ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 8, 1991                   TAG: 9103080173
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: DETROIT                                LENGTH: Short

CHRYSLER CORP. HALVES ITS STOCK DIVIDEND

In the latest signal of the immense financial pressure on the auto industry, Chrysler Corp. slashed its common stock dividend by half Thursday to 15 cents a share.

The action was expected on Wall Street, though some analysts believed that Chrysler should have cut more deeply into the quarterly payout. The action will save the auto maker about $134 million a year.

Earlier, General Motors Corp. cut its dividend to 40 cents a share from 75 cents. The Ford Motor Co. board is being urged by analysts to take similar action at its next dividend meeting in April.

Each of the Big Three is expected to post big losses in the first quarter. Chrysler will lose about $500 million, including an operating loss of $180 million, said analyst David Garrity of Nomura Research Institute in New York. - Los Angeles Times 


 by CNB