UPDATE 1-NicOx says key drug rejected by FDA

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

PARIS, July 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has rejected NicOx’s (NCOX.PA) pain drug Naproxcinod, recommending further trials, the French biotechnology group said on Thursday.

NicOx, which has spent about 10 years and 100 million euros ($127.6 million) to fund the U.S. launch of its lead anti-inflammatory drug, said it would hold talks with the FDA as soon as possible to discuss potential next steps.

Citing a response letter, NicOx said the FDA had recommended conducting more long-term controlled studies to assess the safety of Naproxcinod on a cardiovascular and gastrointestinal level.

An FDA advisory panel had already voted against approving the drug in May, sending NicOx shares to a four-year low. [ID:nLDE64C05Z]

NicOx Chief Executive Michele Garufi told Reuters last month he remained hopeful for the drug, even as some analysts questioned the group’s drug development technology. [ID:nLDE65F295] (Reporting by Lionel Laurent and James Regan; Editing by David Holmes) ($1=.7836 Euro)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UPDATE 1-Australian Sigma gets bids for two drug arms – report

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

MELBOURNE, July 19 (Reuters) – Australia’s Sigma Pharmaceuticals (SIP.AX) has received three bids for its Herron drugs arm and three bids for its Orphan Australia drugs business, as it seeks an improved bid from South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare (APNJ.J), a newspaper reported on Monday.

Sigma declined to comment on the report.

The company is battling to pay off A$100 million in debt by March under pressure from its lenders after it broke its loan covenants, reporting a loss for the year to January 2010. The first A$40 million is due in September.

The bidders for Herron and Orphan are local and overseas-based drug and healthcare companies, The Age newspaper reported.

Their bids are dependent on the outcome of talks with Aspen on its A$648 million ($563 million) offer.

Sigma’s shares jumped 1.2 percent to A$0.425, bucking a slide in the broader market on hopes it might be able to ease its debt woes, but remained well below Aspen’s offer price of A$0.55 a share.

Orphan licenses specialty drugs from foreign pharmaceutical companies to treat life-threatening diseases, which are mostly sold to hospitals. Herron owns a portfolio of over-the-counter pain killers and vitamins, which struggled to expand sales last year due to tough competition in supermarkets. (Reporting by Sonali Paul; editing by Balazs Koranyi)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Desmond frontrunner to buy TV channel Five: report

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Richard Desmond, owner of the Daily Express newspaper and OK! magazine, is putting the finishing touches to a 100 million pound ($153 million) deal to buy British TV channel Five, the Sunday Times reported.

The newspaper, without citing sources, said Desmond had beaten rival interested parties including Time Warner (TWX.N), Channel 4 and Endemol.

RTL Group AUDK.LU, the pan-European broadcaster which owns Five, declined to comment.

Desmond could not immediately be reached.

(Reporting by Mark Potter in London and Maria Sheahan in Frankfurt; Editing by David Holmes)

($1=.6519 Pound)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Desmond frontrunner to buy TV channel Five-paper

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 18 (Reuters) – Richard Desmond, owner of the Daily Express newspaper and OK! magazine, is putting the finishing touches to a 100 million pound ($153 million) deal to buy British TV channel Five, the Sunday Times reported.

The newspaper, without citing sources, said Desmond had beaten rival interested parties including Time Warner (TWX.N), Channel 4 and Endemol.

RTL Group AUDK.LU, the pan-European broadcaster which owns Five, declined to comment.

Desmond could not immediately be reached. (Reporting by Mark Potter in London and Maria Sheahan in Frankfurt; Editing by David Holmes) ($1=.6519 Pound)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

REFILE-S.Africa’s TCTA to auction 100 mln rand of WS04 bond

July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 15 (Reuters) – South Africa’s state-owned TCTA, which finances and manages bulk water projects, said on Thursday it would auction up to 100 million rand ($13.26 million) of its WS04 bond later in the day.

The WS04 bond matures on May 30, 2016 and has a coupon rate of 12.5 percent.

Closing time for bids through the TCTA’s panel, including Absa Capital (ASAJ.J), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), Investec (INLJ.J), Nedbank (NEDJ.J) and Standard Bank (SBKJ.J), is 0800 GMT.

The results will be announced at 0830 GMT on Thursday. (Reporting by Phumza Macanda)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UPDATE 1-Premier Oil sees H1 output rising 17 pct

July 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 15 (Reuters) – Britain’s Premier Oil (PMO.L) said it expects average first-half production to rise 17 percent and that its full-year production remains in line with previous guidance.

Estimated average group production for the first half was 46,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) while forecast full year production continues to be around 44,000 boepd.

“Premier continues to make good progress towards its 75,000 boepd production target for 2012,” said Chief Executive Simon Lockett. “Our major projects are progressing well and the recent Catcher discovery will now move rapidly into development.”

Earlier this month, Premier raised its reserves estimate for the Catcher/Catcher East area in the UK Central North Sea to a range of 60 million to 100 million barrels of oil. [ID:nLDE6640AA]

(Reporting by Julie Crust; editing by James Davey)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nufarm slashes FY profit forecast, ups debt estimate

July 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 14 (Reuters) – Nufarm (NUF.AX), an Australian farm chemicals group one-fifth owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical (4005.T), axed its full year profit forecast on Wednesday, blaming bad weather in North America and Europe hitting demand.

Nufarm also raised its forecast for net debt for the year to July 31, 2010.

It is now expecting a full-year profit around A$55 million to A$65 million, down from an earlier forecast between A$80 million and A$100 million.

The group’s shares, down 50 percent so far this year, were on a trading halt pending the performance update.

The new forecast was as much as 43 percent below analysts’ estimates around A$95.7 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, even following a slew of broker downgrades over the past three weeks. (Reporting by Sonali Paul; editing by Balazs Koranyi)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Indonesia’s Telkomsel sees 2010 subscribers at 100 mln

July 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 14 (Reuters) – PT Telkomsel, a unit of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (TLKM.JK), said on Wednesday that it expects 100 million subscribers by the end of the year after reaching 88 million by June.

This was higher than Telkom’s previous forecast in June for 91 million subscribers for Telkomsel by the end of the year. (Reporting by Fathiya Dahrul; Editing by Neil Chatterjee)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

RPT-NZ Oil and Gas says Kupe reserves increased

July 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 14 (Reuters) – Explorer New Zealand Oil and Gas said on Wednesday the estimated reserves of the Kupe oil and gas field, in which it has a 15 percent stake, have been increased.

The oil and gas explorer said its share of the additional reserves has a sales value of nearly NZ$100 million ($71 million).

The review showed gas reserves increased by 8 percent, LPG reserves were higher by 5 percent and light oil reserves were up by 27 percent.

Shares in New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZO.NZ) last traded up 1.6 percent at NZ$1.29, having fallen around 23.2 percent so far this year, compared with a 6.3 percent fall in the benchmark top 50 .NZ50 index.

The Kupe field is 50 percent owned by Origin (ORG.AX), with state-owned power company Genesis Energy holding 31 percent, NZ Oil and Gas 15 percent, and Mitsui E&P Ltd 4 percent. ($1=NZ$1.39)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NZ Oil and Gas says Kupe reserves increased

July 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 14 (Reuters) – Explorer New Zealand Oil and Gas said on Wednesday the estimated reserves of the Kupe oil and gas field, in which it has a 15 percent stake, have been increased.

The oil and gas explorer said its share of the additional reserves has a sales value of nearly NZ$100 million ($71 million).

The review showed gas reserves increased by 8 percent, LPG reserves were higher by 5 percent and light oil reserves were up by 27 percent.

Shares in New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZO.NZ) last traded up 1.6 percent at NZ$1.29, having fallen around 23.2 percent so far this year, compared with a 6.3 percent fall in the benchmark top 50 .NZ50 index.

The Kupe field is 50 percent owned by Origin (ORG.AX), with state-owned power company Genesis Energy holding 31 percent, NZ Oil and Gas 15 percent, and Mitsui E&P Ltd 4 percent. ($1=NZ$1.39)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Israel’s Bezeq agrees to sell two properties for $26 mln

June 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 27 (Reuters) – Bezeq Israel Telecom (BEZQ.TA), the country’s largest telecoms group, said on Sunday it agreed to sell its rights to two properties in Tel Aviv for 100 million shekels ($26 million).

Telecommuncations Services

The company said in a statement it expects to post an after-tax gain of 70 million shekels from the sale.

($1 = 3.86 shekels)

(Reporting by Tova Cohen, editing by Miral Fahmy)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Turkish cbank says to buy 3 bln lira govt debt

June 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 24 (Reuters) – Turkey’s central bank said on Thursday it would buy government bonds worth 3 billion lira ($1.91 billion) in the rest of 2010, after buying 5 billion lira-worth bonds in auctions that started late last year.

The central bank will continue to hold auctions in which the bank buys 100 million lira-worth of bonds on Wednesday and Friday every week to buy government bonds until July 30 and then weekly auctions until Dec 22, the statement said.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Space Systems/Loral files for $100 mln IPO

June 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Space Systems/Loral Inc filed with U.S. regulators to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering of common stock.

Stocks | Regulatory News | Bonds | IPOs | Global Markets

The Palo Alto, California-based company told the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission in a preliminary prospectus that Credit Suisse and JP Morgan are underwriting the IPO.

The company designs, manufactures and integrates satellites and satellite systems.

The filing did not reveal how many shares the company planned to sell or their expected price. It intends to list its common stock on the Nasdaq. (Reporting by Mansi Dutta in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Allana Potash Announces 10,000 Metre Expansion of Drill Program in Ethiopia and Provides Drilling Update

June 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Jun 09 (MARKET WIRE) —
Allana Potash Corp. (TSX VENTURE: AAA) (“Allana” or the
“Company”), is pleased to announce that it has engaged Meridian
Drilling Ltd. (“Meridian”) to complete an additional 10,000
metres of core drilling at its Ethiopian Potash Project in the Danakhil
Depression. Meridian, formerly the exploration drilling division of
Emerson Moore Drilling, has been drilling on Allana’s potash project
since April. A second drill rig and equipment capable of drilling to a
depth of 800 metres is being mobilized to the project to enable testing
of the potash horizon in the centre portions of the evaporate basin.

Drilling is progressing on the project and hole DK-10-03 was recently
completed to a depth of approximately 208 m. The drill rig is currently
drilling hole DK-10-04 in the centre part of the basin, approximately 2
km south of the Crescent carnallite deposit. In this area, two Parsons
drill holes intersected thick (approx. 45 m) zones of potash
mineralization. Hole DK-10-03 has been logged, sampled and the samples
have been shipped to the lab for analyses. Assay results for the three
northern holes targeting the extension of the Musley Deposit will be
released as a group when all results have been received from this final
hole.

About Allana Potash Corp.

Allana is a publicly traded corporation with a focus on the acquisition
and development of potash assets internationally with its major focus on
a previously explored potash property in Ethiopia with NI
43-101-compliant Inferred Mineral Resource of over 100 million tonnes of
potash mineralization (Sylvite and Kainite) with a composite grade of
20.8 % KCl (see News Release Sept. 17, 2008). Allana has approximately
116.5 million shares outstanding and trades on the TSX-Venture exchange
under the symbol “AAA”.

Peter J. MacLean, Ph.D., P. Geo., Allana’s Senior VP Exploration, is a
Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 and has
reviewed and approved the technical information presented in this release.

Forward-Looking Statement

Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain
information contained herein constitutes “forward-looking
information” under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking
information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to
the effect and estimated timeline of the respect to the effect and
estimated timeline of the drilling and assay results on the Company,
estimated production, the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral
resources; the realization of mineral reserve estimates; the timing and
amount of estimated future production; costs of production; capital
expenditures; success of exploration activities; permitting time lines
and permitting, mining or processing issues; government regulation of
mining operations; environmental risks; unanticipated reclamation
expenses; title disputes or claims; litigation liabilities; limitations
on insurance coverage and the effect of terminating the investor
relations contract. Generally, forward-looking information can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
“plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”,
“is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”,
“estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”,
“anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or
“believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or
statements that certain actions, events or results “may”,
“could”, “would”, “might” or “will be
taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”.
Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of
management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject
to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements
of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information.
Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information,
there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated,
estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements
will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could
differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any
forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are
incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable
securities laws.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS
THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE

Contacts:
Allana Potash Corp.
Farhad Abasov
President and CEO
+1-416-309-2691
fabasov@allanapotash.com

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

BOLT Mobile Browser Surpasses 1 Billion Web Pages Rendered

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Usage and adoption continue trend of consistent growth as more people discover
BOLT offers superior Web experience with more features than any other mobile
browser
MARLBOROUGH, Mass.–(Business Wire)–
Bitstream Inc. (NASDAQ: BITS) announced today its BOLT browser has rendered its
1 billionth Web page, surpassing this major usage milestone over the weekend
before the company made the second generation of its mobile browser, Bolt 2.1,
available to the public. Launched in February 2009, the BOLT mobile browser is
the most advanced and fully featured mobile browser available for phones of all
types. Bolt has enjoyed consistent growth as people around the world flock to
the acclaimed browser`s video streaming, tight integration with social
networking, tabbed browsing and a host of other features that deliver PC-style
browsing to mobile phones of all types.

“In July of last year Bitstream announced that BOLT climbed past 100 million Web
pages rendered,” said Anna Magliocco-Chagnon, CEO of Bitstream. “The first 100
million pages are always the hardest. At our current rate of usage, BOLT servers
are rendering 100 million Web pages every two weeks, and that rate is
accelerating. BOLT is now drawing new users faster than 1 million every month,
another rate that is also accelerating. It`s extremely gratifying that after all
our hard work and our dialogue with our users, we`ve built a mobile application
that is highly reviewed, award-winning and popular around the world.”

BOLT, now used by more than 7.3 million people in over 200 countries, has also
streamed more than 570 million minutes of video – equivalent to more than 1,000
years when played back to back. With its recent addition of HTML5 video support
and the broadest range of Flash video support for mobile phones of all types,
BOLT users are now streaming the equivalent of 15 years worth of video every
single day. So far in 2010, BOLT has transferred 290 Terabytes of data, roughly
equivalent to the amount of data that can be stored on 3.7 million CDs.

BOLT is a free download for people using J2ME mobile phones – approximately 75
percent of the world`s estimated 4 billion mobile phones – and BlackBerry
smartphones. The most fully featured mobile browser, BOLT includes many features
not available in competing mobile browsers:

* Perfect rendering of Web pages on any class of phone, scoring 100 percent on
the Web Standard`s project Acid3 test.
* WebKit based cloud-computing architecture, ensuring rendering accuracy, speed
and support for the latest Web standards and innovations.
* The broadest streaming video support of any mobile browser for mobile phones
of all types.
* Super fast download speeds.
* Copy and pasting text.
* Built-in integration with Twitter and Facebook.
* Password manager.
* Download/Upload manager.
* Ability to run Web-based applications written in Ajax, Javascript and other
Web programming languages, ranging from Google docs to Mafia Wars.
* The inclusion of widgets – standalone mobile applications that are run
directly from the browser – such as a weather app, calendar app, calculator,
Twitter client and others. These widgets let people using any phone take part in
the mobile apps revolution.
* Best of breed over-the-air data compression, resulting in faster load times
and decreased data usage.
* Ability to update the BOLT client remotely, over-the-air.
* Patented split screen viewing to make surfing complicated Web pages simple,
and viewing content on the smallest of screens easy.

Recognizing that some mobile phones currently in use cannot support the full
size applications and some network providers limit the size of application
downloads, Bitstream also offers a light version of the BOLT mobile browser,
BOLT Lite. BOLT Lite contains all the essential features of the BOLT mobile
browser, retaining BOLT`s feature-rich functionality, best-of-breed download
speeds and desktop PC-style page layout in a smaller package optimized for
entry-level devices.

Bitstream has made BOLT extremely easy to use with keypad shortcuts to quickly
navigate pages and scale up and down through the browser`s six levels of
magnification. Comprehensive instructions on how to use all of BOLT`s many
features can be found at http://boltbrowser.com/faq.html.

BOLT 2.1 and BOLT Lite are available for free at http://boltbrowser.com.
Consumers who have downloaded previous versions of BOLT will be prompted through
the application to upgrade the browser.

About BOLT

The acclaimed BOLT mobile browser has the most faithful rendering of Web pages
of any browser in its class. This fast mobile browser quickly and accurately
displays Web pages on mobile phones just as they would appear on desktop
computers. BOLT is the only browser for mobile phones of all types to support
streaming video from popular media sharing sites such as YouTube and MySpace.
Based on the same WebKit rendering engine used by the iPhone`s Safari and
Android`s Chrome browsers, BOLT is compatible with the majority of the world`s 4
billion mobile phones. BOLT features a patented split-screen viewing mode,
intuitive keystroke shortcuts and copy/paste functionality, and offers a
user-friendly, feature-rich mobile browsing experience for even entry-level
mobile phones. Download BOLT for free at http://boltbrowser.com – the mobile
Internet has never looked this good on your phone.

About Bitstream

Bitstream Inc. develops software technologies and applications for the graphic
art and mobile communications industries. Bitstream`s award-winning fonts and
font technologies enable device manufacturers and application developers to
render the highest quality text in any language, on any device, at any
resolution. The company`s MyFonts brand is the world`s leading provider of fonts
to consumers. Bitstream`s Pageflex brand enables marketers to easily produce
customized communications in print, email and online. The company`s latest
offering is the BOLT mobile browser, which has been installed by millions of
users worldwide since its release in February 2009. For more information visit
www.bitstream.com.

Mobility Public Relations
John Sidline, +1 503-989-5474
bitstream@mobilitypr.com
Press Kit: http://bitstream.mobilitypr.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/boltbrowser
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/boltbrowser

Copyright Business Wire 2010

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UPDATE 1-Stada to cut 10 pct of staff, double profit by 2014

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

FRANKFURT, June 7 (Reuters) – German generic drug maker Stada Arzneimittel (STAGn.DE) plans to cut about one in ten jobs as it aims to double earnings by 2014, continuing a cost cutting drive that has boosted its shares.

Stada expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to rise to 430 million euros ($513.4 million) in five year’s time from 280 million last year, the group said on Monday.

During the period, net income should reach 215 million euros from 100 million in 2009, it added.

Stada plans to cut about 800 jobs, equivalent to about 10 percent of its workforce, as it aims to sell production plants abroad and to centralise its administration.

Stada’s shares extended gains and were up 1.9 percent at 29.95 at 1126 GMT while the STOXX Europe 600 Health Care .SXDP was down 0.6 percent. Stada shares have gained more than 20 percent so far this year, mainly helped by cost cuts.

Last month Stada posted quarterly earnings slightly lower than analysts had expected as it continued to scramble for generic-drug bulk contracts in its German home market.

However, it kept its full-year outlook for profit growth this year, helped by cost cuts and a strong Russian rouble. [ID:nLDE64A1PJ]

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Elysium Expands Operations With Opening of Sales Center to Promote New Local Search Engine TheDirectory.com

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

TAMPA, FL, Jun 07 (MARKET WIRE) —
Elysium Internet, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: EYSM) today announced the expansion
of operations with the opening of its first ever sales center to promote
the new local search engine www.TheDirectory.com.

Elysium Founder Scott Gallagher commented, “We’re pleased to announce to
our stockholders that we have significantly expanded our business by
securing a new sales and operations center for TheDirectory.com in Tampa,
Florida. The new sales center will allow us to aggressively ramp up sales
of our recently launched local search engine www.TheDirectory.com. We’ll
be hiring at least 15 new sales related employees as well as some
operations and tech support staff members to facilitate the expansion.
The expansion should add several million in revenue to our top-line and
be immediately accretive to earnings leading to a profitable year.”

Gallagher continued, “I believe we are in the right place at exactly the
right time. Local Internet advertising is the fastest growing sector of
the multi-billion advertising market. The metrics are in our favor in a
huge way and we already own enough Internet real estate to maximize the
opportunity. Recent studies suggest as many as 97% of consumers use
online media before making an online or offline purchases. Yet less than
half of the small businesses in the US even have a website, let alone an
online advertising campaign. We plan to fill that void for small
businesses by leveraging the traffic of www.TheDirectory.com network as
well as our relationships with Google and other local players to increase
the ROI of our SMB Clients. We’ve secured partnerships with several local
Internet Companies that have received well over $50 Million in VC
Financing and are generating over $100 Million in annual sales, which
proves that local works. These relationships will allow us to increase
revenue immediately while we target our sales efforts on specific markets
based on our domain portfolio and internal revenue expectations.”

Elysium Internet, Inc.

Elysium Internet is an emerging leader in the
local advertising, search and publishing space. The Company is building a
direct navigation-based Internet advertising network anchored by its
local business search engine TheDirectory.com. Elysium builds targeted
professional directories over category killer Dot Com and Dot Net domain
names such as http://www.TheDirectory.com/, http://www.Podiatrists.com/,
http://www.Chiropractor.net/, http://www.Psychiatrists.com/,
http://www.Pediatricians.com/, and others. For more information visit the
Company web site http://www.ElysiumInternet.com/. Review the Company’s
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.SEC.gov

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein are “forward-looking” statements (as
defined — Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Elysium
Internet, Inc. cautions that the statements made in this press release
constitute forward-looking statements and not guarantees of future
performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially
from projections in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at time the
statements are made.

Contact:

Media Inquires Contact:
Scott Gallagher
727-417-7807

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Britain to give 19 million pounds to Gaza

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Britain on Sunday announced it was giving 19 million pounds for refugees in Gaza and repeated calls for Israel to lift its blockade of the territory.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is both unacceptable and unsustainable,” International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said announcing the funds, which will help support schools and health clinics for Gazan refugees.

The money is part of a five-year, 100-million-pound agreement signed with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in 2006.

Confirmation of this year’s contribution comes amid renewed concern about Israel’s blockade of Gaza following a deadly raid by Israeli commandos on an aid ship bound for the Palestinian territory earlier this week.

“There is an immediate need for unfettered access to Gaza if the humanitarian situation is to be improved, to allow the economy to get back on its feet, and to give the young people of Gaza the prospect of a better future,” Mitchell said.

“I call on the government of Israel to open the crossings to help end this humanitarian crisis.”

About 70 per cent of Gazans depend on UNRWA for healthcare, education and other basic services, British officials say.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

French government acts to curb drugs bill

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 1 (Reuters) – The French government will cut healthcare spending by an extra 600 million euros ($735 million) this year, including reducing drug prices by 100 million euros, to meet its healthcare spending budget.

Healthcare

The measures come as European governments are looking to rein in mounting budget deficits [ID:LDE64G20F] and after an independent French expert committee said healthcare spending exceed this year’s 162.4 billion euro budget by 600 million.

Other measures include a 180-million-euro freeze in government support to hospitals and retirement homes.

“The earlier implementation of the already approved price controls is very modest,” Morgan Stanley said in a research note on Tuesday, adding affected drug types involved cholesterol lowering statins and blood pressure lowering sartans.

French drugmakers include Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA) and Ipsen (IPN.PA).

“All necessary savings will be put in place to respect the national spending objective for health insurance,” the health ministry said in a statement.

It said it would stick to its goal of a rise of 3 percent in healthcare spending this year from last. (Reporting by Caroline Jacobs; Editing by Louise Heavens)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

UPDATE 2-GFH to sell stake in Bahrain Financial Harbour

June 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

DUBAI, May 31 (Reuters) – Gulf Finance House GFHB.BH (GFHK.KW) will sell its 50 percent stake in Bahrain Financial Harbour Holding to Emar Bahrain, GFH said in a statement on Monday.

The sale, which is part of the cash-strapped firm’s strategy of divesting non-core assets, come as Gulf Finance House raises funds to repay the remaining $100 million of a $300 million loan.

Analysts have valued GFH’s stake in Bahrain Financial Harbour at about $175 million.

Emar Bahrain already owned about 50 percent in Bahrain Financial Harbour, according to Bahrain’s commercial registry. Bankers say Emar Bahrain is linked to the country’s royal family.

The asset sale will help assuage investor fears of immediate liquidity concerns.

GFH was once one of the bigger investment houses in the Gulf but it was badly hit by the regional property crunch, shrinking its balance sheet to about $1.3 billion.

In February, the company narrowly avoided default after it struck an eleventh-hour deal with lenders to roll over $100 million of its loan by six months. [ID:nLDE6190SB]

In addition to cutting costs and diversifying its revenues, GFH promised lenders that it would sell down its assets.

GFH, which arranged property projects from Morocco to India stands for the rise and fall of Bahrain’s investment sector like no other company.

It reaped in the money during a five-year oil and property boom in the Gulf by booking largely upfront fees on the money it raised for real estate projects, a business model which was swept away by the burst of Dubai’s property bubble late in 2008.

Other Bahrain-based investment houses have also struggled but had been more diversified than GFH, which bankers say was not much more than a trader of real estate across the numerous financial companies and special purpose vehicles it set up.

The Kuwait-listed shares in GFH closed down 2.4 percent while its Bahrain-listed shares ended 6.9 percent lower on Monday.

(Reporting by Frederik Richter; Writing by Shaheen Pasha; Editing by Hans Peters and Firouz Sedarat)

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