TOKYO - SUMMER bonuses at Japanese companies have plunged a record 16.6 per cent on average this year, the second straight year of decline, according to a survey released on Sunday.

The poll was conducted by the Nikkei business daily, covering some 700 listed and major non-listed firms in Japan, where bonuses are traditionally provided twice a year - summer and winter.

The poll showed that the average bonus this summer stood at 701,012 yen (S$11,088) per employee, some 140,000 yen lower than in 2008, as 78 per cent of the firms polled said they were giving less cash than last summer.

More than half the firms were trimming their payouts by more than 10 per cent as they are still struggling to survive the nation's worst post-war recession, the Nikkei said.

Japan's video game giant Nintendo Co, which logged a record profit for the fiscal year to March 2009, came top in the big-bonus ranking, the Nikkei said. -- AFP