Also. . .

* Entergy Corp. slashed its dividend and set plans to sell power assets in Britain and Australia as part of a $4-billion overhaul aimed at revitalizing the troubled New Orleans-based utility. The fourth-largest electrical power generator in the U.S. said it cut the annual dividend to $1.20 a share from $1.80, effective Sept. 1, to shareholders of record on Aug. 12. The company also said second-quarter earnings rose 40% to $204.3 million from $146.3 million a year earlier. Earnings per share were 83 cents versus 61 cents.

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* Dillard’s Inc., a department store company that plans to buy Mercantile Stores Co. this month, will sell 26 of the newly acquired properties to rivals May Department Stores Co. and Proffitt’s Inc. as it sorts out overlapping markets. May said it will buy 11 Mercantile stores to enter four Midwest markets. Proffitt’s, which is also buying Saks Holdings Inc., will purchase 15 of the Mercantile stores to increase its presence in the South and Midwest. The values of the proposed sales weren’t disclosed.

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* Sunbeam Corp. will receive $9.9 million from the American Medical Assn. after the doctors group backed out of an endorsement agreement that raised ethical questions. The AMA said it will pay $7.9 million in damages and $2 million for expenses, including legal fees, after it pulled out of a five-year agreement to give its seal of approval to Sunbeam products such as humidifiers and blood pressure monitors. The settlement averts a trial that had been scheduled for later this year in federal court.