the company to "2" from "3", citing long-term growth prospects.

Analyst Toshiya Mizutani noted that Shimizu's consolidated operating profit for the first half of this year came in above the company's target, due mainly to its real estate development business, though it has cut its forecast for the full year.

"We expect profits to trend higher (after FY 09/10) thanks to margin improvement, notably in the domestic building construction operation," he added.

0415 GMT

**CONSUMER ELECTRONICS MAKERS FALL AFTER U.S. BEST BUY WARNING**

Japanese electronics makers such as Sony Corp slid after Best Buy, the largest U.S. electronics chain, slashed its forecast, saying consumers were cutting back on spending amid the deepening economic crisis.

The news came on the heels of Circuit City Stores Inc filing for bankruptcy protection, providing further evidence of anaemic consumer spending in one of the biggest destinations for Japanese goods.

Sony tumbled 7.3 percent to 2,030 yen, while Panasonic dropped 5.7 percent to 1,408 yen and Sharp lost 6.2 percent to 683 yen.

0113 GMT

**DENTSU PLUNGES AFTER H1 PROFIT FALL, FORECAST CUT**

Dentsu Inc plunged 8.9 percent to 151,000 yen after Japan's largest advertising company cut its annual profit outlook by 20 percent, with its clients cutting their advertising budgets as high raw material prices, a stronger yen and a faltering economy eat into their profits.

The firm, which ranks fifth in the global advertising market, cut its operating profit forecast for the full year to March to 45.3 billion yen ($463.1 million), short of a consensus of 51.2 billion yen in a poll of 13 analysts by Reuters Estimates.

0050 GMT

**ASAHI GLASS, NIPPON SHEET GLASS TUMBLE AFTER CARTEL FINES**

Asahi Glass and Nippon Sheet Glass slid after the European Commission on Wednesday imposed its highest ever cartel penalty, fining a group of companies including them more than 1.3 billion euros.

Pilkington -- a UK unit of Nippon Sheet Glass -- will be fined 370 million euros, Asahi 113.5 million and Belgium's Soliver 4,396 million for "discussing target prices, market sharing and consumer allocation," the Commission said.

Asahi Glass slid 6.6 percent to 506 yen and Nippon Sheet Glass fell 7.8 percent to 318 yen, as the two companies said they would review their profit forecasts in the wake of the decision.

0034

**MIZUHO FINANCIAL SLIDES AFTER CAPITAL REPORT**

Mizuho Financial Group Inc slid 5.4 percent to 258,000 yen after the Nikkei business daily said the bank was considering issuing preferred subscription securities to Japanese insurance companies this year as a way to increase its capital by around 300 billion yen.

0019 GMT

(For IPO news, data and diary, click, for stocks click)

(Reporting by Elaine Lies)

((elaine.lies@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 6441 1807; Reuters Messaging:elaine.lies.reuters.com@reuters.net))

($1=95.62 Yen)

Keywords: MARKETS JAPAN STOCKS HOT

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