(12-26) 05:11 PST BEIJING, China (AP) —

Two of China’s biggest automakers announced a deal Wednesday to combine their production assets in hopes of creating a company able to compete in global markets.

The tie-up between Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. and Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corp. Д both state-owned companies Д adds to a flurry of recent alliances in China’s fast-growing vehicle market, the world’s second-largest.

SAIC is the local partner of General Motors Corp. and Volkswagen AG and has launched its own Roewe brand. Nanjing Auto is known for reviving the MG sports car, bought from defunct British automaker MG Rover Group.

The two hope to create a “world-class auto company of an unprecedented scale in China,” they said in a joint statement.

The communist Beijing government has been encouraging such tie-ups in the fragmented auto industry, hoping Chinese producers will pool resources to compete with bigger, richer foreign rivals. China’s domestic market is dominated by GM, Volkswagen and other foreign producers. The country has about 150 automakers, most of them small and financially weak.

SAIC will dominate the new venture, while Nanjing Auto’s parent, Yuejin Motor Group, will retain a minority stake.

SAIC will pay Yuejin 2.1 billion yuan ($285 million) for Nanjing Auto’s auto and core components businesses and combine them with its automaking subsidiary, SAIC Motor Corp., the companies said.

Yuejin will get a 4.9 percent stake in SAIC Motor, while the two companies form a new joint venture, Dong Hua Co., to operate Yuejin’s remaining components, services and trade assets. SAIC will control a 75 percent stake in this venture while Yuejin will have a 25 percent stake.

The SAIC-Nanjing Auto deal follows an announcement in July that the two companies would cooperate in design, production and sales.

Also Wednesday, Italian automaker Fiat SpA said it will end its production joint venture with Nanjing Auto by selling its stake to its Chinese partner. Fiat said they will continue to cooperate in commercial vehicle and parts manufacturing.

Passenger vehicle sales in China grew by 20 percent in November to a record monthly high of 490,751 units, according to research firm J.D. Power & Associates.

Among other alliances, Chrysler Group and China’s biggest domestic automaker, Chery Automobile Co., have a deal to produce cars for export. Chery had 8.3 percent of China’s auto market last year, but most Chinese producers have less than 1 percent, according to J.D. Power.

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On the Net:

Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp.: «www.saicgroup.com»

Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corp.: «www.nanjingauto.com.cn»

SAN FRANCISCO—Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trading in Thursday’s session are Cardinal Health Inc., DirecTV Group Inc., and Fannie Mae.

Cardinal Health () is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings of 87 cents a share, according to a survey of analysts of Thomson Financial.

DirecTV Group () is expected to post earnings of 36 cents a share for the second quarter.

Dynegy Inc. () is expected to report second-quarter earnings of 5 cents a share.

Edison International () is expected to post earnings of 62 cents a share for the second quarter.

Fannie Mae () is expected to report first-quarter earnings of $1.51 a share.

HealthSouth Corp. () is expected to post a loss of 11 cents a share for the second quarter.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. () is expected to report a first-quarter loss of 23 cents a share.

Nvidia Corp. () is expected to post earnings of 43 cents a share for the second quarter.

Vonage Holdings Corp. () is expected to report a second-quarter loss of 34 cents a share.

Wild Oats Markets Inc. () is expected to post earnings of 18 cents a share for the second quarter.

After Wednesday’s closing bell, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. () () reported a higher profit in its fourth fiscal quarter, led by higher revenue and income at its cable networks, but the subject of the day was the media giant’s buyout of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co.

American International Group Inc. () reported a 34 percent jump in second-quarter net income as the company’s property and casualty and domestic life insurance businesses helped results top analyst expectations.

Watch List

Advance Auto Parts Inc. () reported second-quarter net earnings of $68.4 million, or 64 cents a share, up 9 percent from $62.9 million, or 59 cents a share, during the year-ago period. The Roanoke, Va.-based retailer of automotive aftermarket parts and accessories said revenue rose to $1.17 billion from $1.11 billion.

Airspan Networks Inc. () late Wednesday reported a second-quarter net loss of $11.7 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $7.67 million, or 19 cents a share, during the year-ago period. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based provider of wireless voice and broadband data products said revenue fell to $22.1 million from $45.4 million.

American Eagle Outfitters () reported that July sales at stores open at least a year decreased 6 percent, while total sales for the four-week period were up were up 19 percent to $233.9 million. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been for American Eagle to post a same-store-sales increase of 2.9 percent.

AmeriCredit Corp.’s () fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 10 percent, boosted by a $33 million gain on the sale of its stake in DealerTrack Holdings Inc. () and a $21 million reduction in reserves for contingent tax positions. The Fort Worth, Texas, consumer automobile finance company had fourth-quarter earnings of $86.9 million, or 66 cents a share, compared with $78.8 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier. AmeriCredit said revenue for the quarter ended June 30 rose 28 percent to $625.4 million from $487.8 million a year ago.

Applera Corp. () said it has retained Morgan Stanley to explore alternatives to its current tracking stock structure, including the possibility of creating two independent publicly traded companies in place of the two tracking stocks, Applied Biosystems Group and Celera Group . The company also said it has increased to $1.2 billion the current share repurchase authorization for Applied Biosystems stock.

Brightpoint Inc. () reported second-quarter net income of $17.7 million, or 35 cents a share, compared with $8.2 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue in the quarter ended June 30 rose 55 percent from last year to $851 million, the Plainfield, Ind.-based distributor of wireless devices said.

Career Education Corp. () swung to a second-quarter profit of $5.13 million, or 5 cents a share, from a year-earlier loss of $47.5 million, or 49 cents a share. The Hoffman Estates, Ill., post-secondary education company’s revenue declined to $405.3 million, from $452.6 million a year earlier.

Central Garden & Pet Co. () reported fiscal third-quarter net earnings of $15.5 million, or 22 cents a share, down 50 percent from $30.7 million, or 43 cents a share, during the year-ago period. The Walnut Creek, Calif.-based company said revenue for the three months ended June 30 fell 8 percent to $466.8 million from $506.7 million in the comparable period last year.

Dobson Communications Corp. () reported it swung to a second-quarter net profit of $18.1 million from a net loss of $6.04 million during the year-ago period. Net income available to common shareholders was $16.1 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with a net loss available to shareholders of $8.42 million, or 5 cents a share. The Oklahoma City-based provider of wireless phone services said revenue for the three months ended June 30 rose to $360.2 million from $312.1 million.

Ferro Corp. () reported second-quarter net income of $4.54 million, down from $10.2 million a year ago. The company posted net income available to common shareholders of $4.28 million, or 10 cents a share, versus $9.85 million, or 23 cents a share, last year. The Cleveland-based materials company said revenue in the quarter ended June 30 rose to $553.7 million from $538.5 million a year ago.

Hot Topic Inc. () said its July sales at stores open at least one year fell 7.4 percent, while second-quarter same-store sales fell 5.8 percent. Analysts, on average, had expected the company to post a July same-store sales drop of 7.1 percent, according to Thomson Financial. Net sales for the four weeks ended Aug. 4 rose 5 percent to $55.6 million, the City of Industry, Calif.-based teen retailer said.

InfoSpace Inc. () said it swung to a second-quarter net loss of $28.1 million, or 86 cents a share, from net earnings of $1.02 million, or 3 cents a share, during the year-ago period. The Bellevue, Wash.-based provider of mobile and Internet content and services said revenue for the three months ended June 30 fell to $70.5 million from $95.8 million.

Kenexa Corp.’s () second-quarter net income rose 77 percent to $5.81 million, or 23 cents a share, from $3.28 million, or 16 cents a share, a year earlier, as revenue grew 83 percent. The Wayne, Pa., recruitment company recorded adjusted per-share earnings, excluding stock-based compensation and other items, of 28 cents. Revenue jumped to $45.2 million from $24.7 million in the year-ago period.

Liberty Global Inc. () () swung to a second-quarter net loss of $129.7 million, or 34 cents a share, from a profit of $24.2 million, or 5 cents a share, a year earlier. The company’s loss from continuing operations was $184 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier. The Englewood, Colo., broadband and content distribution holding company’s revenue rose 37 percent to $2.18 billion in the most recent period from $1.59 billion in the year-ago period.

Nastech Pharmaceutical Co. () reported that its second-quarter net loss widened to $12.4 million, or 50 cents a share, from a year-ago net loss of $560,000, or 3 cents a share. Revenue in the three months ended June 30 fell to $4.86 million from $11.4 million last year, the Bothell, Wash.-based company said.

Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Inc. () posted a second-quarter net profit of $1.54 million, or 9 cents a share, down from $5.31 million, or 38 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue in the quarter fell 31 percent to $11.2 million from $16.1 million for the second quarter of 2006.

Restoration Hardware Inc. () said it expects a second-quarter loss of 19 cents to 21 cents a share on revenue of $183 million to $185 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial are expecting the home furnishings retailer to post a second-quarter loss of 9 cents a share on revenue of $195.6 million.

Salem Communications Corp. () declared a special cash dividend of 42 cents a share on its Class A and Class B common stock, payable Aug. 23 to shareholders of record as of Aug. 20. The dividend payment will total roughly $10 million, the Camarillo, Calif.-based media company said.

Scottish Re Group Ltd. () said it would delay the release of its second-quarter results, which had been scheduled for Thursday, due to a continuing analysis of its 2006 U.S. statutory filings. “At this point we believe that the U.S. statutory filing review will have no material effect on our GAAP or tax positions and that the change-in-control and the redomestication analysis will result in a material tax benefit to Scottish Re,” Scottish Re Chief Executive Paul Goldean said in a statement. “Finally, we believe that our pre-tax operating results for this quarter will be consistent with the guidance we provided during our first quarter conference call.”

SRA International Inc.’s () fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell to $16.7 million, or 28 cents a share, from $17.4 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. The Fairfax, Va., provider of technology and strategic consulting services said revenue for the quarter ended June 30 increased 9.8 percent to $326.2 million from $219.3 million.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc.’s () second-quarter net income more than tripled to $74.5 million, or $1.09 a share, from $22.1 million, or 29 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the San Clemente, Calif., company, which buys and renovates hotels, rose 23 percent to $271.4 million from $221.6 million in the year-ago period.

URS Corp. () reported second-quarter net earnings of $36.8 million, or 70 cents a share, up 13% from $32.6 million, or 63 cents a share, during the year-ago period. The San Francisco-based engineering company said revenue rose to $1.25 billion from $1.07 billion.

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Police were today investigating whether an object thrown from a footbridge caused a crash that killed a driver.

Suzanne Singer, 40, was killed her vehicle left the A127 in fog at Dunton, Essex, shortly before 11pm on Saturday.

Police said that since the weekend several motorists had reported their vehicles being hit with rocks and eggs.

A police spokesman said it was possible that something had been thrown down from a footbridge. “Initially we knew that two motorists had reported that their cars were struck,” he said.

“But other motorists have since come forward to say their cars have been struck by rocks and eggs on that stretch of road.”

Specialist police searched the scene of the crash and experts were examining Singer’s car.

Singer was the only person in the vehicle. She was as a secretary and lived alone in Shoeburyness, Southend-on-sea.

“We cannot rule out the possibility that Suzanne’s car was struck by an object,” said the police spokesman.

“We would urge anyone with information to come forward. But we are not treating this as a homicide investigation. We are investigating this as a road crash.”