	national semiconductor nsm cites improved results national semiconductor corp said improved results at its semiconductor group helped reduce losses in the third quarter and nine months in the quarter ended march the group had a modest sales increase and major improvement in operating performance compared to the year ago quarter the company said but results softened from the prior quarter because of low bookings last fall for third quarter shipment and holiday shutdowns it said the semiconductor maker cut net losses to mln dlrs or cts a share from mln dlrs or cts in the quarter losses in the nine months were reduced to mln dlrs or cts from mln dlrs or one dlr sales grew pct in the quarter to mln dlrs and pct in the nine months to billion dlrs bookings recovered in the latter part of the third quarter the company said despite the improvement in order rates and operating results year to year pricing continues to be aggressive for many products it said nevertheless it expects the semiconductor business will continue to improve this year the information systems group will continue strong sales growth based on recent order trends and new product introductions it said reuter 
