KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 (Bernama) -- Nikkiso Cryogenic Industries’ Clean Energy & Industrial Gases Group (Group), a part of the Nikkiso Co Ltd (Japan) group of companies, announced that Umit Ciftci has been named Regional Business Development Manager for Turkey and the surrounding areas.
According to a statement, based in Istanbul, Turkey, he will be responsible for the Group’s full product line, and will report to Ole Jensen, NCE&IG GmbH Germany. “Umit’s experience, as well as market and industry knowledge will be of great benefit to NCEIG GmbH, as we work to develop the potential opportunities in this market. We look forward to his positive contributions,” said Vice President NCEIG Europe, Ole Jensen. Ciftci obtained a degree in Management Engineering, which provided a solid background in engineering as well as business and finance. He has over 25 years of experience in Compressed Air working at various positions including sales engineer, marketing and business line manager in Turkey and Business Development Manager in UAE for Atlas Copco. With this addition, Nikkiso continues their commitment to be both a global and local presence for their customers. Cryogenic Industries Inc (now a member of Nikkiso Co Ltd) member companies manufacture engineered cryogenic gas processing equipment and small-scale process plants for the liquefied natural gas (LNG), well services and industrial gas industries. More details at www.nikkisoCEIG.com. -- BERNAMA
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KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of ‘a’ (Excellent) of Sun Hung Kai Properties Insurance Limited (SHKPI) Hong Kong.
According to a statement, the outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings reflect SHKPI’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. SHKPI’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), is maintained at the strongest level. The higher-risk assets, including non-investment-grade bonds and unlisted equities, and some sector concentration in the company investment portfolio exposed its risk-adjusted capitalisation to considerable market and credit risks. However, AM Best considers the company’s capital buffer is sufficient to absorb the associated investment risks. The company’s reinsurance programme remained appropriate, with reinsurer panels in good credit quality. SHKPI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited, one of the largest property development and investment conglomerates in Hong Kong. It benefits from its parental network to write most of its business from associated and subsidiary companies. The stable outlooks reflect AM Best’s expectation that SHKPI will maintain its strong operating performance, supported by a continued profitable underwriting portfolio, low acquisition cost structure, and positive investment returns in the intermediate term. Negative rating actions could occur if there is significant deterioration in SHKPI’s operating performance, for example, due to lower investment returns or weakened underwriting results. United States-headquartered AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. More details at www.ambest.com. -- BERNAMA SINGAPORE, March 28 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AM Best has revised the outlooks to stable from negative and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) of Ansvar Insurance Limited (Ansvar) (Australia).
These Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Ansvar’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. In addition, Ansvar’s ratings factor in rating enhancement to reflect its ownership, integration and support from Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc (EIO). The revision of the outlooks to stable follows increased financial and reinsurance support provided to Ansvar by EIO, which AM Best views as an effective response to counteract recent pressure on Ansvar’s operating performance and balance sheet strength fundamentals. Over the past three years (2019-2021), Ansvar has exhibited heightened volatility and a deteriorating trend in operating performance, with its underwriting results having been hampered by weather-related events, COVID-19 provisioning and material reserve increases emanating from physical and sexual abuse (PSA) claims. In 2021, the company recorded a sizable operating loss and a net combined ratio in excess of 130% driven by a higher-than-expected volume of new PSA claims arising predominantly from legacy exposures. EIO has taken a series of actions in support of Ansvar’s response to these performance pressures and to mitigate the impact on the company’s balance sheet strength position. Recent and planned capital injections from the parent have helped to bolster Ansvar’s capital adequacy and offset the adverse impact of COVID-19 provisions and material increases in PSA reserves. The company’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), was at the very strong level in 2021. EIO is also providing significant intra-group reinsurance protection to Ansvar in 2022. This includes the renewal of a PSA excess-of-loss cover and the placement of a new stop loss programme, both of which are expected to substantially limit downside risk to operating performance and balance sheet strength fundamentals over the near term. Beyond this, AM Best expects Ansvar and EIO to continue to review and consider the requirement for these intra-group reinsurance arrangements, with group support expected to remain available if Ansvar’s performance volatility persists. Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright © 2022 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220325005351/en/ Contact Yi Ding Senior Financial Analyst +65 6303 5021 [email protected] Christopher Sharkey Manager, Public Relations +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159 [email protected] Jason Shum Associate Director, Analytics +852 2827 3424 [email protected] Jim Peavy Director, Communications +1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644 [email protected] Source : AM Best http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=42762 Funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for Conagen’s Conamax platform benefits developing countries and patients globally.
Bedford, Mass., March 29 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given a grant to Conagen to support further development of its Conamax(TM) platform for the production of accessible low-cost and high-quality monoclonal antibodies, benefitting developing countries and patients globally. The high cost of monoclonal antibody (mAb) production makes blockbuster drugs expensive, limiting the markets in which these molecules can be applied and limiting access to large patient populations in developing and industrialized countries. The reason for high production costs is, in part, intrinsic to the use of mammalian cell expression systems for antibody manufacturing. “The Conamax platform was originally conceived to address this global unmet need, so we are thrilled to have the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help develop affordable antibody therapeutics,” said Casey Lippmeier, Ph.D., vice president of innovation at Conagen. With rapid cell growth, human-compatible glycan structures, and demonstrated world-scale fermentation bioprocesses, the Conamax platform holds several advantages over Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell lines and other mammalian expression systems, as well as other microbial platforms. The foundation grant funds the bench-scale development of a proof-of-concept study of a continuous purification process, customized to inputs from Conamax and potentially other microbial host organisms. With large-scale advancements, Conagen envisions that this process will be capable of continuously purifying mAbs from material generated in bioreactors with volumes greater than 250,000 liters. As a significant advantage, the process will not require expensive binding proteins or other expensive column purification steps. This process will enable economies of scale which are not accessible to CHO or other mammalian-derived cell systems while also providing rapid, high-throughput purification of large amounts of antibody. “Incumbent antibody manufacturing and purification processes based on Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell lines have brought tremendous advancements to biopharmaceuticals," said Lippmeier. "However, CHO cell systems are comparatively low volume, expensive, and do not enable low cost and efficient purification of large amounts of antibodies.” According to McKinsey, in 2019, global sales revenue for all mAb drugs was nearly $163 billion, representing about 70% of the total sales for all biopharmaceutical products, approximately $230 billion. That is about a 50% growth in sales and proportion since 2013, when it was $75 billion. Continued growth in sales of currently approved mAb products, along with more than 1,200 mAb product candidates currently in development — many for multiple indications — will continue to drive the overall sales of all biopharmaceutical products. “We’re unlocking the way to make drugs more affordable and, while doing so, opening additional markets for biologics,” said Lippmeier. ### About Conagen Conagen is a product-focused synthetic biology R&D company with large-scale manufacturing service capabilities. Our scientists and engineers use the latest synthetic biology tools to develop high-quality, sustainable, nature-based products by precision fermentation and enzymatic bioconversion. We focus on the bioproduction of high-value ingredients for food, nutrition, flavors and fragrances, pharmaceutical, and renewable materials industries. www.conagen.com Attachment Ana Arakelian, head of public relations and communications Conagen +1.781.271.1588 [email protected] SOURCE : Conagen KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 -- Washington-headquartered EIG, a leading institutional investor to the global energy and infrastructure sectors, and Fluxys, a leading energy infrastructure company, have announced joint acquisition of an 80 per cent equity stake in GNL Quintero S.A. (Quintero), the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Chile, from Enagas Chile SpA and affiliates of OMERS Infrastructure. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
According to a statement, Quintero is a key energy infrastructure business supporting Chile’s decarbonisation strategy with a bridging fuel that allows for the reconciliation of economic growth with the uptake of renewables and the phasing out of coal. Operational since 2009, Quintero is the largest terminal for receiving and unloading LNG in Chile, as well as for its storage and regasification capacities. The terminal benefits from its strategic location in Quintero Bay, supplying a diversified base of customers in central Chile across residential, commercial, industrial, transportation and power generation sectors. The terminal owns 75 per cent of the country´s LNG regasification capacity and in 2021, 67 per cent of the total natural gas imports (both LNG and pipeline imports) arrived in Chile through this strategic asset. The acquisition builds on EIG’s presence in the Chilean market, where the firm owns Cerro Dominador, a groundbreaking solar complex that combines a 100MW photovoltaic (PV) plant with a 110MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant. The PV plant has been operational since 2017 and the CSP plant was successfully synchronised with Chile’s electricity grid in April 2021. EIG also is a partner in AME S.p.A, a Chile-based project developer and independent power producer. EIG Chairman and CEO, R. Blair Thomas said: “We are pleased to be partnering again with Fluxys, a world-class operational partner, to help Quintero support Chile’s energy needs and transition goals with reliable energy. “Quintero’s strong presence in natural gas infrastructure serves as an attractive launching point to expand its presence in related and adjacent sectors, including storage, truck loading and regasification, as well as to develop production capacity for green hydrogen, where Quintero has significant potential to be a domestic leader in the nascent industry.” Fluxys Managing Director and CEO, Pascal De Buck said: “With 3 LNG terminals in Europe, our ambition to invest outside Europe and to become the transporter of new energy carriers, Quintero is a perfect fit with our strategy for growth in view of the low carbon future.” Citigroup Global Markets Inc acted as financial adviser to EIG and Fluxys in connection with the transaction. White & Case LLP served as EIG’s legal adviser and Linklaters LLP served as Fluxys’ legal adviser. For more information, visit www.eigpartners.com. -- BERNAMA |
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