Belgium's GBL cash earnings plummet 93.8 pct

BRUSSELS, May 7 (Reuters) - Belgian holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) (GBLB.BR) on Thursday reported its first quarter cash earnings plummeted 93.8 percent from the year before, and gave a cautious outlook for the rest of 2009.

It said despite the sharp fall in the first quarter, its 2009 cash earnings are set to remain firm, though slightly lower than in 2008. It largely blamed its results on accounting rules and reduced interest rates.

"Accordingly, no conclusions in the long run may be extrapolated from these first-quarter results. Those results are not representative of those expected for the whole year," GBL said in a statement.

GBL, part-owned by Belgian billionaire Albert Frere, said cash earnings plunged 93.8 percent to 1 million euros, from 16 million euros in the first quarter of 2008. Adjusted net assets tumbled 38.8 percent to 10.7 million euros, from 17.6 million euros at the end of the first quarter last year.

(Editing by Richard Hubbard)