SINGAPORE, April 30 (Reuters) - The following companies warned on Wednesday the deadly SARS virus was affecting operations:
*** Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of the Japanese carmaker Nissan , told France Inter radio SARS was slowing down the launch of new cars in China.
"We have teams of engineers working at several sites in China. In the past few days, we've been forced to repatriate them and their families to Japan. When someone comes back from China, we have to put him in quarantine, because his colleagues don't want to work with him.
"This slows down projects. What was supposed to take one month now takes two.
"I don't think there's a threat to China's potential growth but I think the acceleration of the Chinese economy that we've seen risks to fall to a lower level."
*** Casual wear retailer Giordano International said its first-half results were expected to be adversely affected by the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
"The spread of atypical pneumonia in all of our key markets led to massive deterioration in consumer sentiment and customer traffic," the company said in a statement.
Giordano shares dropped 1.2 percent in late trade.
*** Hainan Meilan Airport said the outbreak of SARS has slowed the growth in aircraft movements and cargo throughput at its airport in China's Hainan province in the second half of April.
There have not been any SARS cases recorded in Hainan province but the company's retailing business, restaurant operation, tourism services and other non-aeronautical businesses have been affected by the drop in passenger throughput.
The company's shares were down nearly four percent.