2007'02.01.Thu
Xinhua Far East Downgrades Dongfeng Electronic Technology Co. Ltd to BB+ Issuer Rating, Rating Outlook Changed from Stable to Negative
March 21, 2006
HONG KONG, March 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Xinhua Far
East China Ratings today downgraded Dongfeng Electronic
Technology Co. Ltd ("Dongfeng Tech" or "the
Company", SH A 600081) from BBB- to BB+ domestic
currency issuer credit rating. The rating outlook is also
changed from stable to negative.
The rating action was prompted not only by Xinhua Far
East's concern about the intensifying competition in
China's auto market and the resultant pressures on the
Company's OEM auto parts business, but also by Dongfeng
Tech's lagging market position, with its comparatively
small scale, weak R&D capabilities and loose cost
controls. The downgrade also incorporates the Company's
unstable cash flow status, impaired debt repayment
capability and rising liquidity risk.
One positive factor preventing the Company from
receiving a lower rating is Dongfeng Motor Corporation's
("DFM") support for the Company. DFM is willing
and able to continue propping up the Company in the short
run; however, there are uncertainties in respect to its
support in the long run as DFM itself faces even fiercer
competition. The Company's rating outlook is changed to
negative considering these uncertainties.
While the Company's sales to related companies
accounted for more than 40% of its total sales annually
from 2001 to 2005, during the same period, CAGR of Dongfeng
Tech's turnover was lower than that of both related
downstream automakers and the China auto industry average.
In Xinhua Far East's view, the benefits from related parties
will diminish, with internal purchases becoming increasingly
market-oriented as automakers get squeezed by excess
capacity and price wars.
Meanwhile, Xinhua Far East notes that deteriorating
debt positions and increasing liquidity risks weigh heavy
on the Company. By the end of 2005, Dongfeng Tech's gross
debt to total capital had risen to 52.3% from 26.1% in
2002, and its debt repayment ability had become
significantly impaired with profit drying up over the
previous years. Its EBIT interest coverage dropped from
8.2 in 2002 to 1.7 in 1H05 and turned negative for the
whole year of 2005. Current ratio recorded at 0.77 at the
end of 2005.
The Company announced plans to improve its performance
through R&D enhancement and efficiency improvement, and
Xinhua Far East expects the Company will keep looking for
opportunities to boost the process and expand its product
lines by setting up new joint ventures and M&As.
Xinhua Far East believes capital expenditure will rise,
resulting in an even tighter cash flow status for the
Company.
Dongfeng Electronic Technology Co. Ltd. is one of the
most significant auto part manufacturers in China. Two
ultimate shareholders of the Company are Dongfeng Motor
Corporation, the third largest auto group in China, and
Nissan Motor Company. The Company operates as an OEM
supplier to Dongfeng Motor Corporation. In 2004 and 2005,
Dongfeng Tech's turnover recorded at RMB816 million and
RMB904 million respectively, in which sales to related
companies accounted for more than 40%. Dongfeng Tech
produces such parts as combined auto meters and related
sensors, oil supply systems, brake systems and casts.
For the rating report summary, please visit
http://www.xinhuafinance.com/creditrating .
About Xinhua Far East China Ratings
Xinhua Far East China Ratings (Xinhua Far East) is a
pioneering venture in China that aims to rank credit risks
among corporations in China. It is a strategic alliance
between Xinhua Finance (TSE Mothers: 9399), and Shanghai
Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd. Shanghai Far East became a
Xinhua Finance partner company in 2003 and the first China
member of The Association of Credit Rating Agencies in Asia
in December 2003.
Capitalizing on the synergy between Xinhua Finance and
Shanghai Far East, Xinhua Far East's rating methodology and
process blend unique local market knowledge with
international rating standards. Xinhua Far East is
committed to provide investors with independent, objective,
timely and forward-looking credit opinions on Chinese
companies. It aims to help investors differentiate the
credit risks among the corporations in China, thereby,
cultivating their awareness and promoting information
disclosures and transparency in China market. For more
information, see http://www.xfn.com/creditrating .
About Xinhua Finance Limited
Xinhua Finance Limited is China's unchallenged leader
in financial information and media, and is listed on the
Mothers board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (symbol: 9399)
(OTC ADRs: XHFNY). Bridging China's financial markets and
the world, Xinhua Finance serves financial institutions,
corporations and re-distributors through four focused and
complementary service lines: Indices, Ratings, Financial
News and Investor Relations. Founded in November 1999, the
Company is headquartered in Shanghai with 21 news bureaus
and offices in 18 locations across Asia, Australia, North
America and Europe. For more information, please visit
http://www.xinhuafinance.com .
About Shanghai Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd
Shanghai Far East Credit Rating Co., Ltd. is the first
and leading professional credit rating company with
comprehensive business coverage in China. It is an
independent agency established by the Shanghai Academy of
Social Sciences with the mission to develop internationally
accepted standards for capital market in China. The company
is a pioneer in conducting bond-rating business in China.
For years, it has been authorized by the Shanghai branch of
the PBOC to undertake loan certificate credit rating.
Since establishment, it has rated over 1,000 corporate
long-term bonds and commercial papers, based on the
principles of objectivity, fairness and independence. The
company has also maintained over 50% market share in the
loan certificate-rating sector in Shanghai for three
consecutive years. With its strong local presence and
knowledge, it provides investors with unique and the most
insightful credit opinion. For more information, see
http://www.fareast-cr.com .
For more information, please contact:
Hong Kong
Joy Tsang
Corporate & Investor Communications Director,
Xinhua Finance
Tel: +852-3196-3983
Tel: +86-21-6113-5999
Tel: +852-9486-4364
Email: joy.tsang@xinhuafinance.com
US
David Leeney
Taylor Rafferty (IR/PR Contact in US)
Tel: +1-212-889-4350
Email: david.Leeney@taylor-rafferty.com
SOURCE Xinhua Far East China Ratings
PR
2007'02.01.Thu
Die & Mould China 2006 to be Held
March 21, 2006
The 11th International Exhibition on Die & Mould Technology and Equipment
http://www.diemouldchina.com
http://www.diemouldchina.com
SHANGHAI, China, March 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd. announces that
Die & Mould China 2006 will be held in Shanghai in May,
and looks back at a year of growth within the industry in
2005.
The year 2005 witnessed a spectacular growth in China's
machine tool market. The sales revenue, import and export
of the industry reached RMB126 billion (USD15.6 billion),
USD10 billion and USD3 billion, growing by respectively
25%, 15% and 35%. The highly correlated die & mould
industry also achieved a total sales revenue of RMB61
billion (USD7.5 billion), an increase by 25% versus 2004.
Facing this booming market for machine tools and die
& mould, Die & Mould China 2006, organized by China
Die & Mould Industry Association (CDMIA) and Shanghai
International Exhibition Co., Ltd. (SIEC) will be held at
Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) in May, 2006
from 8th to 12th.
Die & Mould China 2006 has attracted over 1,100
exhibitors in die & mould and machinery sectors from 16
countries and regions including Italy, Sweden, Germany,
Israel, Switzerland, France, Spain, the U.K., the USA,
Japan, Korea, Singapore and China. The upcoming event
covering a total show space of 57,000 square meters in 5
halls of SNIEC is estimated to attract 120,000 visitors
worldwide.
This biennial event was inaugurated in 1985 and this
year is its 11th edition. Since it was certified by UFI in
1996, Die & Mould China has gradually grown to be Asia's
No.1 trade fair in the industry in terms of floor space,
exhibitor number and visitor number.
A number of international associations and institutions
will organize pavilions to participate in the show. The
long exhibitors list includes the following leading tool
and mold makers: AGIE CHARMILLES, HAAS, MAKINO, SANDVIK
COROMANT, THE DIE MANUFACTURING CO, LTD OF FAW and QINGDAO
HAIER MOULDS.
A series of concurrent events will be held with Die
& Mould China 2006, including CDMIA-sponsored
conference & symposium, two awarding ceremonies and
company-sponsored seminars.
The event is being publicized in more than 50
international and domestic professional newspapers, trade
magazines and industry websites.
International visitors are recommended to use Online
Registration by logging on the official website:
http://www.diemouldchina.com .
For more information, please contact:
Miss Yao Ying-liang (Eelia Yao)
Tel: +86-21-6289-3824 or +86-21-6289-3824 x227
Fax: +86-21-6545-5124
Email: eelia@siec-ccpit.com
SOURCE Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
2007'02.01.Thu
OMRON China Appoints New Managing Director
March 21, 2006
BEIJING, March 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- OMRON (China)
Co., Ltd. announced on March 21, 2006, the appointment of a
new managing director for its regional headquarters in
China. Toshio Yamashita, formerly deputy managing director
at OMRON's China headquarters, has assumed the position.
OMRON revealed that it is experiencing a rapid growth
in China of its five main businesses, including Industrial
Automation, Electronic Components, Automotive Electronics,
Social Systems, and Healthcare equipment. Prior to his new
role, Toshio Yamashita took various positions at OMRON,
including director of centralized purchasing, head of the
business reform office, as well as deputy general manager
for OMRON's China headquarters. His extensive experience
is expected to help the company further accelerate the pace
of realizing the sales target of $1.33 billion in the
Chinese market by 2007.
Former managing director, Yasuhira Minagawa, took up
the leadership in 2002 and has since contributed greatly to
strengthening the function of OMRON's China division, and as
a result, OMRON China became one of OMRON's regional-level
headquarters in 2004. Yasuhira Minagawa will officially
retire after the company's general shareholder meeting that
will be held in June 2006.
About OMRON
Headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, OMRON Corporation is a
global leader in the field of automation. Established in
1933 and headed by President and CEO Hisao Sakuta, OMRON
has more than 26,000 employees in over 35 countries working
to provide products and services to customers in a variety
of fields including industrial automation, electronic
components, social systems (ticket gate machines, ticket
vending machines, and traffic control), and healthcare.
OMRON's relationship with China dates back 30 years
ago. OMRON established the first healthcare equipment
facility, OMRON (Dalian) Co., Ltd., in Dalian in 1991; in
1994, OMRON became the first Japanese electronics company
approved by the Chinese authorities to set up a local
investment company -- OMRON (China) Co., Ltd.; currently,
with approximately 8,000 employees, OMRON (China) Co., Ltd
has formed a comprehensive management system consisting of
R&D, design, manufacturing, logistics and centralized
purchasing, and has invested more than US$200 million in
China.
OMRON has come out with a "Gear Change"
strategy, i.e., investing an additional 30 billion JP yen
in China from 2004 to 2006, with the aim of growing its
revenue of China business to US$1.33 billion by 2007.
While increasingly expanding its business, OMRON also
carries out activities promoting social business and social
responsibility. For example, OMRON's China facilities make
efforts to employ the handicapped, with the target of
meeting or exceeding the country's statutory employment
proportion of handicapped people by March 2008. In
addition, OMRON has donated RMB3 million to social welfare
institutions to promote participation of the handicapped in
the society. As China continues rapid economic growth,
OMRON is pleased to cooperate with relevant Chinese
organizations for joint creation, further localization, and
contribution to China's prosperity.
For more information, please contact:
Jia Wei
OMRON (China) Co., Ltd.
Tel: +86-10-5869-3232
Email: weijia@ap.omron.com
Resume of Toshio Yamashita:
Current Position: managing director for OMRON (China)
Co., Ltd.
Birth Date: November 28th, 1948
Final Schooling: graduate from the Kagoshima
University's Engineering
Department (March 1971)
Work Record:
April 1971 - join OMRON Tateisi Electronics Co. (now
OMRON Corporation)
March 1998 - director of manufacture improvement for
manufacture
headquarters of OMRON Corporation
June 2001 - director of purchasing reform for
business headquarters in
OMRON Corporation
June 2002 - director of centralized purchasing for
business reform
headquarter in OMRON Corporation
March 2005 - head of business reform office in OMRON
(China) Co., Ltd.
July 2005 - deputy managing director of OMRON (China)
Co., Ltd.
March 2006 - managing director of OMRON (China) Co.,
Ltd. Up to now
Hobbies: Chinese chess, and cuisine
SOURCE OMRON (China) Co., Ltd.
2007'02.01.Thu
FEI Certified Tools Program to be Launched at SEMICON China
March 21, 2006
China Market To Have More Flexible Access to FEI's Leading Tools for Nanotech
HILLSBORO, Ore., March 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- FEI
Company (Nasdaq: FEIC) will launch a Certified Tools
program for the Chinese market during SEMICON China in
Shanghai this week. The program, which features
fully-tested and warranted factory-refurbished FEI systems,
will provide China-based customers greater flexibility,
capital equipment acquisition leverage and added confidence
as research institutions and industrial customers across
China continue to invest in nanoscale development and
commercialization.
"We are extremely excited to first introduce FEI's
Certified Tools program to the China market," commented
Paul O'Mara, FEI's senior vice president responsible for the
FEI Certified Tools business. "China is making
significant investments in its infrastructure to support
nanotechnology development and manufacturing. These
investments will include a mix of both new and refurbished
equipment for labs and factories across multiple markets
including semiconductors and data storage, research
institutions and general industry."
The number of semiconductor fabs in China is growing.
According to a report released by Semiconductor Equipment
and Materials International (SEMI) last June, 20 new fabs
will be built in China between now and 2008, and many of
them will be furnished with used equipment. In 2004, sales
of refurbished semiconductor equipment in China represented
approximately $180 million.
"China is already a significant player in
nanotechnology investment and development," said Sean
Murdock, executive director of the U.S.-based NanoBusiness
Alliance. "Based upon their escalating commitment to
this sector, China figures to be a dominant nanotechnology
force in the next few years."
In addition to the Certified Tools program, FEI will
feature its complete line of advanced tools for
semiconductor labs and fabs including UltraView(TM), a
unique suite of products that takes users from wafers to
atoms in minutes with ultra-high, atomic scale resolution
for defect analysis and metrology.
For more information customers can visit the FEI Booth
(#3210) at SEMICON China in the Shanghai New International
Expo Centre, March 21-23, or contact their local sales
representative in China by telephoning FEI China at
+86-21-6122-5988.
About FEI
FEI's Tools for Nanotech(TM), featuring focused ion-
and electron-beam technologies, deliver 3D
characterization, analysis and modification capabilities
with resolution down to the sub-Angstrom level and provide
innovative solutions for customers working in NanoBiology,
NanoResearch and NanoElectronics. With R&D centers in
North America and Europe, and sales and service operations
in more than 50 countries around the world, FEI is bringing
the nanoscale within the grasp of leading researchers and
manufacturers and helping to turn some of the biggest ideas
of this century into reality. More information can be found
on the FEI website at: http://www.fei.com .
For more information, please contact:
Dan Zenka, APR, Global Public Relations
FEI Company
Tel: +1-503-726 2695
Email: dzenka@feico.com
SOURCE FEI Company
2007'02.01.Thu
Broadbus Expands Into China With Next-Generation Video On-Demand Solution
March 21, 2006
Demonstrates Market's Only Solid-State Platform at CCBN2006
BEIJING, March 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- CCBN --
Broadbus, the leading provider of technology solutions for
Television on Demand (TOD(R)), today announced its official
entrance into the Chinese market, building on its rapid
growth in North America and Europe.
After achieving more than 60 commercial deployments in
less than two years and passing more than 10 million homes
worldwide, Broadbus will now offer Chinese cable and
telecommunications providers a carrier-class video
on-demand (VOD) solution that will serve as a platform for
the next-generation of advanced video services. These
services include Time-Shifting live television, On-Demand
Ad Insertion, Network PVR (nPVR) and full-scale Television
On-Demand.
The company's entrance into the Chinese market
coincides with rapid growth in the demand for on-demand
video worldwide. Analyst firm Informa Telecoms & Media
predicts that video on-demand will generate more than $10.7
billion by 2010, more the triple the 2005 total. Broadbus'
existing offices in Beijing will serve as headquarters for
Asia-Pacific marketing, sales, customer support and
business development.
"Broadbus' expansion into China demonstrates the
company's momentum in the on-demand market, driven by the
need for systems with superior performance, reliability,
scalability and lower total cost of ownership," said
Vin Bisceglia, CEO of Broadbus. "Broadbus has been a
pioneer in addressing the needs of the communications
industry as it migrates from the increasing demands of
basic VOD to the future of Television On-Demand. Our goal
is to enhance the entertainment experience for millions of
Chinese customers and increase cash flow for communications
service providers and content owners alike."
Broadbus will be demonstrating a localized, end-to-end
video on-demand solution at the CCBN2006 conference (Booth
#2605) in Beijing from March 21-23, 2006. The demonstration
will leverage the company's flagship product, the Broadbus
B-1 Video Server, the only 100% solid-state, carrier-class
solution for the delivery of on-demand video services. The
Broadbus B-1 is designed to enable advanced video services
such as Video On-Demand (VOD), Time-Shifted TV, On-Demand
Ad Insertion and ultimately, Television On-Demand. The
platform's revolutionary solid-state, switch-based
architecture eliminates the use of mechanical hard drives
for video streaming and ingest, instead leveraging the
intelligent management of massive amounts of dynamic
random-access memory (DRAM). The result is unparalleled
performance, reliability, scalability and
cost-effectiveness for VOD and advanced on-demand
services.
About Broadbus
Broadbus develops fully scalable, next-generation video
on-demand solutions designed to solve streaming scale,
space, power consumption and live ingest issues for
communications service providers deploying advanced video
services such as VOD, Subscription VOD, and ultimately,
full-scale Television On-Demand (TOD). Broadbus offers a
migration path to the emerging TOD environment, while fully
exploiting existing upgraded broadband networks. The
company's revolutionary server architecture, based on the
intelligent configuration and management of massive amounts
of random-access memory, enables service providers to offer
their subscribers unparalleled convenience, choice, and
control over their home entertainment.
Broadbus was selected by Red Herring for inclusion into
its annual list of Top 100 Private Companies, named for the
second consecutive year to CED Magazine's Broadband 50,
awarded Product of the Year by the Massachusetts Network
Communication Council and listed as a finalist for Best
Innovation in two categories for the first annual
On-Demandies(TM) awards hosted by Digital Hollywood. For
more information, please visit http://www.broadbus.com .
Broadbus(R), TOD(R) and B-1(TM) are trademarks of
Broadbus Technologies, Inc.
For more information, please contact:
Jim Owens of Broadbus
Tel: +1-978-266-7264
Email: jowens@broadbus.com
Brian Baumley of Cohn & Wolfe
Tel: +1-212-798-9813
Email: brian_baumley@cohnwolfe.com
SOURCE Broadbus
2007'02.01.Thu
Showcasing the Next Generation of BPM for .NET With SourceCode's K2.net(TM)
March 21, 2006
SourceCode Demonstrates Powerful Extension of Microsoft Office System at the Microsoft Office System Developers Conference 2006
REDMOND, Wash., March 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
SourceCode Technology Holdings, Inc., creator of K2.net(TM)
the industry-leading business process management (BPM)
software for Microsoft .NET, today announced plans to
showcase both the current and future release of K2.net at
the second annual Microsoft Office System Developers
Conference in Redmond, WA this week. Developers from around
the world are expected to attend this premier,
invitation-only Microsoft Office system event keynoted by
Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect at
Microsoft Corp., as well as Kurt DelBene, corporate vice
president of the Office Server Group of Microsoft Office
System.
As a Gold Sponsor of the Conference, SourceCode will
demonstrate the current seamless integration to the
Microsoft Office system and how it significantly enhances
the process automation experience and ability to rapidly
build .NET-based solutions with BPM capabilities that help
customers solve significant business challenges. Moreover,
SourceCode will provide an early preview of the next
release of K2.net, code name "BlackPearl."
BlackPearl is scheduled for general availability by late
2006.
SourceCode's current release, K2.net 2003(TM) (K2.net)
enhances and extends the Microsoft Office system platform,
and thus helps customers derive significant value from
their investments, by leveraging K2.net's powerful, proven
and seamless process automation software across a range of
Microsoft products. This includes out-of-the-box,
wizard-driven integration to Microsoft Office system 2003
to enable customers to maximize the value and potential
impact related to the enhanced desktop environment,
forms-driven process solutions with InfoPath and
collaboration and content management solutions driven by
SharePoint products and technologies.
With the introduction of the 2007 Microsoft Office
system release the foundation has been laid for a
significantly enhanced user experience. The expansion of
ECM capabilities within the 2007 Microsoft Office system
release will make it even easier for future K2.net releases
to integrate process with a rich set of server-based Office
system APIs. This powerful combination will be a
compelling driver for adoption of pervasive process
automation within organizations. "SourceCode's
K2.net(R) "BlackPearl" will provide a powerful
pairing of ECM and BPM by unifying assets across the .NET
platform. It comes down to leveraging the power of the
Office System with our next release of K2.net to empower
both technical and business users to take ownership of, and
participate in business process related initiatives in the
organization," said SourceCode CEO, Adriaan van Wyk.
"Microsoft is pleased to have SourceCode sponsor
our event and showcase their K2.net plans and continued
innovation on the Microsoft Office system," said Seth
Patton, Group Product Manager for Office Partners at
Microsoft. He added, "Its current and planned
seamless integration to technologies such as SharePoint,
and enhancement of our platform with powerful BPM
capabilities add significant value for customers and
partners seeking get more out of their current Microsoft
investments and solve real business problems."
"Ultimately, our goal is for K2.net(R)
'BlackPearl' to enable customers to rapidly build and
effectively manage business process driven solutions in a
more robust and meaningful way than ever before. We are
pleased to showcase this latest K2.net innovation on the
Microsoft platform to the valued developer community,"
stated van Wyk.
About SourceCode
SourceCode Technology Holdings, Inc. develops the
award-winning K2.net(TM) 2003 enterprise workflow offering.
K2.net 2003 is the leader in business process management
for .NET through its enablement of rapid solution assembly
to optimize interactions between people, systems and
process. Customers derive significant value from their
Microsoft investments by leveraging K2.net 2003 and its
powerful, proven and seamless integration across a range of
products including: Microsoft Office 2003, Microsoft Office
InfoPath 2003, SharePoint Portal Server 2003, Microsoft
Office Project Server 2003, Microsoft Content Management
Server 2002, Live Communications Server 2005, BizTalk
Server 2004, Exchange Server 2003, and Visual Studio.net.
In conjunction with its global partner network, SourceCode
has developed solutions to help manage and monitor
processes that are designed to help customers increase
profitability, reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction,
and maintain compliance efforts.
SourceCode Technology Holdings, Inc. is headquartered
in Redmond, Washington, USA and has regional offices in the
United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France,
South Africa, Australia, and Singapore.
SourceCode and K2.net are registered trademarks or
trademarks of SourceCode Technology Holdings, Inc. in the
United States and/or other countries. The names of actual
companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.
For more information, please contact:
Leah Clelland of SourceCode Technology Holdings, Inc.,
Tel: 877-8-CALL-K2 or +1-425-894-1847
Email: leah@k2workflow.com
SOURCE SourceCode Technology Holdings, Inc.
2007'02.01.Thu
Asyst's Connectivity Software Expands Presence in Asia-Pacific Marketplace
March 21, 2006
Company Joins Forces With Technology Resources Group to Deliver Factory Automation Solutions
SHANGHAI, China, March 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Asyst
Technologies, Inc., (Nasdaq: ASYT), a leading provider of
integrated automation solutions that enhance semiconductor
and flat panel display manufacturing productivity,
announced today that it has developed a strategic alliance
with Technology Resources Group (TR Group), of Singapore.
Under the agreement, TR Group will promote and implement
Asyst's Fast Factory Automation (Fast FA) suite of software
products to semiconductor front-end, back-end, and flat
panel manufacturers throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Fast FA facilitates connectivity between manufacturing
equipment and the factory's Manufacturing Execution System
(MES), managing the data and providing the monitoring and
control necessary to support fab-wide operations for 200mm
and 300mm semiconductor manufacturing.
TR Group is a premier systems integrator focused on
supplying advanced technology products and services to the
semiconductor and related high-tech industries. The
partnership between Asyst and TR Group provides fabs
throughout the Asia-Pacific region with a proven systems
integration partner to address factory integration
requirements when implementing Asyst software.
"TR Group has implemented projects utilizing the
majority of the leading third-party EAP software products
on the market today," said Kong Eng Teck, managing
director of TR Group. "It is based upon this
experience that TR Group recognized the value that the
Asyst Fast FA products represent to both our end customers
and to us as systems integrators. Their products truly
represent the best software automation capabilities we have
ever experienced."
"Combining the strengths of Asyst's software
products with TR Group's team of system integration
specialists allows us to offer fabs in the region high
value, low risk automation implementations," stated
Jim Holliday, vice president of marketing at Asyst.
"The Fast FA suite allows fabs to implement automation
that is not reliant on highly customized internal solutions
or third-party products designed and based upon older
technologies. The suite significantly reduces
implementation time and system maintenance over traditional
approaches, lowering total cost of ownership."
About Asyst
Asyst Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of
integrated automation solutions that enable semiconductor
and flat panel display (FPD) manufacturers to increase
their manufacturing productivity and protect their
investment in materials during the manufacturing process.
Encompassing isolation systems, work-in-process materials
management, substrate-handling robotics, automated
transport and loading systems, and connectivity automation
software, Asyst's modular, interoperable solutions allow
chip and FPD manufacturers, as well as original equipment
manufacturers, to select and employ the value-assured,
hands-off manufacturing capabilities that best suit their
needs. Asyst's homepage is http://www.asyst.com .
About Technology Resources Group
Technology Resources Group is a premier systems
integrator strategically focused on supplying advanced
technology products and services to the semiconductor and
related high-tech industries. Founded in 2003 by ex-TRW
management team, TR Group has its headquarters in Singapore
with technical resources located in Malaysia, Taiwan and
China. With more than 80 professional consultants in Asia,
the team is able to create automation and IT solutions
drawing upon its extensive industry domain experiences to
ensure that its clients' operating facilities come online
as quickly and efficiently as possible and maintain that
efficiency throughout their operating lifetime.
For more information about TR Group, call +65 6319 9800
or visit http://www.techresgroup.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in
this press release are forward-looking. Such statements are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from the
statements made. These factors include, but are not limited
to, our ability to achieve expected customer benefits and to
increase our market penetration through software alliances,
and other factors more fully detailed in the company's
annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31,
2005, and other reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Asyst is a registered trademark of Asyst Technologies, Inc.
For more information, please contact:
Amy Smith
elev8 Public Relations
Tel: +1-415-613-6308
Email: amysmith@elev8pr.com
John Swenson
Asyst Technologies, Inc.
Tel: +1-510-661-5000
SOURCE Asyst Technologies, Inc.
2007'02.01.Thu
Achievo Acquires VisualSoft to Expand IT Services for Taiwan's Growing Economy
March 20, 2006
Adding Front-end Capabilities in Taiwan While Expanding Back-end Services in Jinan, China
DUBLIN and CALIFORNIA, March 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Achievo(R) Corporation, the leading global software and
information technology outsourcing provider with a local
front-end and China back-end service model, today announced
that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire
VisualSoft Information System Corp., LTD. VisualSoft is a
software and IT outsourcing company that provides Taiwanese
companies with offshore outsourcing services. VisualSoft
has customer relationship management expertise in
manufacturing and financial services systems, and delivers
application services to Citibank, First Commercial Bank,
the Taiwan Business Bank, and other Taiwanese and
multinational firms.
Continuing its strategy of organic and
acquisition-based growth, Achievo will leverage
VisualSoft's front-end resources in Taiwan and operational
resources in Jinan, China, to provide more services for
Taiwanese and global clients. VisualSoft will be augmented
by Achievo's global front-end and back-end capabilities in
the United States, China, Japan and Germany.
With this acquisition, Achievo adds an outsource
development center in Jinan, in the province of Shandong,
that has a staff of 80 engineers, programmers and
developers.
"We are delighted to have VisualSoft join the
Achievo family," said Dr. Robert P. Lee, Achievo's
chairman and CEO. "The Taiwanese economy has
succeeded not only in economic growth, but also in
technological expertise. The VisualSoft acquisition
provides Taiwanese customers with additional resources and
a reliable and scalable partner to develop and manage their
software projects."
"Joining Achievo enables us to rapidly scale our
operations to accommodate new customers," said C.H.
Wang, VisualSoft's general manager. "The additional
resources give us a business structure capable of quickly
and cost-effectively meeting the varied and diverse needs
and requirements of our customers in Taiwan."
VisualSoft will operate as a wholly-owned division of
Achievo in Taiwan. Wang will become general manager of the
Achievo VisualSoft Taipei division reporting to Lee.
About VisualSoft Information System Corp., LTD
VisualSoft Information System (
http://visualsoft.com.tw ) provides software and IT
outsourcing services to Taiwanese and multinational firms
in financial, healthcare and government industries.
VisualSoft's technology expertise spans platforms such as
Java, Microsoft .NET and Open Source. VisualSoft delivers
application services to financial, manufacturing and
government customers. VisualSoft has ties to major IT
vendors as well as multinational financial and
manufacturing services companies in Taiwan. Customers
include Citibank, First Commercial Bank, Land Bank of
Taiwan and Taiwan Business Bank.
About Achievo Corporation
Achievo is a global offshore software and information
technology outsourcing provider with a local front-end and
China back-end service model. With expertise in diverse
technologies including Java/J2EE, .NET and embedded
platforms, the CMM-certified company offers improved
efficiencies, scale, diversification, and a combined talent
pool to deliver cost-effective, quality-centric, and
scalable IT outsourcing services to customers and partners
worldwide. Customers include IBM, HP, Sun Microsystems,
Netgear, Cadence, Accela, China Academy of Sciences,
DaimlerChrysler, Ellie Mae, ESRI, Fujitsu, Mercedes Benz,
Siemens, United Way, Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer, NTT Data,
Toshiba and other Fortune 2000 companies. Headquartered in
the Silicon Valley, Achievo has offices in the United
States, Canada, Germany, China and Japan. For information
on the company and its services, visit
http://www.achievo.com .
Achievo is a registered trademark of Achievo
Corporation in the United States and in other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
For more information, please contact:
Brian Fawkes, Corp. Comm.,
Achievo Corporation
Tel: +1-925-828-5990 x182
Email: brian.fawkes@achievo.com
C.H. Wang, General Manager,
Achievo VisualSoft Taipei
Tel: +886-2273-86785
Email: ch.wang@achievo.com
SOURCE Achievo Corporation
2007'02.01.Thu
Beyondsoft Named in Top 3 of US & Europe Oriented China Based Outsourcing Companies
March 20, 2006
BEIJING, March 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Beijing
Beyondsoft Co., Ltd., an end-to-end software engineering
service provider in China has been ranked as a top 3 US
& Europe oriented China based outsourcing company by
IDC in their Feb 2006 report.
As the premier advisory services provider for the
information technology industry, IDC conducts research on
IT markets worldwide. The "China-Based Offshore
Software Development 2006-2010 Forecast and Analysis"
study provides an overview of the current status of the
China offshore software market and a list of the top 10
China based outsourcing companies.
Three out of the nine companies listed in IDC's report
focus mainly on U.S. clients. Beyondsoft, having targeted
the U.S. market since its inception, is ranked among the
top 3. "It is not only the reward of our eleven year
commitment to performing beyond expectations," said
Ben Wang, CEO of Beyondsoft, "but, more significantly,
a telltale sign that we continue to grow in the direction
we've chosen."
About Beyondsoft
Established in 1995, Beijing Beyondsoft Co., Ltd. is a
leading end-to-end software engineering service provider in
China. The core services range from software development,
QA/testing, and localization, to China market entry.
Headquartered in Beijing, Beyondsoft has domestic branches
in Shanghai & Wuhan, as well as overseas offices in
Silicon Valley, Seattle, Fort Collins in the United States,
and Tokyo, Japan. For more information, please visit
http://www.beyondsoft.com .
For more information, please contact:
Lorita Liu
Beyondsoft Group
Tel: +86-10-8282-6100 x5102
Email: liuye@beyondsoft.com
Web: http://www.beyondsoft.com
SOURCE Beyondsoft Co., Ltd.
2007'02.01.Thu
Xinhua Finance Makes Second Payment for Acquisition of China TV Consulting Company
March 20, 2006
SHANGHAI, China, March 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Xinhua
Finance Limited ("Xinhua Finance") (TSE Mothers:
9399; OTC: XHFNY), China's unchallenged leader in financial
information and media, today announced details of the second
consideration payment to be made to the original
shareholders of Beijing Century Media Culture Co., Ltd.
("Beijing Century Media") pursuant to the sale
and purchase agreement signed in September 2005.
As announced in the press release of October 11, 2005,
further purchase consideration for Beijing Century Media
will be payable depending on Beijing Century Media's
financial performance during 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Xinhua Finance is pleased to announce that Beijing
Century Media has reported net income for 2005 of US$2.2
million, which significantly exceeds the original estimate
of USD 1.3 million as announced by the Company at the time
of the acquisition. Accordingly, the original shareholders
of Beijing Century Media will be issued 14,629 of Xinhua
Finance shares pursuant to the sale and purchase agreement.
Details of the issuance:
No. of shares issued: 14,629 shares
Issue price per share: US$565.84
Total amount of the issue price: US$8,277,712
Amount to be added to share capital: HK$20 per share
Date of issuance: March 21, 2006
Objective of issuance: The shares are part of
consideration of the shares
of Beijing Century Media that were acquired in
September 2005.
About Xinhua Finance Limited
Xinhua Finance Limited is China's unchallenged leader
in financial information and media, and is listed on the
Mothers board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (symbol: 9399)
(OTC ADRs: XHFNY). Bridging China's financial markets and
the world, Xinhua Finance serves financial institutions,
corporations and re-distributors through four focused and
complementary service lines: Indices, Ratings, Financial
News and Investor Relations. Founded in November 1999, the
Company is headquartered in Shanghai with 21 news bureaus
and offices in 18 locations across Asia, Australia, North
America and Europe.
For more information, please visit
http://www.xinhuafinance.com .
For more information, please contact:
Xinhua Finance
Hong Kong / Shanghai
Ms. Joy Tsang
Tel: +852-3196-3983, +852 9486 4364 or
+86-21-6113-5999
Email: joy.tsang@xinhuafinance.com
Japan
Mr. Sun Jiong,
Tel: +81-3-3221-9500
Email: jsun@xinhuafinance.com
Taylor Rafferty (IR Contact)
Japan
Mr. James Hawrylak
Tel: +81-3-5733-2621
Email: James.hawrylak@taylor-rafferty.com
United States
Mr. David Leeney
Tel: +1-212-889-4350
Email: xinhuafinance@taylor-rafferty.com
SOURCE Xinhua Finance Limited
2007'02.01.Thu
The First Youth Justice Pilot Project in China Successfully Diverts 451 Young Offenders
March 20, 2006
BEIJING, March 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- On Mar. 19, a
special basketball team was set up in the Gymnastic Studio
of Panlong District. The players gave it the name
"Sunshine Basketball Team." These children are
young offenders diverted from Panlong Youth justice Pilot
project. The team leader, Mr. Li, is a police officer from
Panlong Public Security Bureau. He is also a staff of the
project office. And the coach of the team, a national
level coach, is the head of Panlong Gymnastic Studio. He
works with the children as a volunteer.
The Youth Justice Pilot Project based in Panlong
District, Kunming City is a cooperative initiative between
the People's Government of Panlong District and Save the
Children. The project promotes judicial diversion through
inter-departmental cooperation and the establishment of
community support system. According to the introduction by
Zhang Yue Ru, the director of the project office,
"judicial diversion" refers to the process
whereby, when a young offender is to be dealt with by
administrative or criminal penalties, alternatives to
custody with conditions will be granted wherever possible
to divert him or her from the criminal justice system, thus
to reduce the amount of young people detained in detention
centers and youth jails. Young offenders then stay in
communities to receive help and support to reintegrate into
society. Till now, 451 young offenders have been diverted
in Panlong district.
With the joint efforts of both sides, the project set
up the first judicial Diversion Protocol in China, which
regulates the practices of the local Public Security
Bureau, Prosecutor's Office, the Court and the Judicial
Bureau.
In order to promote the practice of judicial diversion,
the first full-time "Appropriate Adults" team were
set up and the manual for this scheme was issued. This
manual defines the working procedure of appropriate adults
by requesting them to present from the very first meeting
when young offenders enter the judicial process to protect
young offender's legal rights.
At present, there are ten full-time appropriate adults.
As soon as a child in conflict with the law appears in the
Public Security Bureau, the appropriate adults will be
called in promptly to present in the interview. Besides,
full-time appropriate adults work with part-time
volunteers; all of them play important roles in the
establishment of community support system.
In order to carry out the community correction work
after diversion, a children's center was set up in Donghua
community. It is a place for diverted children to receive
training and support, and to have fun. Playing basketball
is one of the activities carried out through the center.
In the launch of the Sunshine Basketball Team, most team
members said playing basketball greatly changed them. They
made many friends and learned the importance of friendship,
respect and team spirit. Now their greatest hope is to
play in a real basketball game.
For more information, please contact:
Zeng Ming
Press/Information Officer
Save The Children China Programme
Tel: +86-010-6500-4408/6441 x1616
Fax: +86-010-6500-6554
Email: zengming@savethechildren.org.cn
SOURCE Save the Children
2007'02.01.Thu
Great Fun and Magical Value in Store for Guests at Hong Kong Disneyland
March 20, 2006
Double the Magic and Extra Magic
It's Like a Dream Come True
It's Like a Dream Come True
HONG KONG, March 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- With the
special offers available today for guests at Hong Kong
Disneyland, it's like a dream come true. Residents of Hong
Kong can take advantage of Double the Magic. And guests
from Mainland China can choose their own Extra Magic.
(Photo:
http://xprnnews.xfn.info/HKDisney/20060320/Castle.htm )
¡§As we pass through our first spring and swing into
our inaugural summer at Hong Kong Disneyland, we want to
offer our guests something exciting, magical and inspiring
so they can share in the celebration of our first year of
operations,¡¨said Roy Tan Hardy, Senior Vice President,
Marketing, Hong Kong Disneyland. ¡§This is a great
opportunity for those who have already experienced the
magic of Hong Kong Disneyland to return and for those who
have been waiting for just the right time to make their
first visit.¡¨
Hong Kong's Residents Double the Magic
With a valid Hong Kong ID, guests from Hong Kong can
Double the Magic when they purchase a one-day ticket. For
that one-day ticket, they receive a second magical visit
free of charge to Hong Kong Disneyland. The second visit
must be the same day type as the original day and must be
the same person. This offer is available March 20 through
June 28, 2006, but is not valid for Special Days (April
14-21, April 30 and May 1-6, 2006) when date-specific
tickets are required.
Mainland China Residents Choose Extra Magic
Mainland China guests can choose their own Extra Magic
when they book a visit to Hong Kong Disneyland through a
travel agent. The Extra Magic choices include: a photo on
Space Mountain or The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh;
buy one main course meal and get the second for free; or a
Disney-themed souvenir. This Extra Magic offer is available
March 20 through September 30, 2006.
Ms. Pan of GZL's outbound tour department said, ¡§This
exciting ¡¥Extra Magic' promotion that Hong Kong Disneyland
is offering exclusively to the trade will certainly be
attractive to consumers. It is encouraging that Hong Kong
Disneyland is tailoring promotions based on the needs and
travel patterns from the different markets. This is a great
opportunity for us to further promote Hong Kong
Disneyland.¡¨
¡§We create special offers based on the needs and
desires of our guests,¡¨ continued Hardy. ¡§For example,
the Double the Magic offer is perfect for families here in
Hong Kong who can easily make a second trip to our resort
in a short period of time. And for our friends who have
longer travel involved from Mainland China and don't visit
Hong Kong as frequently, we've developed an offer that adds
more magic to their visits with the Extra Magic offer.¡¨
Now is a better time than ever to experience the magic
of Hong Kong Disneyland. With two Broad-way style shows,
uniquely Disney attractions and entertainment, a nightly
fireworks extravaganza and two spectacular hotels, there's
something for everybody in family.
For more information, guests can visit
http://www.hongkongdisneyland.com or call their local
travel agent.
About Hong Kong Disneyland
Opened on September 12, 2005 and located on lush Lantau
Island overlooking Penny's Bay, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
is a new, world-class family entertainment and recreation
center consisting of a magical, Disneyland-style theme park
of shows and attractions, Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel (400
guestrooms), Disney's Hollywood Hotel (600 guestrooms) and
Inspiration Lake, a public area featuring boat rentals and
a 3.5 hectare arboretum. Offering guests of all ages a full
day immersed in imagination and creativity uniquely Disney,
Hong Kong Disneyland is home to Mickey Mouse, Snow White,
Mulan and other Disney characters beloved the world over.
A joint venture of The Walt Disney Company and Hong
Kong SAR Government, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort employs
5,000 cast members. The HKSAR Government estimated the
first phase of the project will generate a present economic
value of HK$148 billion (US$19 billion) in benefits to Hong
Kong over a 40-year period.
The project was announced in 1999 and construction
began in 2003.
For further enquiries, please contact:
Glendy Chu
Director, Media Relations
Hong Kong Disneyland
Tel: +852-3550-2354
Email: glendy.chu@disney.com
Esther Wong
Manager, Public Affairs
Hong Kong Disneyland
Tel: +852-3550-2335
Email: esther.wong@disney.com
SOURCE Hong Kong Disneyland
2007'02.01.Thu
Freestar Technology's Rahaxi P00rocessing Oy. Signs Exclusive Contract with UK-based Thyron Systems to Supply Portable Emv-compatible Payment Terminals in Finland
March 20, 2006
SHANGHAI, March 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- FreeStar
Technology Corp. (OTCBB: FSRT), an international card
payments processor and technology company, announced last
week that its Finnish-based, wholly owned subsidiary,
Rahaxi Processing Oy., has agreed to supply portable
EMV-compatible payment processing devices from Thyron
Systems Ltd., a UK-based provider of mobile payment
processing devices that are EMV-compatible, to be used in
Finland.
The company reported that Thyron Systems's mobile
payment processing devices are very popular because they
can be used in restaurants, taxis and buses. They are
currently being used in the licensed taxis from Heathrow
Airport, the high-speed rail link between central Stockholm
and the city's main airport.and by British Airways to supply
electronic cash reimbursements to customers.
Thyron Systems mobile devices will be the most
full-featured portable payment terminals to be available in
Finland. Thyron has the longest lasting battery of all its
competitors and therefore is the best-suited terminal for
the market. It also has the smallest footprint terminal of
its kind, easy to hold, back-lit pad, optional touch screen
and it comes with a charging cradle and a top quality
printer, the company explained.
Thyron Systems terminals are called Chip & Pin
(C&P) devices because the terminal reads the chip in
the EMV-compatible credit or debit card and the cardholder
enters a pin number to identify himself. This
identification and security methodology reduces card
transaction fraud.
FreeStar Technology President and CEO Paul Egan said,
"We are pleased to introduce C&P technology to
Finland and we expect that it will help Rahaxi Processing
make dramatic gains in market share in Finland.
Garrett Clifford, sales manager, Thyron Systems, said,
"I am delighted that Rahaxi Processing has chosen
Thyron Systems to be its sole supplier in Finland of
portable card payment devices. Rahaxi Processing holds a
significant share of the Finnish market and has a clear
understanding of the market requirements. Thyron looks
forward to supporting Rahaxi in its aim to enable
cardholders to make payments in an increasing variety of
locations and environments."
About FreeStar Technology Corp.
FreeStar Technology Corp. is a payment processing
company. Its wholly owned subsidiary Rahaxi Processing Oy.,
based in Helsinki, has a robust Northern European BASE24
credit card processing platform. Rahaxi currently processes
in excess of 1.3 million card payments per month for such
companies as Finnair, Ikea and Stockman. The company, based
in Dublin, Ireland, maintains satellite offices in Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic, Helsinki and Geneva. For more
information, please visit http://www.freestartech.com and
http://www.rahaxi.com .
About Thyron Systems Ltd.
Thyron Systems Ltd, a UK-based company with an
established pedigree in the mobile payment sector,
specialises in the creation and development of cost
effective payment solutions to businesses in the retail,
hospitality and transportation space. Located just north of
London in Watford, Thyron is an independent privately owned
company, which has increased its presence in several
mainland European territories in recent years. Thyron has
worked with the major UK and Irish acquiring banks during
the recent roll out of Chip and Pin in both locations. For
more information, please visit http://www.thyron.com .
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release may contain
forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175
under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the
safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other
than statements of fact, included in this release,
including, without limitation, statements regarding
potential future plans and objectives of the companies, are
forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such
statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and
future events could differ materially from those anticipated
in such statements. Technical complications that may arise
could prevent the prompt implementation of any
strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The
companies caution that these forward-looking statements are
further qualified by other factors including, but not
limited to, those set forth in FreeStar's Form 10-KSB
filing and other filings with the U S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (available at http://www.sec.gov ).
FreeStar undertakes no obligation to publicly update or
revise any statements in this release, whether as a result
of new information, future events, or otherwise.
For more information, please contact:
Investor Relations
Arun Chakraborty
Stern & Co.
Tel: +1-212-888-0044
Email: achakrab@sternco.com
Paul Egan
FreeStar Technology Corporation
Tel: +1-809-368-2001
Email: pegan@freestartech.com
SOURCE FreeStar Technology Corp.
2007'02.01.Thu
Adult Stem Cells Improve Cardiac Function and Blood Flow in Patients With Heart Disease, New Study Finds
March 20, 2006
NOGA(R) Cardiac Navigation System from Biologics Delivery Systems Group, Cordis Corporation, Helped Researchers Deliver Stem Cells to the Heart
ATLANTA, March 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Bone
marrow-derived adult stem cells administered within the
heart (intramyocardial) and coronary artery (intracoronary)
tissues of heart disease patients improved patients' heart
function and blood flow, according to a pilot study
presented during a poster session at the 2006 American
College of Cardiology Scientific Session. The study also
found that patients who received more stem cells
experienced a higher degree of cardiac improvement.
"The results of this adult stem cell study are
encouraging news for patients who suffer from serious
coronary heart disease but additional clinical
investigation is necessary to confirm these findings,"
said Mariann Gyongyosi, M.D., Division of Cardiology,
University of Vienna Medical Center, Vienna, Austria.
"This study is an important step forward in
understanding the potential role of adult stem cells in
patients with ischemic heart disease."
Six months post-stem cell injection, patients had
improved function at the target study site of the left
heart ventricle. Improvements included a 4.7 percent
increase in the strength of the patient's heart
contractions (ejection fraction or EF) (34.8 +/- 7.9
percent to 39.5 +/- 6.7 percent; p=0.015) and an increase
in the movement of the inner heart wall during contraction
(linear local shortening or LLS) (5.14 +/- 2.90 percent to
6.21 +/- 1.66 percent; p=0.035). Additionally, study
participants experienced a 4.9 percent decrease in blood
flow problems (perfusion defects) after receiving a
stress-inducing drug (37.0 +/- 10.3 percent to 32.1 +/-
13.3 percent; p=0.088).
The study examined 17 patients who were considered
unsuitable candidates for conventional treatments such as
coronary artery stenting or bypass surgery. Utilizing the
investigational MYOSTAR(TM) Injection Catheter, researchers
administered bone marrow-derived stem cells into patients'
left heart ventricle, relying on the NOGA(R) System to help
them accurately identify the target injection site.
"The NOGA(R) System created highly precise,
three-dimensional images of the heart. These images gave
us a clear `map' that helped us to successfully deliver the
adult stem cells where we intended them to go,"
commented Dr. Gyongyosi. "This imaging technology was
critical to making this study possible."
A secondary study finding was that patients experienced
higher degrees of cardiac improvement as the number of stem
cells administered within the myocardial and coronary
tissues increased. This was documented through follow-up
measures, including EF (p=0.01, r=0.709), LLS (p<0.05,
r=0.628) and stressed-induced (p=0.01, r=0.708) and resting
(p<0.01, r=0.722) perfusion defects.
Linear Local Shortening (LLS) was measured with the aid
of NOGA endocardial mapping, a means of visualizing the
motion of the inner heart wall by recording its electrical
signals. Additional follow-up methods included x-ray,
scintigraphy (a diagnostic procedure to create an image of
a target organ by giving the patient a radioactive agent
known as a radionuclide) and echocardiography (a diagnostic
test to visualize the heart and its structures using
ultrasound waves).
"We are pleased that the NOGA(R) System was able
to play such an important role in exploring this new
frontier of heart disease treatment," said Mark
Martin, Global Clinical Manager, Biologics Delivery Systems
Group, Cordis Corporation, which distributes the NOGA(R)
System. "This study is a prime example of our
commitment to giving physicians and researchers the
innovative visualization and delivery technologies they
need to explore breakthrough treatments."
About the NOGA(R) System
The NOGA(R) Cardiac Navigation System is the most
advanced technology currently available on the market to
create highly precise, three-dimensional images of the
heart. Based on these images, physicians are able to
accurately identify tissue that could benefit from a
variety of targeted therapies. The NOGA(R) XP Cardiac
Navigation System is currently being used to map the heart
in more than 17 ongoing clinical studies worldwide,
investigating the use of adult stem cell and gene therapies
to treat conditions such as congestive heart failure and
chronic ischemia.
The MYOSTAR(TM) Injection Catheter is not commercially
available in the United States and is used only under
investigational protocols.
About Biologics Delivery Systems Group
Biologics Delivery Systems Group, Cordis Corporation,
is a leader in the emerging field of biologics delivery,
developing breakthrough technology in targeted delivery
across multiple disease states and clinical specialties.
Biologics Delivery Systems Group delivery technology is
advancing the standard of care by enabling physicians to
identify and visualize optimal delivery sites, and to
precisely target single and multiple treatment sites.
About Cordis Corporation
Cordis Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company, is
a worldwide leader in developing and manufacturing
interventional vascular technology. Through the company's
innovation, research and development, physicians worldwide
are better able to treat the millions of patients who
suffer from vascular disease.
For more information, please contact:
Christopher Allman
Cordis Cardiology
Mobile: +1-305-586-6024
Email: callman1@crdus.jnj.com
Todd Ringler
Edelman
Mobile: +1-617-872-1235
Email: todd.ringler@edelman.com
SOURCE Cordis Corporation
2007'02.01.Thu
Baidu and Nokia Spearhead Chinese Language Mobile Search
March 17, 2006
China's No. 1 Search Engine and the World's Leading Mobile Communications Manufacturer Collaborate to Make Mobile Search Easier in Chinese
BEIJING, March 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Baidu.com,
Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet
search provider, and Nokia, the world's leading mobile
communications manufacturer, today announced that they are
collaborating to make mobile search easier and more
convenient in Chinese-speaking markets, including mainland
China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
(Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041011/BAIDULOGO )
As a result of this collaboration between Baidu and
Nokia, users of Nokia's Mobile Search Application, leading
with the high-end Nokia N70, Nokia N90 and other select S60
Nokia devices, will be able to access Baidu search services
via a user friendly search icon on the screen interface.
The Nokia Mobile Search Application with Baidu wireless
search services is designed to provide a simple and
convenient way for users of these Nokia devices to search
for information online and to connect with Baidu online
communities via wireless connections. Four of Baidu's most
popular services, including Web Search, News Search, Image
Search and Baidu Post Bar, a popular query based community
invented by Baidu, are provided in this Application.
A free download of this pilot application will be
available from today for select devices in mainland China
only from http://www.nokia.com/mobilesearch .
"Our cooperation with Nokia is a demonstration of
Baidu's commitment to providing users with the most
convenient way to find information," said Mr. Xuyang
Ren, Director of Baidu's Business Development Department.
"Nokia is one of Baidu's most important collaborators
in mobile search and together we will bring the best mobile
search experience to Chinese users."
"Nokia's Mobile Search is noted for its ease of
use, and combined with Baidu's search services, people will
be able to extend their rich search experience to the mobile
domain in Chinese," said Dan Wong, vice president of
Multimedia Sales and Channels at Nokia, China. "We
have chosen to collaborate with the leading Chinese
language search provider to connect our Chinese users to
information and to each other with the touch of a button.
We are confident that this cooperation will strengthen both
Nokia and Baidu's position as leaders in mobile search in
China."
About Baidu
Baidu.com, Inc. is the leading Chinese language
Internet search provider. As a technology-based media
company, Baidu aims to provide the best way for people to
find information. In addition to serving individual
Internet search users, Baidu provides an effective platform
for businesses to reach potential customers. Baidu first
offered WAP and PDA based mobile search in 2004. Baidu's
ADSs, each of which represents one Class A ordinary share,
currently trade on the NASDAQ Global Market under the
symbol "BIDU". http://www.baidu.com
About Nokia
Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications,
driving the growth and sustainability of the broader
mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and
the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and
innovative products like mobile phones, devices and
solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia
provides equipment, solutions and services for network
operators and corporations. http://www.nokia.com
For more information, please contact:
Cynthia He
Baidu.com, Inc.
Tel: +86-10-8262-1188
Email: cynthiahe@baidu.com
Nokia
Communications
Tel: +358-7180-34900
Email: press.office@nokia.com
SOURCE Baidu.com, Inc.
2007'02.01.Thu
TOM Online Reports 4Q 2005 Net Profits Up 55% Year on Year
March 17, 2006
Positioned as the Leader in the China Wireless Internet Market and 3G
HONG KONG, March 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- TOM Online
Inc., (Nasdaq: TOMO; Hong Kong GEM: 8282) ("TOM
Online" or the "Company"), a leading
wireless Internet company in China, announced today its
financial results for the fourth quarter and full year
ended December 31, 2005.
The Company reported that 4Q 2005 Net Profits were up
55% year on year (YoY) and that fiscal 2005 revenues were
up 40 percent year on year as it continued to solidify its
position as the leading wireless Internet firm in mainland
China.
Fiscal 2005 Financial Highlights:
-- Total revenues were US$172.11 million
("mn"), an increase of 40% from
2004.
-- Wireless Internet revenues were US$161.88 mn,
representing a 43.4%
increase from the previous year.
-- Online advertising revenues increased to US$9.21 mn,
representing a
21.5% increase over 2004.
-- Net Income was US$45.01 mn, up 32.7% from the
previous year.
-- Basic and fully diluted earnings per American
Depository Share ("ADS")
for 2005 were US$87.7 cents and US$85.4 cents,
respectively, or US$1.10
cents and US$1.07 cents per common share,
respectively.
-- Balance of cash, short-term bank deposits and
marketable securities was
approximately US$140.25 mn as of December 31, 2005.
Fourth Quarter 2005 Financial Highlights:
-- Total revenues were US$ 48.12 million
("mn"), an increase of 39.5% from
the same period last year and up 4.7% from the
previous quarter.
-- Wireless Internet revenues were US$ 44.62 mn,
representing a 39.6%
increase over the same period last year and a 3.4%
increase over the
previous quarter. Wireless Internet revenues made
up 92.7% of the
Company's total fourth quarter revenues.
-- Online advertising revenues were US$ 3.2 mn, an
increase of 57.4% from
the same period last year and up 23.5% from the
previous quarter.
-- Net Income was US$ 12.72 mn, an increase of 55.1%
from the same period
last year but a decrease of 1.3% from the last
quarter as the RMB
appreciated slower in the fourth quarter than in the
previous quarter.
Excluding this factor, the Net Income increased
almost 8% from the last
quarter.
-- Basic and fully diluted earnings per American
Depository Share ("ADS")
were US$24.16 cents and US$23.85 cents,
respectively, or US$0.302 cents
and US$0.298 cents per common share, respectively.
Wang Lei Lei, TOM Online Chief Executive Officer and an
Executive Director, said: "Through better operational
efficiency and team efforts, TOM Online has been able to
further consolidate its leadership in the wireless internet
industry in 2005, which has in turn helped us achieve our
growth targets and establish a credible reputation in the
industry and among its partners. I believe 2006 will hold
more successes for us."
Fourth Quarter 2005 Business Results
The Company's unaudited consolidated revenues for the
three months ended December 31, 2005 were US$48.12 mn, an
increase of 39.5% over the same period in 2004 and an
increase of 4.7% quarter on quarter ("QoQ").
Gross profit was US$21.37 mn, representing an increase
of 39.4% over the same period last year and a 5.5% increase
QoQ. Gross margins stabilized at 44.4% from 44.1% in the
previous quarter, as benefits from sustained higher
confirmation rates in the Company's SMS business and
increased contribution from its online advertising business
offset increasing channel and content costs.
Operating income was US$12.14 mn, up 70.9% from the
same period last year and 5.7% higher than the previous
quarter. Operating margins stabilized at 25.2% from 25.0%
in the previous quarter.
During the fourth quarter, the Company increased its
sales and marketing activities to US$2.78 mn from US$1.76
mn in the third quarter, representing a 57.3% sequential
increase, but only a 19.6% YoY increase, as it usually
increases its sales and marketing activities in the fourth
quarter of each year.
For the fourth quarter, net interest income increased
to US$0.57 mn from US$0.27 mn in the third quarter.
Fourth quarter EBITDA ("Earnings before Interest,
Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization") were
US$14.22mn, an increase of 40.1% YoY and 5.3% higher QoQ.
EBITDA margins were 29.5% for the fourth quarter, roughly
in-line with EBITDA margins in the third quarter, which
were at 29.4%.
Net income was US$12.72 mn, an increase of 55.1% YoY
but a decrease of 1.3% QoQ as the RMB appreciated slower in
the fourth quarter than in the previous quarter. Excluding
this factor, the net income increased almost 8% from the
last quarter. Net income margins declined sequentially to
26.4% in the fourth quarter from 28.0% in the previous
quarter during which the Company had a US$1.13 mn benefit
from the appreciation of RMB.
US GAAP basic earnings per ADS were US$24.16 cents for
the quarter. US GAAP basic earnings per Hong Kong ordinary
share were US$0.302 cents for the quarter. Shares used in
computing US GAAP basic earnings per ADS were 52.65 mn and
shares used in computing US GAAP basic earnings per Hong
Kong ordinary share were 4,212.07 mn.
US GAAP diluted earnings per ADS were US$23.85 cents
for the quarter. US GAAP diluted earnings per Hong Kong
ordinary share were US$0.298 cents for the quarter. Shares
used in computing US GAAP diluted earnings per ADS were
53.32 mn and shares used in computing US GAAP diluted
earnings per Hong Kong ordinary share were 4,265.83 mn.
The Company's balance of cash, short-term bank deposits
and marketable securities was approximately US$140.25 mn as
of December 31, 2005.
Wireless Internet Services
Total wireless Internet service revenues were US$44.62
mn for the fourth quarter of 2005, an increase of 39.6%
from the same period last year and a 3.4% increase QoQ.
Wireless Internet revenues made up 92.7% of the Company's
total revenues in the fourth quarter, down slightly from
93.9% in the previous quarter.
During the quarter, the Company continued to develop
its leadership in the mainland Chinese wireless Internet
market and continued to focus on longer-term business
opportunities which build upon its wireless and online
operations and assets. Key activities in the quarter
included:
1) Continuing to develop alliances with media partners
in TV, radio and
print to more effectively market TOM Online's
wireless services, such
as 2.5G services and IVR, as well as broaden the
awareness of its brand
with consumers. The Company believes its scale and
diversification in
wireless distribution channels are a key competitive
advantage. Through
these platforms, the Company believes it is well
positioned for
opportunities in 3G.
2) Continuing to promote its "Wanleba"
Internet music brand, which
leverages "tom.com" portal's ability to
allow singers/songwriters to
take advantage of its mobile distribution channels.
During the quarter,
the Company announced that it was partnering with
Intel to jointly
promote their Internet cafe initiatives and
"Wanleba" at various
locations across mainland China. The Company
believes mobile music
will continue to be an important driver for its
growth in 2006.
SMS ("Short Messaging Service") revenues in
the quarter were US$17.80 mn, up 60.0% YoY but roughly flat
QoQ (SMS revenues were US$17.62 mn in 3Q05). SMS revenues
made up 39.9% of the Company's total wireless Internet
revenues in the fourth quarter. Its SMS business
stabilized from third quarter levels as the benefits from
higher revenue confirmation rates it received from mobile
operator partners normalised quarter on quarter. While SMS
is a more mature business line for TOM Online, the Company
believes it will continue to be a core contributor to its
overall wireless Internet business for the foreseeable
future.
MMS ("Multimedia Messaging Service") revenues
for the quarter were US$4.40 mn, down 23.0% YoY, but up
42.8% QoQ. MMS revenues made up 9.9% of the Company's
total wireless Internet revenues in the fourth quarter. On
a YoY perspective MMS revenues declined due to the migration
of MMS onto the new MISC platform earlier this year.
However, MMS revenues rebounded strongly in the fourth
quarter from the preceding quarter as some provincial
operators actively promoted MMS services while the Company
was a partner in those activities. However, the Company
continues to believe that MMS over the medium-term is a
transitory product category.
WAP ("Wireless Application Protocol")
revenues for the quarter were US$8.06 mn, up 31.8% YoY, but
down 3.6% QoQ. WAP revenues made up 18.1% of the Company's
total wireless Internet revenues in the fourth quarter. A
small portion of WAP revenues declined sequentially in the
quarter due to a slowdown in a mobile operator partner's
CDMA subscriber base. WAP revenues from China Mobile were
stable as strong product cycles, including song downloads
from new Jay Chou album on the operator's Monternet
platform, were offset by continued "silent user"
clean-up activities.
IVR ("Interactive Voice Response") revenues
for the quarter were US$10.88 mn, representing an increase
of 60.1% YoY and a 3.5% rise QoQ. IVR revenues made up
24.4% of the Company's total wireless Internet revenues in
the fourth quarter. During the quarter, the Company
migrated some of its IVR infrastructure to a new data
centre and experienced some temporary technical issues.
This led to a slight slowdown in its IVR business than
would have otherwise occurred during normal operation. With
this issue resolved and a continued focus on broadening the
reach of the Company's wireless Internet services to
consumers through TV alliances, the Company continues to
see its IVR business as a key driver of its overall
business in 2006.
CRBT ("Colour Ringback Tones") revenues for
the quarter were US$2.30 mn, up 4.8% YoY but down 1.0% QoQ.
CRBT revenues made up 5.2% of the Company's total wireless
Internet revenues in the fourth quarter. In the previous
quarter, the Company initiated a number of CRBT promotions
in conjunction with its mobile operator partners to spur
consumer awareness and usage. Sequential growth was
negatively impacted as a result. The Company continued to
pursue such promotions in the fourth quarter and will
continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Revenues from other wireless Internet services, which
primarily consist of the Company's Indiagames subsidiary,
were US$1.18 mn, representing a decline of 6.9% from the
previous quarter. As the Company only consolidated
Indiagames in early 2005 YoY comparisons are not possible.
The decline in its Indiagames subsidiary was primarily due
to the migration of Indian mobile operators to new billing
platforms, similar to what TOM Online experienced in the
mainland China market in the past. The Indian market made
up roughly 50% of Indiagames revenues in the 3rd and 4th
quarter. TOM Online believes this transition may take
another few quarters to complete, but its impact should be
offset by growth opportunities in the mainland China,
European and North American markets.
Moreover, the Company intends to supplement its
existing mainland Chinese wireless Internet business and
Indigames mobile games business in 2006 by building a
China-based mobile game team to take advantage of the
growth opportunities it sees in mobile games in mainland
China.
Online Advertising
Online advertising revenues for the fourth quarter were
US$3.2 mn, representing an increase of 23.5% QoQ and 57.4%
YoY due to continued efforts to focus sales efforts on key
channels on the Company's portal. The Company continued to
promote its "Wanleba" online music brand in the
quarter. It believes these activities are not only raising
awareness with the China Internet community but amongst
advertisers as well.
In addition to its focus on entertainment and music
content, the Company also intends to more closely develop
sports content and alliances in 2006 to take advantage of
this year's activities around the FIFA World Cup in
Germany, amongst others, to enhance sales opportunities on
its portal. More importantly the move will provide
additional services and content for the Company's wireless
Internet business.
Jay Chang, Chief Financial Officer and an Executive
Director of TOM Online, commented: "We're pleased with
our results for the year which saw record net profits but
more importantly demonstrated solid revenue growth based on
our diversified wireless Internet revenue model."
NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES UPDATE
Skype JV Update
At the end of February, the Company had more than 9 mn
registered TOM-Skype users, up from over 5.2 mn registered
users at the end of October 2005. Mainland China is now
Skype's second largest market after the United States. The
Company continues to work with Skype to co-develop more
local features and services for the mainland China market
as well as premium services over the TOM-Skype platform.
It is hoped that some of the services will be commercially
launched in the later part of 2006.
UMPay Alliance Update
The Company continues to work with UMPay to develop
China's mobile payment market as a longer term opportunity.
As such, for most of 2006, the Company will seek to jointly
develop and enhance the user experience and business plan
with UMPay while UMPay will continue to build out the
infrastructure and platforms to support mobile payments
which is integrated with the banking sector. During the
fourth quarter, TOM Online conducted a pilot launch in
which users could use their mobile phones to make payments
at selected restaurants in Beijing. It is also working on
linking the UMPay system to support online payments. At
the end of 2005, UMPay had about 6.0 mn subscribers and
over 200 merchants on their platform.
BUSINESS OUTLOOK
The following business outlook is based on current
information and expectations as of March 17th, 2006. For
the first quarter of 2006 the Company expects total
revenues to be between US$47.7 mn and US$48.5 mn.
Starting in the first quarter of 2006, the Company will
begin expensing costs related to employee stock compensation
due to the adoption of the Statement of Financial Accounting
Standard 123R, "Share-Based Payment." Based on
unvested shares as of the end of 2005, and excluding any
new shares that may be granted, the Company estimates that
the impact to the first quarter of 2006 would be in the
range of US$0.9 mn to US$1.1 million.
Conference Call
Following the announcement, TOM Online's management
team will host a conference call at 7:00 AM EST (8:00 PM
Hong Kong time) on March 17, 2006 to present an overview of
the company's financial performance and business operations.
The dial-in numbers for the call are:
Australia: 1-800-750-079; China A (China Netcom
subscribers): 10800-852-0823; China B (China Telecom
subscribers): 10800-152-0823; Hong Kong: +852-2258-4002;
India: 000-800-852-1133; Singapore: 800-852-3412; United
Kingdom: 0800-096-7428; USA: 877-542-7993.
Password: TOM Online.
The conference call will also be webcasted live on
http://ir.tom.com . An audio replay of the call can be
accessed by dialing +852-2802-5151; passcode: 759560. The
call will be archived for seven days.
About TOM Online Inc.
TOM Online Inc. (Nasdaq: TOMO, Hong Kong GEM: 8282) is
a leading wireless Internet company in China providing
value-added multimedia products and services. A premier
online brand in China targeting the young and trendy
demographics, the company's primary business activities
include wireless value-added services and online
advertising. The company offers an array of services such
as SMS, MMS, WAP, wireless IVR (interactive voice response)
services, content channels, search and classified
information, and free and fee-based advanced email. As at
December 31, 2005, TOM Online is the only portal in China
that enjoyed a top three ranking in every wireless Internet
segment.
Forward Looking Statements
This document contains statements that may be viewed as
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking
statements are, by their nature, subject to significant
risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual
performance, financial condition or results of operations
of the Company to be materially different from any future
performance, financial condition or results of operations
implied by such forward-looking statements. Such
forward-looking statements include, without limitation,
statements that are not historical fact relating to the
financial performance and business operations of the
Company in mainland China and in other markets, the
continued growth of the telecommunications industry in
China and in other markets, the development of the
regulatory environment and the Company's latest product
offerings, and the Company's ability to successfully
execute its business strategies and plans.
Such forward-looking statements reflect the current
views of the Company with respect to future events and are
not a guarantee of future performance. Actual results may
differ materially from information contained in the
forward-looking statements as a result of a number of
factors, including, without limitation, any changes in our
relationships with telecommunication operators in China and
elsewhere, the effect of competition on the demand for the
price of our services, changes in customer demand and usage
preference for our products and services, changes in the
regulatory policies by relevant government authorities, any
changes in telecommunications and related technology and
applications based on such technology, and changes in
political, economic, legal and social conditions in China,
India and other countries where the Company conducts
business operations, including, without limitation, the
Chinese government's policies with respect to economic
growth, foreign exchange, foreign investment and entry by
foreign companies into China's telecommunications market.
Please also see "Item 3 - Key Information - Risk
Factors" section of the Company's annual report on
Form 20-F as filed with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
December 31
2004 2005
(in
thousands of U.S.
dollars)
Assets
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
79,320 99,869
Short-term bank deposits
-- 1,863
Accounts receivable, net
26,369 33,950
Restricted cash
-- 300
Prepayments
4,116 6,053
Deposits and other receivables
2,343 2,503
Due from related parties
159 189
Inventories
113 53
Total current assets
112,420 144,780
Available-for-sale securities
116,471 38,519
Restricted securities
-- 59,122
Investment under cost method
1,494 1,494
Long-term prepayments and deposits
240 132
Property and equipment, net
11,927 15,346
Deferred tax assets
348 521
Goodwill, net
158,494 184,678
Intangibles, net
1,707 1,415
Total assets
403,101 446,007
Liabilities and shareholders' equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable
2,778 5,031
Other payables and accruals
10,834 16,002
Income tax payable
543 569
Deferred revenues
122 69
Consideration payable
133,613 16,615
Due to related parties
20,331 19,430
Total current liabilities
168,221 57,716
Non-current liabilities:
Secured bank loan
-- 56,099
Deferred tax liabilities
-- 182
Total liabilities
168,221 113,997
Minority interests
456 2,900
168,677 116,897
Commitments and Contingencies
Shareholders' equity:
Share capital
4,995 5,416
Paid-in capital
260,867 312,643
Statutory reserves
9,452 11,396
Accumulated other comprehensive losses
(670) (3,187)
Accumulated (deficit)/income
(40,220) 2,842
Total shareholders' equity
234,424 329,110
Total liabilities, minority interests and
shareholders' equity
403,101 446,007
Consolidated Statements of Operations
Year
ended December 31,
2003
2004 2005
(in thousands
of U.S. dollars)
Revenues:
Wireless internet services 55,843
112,880 161,879
Advertising 5,845
7,583 9,210
Commercial enterprise solutions 13,825
2,189 1,025
Internet access 1,560
68 --
Total revenues 77,073
122,720 172,114
Cost of revenues:
Cost of services (32,794)
(63,966) (98,816)
Cost of goods sold (11,291)
(791) --
Total cost of revenues (44,085)
(64,757) (98,816)
Gross profit 32,988
57,963 73,298
Operating expenses:
Selling and marketing expenses (2,772)
(7,695) (7,718)
General and administrative
expenses (9,133)
(12,385) (22,048)
Product development expenses (689)
(886) (1,528)
Amortization of intangibles (629)
(5,614) (975)
Provision for impairment of
intangibles --
(307) --
Total operating expenses (13,223)
(26,887) (32,269)
Income from operations 19,765
31,076 41,029
Other (expenses)/income:
Net interest (expenses)/income (320)
3,095 2,661
Exchange gain --
-- 1,132
Gain on disposal of
available-for-sale securities --
-- 450
Loss on issue of shares by a
subsidiary --
-- (69)
Income before tax 19,445
34,171 45,203
Income tax credit 254
41 24
Income after tax 19,699
34,212 45,227
Minority interests (127)
(304) (221)
Net income attributable to
shareholders 19,572
33,908 45,006
Earnings per ordinary share- basic
(cents): 0.70
0.94 1.10
Earnings per ordinary share-
diluted (cents): N/A
0.85 1.07
Earnings per American Depositary
Share - basic
(cents): 55.9
75.2 87.7
Earnings per American Depositary
Share - diluted
(cents): N/A
68.4 85.4
Weighted average number of shares
used in computing Earnings Per Share:
Ordinary share- basic 2,800,000,000
3,608,743,169 4,107,485,514
Ordinary share- diluted 2,800,000,000
3,967,558,949 4,217,527,395
American Depositary Share -
basic N/A
45,109,290 51,343,569
American Depositary Share -
diluted N/A
49,594,487 52,719,092
Consolidated Statements of Shareholders'
(Deficit)/Equity
Number of Share
Paid-in Statutory
Shares
Capital Capital Reserves
(in thousands of
U.S. dollars except
for number
of shares)
Balance as of January 1, 2003 2,800,000,000
3,590 93,184 1,552
Contribution from shareholders (*) --
-- 1,157 --
Net income --
-- -- --
Reorganization adjustment (#) --
-- (18,790) --
Balance as of December 31, 2003 2,800,000,000
3,590 75,551 1,552
Issuance of shares pursuant to
initial public offering 1,000,000,000
1,282 192,528 --
Share issuing expenses --
-- (25,589) --
Issuance of shares to Cranwood as
initial purchase consideration for
acquisition of Puccini Group (note
6) 96,200,000
123 18,377 --
Unrealized loss on securities --
-- -- --
Net income --
-- -- --
Appropriation to statutory reserves --
-- -- 7,900
Balance as of December 31, 2004 3,896,200,000
4,995 260,867 9,452
Issuance of shares to Cranwood as
earn-out consideration for
acquisition of Puccini Group 304,155,503
390 47,157 --
Issuance of shares on exercise of
employee stock options 24,176,602
31 4,619 --
Unrealized loss on securities (**) --
-- -- --
Exchange gain --
-- -- --
Net income --
-- -- --
Appropriation to statutory reserves --
-- -- 1,944
Balance as of December 31, 2005 4,224,532,105
5,416 312,643 11,396
* Contribution from shareholders primarily represents
contribution of
working capital as well as allocation of certain
corporate expenses.
# Reorganization adjustment for the year ended
December 31, 2003
represents the carve out of six non-core internet
business entities
from the Group in connection with the pre-initial
public offering
("pre-IPO") corporate reorganization
("Reorganization"), which was
completed on September 26, 2003.
** Including US$450,000 realized gain which has been
transferred out to
earnings upon disposal of securities.
Accumulated
other
comprehen-
Accumulated Total
dsive
(deficit) / shareholders'
losses
income (deficit) /
equity
(in thousands of
U.S. dollars except
for number
of shares)
Balance as of January 1, 2003 (55)
(107,735) (9,464)
Contribution from shareholders (*) --
-- 1,157
Net income --
19,572 19,572
Reorganization adjustment (#) --
21,935 3,145
Balance as of December 31, 2003 (55)
(66,228) 14,410
Issuance of shares pursuant to
initial public offering --
-- 193,810
Share issuing expenses --
-- (25,589)
Issuance of shares to Cranwood as
initial purchase consideration for
acquisition of Puccini Group (note
6) --
-- 18,500
Unrealized loss on securities (615)
-- (615)
Net income --
33,908 33,908
Appropriation to statutory reserves --
(7,900) --
Balance as of December 31, 2004 (670)
(40,220) 234,424
Issuance of shares to Cranwood as
earn-out consideration for
acquisition of Puccini Group --
-- 47,547
Issuance of shares on exercise of
employee stock options --
-- 4,650
Unrealized loss on securities (**) (2,903)
-- (2,903)
Exchange gain 386
-- 386
Net income --
45,006 45,006
Appropriation to statutory reserves --
(1,944) --
Balance as of December 31, 2005 (3,187)
2,842 329,110
* Contribution from shareholders primarily represents
contribution of
working capital as well as allocation of certain
corporate expenses.
# Reorganization adjustment for the year ended
December 31, 2003
represents the carve out of six non-core internet
business entities
from the Group in connection with the pre-initial
public offering
("pre-IPO") corporate reorganization
("Reorganization"), which was
completed on September 26, 2003.
** Including US$450,000 realized gain which has been
transferred out to
earnings upon disposal of securities.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Year
ended December 31,
2003
2004 2005
(in
thousands of U.S.
dollars)
Cash flow from operating activities:
Net income 19,572
33,908 45,006
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net
cash provided by operating activities:
Amortization of intangibles 629
5,614 975
Amortization of premium on debt
securities --
298 383
Provision for impairment of intangibles --
307 --
Allowance for doubtful accounts 1,487
761 691
Depreciation 3,016
4,544 6,977
Deferred income tax (274)
(74) 18
Exchange gain, net --
-- (1,132)
Interest on advances from TOM Group
Limited ("TOM Group") and its
subsidiaries 394
-- --
Corporate expenses recharged by TOM Group 923
-- --
Loss on disposal of property & equipment
91 9 94
Gain on disposal of available-for-sale --
--
securities
(450)
Loss on issuance of shares by a --
--
subsidiary
69
Minority interests 127
304 221
Change in assets and liabilities, net of
effects from acquisitions:
Accounts receivable (8,337)
(10,443) (5,764)
Prepayments (913)
(2,892) (1,144)
Deposits and other receivables (568)
69 (368)
Due from related parties 226
(35) (30)
Inventories 1,493
(84) 62
Long-term prepayments and deposits (361)
63 (82)
Accounts payable 623
(1,085) 1,684
Other payables and accruals 2,148
2,499 5,140
Income tax payable 2
24 (409)
Deferred revenues (1,320)
(374) (54)
Due to related parties 711
346 (879)
Net cash provided by operating activities 19,669
33, 759 51,008
Cash flow from investing activities:
Payments for purchase of property &
equipment (4,790)
(9,175) (9,843)
Short-term bank deposits --
-- (1,878)
Cash paid for entrusted loan provided to
a related party --
-- (2,461)
Cash received from a related party for
repayment of entrusted loan --
-- 2,461
Payments for purchase of intangible
assets --
(1,663) --
Payment for investment under cost method --
(1,494) --
Net cash acquired/ (used in) from
acquisition of subsidiaries 3,721
(14,884)(99,937)
Cash disposed with spin-off (1,689)
-- ] --
Payments for investment in
available-for-sale securities --
(118,883) --
Cash received on disposal of
available-for-sale securities --
-- 16,392
Net cash used in investing activities (2,758)
(146,099)(95,266)
Cash flow from financing activities:
Issuance of ordinary shares including
from the exercise of share options, net
of expenses --
169,024 4,650
IPO share issuing expenses --
-- (803)
Repayment to related parties (1,027)
-- --
Cash received from issuance of shares by
a subsidiary, net of issuing expenses --
-- 3,985
Bank loan, net of handling charges --
-- 56,886
Partial repayment of bank loan --
-- (901)
Net cash (used in)/provided by financing
activities (1,027)
169,024 63,817
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 15,884
56,684 19,559
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year 6,752
22,636 79,320
Foreign currency translation --
-- 990
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year 22,636
79,320 99,869
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow
information
Cash (paid)/ received during the year:
Cash paid for income taxes (22)
(9) (208)
Interest received from bank deposit and
available-for-sale securities 74
3,985 5,552
Non-cash activities:
Property and equipment transferred from
TOM Group --
7 --
Property and equipment transferred to
subsidiaries of TOM Group 292
-- --
Contribution from shareholders 1,157
-- --
Issuance of shares to Cranwood for
acquisition of Puccini Group --
18,500 47,547
Outstanding payments for listing expenses 15,000
803 --
Unaudited Condensed Statements of Operations for 4Q
2005
4Q 04 3Q
05 4Q 05
(in thousands
of U.S. dollars)
Wireless Internet 31,948
43,158 44,615
Online advertising 2,032
2,590 3,198
Others 505
193 302
Total revenues 34,485
45,941 48,115
Cost of revenues (19,159)
(25,689) (26,747)
Gross profit 15,326
20,252 21,368
Operating expenses (8,220)
(8,759) (9,225)
Operating profit 7,106
11,493 12,143
Other income 1,139
1,406 572
Income tax (charge)/ credit (7)
106 30
Minority interest (38)
(123) (25)
Net income 8,200
12,882 12,720
For more information, please contact:
Rico Ngai
Investor and Corporate Communications
TOM Online Inc.
Tel: +86-10-6528-3399 x6940
Mobile: +86-139-118-95354
Skype: ricoinrio
SOURCE TOM Online Inc.
2007'02.01.Thu
Microsoft Customers and Partners Say They Are People-Ready at Asian Banker Summit 2006
March 17, 2006
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Getronics and NetEconomy Support Microsoft at Leading APAC Retail Banking Event
BANGKOK, Thailand, March 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Today at the Asian Banker Summit 2006 in Bangkok, Microsoft
Corp (Nasdaq: MSFT) representatives were joined on stage by
John Beggs, executive general manager, Commonwealth Bank of
Australia. At a session entitled "the branch and
multi-channel distribution strategies", Beggs echoed
much of the People-Ready speech given by Microsoft CEO
Steve Ballmer yesterday, as Beggs highlighted the major
improvement in sales and service capabilities that has been
achieved at the bank by empowering employees through the
implementation of the bank's innovative and highly
successful branch and call centre solution based on
Microsoft(R) .NET and centred on customer relationship
management.
(Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )
David Vander, worldwide managing director of banking
for Microsoft's Financial Services Group, introduced Beggs'
session with a short presentation on Microsoft's strategic
view for the financial services marketplace. During his
speech, Vander discussed Microsoft's mission to help
banking customers use technology to amplify the impact
their employees can deliver to drive business success.
At its exhibition booth, shared with global partner,
Getronics, Microsoft demonstrated solutions for the
financial services marketplace including the Microsoft
Customer Care Framework (CCF). CCF automates the delivery
of customer information across multi-channel environments.
Using CCF, banks are able to manage both their customer's
behaviour and their overall experience more effectively.
In addition, CCF can help to reduce a bank's operational
costs across all customer touch points, including branches
and call centres.
The interest in anti-money laundering initiatives in
the APAC region was highlighted by the significant footfall
to NetEconomy's booth. The real-time enterprise risk
monitoring solutions firm and Microsoft partner,
demonstrated its anti-money-laundering and fraud-detection
solutions, designed to help bank staff tackle fraudulent
financial transactions in the APAC region.
"Our ERASE Financial Crime Suite solution,
demonstrated today at the Asian Banker Summit, increases
the business value of financial crime fighting initiatives
for our customers, making it faster and easier to prevent,
detect and manage financial crime," said Sebastian
Kuntz, CEO, NetEconomy. "Customers benefit further
from less expensive technology platform costs, as well as
reduced personnel overheads for installing and operating
back-office environments by leveraging the Microsoft
platform -- driving down total cost of ownership costs from
small, to large-scale implementations."
Commenting on the event, Wolfgang Boehm, Microsoft
managing director of financial services -- Asia-Pacific,
said, "We have found that bankers in Thailand and the
rest of Asia-Pacific region are experiencing many of the
same issues as financial institutions in other parts of the
world -- how to improve customer service, how to increase
operational efficiency and reduce costs, and how to better
manage risk and meet the demands of regulators. At this
event Microsoft has demonstrated that by providing
employees with familiar and easy to use desktop tools that
work seamlessly with collaboration tools and back-end
systems, banks can meet these challenges head on, while
also gaining significant competitive advantage."
About Microsoft in Financial Services
Microsoft is a leading provider of software products
and technology to the financial services industry. Its
customers operate in every area of retail banking,
insurance and pensions, and the financial markets.
Microsoft focuses on providing enhanced security,
scalability and increased reliability, all of which the
financial enterprise requires. Through Microsoft .NET and
its support of XML Web services, Microsoft helps customers
act on information virtually any time, any place and from
any smart device. Working with leading software vendors
and systems integrators, Microsoft supports financial
institutions in re-engineering core business operations,
achieving straight-through processing (STP), better
managing all aspects of risk and capital adequacy,
increasing efficiency in branch banking operations,
establishing a new generation of telephone and
internet-based financial services channels, and leveraging
technology to amplify the impact their people can deliver
to drive business success.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and
businesses realise their full potential.
This material is for informational purposes only.
Microsoft Corporation disclaims all warranties and
conditions with regard to use of the material for other
purposes. Microsoft Corporation shall not, at any time, be
liable for any special, direct, indirect or consequential
damages, whether in an action of contract, negligence or
other action arising out of or in connection with the use
or performance of the material. Nothing herein should be
construed as constituting any kind of warranty.
NOTE: Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft
Corp in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned
herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
For more information, please contact:
Zoe Grayston,
Write Image
Tel: +44-20-7959-5256
Email: zoe.grayston@write-image.co.uk
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
2007'02.01.Thu
WHO Launches New Stop TB Strategy To Fight The Global Tuberculosis Epidemic
March 17, 2006
DOTS strengthened by a six-point strategyto achieve the 2015 TB-related Millennium Development Goal
LONDON, Geneva, March 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- A new
strategy to fight one of the world's leading killers --
tuberculosis (TB) -- was launched today by the World Health
Organization (WHO).
The new "Stop TB Strategy" addresses the
current challenges facing countries in responding to TB --
how to continue scaling-up TB control activities while also
addressing the spread of TB and HIV coinfection and
multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Both TB/HIV, especially
in Africa, and MDR-TB, particularly in Eastern Europe, are
seriously hampering global control efforts to reduce the
1.7 million deaths caused by TB every year.
At the strategy's core is DOTS, the TB control approach
launched by WHO in 1995. Since its launch, more than 22
million patients have been treated under DOTS-based
services. The new six-point strategy builds on this
success, while recognizing the key challenges of TB/HIV and
MDR-TB. It also responds to access, equity and quality
constraints, and adopts evidence-based innovations in
engaging with private health-care providers, empowering
affected people and communities and helping to strengthen
health systems and promote research.
"DOTS remains central to TB control. Without it
we would have no TB control. But with DOTS programmes now
established in 183 countries, the new Stop TB Strategy
injects new energies to make efforts more comprehensive and
effective," said Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of WHO's
Stop TB Department. "The Stop TB Strategy aims to
ensure access to care for all TB patients, to reach the
2015 Millennium Development Goal for TB and to reduce the
burden of TB worldwide."
The Stop TB Strategy, published in the 17 March issue
of the Lancet medical journal, was developed during a
consultation process involving international health
partners over a two-year period. Its six components are:
1.Pursuing high-quality DOTS expansion and enhancement.
Making high-quality services widely available and accessible
to all those who need them, including the poorest and most
vulnerable, requires DOTS expansion to even the remotest
areas.
2.Addressing TB/HIV, MDR-TB and other challenges.
Addressing TB/HIV, MDR-TB and other challenges requires
much greater action and input than DOTS implementation and
is essential to achieving the targets set for 2015,
including the United Nations Millennium Development Goal
relating to TB (Goal 6; Target 8).
3.Contributing to health system strengthening. National
TB control programmes must contribute to overall strategies
to advance financing, planning, management, information and
supply systems and innovative service delivery scale-up.
4.Engaging all care providers. TB patients seek care
from a wide array of public, private, corporate and
voluntary health-care providers. To be able to reach all
patients and ensure that they receive high-quality care,
all types of health-care providers are to be engaged.
5.Empowering people with TB, and communities. Community
TB care projects have shown how people and communities can
undertake some essential TB control tasks. These networks
can mobilize civil societies and also ensure political
support and long-term sustainability for TB control
programmes.
6.Enabling and promoting research. While current tools
can control TB, improved practices and elimination will
depend on new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines.
The new Stop TB Strategy underpins the Global Plan to
Stop TB, 2006-2015, an ambitious US$ 56 billion action plan
launched in January. If fully implemented, the Global Plan
will treat 50 million people for TB, halve TB prevalence
and death rates and save 14 million lives.
"We must involve a much broader array of actors in
TB control and adapt DOTS to HIV coinfection, MDR-TB and
other special challenges if we're going to achieve the 2015
targets of the Global Plan, which is exactly what the new
Stop TB Strategy calls for," said Dr Marcos Espinal,
Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership. "The
strategy is robust and is also inclusive."
Details of the new Stop TB Strategy are published in
this week's issue of the Lancet as part of a special TB
essay focus prior to World TB Day, which is held every year
on 24 March.
For more information, please contact:
Glenn Thomas,
Communication Officer, Stop TB, WHO
Tel: +41-79-509-0677
E-mail: thomasg@who.int
SOURCE World Health Organization (WHO)
2007'02.01.Thu
WuXi PharmaTech Becomes the Largest Beilstein Customer
March 17, 2006
SHANGHAI, China, March 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- WuXi
PharmaTech is pleased to announce today that it has signed
agreements with NeoTrident Technology and Elsevier MDL to
significantly increase the user seats of CrossFire
Beilstein and MDL Patent Chemistry Database platforms,
effectively making WuXi PharmaTech the largest Beilstein
industry customer in China. WuXi PharmaTech also has
substantially increased the number of installed MDL
ISIS/Base, ISIS/Draw and ISIS for Excel, software for
better compound and database management.
(Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040705/CNM002LOGO )
The CrossFire Beilstein database is the world's largest
compilation of chemical facts and the MDL Patent Chemistry
Database indexes chemical reactions, substances and
substance related information from organic chemistry and
life sciences patent publications. These databases are
indispensable in generating new leads, planning synthetic
routes, determining bioactivity and physical properties.
Making Elsevier MDL chemistry databases widely
accessible to chemists will greatly improve the overall
drug discovery and development productivity and quality at
WuXi PharmaTech. The installation of the two databases
also exemplifies WuXi PharmaTech's commitment to IP
protection. Unofficial and unregistered chemistry software
and databases use remains prevalent and unchecked in China.
As the staunchest IP protection champion, WuXi PharmaTech is
well recognized by its collaboration partners for setting
high IP standards in China.
"As China's world-class drug discovery and
development services company, WuXi PharmaTech has been the
staunchest IP protection champion in China from its
inception, therefore we are very pleased to work with
it." Mr. Lingxiao Cao, General Manager of NeoTrident
Technology said.
Dr. Ge Li, Chairman and CEO of WuXi PharmaTech said,
"The agreements with NeoTrident and Elsevier MDL give
us state-of-the-art chemistry databases. Having scientific
and technical information conveniently available to our
scientists is essential in providing high quality research
work to our clients. Engaging content provider like
Elsevier MDL shows our unwavering commitment to quality,
integrity and IP protection."
About WuXi PharmaTech
Founded in 2001, the Shanghai-based WuXi PharmaTech
Co., Ltd., is the leader in the pharmaceutical R&D
services industry in China. WuXi PharmaTech assists global
pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies in shortening
the cycle and lowering the cost of drug research and
development, and helps clients fully leverage the lower
cost R&D capacity in China.
As an integrated drug R&D outsourcing service
company, WuXi PharmaTech provides discovery and development
services to our partners from lead identification to
pre-clinical through our state-of-the-art facilities. The
company has a broad service spectrum ranging from lead
generation and optimization, in vivo and in vitro ADMET
profiling, bioanalytical services, to chemistry process
development and large scale manufacturing. There are over
750 scientific staff members and its management team
consists of veterans from U.S., India and Japan
pharmaceutical industry. WuXi PharmaTech has a 360,000 sq.
ft. state-of-the-art research center in WaiGaoQiao Free
Trade Zone and a 250,000 sq. ft. and ISO 9001:2000
certified GMP plant in Jinshan Chemical Industry
Development Zone, Shanghai. The company's customers
include 19 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and 8 of
the top 10 biopharmaceutical companies in the world.
About NeoTrident Technology Ltd.
NeoTrident ( http://www.neotrident.com ) is the leading
Informatics solutions company in the fields of biological
and material sciences in China. NeoTrident systematically
provides molecular modeling technological products,
comprehensive chemical information and workflow managing
platforms as well as professional chemical information and
intelligence services, respectively. With the business
headquarter firmly rooted in Beijing, NeoTrident branches
its technology support and research center in Shanghai, and
running center in Hong Kong. NeoTrident has over 300
customers in China, among which include the largest
pharmaceutical companies in China, the best new drug
research CROs (contract research organization), the most
famous petroleum giants and all the main universities and
research institutions.
About Elsevier MDL
Elsevier MDL provides informatics, database and
workflow solutions that accelerate successful life sciences
R&D by improving the speed and quality of scientists'
decision making. Researchers around the world depend on
Elsevier MDL for innovative and reliable discovery
informatics software solutions and services augmented by
400 Elsevier chemistry and life sciences journals and
related products. For more information, visit
http://www.mdl.com . Elsevier is a world-leading publisher
of scientific, technical and medical information products
and services. For more information, visit
http://www.elsevier.com .
For more information, please contact:
David Yin, Public Relations
WuXi PharmaTech Co., Ltd.
Tel: +86-21-5046-4003
Email: yin_xiaojun@pharmatechs.com
SOURCE WuXi PharmaTech Co., Ltd.
2007'02.01.Thu
JBlend(TM) to Power Major Platforms of Lenovo Mobile
March 17, 2006
TOKYO, March 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Aplix
Corporation (TSE: 3727), the global leader in deploying
Java(TM) technology in mobile phones, announced today that
its JBlend(TM) Java platform will be deployed in the four
major commercial platforms of Lenovo mobile. As long-term
partners, Aplix and Lenovo have worked closely together to
deliver mobile phones to users with exceptional performance
on several popular platforms, such as Microsoft Windows
Mobile, Texas Instruments' platforms, and MediaTek.
Many additional JBlend powered phone models will follow
the TI-based Lenovo P718, the first phone utilizing JBlend
on Lenovo's major platforms. These additional phone models
will be on other major platforms of Lenovo such as the
Windows Mobile and Mediatek, and are to be shipped in the
next few months. One example is Lenovo's ET980, which will
also be the first commercial phone model compliant with
China Mobile's Java 3.0 specification.
"We are pleased to support Lenovo in delivering a
wide range of phone models with the most popular and
advanced features to fulfill different market needs,"
said Wesley Kuo, President and CSO of Aplix Corporation.
"JBlend's support of Lenovo's major platforms will
enable both companies to succeed now and in the
future."
Java technology is increasingly gathering momentum as a
technical platform for household devices in the era of
ubiquitous computing. JBlend is our unique platform
enabling never before seen features on mobile phones, and
increasingly on digital devices. JBlend has already been
deployed on over 170 million devices around the world.
Aplix continues its innovative efforts to contribute to the
development of consumer products that are even more
appealing and easier to use than those we have today.
About Aplix Corporation
Aplix Corporation is the global leader in deploying
Java technology in mobile phones. Aplix was first
established in 1986 and has been a Sun Java licensee since
1996. Aplix was publicly listed on the Tokyo Stock
Exchange (Mothers) in 2003. On August 24, 2004 Aplix and
the Taiwan based company iaSolution finalized the
integration of the corporations.
Headquarters: Tokyo
Regional offices: San Francisco, Munich, Taipei,
Shanghai, Beijing, and Seoul (in
progress)
For more information, please visit:
http://www.aplixcorp.com and http://www.iasolution.net .
About the JBlend Platform
The JBlend platform is the de facto solution for
running Java applications and services in consumer
electronics devices, including mobile phones. The platform
has been licensed by over 50 companies as of December 2005.
JBlend technology:
-- Sets the pace by maintaining market leadership
through innovation.
-- Has proven results, enabling first-to-market
deliveries for our
customers.
-- Over 170 million mobile phones and consumer
electronics devices
have been shipped with JBlend as of December 2005.
-- JBlend and all related trademarks thereto are
trademarks or
registered trademarks of Aplix Corporation in Japan
and other
countries.
-- Java and all other Java-based marks are trademarks
or registered
trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United
States and other
countries.
-- All other product or service names are the property
of their
respective owners.
For more information, please contact:
Akiko Sharp Doi,
Aplix Corporation
Tel: +1-415-558-8800
Email: pr@aplixcorp.com
Web: http://www.aplixcorp.com
SOURCE Aplix Corporation
2007'02.01.Thu
TopCoder Announces AMD as Title Sponsor of 2006 TopCoder Open in Las Vegas
March 17, 2006
Top Programmers in the World Will Battle at The Aladdin Resort for Share of $150,000 Prize Purse in World Championship of Computer Coding
GLASTONBURY, Conn., March 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- TopCoder(R), Inc., the leader in online programming competition, skills assessment and competitive software development, today announced that AMD (NYSE: AMD), a leading global provider of innovative microprocessor solutions, has been named the title sponsor of the 2006 TopCoder Open (TCO). The Premier event for competitive coding's elite, the 2006 TopCoder Open will bring the world's finest professional and collegiate programmers together for international ranking, celebrity and a share of the $150,000 prize purse for Algorithm, Component Design and Development categories. The Onsite Finals will take place May 3rd through 5th at the Aladdin Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Full registration details and rules are provided at: http://www.topcoder.com/tco06 . (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060316/NYTH001LOGO ) "AMD Developer Central, AMD's program to support software developers, is pleased to sponsor the 2006 TopCoder Open and help showcase the unique creativity and genius shown by TopCoder members in this competition," said Richard Finlayson, Director Segment and Industry Solutions, Software Strategy and Alliances Group, AMD. "This year's competition promises to be one of the best. Software development is at a key juncture as demand for 64-bit and multi-core hardware enables new ways to develop and deploy operating systems and applications. By promoting best practices in software development on the latest hardware, this competition brings together the finest talent in the business to build better code that solves challenges and benefits everyone in the community." TopCoder Competitions TopCoder tournaments are known worldwide as the most grueling, comprehensive test of skill in the field of competitive programming. The events allow competitors to solve complex algorithmic problems and design and develop working pieces of reusable software. All current industry standard technologies are incorporated, including Java, C++, C#, VB.NET, UML, J2EE and .NET. The TopCoder Open (TCO) is host to both professional and collegiate developers. This event is dominated by the highest rated members in the TopCoder community, but enjoys heavy participation and spectatorship from developers of all levels. The TopCoder Collegiate Challenge (TCCC) involves thousands of university-level students majoring in everything from computer science to mathematics to applied physics. The students compete head-to-head over several online elimination rounds until the best are flown in to compete in person at the onsite finals. As with the TCO, the destination of the finals varies from year to year. In the past, TopCoder has hosted the TCCC during the spring timeframe, while the TCO would take place during the fall months. This year the order of the two flagship events has been reversed to better meet the needs of both academic and corporate recruiting cycles. "The TopCoder Community exemplifies the new breed of dynamic global environments based on a great breadth and depth of accumulated knowledge and by perfecting technique with communal mentoring," said Rob Hughes, President and COO of TopCoder, Inc. "TopCoder welcomes AMD as a sponsor that shares our passion for recognizing the innovation, creative thinking and achievements that are the hallmarks of our community." About AMD Dev Central AMD Dev Central is designed specifically to meet the needs of our expanding developer community. This program helps capture the benefits of AMD performance and technology in hardware and software products by supporting developers and x86 free-thinkers with the resources they need to be successful. Resources include: information, how-tos, development tools (such as CodeAnalyst(TM) and the AMD Core Math Library) and community forums. To learn more and become a member of AMD Developer Central, visit http://www.amd.com/devcentral. About TopCoder, Inc. TopCoder is the recognized leader in identifying, evaluating and mobilizing effective software development resources. Through its proprietary programming competitions and rating system, TopCoder recognizes and promotes the abilities of the best programmers around the world. TopCoder Software harnesses the talent of these developers to design, develop and deploy software through its revolutionary competitive development methodology. TopCoder's methodology emphasizes thorough specification and design, distributed development using reusable components, and a rigorous quality assurance review process and results in higher quality, lower cost software solutions than traditional software development methodologies. For more information about sponsoring TopCoder Events, recruiting TopCoder members and utilizing TopCoder Software, visit http://www.topcoder.com. TopCoder is a registered trademark of TopCoder, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Jim McKeown TopCoder, Inc. 860.633.5540 jmckeown@topcoder.com SOURCE TopCoder, Inc. -0- 03/16/2006 /CONTACT: Jim McKeown of TopCoder, Inc., +1-860-633-5540, jmckeown@topcoder.com/ /Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060316/NYTH001LOGO AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com/ /Web site: http://www.topcoder.com http://www.topcoder.com/tco06 http://www.amd.com/devcentral / (AMD)
2007'02.01.Thu
Microsoft Announces 'People-Ready' Business Vision
March 17, 2006
Company Previews Innovative Software Solutions Enabled by New Product Pipeline
NEW YORK, March 17 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft
Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer today outlined the
company's vision for how people, armed with the right
software, are the key to driving business success. Called
"People-Ready," this vision for business is the
backdrop for a series of innovative solutions in new and
existing categories that Microsoft will bring to market
over the next year. Addressing more than 500 business
customers, Ballmer showcased new business solutions and
explained how they are enabled by the integration across
the company's forthcoming versions of the Windows Vista(TM)
operating system, the 2007 Microsoft(R) Office system,
Windows Mobile(R) software and the next version of
Microsoft Exchange Server, as well as infrastructure
offerings such as Windows Server(TM) 2003 and SQL
Server(TM) 2005.
(Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )
"Twenty years ago this week, Microsoft -- armed
with our belief in the power of software to change the
world -- was listed as a publicly traded company.
People-Ready is a natural extension of our founding vision
of empowering people through software. Today we take this
to the next level by showing how these tools now work
together in new ways to enhance innovation and drive
greater value for business," Ballmer said.
"Fueling our vision is a series of software solutions
resulting from a $20 billion R&D investment over the
past three years that is producing new innovation in a
range of categories. From business intelligence to the
mobile work force, from collaboration to communications,
and from CRM to enterprise search, the opportunity for
software to deliver even greater customer value is
limitless."
The company's People-Ready vision is based on the
belief that people are the ultimate drivers of a business'
success. A business that is People-Ready gives its people
software tools that enable them to collaborate and work
together globally, to contact and serve customers
instantly, and to streamline and reinvent processes
intuitively. Along these lines, Microsoft previewed new
software solutions that will deliver even greater customer
value. Ballmer said that in the coming year Microsoft will
apply its product portfolio and provide differentiated
offerings to a much broader set of customer needs in the
following categories:
-- Unified communications and collaboration. Microsoft
is extending the rich capabilities of software to improve
and advance business communications. The next release of
the Microsoft Office system will extend desktop
capabilities though new server technologies. For example,
with Microsoft Office SharePoint(R) Server 2007, Microsoft
enables new categories with easy-to-use customization tools
designed for people, workflow, and easy integration of
popular collaboration tools such as wikis and blogs. In
addition, technologies such as Exchange Server, Microsoft
Office Live Communications Server and Microsoft Office
Communicator will break down today's silos of communication
(e-mail, phone, instant messaging, Web conferencing) and
bring them together into an intuitive experience that helps
people and organizations communicate simply and effectively
while integrating seamlessly with business applications and
processes.
-- Enterprise search. Microsoft's enterprise search
technologies are moving beyond empowering people to create
documents by enabling them to better manage the information
they need to be successful. Through powerful new software
solutions that take advantage of richness of both the
client and the server such as Windows Desktop Search and
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, people will have
instant access to their most pressing information whether
it is on their desktop, server or across their company --
all from a single, intuitive and familiar user interface.
-- The mobile work force. The world of work is
increasingly mobile. Microsoft's comprehensive approach to
mobility that spans devices, software and networks
addresses the needs of business in a way that no point
solution provider can. Specifically, the next version of
Exchange Server revolutionizes access by offering a
speech-enabled and unified messaging platform that
integrates e-mail, fax and voice mail in the user's inbox
with support for a variety of clients, including
traditional and mobile devices. The integration between
Windows Mobile, Exchange Server and the 2007 Microsoft
Office system enables entirely new scenarios for businesses
to turn their work force into a mobile work force without
having to manage additional server infrastructure, hire
expensive consultants or relinquish their data to
third-party providers.
-- Business intelligence. One way to increase the
impact that people can have in an organization is to give
them access to the information and insight they need. Until
now, business intelligence (BI) software has been too
complex, costly and disconnected from the software tools
people use every day to do their jobs, but that is
changing. Microsoft is significantly increasing, aligning
and broadening its investment in BI with SQL Server as the
foundation and with the Microsoft Office system playing an
increasingly integral role. In addition, deeper integration
between the next version of Microsoft Office Excel(R) and
SharePoint Server will make it easier for non-technical
users to access hard-to-find corporate data and analyze it
with simpler tools including new visualization technology.
New solutions, including Microsoft Office Business
Scorecard Manager 2005 and enhancements to the familiar
Microsoft Office Excel software, transform BI into a
mainstream technology for the most novice user by providing
an easy user experience for accessing and working with
business information so that decision-makers at all levels
within an organization can drive better performance.
-- Customer relationship management (CRM). With the
Microsoft Dynamics(TM) line of business management
solutions, Microsoft is unifying the previously separate
worlds of business process automation (such as CRM and ERP)
with the world of productivity. For example, designed to be
a natural extension of Microsoft Office Outlook(R), the
Microsoft Dynamics CRM user experience provides workers
with a familiar and intuitive environment that results in
every person in a company being able to begin using such
tools for managing sales, services and marketing processes.
Microsoft CRM also adapts easily to a business' existing
workflow and processes as a direct result of the innovation
Microsoft has applied with respect to service-oriented
architecture (SOA) and Web services. Thus Microsoft CRM is
tailored to suit people's roles and meet the specific needs
of businesses today.
-- Infrastructure. While infrastructure is not
something that employees typically think about, a
significant portion of Microsoft's R&D over the past
three years has gone into providing world-class,
security-enhanced, and manageable software and server
infrastructure to seamlessly support many of the new
innovations coming to market later this year. For
instance, new innovation in the already released SQL Server
2005 and the next version of Windows Server will play a
significant role in delivering the underpinnings for all of
these integrated solutions in a way that is transparent to
workers.
"Getting the most out of their people is on the
mind of every business leader I speak with," Ballmer
said. "Successful businesses understand that people
drive business success and growth. At Microsoft, we
understand that and are passionate about the idea that the
right software can provide the tools to empower workers to
become the drivers of business success."
Ballmer also said the company would be aligning its
global sales and marketing organization and its worldwide
partner network to execute against the People-Ready vision.
The company also announced a series of investments
including a $500 million global marketing and sales
campaign designed to broadly communicate the company's
software value proposition for business. Microsoft also is
making it easier and more economical for businesses to
access software that works together and enables
comprehensive solutions for their collaboration,
communication and corporate compliance needs. The new
approach provides an easier path for customers to purchase
and use Microsoft software so customers can now deploy it
on their own schedule and scale as required; ensure the
tools are there when the business needs them; and, gain
earlier access to more training and support for new
technologies as well as desktop deployment planning
services.
People-Ready Business Customers
Ballmer was joined on stage by representatives from
Bank of America N.A., one of the world's largest financial
institutions.
"At Bank of America, we embrace the People-Ready
vision because our success is driven by our associates who
interact with customers every day," said Tim Huval,
CIO of Bank of America's Global Wealth & Investment
Management (GWIM) Group. "One way Microsoft software
helps associates drive success is through our Client
Connections platform, which enables our associates to
obtain a 360-degree view of our customers, from bank
accounts to stock portfolios. Client Connections drives
higher customer and associate satisfaction."
Partner Support for the People-Ready Business
More than 640,000 Microsoft enterprise and middle
market partners around the world are being mobilized to
help customers assess their status and next steps for
becoming a People-Ready Business and determine which
solutions are best and most relevant to their needs. UGS
Corp., a leading global provider of product life-cycle
management (PLM) software and services with nearly 4
million licensed seats and 46,000 customers worldwide, is
just one of those Microsoft partners committed to this
mission.
"UGS is excited to work with Microsoft in
delivering to customers People-Ready solutions specifically
designed and aligned to help businesses innovate and solve
problems they care about the most," said Tony Affuso,
CEO of UGS. "With arguably the broadest and deepest
portfolio of software offerings for business, it's a great
time for Microsoft and its partners to revitalize efforts
to most effectively enable people to collaborate with
technology to drive business results."
More information about the new initiative can be found
at http://www.peopleready.com .
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and
businesses realize their full potential.
NOTE: Microsoft, Windows Vista, Windows Mobile,
Windows Server, SharePoint, Excel, Microsoft Dynamics and
Outlook are either registered trademarks or trademarks of
Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other
countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned
herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
For more information, please contact:
PRESS ONLY:
Rapid Response Team of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide
Tel: +1-503-443-7070
Email: rrt@waggeneredstrom.com
/NOTE TO EDITORS: If you are interested in viewing
additional information on Microsoft, please visit the
Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on
Microsoft's corporate information pages. Web links,
telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of
publication, but may since have changed. For additional
assistance, journalists and analysts may contact
Microsoft's Rapid Response Team or other appropriate
contacts listed at
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx /
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
2007'02.01.Thu
Exclusive interview with ICANN CEO on the future of the Internet
March 16, 2006
ICANN to Launch Trial Testing of IDNs for Top Level
Domains in the Third Quarter of 2006
Full Interview to Appear in Interfax China IT Report Weekly
Domains in the Third Quarter of 2006
Full Interview to Appear in Interfax China IT Report Weekly
SHANGHAI, China, March 16 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The
English language will lose its monopoly on Internet domain
names before the end of the year. ICANN (The Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) will start the
trial testing of internationalized domain names (IDN) in
the Top Level Domain (TLD) system, in the third quarter of
2006, Paul Twomey, President and CEO of ICANN, told
Interfax in an interview on Tuesday. Once IDN domain names
are implemented Internet sites will able to have domain
names in foreign languages, and foreign character sets-
such as Chinese.
"The preparation for the testing is already
underway, and it will be a testing on the top of the
root," said Twomey. "We are presently moving to
introduce the IDNs of TLD, and are much closer to the end
for the answer." But the exact date for the launch of
the IDN is not yet available.
In order to implement the internationalized domain name
system, ICANN has launched two working groups including the
Presidents Advisory Committee with technical experts, and a
policy group to draft explicit policies on the application
and operation of IDNs. Twomey said that ICANN was
expecting the policy development process to come to a
conclusion in the end of the third quarter or the early
fourth quarter this year.
"I understand people's complaints towards ICANN's
slow process on this issue," said Twomey. "ICANN
should ensure the stability, usability of the Internet, and
therefore, the launch of IDN involves different layers and
protocols, and is not as simple as it sounds."
The three biggest concerns for ICANN to implement IDNs
in TLD include technical stability, the linguistic issue of
language characters, and the policy of later operation.
"The launch of IDNs is a big issue for ICANN, and
important to Internet users worldwide, especially those who
do not speak English," said Twomey.
However, Twomey emphasized that the real thing that
drives Internet and usability should be the local Internet
content instead of the domain name system.
Commenting on the recent change that China has made
towards its domain name system, Twomey said the change that
China has made is mainly to build up their second-level
domain name structure as other countries do. "We do
not see they are transferring their own domain name systems
onto their single root services."
The full text of the interview, where Twomey talks
about the Chinese Internet market, future development of
the Internet worldwide, ICANN's linguistic policy,
allocation policies, international strategy, censorship and
other matters, will be available exclusively in the Interfax
China IT Report Weekly.
About Interfax Information Services Group
Interfax Information Services Group provides news and
other information products that are essential for
decision-makers in politics and business. Since early
1990s, Interfax has been the main provider of up-to-date
news from Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union.
Over the past few years, Interfax has also become a leading
provider of political and business news from China and
emerging markets of Central Europe.
A network of about 30 companies operates under the
Interfax brand all over Russia, the CIS, China and several
Central European countries. The Group publishes news in
Russian, English, Ukrainian, Kazakh, and German languages
and provides about 100 specialized services.
Interfax China was the first foreign news agency to
secure interviews with Chinese leader Hu Jintao. Interfax
China has a network of three bureaus in China, in Shanghai,
Hong Kong and Beijing.
For more information, please contact:
Shaun Bowers,
Interfax News Service
Tel: +852-2537-2262
Fax: +852-2537-2264
Email: shaun.bowers@interfax-news.com
Jasmine Xiao
Tel: +86-21-5239-8839
Fax: +86-21-6212-4096
Email: jasmine@interfax.cn
SOURCE Interfax Information Services Group
2007'02.01.Thu
New Data Suggest Patients With Bifurcation Lesions Experienced Very Low Serious Event Rates With The CYPHER(R) Sirolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent
March 16, 2006
First Clinical Trial in This Difficult-to-Treat Patient Population Presented at ACC 2006
ATLANTA, March 16 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Patients with
bifurcated lesions, which are lesions that are spread into
two parts at a common vessel juncture and are often
difficult to treat, experienced a low rate of serious
events at six-months with the CYPHER(R) Sirolimus-eluting
Coronary Stent regardless of the stenting strategy,
according to new multi-center, randomized clinical trial
data presented today at the 2006 American College of
Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Session. The study compared
two stenting strategies: stenting main branch only and
stenting both main vessel and side branch.
"Bifurcation lesions account for approximately 15
percent of the cases in daily interventional cardiology
practice, but until now the optimal stenting strategy for
these cases was unknown because of difficulties in
assessing the true complexity of the lesion," said
Leif Thuesen, M.D., Principal Investigator of the study and
cardiologist at the Skejby Hospital at the University of
Aarhus. "The results of our study show that the
CYPHER(R) Stent worked extremely well in patients with
bifurcation lesions."
Bifurcation lesions involve blockage of both the main
coronary artery and an adjoining side-branch vessel,
resulting in a more difficult-to-treat lesion.
Interventional treatments of these lesions with bare-metal
stents, balloon angioplasty or other techniques have
resulted in low angiographic success, high complications
and high restenosis rates.
The data from this study, "Main Vessel and Side
Branch Stenting versus Optional Side Branch Stenting Using
Sirolimus-eluting Stents in Bifurcation Lesions," were
presented today by Terje Steigen, M.D. from University
Hospital of North Norway in Tromso at ACC.
About the Nordic Bifurcation Study
The bifurcation study is a multi-center, randomized
study that examined 413 patients with previously untreated
(de novo) bifurcation coronary artery lesions. The primary
end point of the study was major adverse cardiac events
(MACE), which was defined as cardiac death, heart attack
(myocardial infarction or MI), blood clots (thrombosis) and
re-treatment of the blocked vessel (target vessel
revascularization or TVR).
Individual endpoints (MACE) after six months were as
follows:
Main Vessel
Main Vessel and
Stenting
Side Branch Stenting
(n=207)
(n=206)
Total death 1.0 percent
1.5 percent
Cardiac death 1.0 percent
1.0 percent
MI 1.4 percent
1.0 percent
Index lesion MI 0.0 percent
1.0 percent
Total lesion revascularization 1.4 percent
2.0 percent
TVR 1.4 percent
2.5 percent
Stent thrombosis 1.0 percent
0.0 percent
P-value is not significant in this study.
The patients were divided into two treatment groups --
207 patients received stenting of the main vessel with the
CYPHER(R) Stent and 206 patients received stenting of the
main vessel and the side branch with the CYPHER(R) Stent.
Participating centers included hospitals from Denmark,
Sweden, Norway, Finland and Latvia.
"This bifurcation study further supports the use
of the CYPHER(R) Stent in treating difficult-to-treat,
real-world patients," said Dennis Donohoe, M.D., Vice
President, Worldwide Regulatory and Clinical Affairs,
Cordis Corporation. "We are pleased to see positive
data on the CYPHER(R) Stent being presented at ACC, and the
outcomes of this study, in particular, add to the mounting
clinical evidence supporting the CYPHER(R) Stent."
Cordis Corporation sponsored this trial.
About the CYPHER(R) Stent
The CYPHER(R) Stent has been chosen by cardiologists
worldwide to treat more than 1.7 million patients with
coronary artery disease. The safety and efficacy of the
device is supported by a robust clinical trial program that
includes more than 40 studies, inclusive of independent
clinical trials, that examine the performance of the
CYPHER(R) Stent in a broad range of patients. Developed and
manufactured by Cordis Corporation, the CYPHER(R) Stent is
currently available in more than 80 countries and has the
longest-term clinical follow-up of any drug-eluting stent.
The first next generation stent, the CYPHER SELECT(TM)
Sirolimus-eluting Coronary Stent, was launched in Europe,
Asia Pacific, Latin America and Canada in 2003. More
information about the CYPHER(R) Stent can be found at
http://www.cypherusa.com .
About Cordis Corporation
Cordis Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company, is
a worldwide leader in developing and manufacturing
interventional vascular technology. Through the company's
innovation, research and development, physicians worldwide
are better able to treat the millions of patients who
suffer from vascular disease.
* Cordis Corporation has entered into an exclusive
worldwide license with
Wyeth for the localized delivery of sirolimus in
certain fields of use,
including delivery via vascular stenting. Sirolimus,
the active drug
released for the stent, is marketed by Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals, a division
of Wyeth, under the name Rapamune(R). Rapamune is a
trademark of Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals.
For more information, please contact:
Christopher Allman, Cordis Cardiology,
Cordis Corporation
Tel: +1-305-586-6024
Email: callman1@crdus.jnj.com
Todd Ringler,
Edelman
Tel: +1-617-872-1235
Email: todd.ringler@edelman.com
SOURCE Cordis Corporation
2007'02.01.Thu
Startech Environmental and Future Fuels Form a Strategic Alliance for the Production of Ethanol Fuel from Tires
March 15, 2006
First-of-its-kind Project to be the $84 Million Future Fuel Tires-to-Ethanol Facility in Toms River, New Jersey
WILTON, Conn., March 15 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Startech
Environmental Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: STHK), a
fully reporting company, announced today that Startech and
Future Fuels, Inc., (FFI) a subsidiary of Nuclear
Solutions, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: NSOL) of Washington,
D.C., have formed a Strategic Alliance Agreement to
mutually obtain contracts for waste-to-ethanol facilities
and also for FFI's own $84 million Waste-to-Ethanol
Facility to be constructed in Toms River, New Jersey.
The Company has also received the Letter Of Intent from
FFI for FFI's purchase of a 100 ton-per-day Startech Plasma
Converter System (PCS) for installation in the
first-of-its-kind Waste-to-Ethanol Facility in Toms River,
scheduled to go on-line in late 2007. The PCS will safely
and completely destroy the tires in its process that
results in a clean synthesis gas product called Plasma
Converted Gas (PCG)(TM). The Plasma Converter will be
attached to the front of the FFI system. PCG produced will
be piped directly into the FFI system to make commercial
fuel-grade ethanol for sale. Plans also call for the Toms
River Facility expansion to include a series of additional
Startech 100 ton-per-day modular Plasma Converter Systems.
President of FFI, Jack Young, said, "We welcome
partnering with Startech to fuse their expertise and
commercial experience in plasma processing technology with
FFI's unique business model to convert abundant waste
feedstocks into ethanol. Where Startech provides front-end
technology to transform a variety of waste products into
syngas, FFI provides the back-end catalytic process to
convert that syngas into useful products such as ethanol,
higher alcohol fuels and synthetic fuels, like diesel,
gasoline and kerosene (jet fuel). The Strategic Alliance
between FFI and Startech will open more doors into the U.S.
ethanol market for both companies as well as to customers in
Europe, Asia and South America where Startech currently has
initiatives underway," states FFI President Jack
Young.
Joseph F. Longo, Startech president said, "The
Startech-FFI teaming is a perfect fit that will help
increase Startech's market penetration and sales at home
and overseas. As a result of the FFI press release on
March 13, 2006 announcing the Alliance, we have already
received lively interest from our Sales Representatives,
Distributors and potential customers in the U.S., Central
America, Australia, Asia and the European Union.
"We are especially pleased to know that we will be
a significant part of the new $84 million FFI Toms River
Ethanol Facility.
"Ethanol is an important renewable fuel, derived
from ubiquitous feedstock materials previously regarded as
wastes. When added to gasoline, it will help America move
further towards energy independence and actually reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
"Startech processing customers are paid for
receiving waste feed stocks at the front-end of the System
and paid for producing and selling the resulting commercial
products at the back-end. To the many commodity products
that can be made from PCG, we have now added FFI fuel-grade
ethanol fuel. Fuel-grade ethanol is about 199 Proof. Two
hundred proof is 100% ethanol. Industrial ethanol, for
paint thinners, solvents and so forth, is typically about
160 Proof.
"An important fact sometimes overlooked is that
waste is an inexhaustible, renewable, ever-recurring
resource."
About Future Fuels (FFI)
Future Fuels Inc., a subsidiary of Nuclear Solutions
Inc., is implementing its proprietary technology and
process to convert low-end carbonaceous waste materials
such as used tires, petro-waste, waste coal, wood wastes,
raw sewage, discarded corn stalks, residential waste,
industrial waste and agricultural byproducts into ethanol;
a clean renewable fuel.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority announced
that the resolution for the preliminary approval of $84
million tax-exempt bond financing for FFI has been fully
executed and officially adopted by the State of New Jersey.
The tax-exempt bonds will be used for the design,
construction and start-up of the first-of-its-kind 52
million gallon-per-year waste-to-ethanol production
facility in Toms River, New Jersey. The official
resolution approval enables FFI to proceed with the
bond-rating, underwriting, and the placement process to
secure the funds.
FFI has the lease agreement in place to construct the
facility in Toms River and it has also secured pre-approved
state and local environmental permits to operate the new
facility. It already has the source of feedstock, on site,
and available from its tire recycling network, suitable for
complete life cycle production of clean ethanol.
FFI also has a 10-year contract with Eco-Energy, Inc.,
of Tennessee for Eco-Energy to purchase approximately 50
million gallons of the ethanol produced annually from FFI's
new waste-to-ethanol facility. Eco-Energy is one of the
country's principal marketing companies in the ethanol
industry with ethanol being the largest share of its
business.
FFI is pursuing additional sites for waste-to-ethanol
plants throughout the United States.
For further information, please visit
http://www.nuclearsolutions.com or contact Patrick G. Herda
or Jack Young at (202) 536-4653 or at
info@nuclearsolutions.com .
About Ethanol
While ethanol has been used in motor fuels in the
United States for the last century, its commercial use
began in 1978. At that time, Congress pursued a public
policy to create a fuel-grade ethanol industry and enacted
an excise tax exemption to incentivize ethanol production
from renewable sources. As a result, the industry grew
from virtually zero production in 1978 to a level of
approximately 4 billion gallons in 2005. The Energy Policy
Act of 2005 establishes a schedule starting in 2006 that
requires increased ethanol consumption by refineries by 700
million gallons per year until the year 2012, at which time
the consumption will have reached 7.5 billion gallons per
year. There are many reasons for ethanol's increased use,
including the reduction of methanol-based ether (MTBE) use
by refiners as a clean air contributor. MTBE has the
potential of contaminating ground waters and has been
banned in New York and other states, including New Jersey
starting in 2008, thus increasing the Northeast corridor
demand for ethanol. The present use of ethanol is as a 10%
blend in gasoline. There are automobile industry
initiatives to increase significantly the use of E-85
engines using an 85% mix of ethanol, particularly in fleet
auto programs. With the continued energy crisis, there are
proposals in Congress to require an ethanol mix in all
gasoline sold in the country.
Historically, ethanol has been made from corn crops
grown for that purpose and then purchased at market price.
FFI will produce fuel-grade ethanol from an abundance of
readily available waste products, which it will receive at
zero-cost. Now, with the inclusion of the Plasma Converter,
FFI can even expect to be paid to receive waste feedstocks
that will be converted into ethanol.
The worldwide market for fuel-grade ethanol is
important and growing.
About Startech - a Waste Industry and Energy Company
Startech Environmental is a Waste Industry and Energy
company engaged in the production and sale of its
innovative, proprietary plasma processing equipment known
as the Plasma Converter System(TM). The Plasma Converter
System safely and economically destroys wastes, no matter
how hazardous or lethal, and turns them into useful and
valuable products. In doing so, the System protects the
environment and helps to improve the public health and
safety. The System achieves closed-loop elemental
recycling to safely and irreversibly destroy Municipal
Solid Waste, organics and inorganics, solids, liquids and
gases, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, industrial
by-products and also items such as "e-waste,"
medical waste, chemical industry waste and other specialty
wastes while converting many of them into useful commodity
products that can include metals and a synthesis-gas called
Plasma Converted Gas (PCG)(TM). Among the many commercial
uses for PCG, it can, for example, be used to produce
"green power," alcohol fuels and also hydrogen
for sale.
The Startech Plasma Converter is essentially a
manufacturing system producing commodity products from
feedstocks that were previously regarded as wastes.
Startech regards all wastes, hazardous and non-hazardous,
as valuable renewable resources.
For further information, please visit
http://www.startech.net or contact Steve Landa at (888)
807-9443, (203) 762-2499 x148 or sales@startech.net .
Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements,
including statements regarding the Company's plans and
expectations regarding the development and
commercialization of its Plasma Converter(TM) technology.
All forward-looking statements are subject to risk and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected. Factors that could cause
such a difference include, without limitation, failure of
the customer to obtain appropriate financing for the
project, general risks associated with product development,
manufacturing, rapid technological change and competition as
well as other risks set forth in the Company's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as
of the date of this press release. The Company expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly
any updates or revisions to any such statement to reflect
any change in the Company's expectations or any change in
events, conditions or circumstances on which any such
statement is based.
For more information, please contact:
Patrick G. Herda or Jack Young
Tel: +1-202-536-4653
Email: info@nuclearsolutions.com
Steve Landa
Tel: +1-888-807-9443 or +1-203-762-2499 x148
Email: sales@startech.net
SOURCE Startech Environmental Corporation
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