China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) (SNP: chart), an oil producer based in Beijing, said net profit in the first half of the year surged 98 percent to 10.7 billion yuan ($1.29 billion), fuelled by a 45% jump in the average realized price of crude oil. Revenue rose 38 percent to 202.5 billion yuan.

Sinopec declared an interim dividend of 0.03 yuan a share, up from 0.02 yuan a year earlier.

Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP: chart), a pharmaceutical company based in Kenilworth, New Jersey, said earnings per share in 2004 will be lower than earnings per share in 2003, which were 24 cents a share. The company earned $1.34 per share in 2002.

Schering-Plough has been struggling since it lost patent protection on its Claritin allergy medicine last year. As a result of the falloff in profits, the company slashed its dividend by 68 percent and it expects 1,000 employees to leave under an early-retirement program.

WPP Group Plc (WPPGY: chart), a British advertising and marketing company based in London, said growth in the first half of the year was limited, particularly in the U.S. Net income in the first half fell 17 percent to 95.2 million pounds ($149.9 million). Revenue dropped 2.5 percent to 1.91 billion pounds.

The company set its interim ordinary dividend up 20 percent to 2.08 pence a share.

Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (HUWHF.PK), a global conglomerate based in Hong Kong, posted a two percent rise in first-half net profit to 6.07 billion Hong Kong dollars ($778.4 million) for the period ended June 30, due to gains debt-securities trading, buoyant ports operation and a Canadian oil unit.

The company signed up about 400,000 customers for its advanced mobile-phone service in the past three months.

Neoware Systems Inc. (NWRE: chart), a software company based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, posted profit of 12 cents a share in the fourth quarter, up from eight cents in the year-ago period, due to an alliance with IBM Corp. Revenue rose 12 percent to $15.8 million.

Intel Corp. (INTC: chart), a major chipmaker based in Santa Clara, California, raised its revenue forecast for the third quarter to $7.3 billion to $7.8 billion from $6.9 billion to $7.5 billion, due to the performance of its architecture business. The company upped its gross margin forecast to 56 percent from 54 percent.

KPN (KPN: chart), a telecommunications company based in the Netherlands, reported second-quarter net profit after taxes of 192 million euros, compared with a net loss of 79 million euros in the second quarter last year. Revenue decreased two percent to 3.04 billion euros ($3.32 billion).

Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. (ELBO: chart), a specialty retailer of video game hardware and software based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, reported second-quarter profit of seven cents a share, compared with two cents a share in the year- earlier period. Revenue jumped 15 percent to $302.1 million.

Gray Television Inc. (GTN: chart), an operator of network affiliated TV stations based in Atlanta, reaffirmed its third quarter revenue forecast of $71.7 million to $73.2 million, and operating income estimate of $18.3 million to $19 million. The company declared a regular quarterly dividend of two cents a share, payable September 30 for shareholders of record on September 15.