Thursday, May 08, 2008

Business: Weak result in the first quarter

The gross operating profit before depreciation and all special items was NOK 489 million in the first quarter of 2008, down from 778 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. The weakened result is, as previously reported, due to lower newsprint prices in Europe, increased prices on several input factors and currency factors. Price increases have been implemented for magazine paper in Europe and newsprint in China. With the exception of magazine paper, all segments show weaker results, and in some cases significantly weaker results.
"Seasonal fluctuations add to the weak result. However, the strong cost growth, combined with a weak price development for newsprint in Europe, is the largest challenge facing Norske Skog," says CEO Christian Rynning-Tønnesen.
Decisions have been made to shut down three paper machines in 2008. This is expected to yield a result improvement of NOK 500 million per year. In addition, staff reductions and other measures have been carried out at the corporate centre which will give annual cost savings of about NOK 150 million.
One of Norske Skog's main priorities is to reduce net debt by generating sufficient cash flow from operations and transactions. As previously reported, Norske Skog is working with external advisers to review various models to restructure the group and reduce the debt.
The underlying operating profit, containing NOK 145 million in realised gains from currency hedging, amounted to NOK 634 million in the quarter. The corresponding figure in the fourth quarter of 2007 was NOK 926 million.
The net loss after tax was NOK 966 million in the first quarter of 2008. The halting of the Pisa PM2 project in Brazil has added NOK 665 million in termination costs and impairments to the accounts.
Operations generated a good cash flow during the quarter, NOK 832 million in total. This has contributed to reducing net interest-bearing debt with NOK 666 million from year-end 2007, and as of 31 March 2008, it amounts to NOK 15.7 billion NOK.
Outlook for the remainder of 2008
Measured in local currency, stable newsprint prices are expected in Europe, lower prices in Australia from 1 July and price increases in Asia. The price increase on input factors remains a concern. The second half of 2008 will see cost savings as a result of the shutdown of paper machines and other cost-reducing measures.
Presentation/Webcast
Norske Skog will hold a webcast presentation at the company's premises at Oxenøen at 13.00 hrs. today. Telephone numbers for calling in and other details can be found on Norske Skog's website www.norskeskog.com
Oxenøen, 8 may 2008
Norske Skog
Corporate affairs
For further information:

Business: Norske Skog's corporate assembly and board of directors

Norske Skog's corporate assembly and board of directors

At its meeting today, Norske Skog's corporate assembly elected Tom Ruud as chair and Helge Evju as deputy chair. Other shareholder elected members are: Emil Aubert, Ann Kristin Brautaset, Thorleif Enger, Ove Gusevik, Kirsten Idebøen, Even Mengshoel, Christian Ramberg, Tom Rathke, Otto Søberg og Karen Helene Ulltveit-Moe.
The following are the shareholder-elected deputy members: Svein Haare, Ole H. Bakke, Kjersti Narum and Uta Stoltenberg.
The employee representatives in the corporate assembly are not up for election in 2008.
The corporate assembly also elected shareholder representatives to the board. Kim Wahl, Halvor Bjørken, Gisèle Marchand and Ingrid Wiik were re-elected as board members, and Øystein Stray Spetalen, Svein Rennemo and Wenche Holen were elected new board members. Kim Wahl was re-elected as chair of the board and Øystein Stray Spetalen was elected deputy chair of the board. Three employee representatives in the board are not up for election this year.
Oxenøen, 7 May, 2008
NORSKE SKOG
Corporate Affairs

High-Tech: India SystemC User Group holds annual meeting May 9 in Bangalore

Daylong meeting features technical presentations and tutorials from top companies

Bangalore, India (BUSINESS WIRE) - WHO: The India SystemC User Group (ISCUG) (http://iscug.org) promotes SystemC in India and is affiliated with OSCI, an independent non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and advancing SystemC as an industry-standard language for electronic system-level (ESL) design. This event is held in collaboration with the IEEE, Bangalore Section.

WHAT/WHEN: Annual ISCUG meeting Friday, May 9, 8:30am to 6pm. Features presentations on SystemC and advanced design from leading companies such as ARM, NXP, TI, POSEIDON, WIPRO and several others. For more information and to register: http://iscug.org/ISCUG08.pdf.

Members of the press are invited to attend with prior registration.

WHERE: The events will be held at the Atria Hotel, # 1, Palace Road, Bangalore.

WHY: The goal of the India SystemC User group is to promote SystemC in India and make it easy for industry to adopt it. The goal of ISCUG is to bring together experts, novices and engineers who want to adopt SystemC and provide healthy forums for discussion. ISCUG will also expose participants to the latest developments in SystemC and the roadmap for SystemC going forward. ISCUG is one of five SystemC user groups in the world, joined with those in North America, Europe, Japan and Latin America. Worldwide momentum for SystemC adoption is growing.

These events demonstrate the strength of OSCI and its dedication to providing mechanisms that allow collaboration and information exchange among members of the SystemC community.
Transaction-level modeling (TLM) continues to grow in importance for architectural exploration, performance analysis, building virtual platforms for software development, and functional verification.

About SystemC and OSCI

The Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI) is an independent, not-for-profit association composed of a broad range of organizations dedicated to supporting and advancing SystemC as an open industry standard for system-level modeling, design and verification.

SystemC is a language built in C++ that spans from concept to implementation in hardware and software. For further information about SystemC and OSCI visit www.systemc.org.

Editorial Contact:
Public Relations for OSCI
Jill Jacobs, +1-408-505-6017 jill@mod-marketing.com
or Event queries / clarification contact:
Chairman - ISCUG
Subodh Patil, +91.98455.36715 subodh@poseidon-systems.com
or Registration Contact:
Eagle Photonics
Mr Hitesh Mehta, 23113241 or 23113242 (O) Secretary, IEEE Bangalore Sectionhmehta@ieee.org

Energy: Ducon secures FGD system order for 2x600 MW power plant in India

Farmingdala, N.Y. -(BUSINESS WIRE) - Ducon Technologies Inc. - Ducon announced that it has secured anorder from Lanco Infratech Ltd., to supply a turnkey Flue Gas desulfurization (FGD) system, utilizing limestone reagent for the 2x600 MW Udupi Thermal power plant, near Mangalore, India.

"Ducon's Indian subsidiary Ducon Technologies (I) Pvt. Ltd., located in Thane, India will execute the turnkey project that includes complete engineering, supply, manufacture, erection, startup, commissioning and performance guarantees" said Mr Aron Govil, CEO & president of Ducon, " Our proprietary limestone FGD technology was selected to be the best among all international bidders." continued Mr Govil.

Ducon's wet limestone FGD system is characterized by its high efficiency Ventri-Rod design, lower liquid to gas ratios, lower power consumption and high sulfur dioxide removal efficiency. Ducon's scope also include limestone feeding system and the waste bleed filtration and gypsum production system.
The FGD technology is a zero discharge system utilizing all wastewater in the system thus reducing the need for fresh water and eliminating waste disposal costs.

Ducon is a leading global provider of the most advanced and custom engineered FGD systems, baghouses, electrostatic precipitators, SCR NOx systems to control emissions from power plants, refineries, steel plants and other industries since 1938. Ducon also supplies ash, coal, and other material handling and conveying systems. Since its inception Ducon has completed over 25,000 installations worldwide. Ducon's air pollution control equipment is used to control toxic fumes,
SO2, HCl, H2S, NOx, VOC's, flyash, mercury, dioxins & sub micron particles from industrial exhausts and utility boilers.

Ducon Technologies Inc.
Aron Govil, 631-694-1700 Presidentsales@ducon.com

Energy: Ducon secures FGD system order for 2x600 MW power plant in India

Farmingdala, N.Y. -(BUSINESS WIRE) - Ducon Technologies Inc. - Ducon announced that it has secured anorder from Lanco Infratech Ltd., to supply a turnkey Flue Gas desulfurization (FGD) system, utilizing limestone reagent for the 2x600 MW Udupi Thermal power plant, near Mangalore, India.

"Ducon's Indian subsidiary Ducon Technologies (I) Pvt. Ltd., located in Thane, India will execute the turnkey project that includes complete engineering, supply, manufacture, erection, startup, commissioning and performance guarantees" said Mr Aron Govil, CEO & president of Ducon, " Our proprietary limestone FGD technology was selected to be the best among all international bidders." continued Mr Govil.

Ducon's wet limestone FGD system is characterized by its high efficiency Ventri-Rod design, lower liquid to gas ratios, lower power consumption and high sulfur dioxide removal efficiency. Ducon's scope also include limestone feeding system and the waste bleed filtration and gypsum production system.
The FGD technology is a zero discharge system utilizing all wastewater in the system thus reducing the need for fresh water and eliminating waste disposal costs.

Ducon is a leading global provider of the most advanced and custom engineered FGD systems, baghouses, electrostatic precipitators, SCR NOx systems to control emissions from power plants, refineries, steel plants and other industries since 1938. Ducon also supplies ash, coal, and other material handling and conveying systems. Since its inception Ducon has completed over 25,000 installations worldwide. Ducon's air pollution control equipment is used to control toxic fumes,
SO2, HCl, H2S, NOx, VOC's, flyash, mercury, dioxins & sub micron particles from industrial exhausts and utility boilers.

Ducon Technologies Inc.
Aron Govil, 631-694-1700 Presidentsales@ducon.com

Technology: REAL Software now shipping REALbasic 2008 Release 2

Austin, Texas (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - New release includes 200 improvements and adds Pairs as a new class.

REAL Software, maker of REALbasic, a cross-platform development environment for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux developers, has begun shipping REALbasic 2008 Release 2. The latest version is another delivery on the promise of continuous improvement made by the company.

"We have a commitment to our community to continually refine and improve our products," stated Geoff Perlman, President and CEO of REAL Software. "With over 200 fixes in this release and the addition of a new class called Pairs, we are providing a more productive and reliable tool set to our users."

Pairs allows developers to easily define key/value pairs and define linked lists. The release also increases functionality to the Introspection feature, which was introduced in the February release of REALbasic.

The new release includes several new capabilities involving remote debugging and bug reporting that simplifies testing and reduces developer overhead.

The complete list of the improvements and new features in REALbasic 2008 Release 2 can be found in the release notes in the product download, http://www.realsoftware.com/download.

About REALbasic

REALbasic is a full-featured software development environment suited to creating a wide range of applications, from utilities to enterprise-class applications. REALbasic Personal Edition for Windows or Mac is priced at $100.
REALbasic for Linux Personal Edition is offered for free.
REALbasic Professional Edition, required for cross-platform deployment, is $500. All versions of REALbasic are available now and can be downloaded directly from REAL Software at http://www.realsoftware.com/download.

About REAL Software

REAL Software provides REALbasic and REAL SQL Server, for developers who want to create and deliver cross-platform software for Windows, Macintosh and Linux. REALbasic is highly compatible with Visual Basic and includes a utility to assist in migrating Visual Basic applications cross-platform to Macintosh and Linux. REAL Software was founded in 1996 and is based in Austin, Texas. For more information visit: http://www.realsoftware.com or call 512.328.7325.

(C)2008 REAL Software, Incorporated. REAL Software, REALbasic and the REAL Software cube logo are registered trademarks of REAL Software, Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders in the United States and other countries.

SOURCE REAL Software
CONTACT:
REAL Software, +1-512-328-7325
Web site: http://www.realsoftware.com
http://www.realsoftware.com/download

COPYRIGHT © 2008

Science: The American Psychiatric Association`s Awards for Young Scientists Encourage Research Expertise

WASHINGTON, DC, May 6 (ANTARA/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) --

- International Reach of 'Young Minds in Psychiatry' Awards is Boosted With Astrazeneca Support

For the first time, a researcher from China has received one of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) prestigious "Young Minds in Psychiatry" awards, which were presented today at the APA's 161st Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The awards, supported by an educational grant from AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN), are helping to address the substantial shortage of psychiatric researchers worldwide. By providing career development awards, talented physicians get the chance to pursue a career in research. Beginning this year, the number of unrestricted career development awards has been increased from six to seven, with five awarded to international candidates ― this recognizes the unique challenges facing researchers outside North America and Europe.

Dr. Ma Yantao from Peking University in Beijing, the first Chinese award winner, was selected for her proposal on treating Chinese adults for bipolar spectrum disorders - she commented:

"I am delighted to have been awarded this great honour, which confirms international recognition of research excellence in China. Mental health is a priority worldwide, and good healthcare is only possible with the encouragement of careers in psychiatry and related research. As we prepare to welcome many people to Beijing for the Olympics, today I appreciate my welcome in Washington and this partnership of east and west in psychiatry."

Darrel A. Regier, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the Division of Research at the American Psychiatric Association, and Executive Director of the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education (APIRE) said: "Young Minds in Psychiatry is the APA's only truly international awards program. We believe that the APA can be an important influence in supporting talented psychiatric researchers both in the United States and throughout the world. Our winners this year, coming from such diverse countries as China, Korea, South Africa, Germany, France and the United States, will receive funding to help them get their careers underway and hopefully encourage them to remain in the field for the long term."

All seven 'Young Minds in Psychiatry' awards were made to researchers selected for the importance and value of their research proposal in bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, both of which are severe mental illnesses. Approximately one in 100 people develop schizophrenia during their lifetime, and the prevalence is similar in men and women throughout the world. Bipolar disorder has a lifetime prevalence of between 3 and 5% worldwide. People with bipolar disorder experience episodes of mania and depression alongside periods of normal mood, with symptoms ranging from trouble concentrating and sleep disturbance to high-risk behavior and thoughts of suicide.

"AstraZeneca is proud to be associated with the 'Young Minds in Psychiatry' awards, and we were very pleased to support greater international reach of the Young Minds awards this year," said Dr Hans Eriksson, Medical Science Director, AstraZeneca. "The more researchers we can encourage to get involved in psychiatric research, the more likely it is that we will see a breakthrough in treating these devastating conditions. We join the APA in congratulating the winners - wishing them good luck in their research, and success in their pursuit of new ways to help patients."

Dr Ma Yantao added: "I thank my hospital, the Institute of Mental Health, my mentor Professor Yu Xin for his support and instruction, and my mentors and partners at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr Maurizio Fava, Dr. Jonathan Alpert and Dr. Albert Yeung. I must also acknowledge my husband, Chinese avant-garde artist Wei Shen - his originality and creativity are my inspiration both in art and in medicine."

The 2007 Young Minds in Psychiatry Awards winners are Yantao Ma, M.D., China (bipolar disorder); Florian Daniel Zepf, M.D., Germany (bipolar disorder); Brady G. Case, M.D., United States (bipolar disorder); Alfredo Bellon, M.D., France (schizophrenia); Jung-Seok Choi, M.D., Republic of Korea (schizophrenia); Renata Schoeman, MBChB MMed FCPsych, South Africa (schizophrenia); Daniel H. Wolf, M.D., United States (schizophrenia).

Biographical details about the winners, information on their research proposals and other background information are available at: http://www.psych.org/MainMenu/Research/ResearchTrainingandFunding/ResearchFel lowships/APAAstraZenecaYoungMindsinPsychiatryInternationalAward/Youngminds.aspx

...and:

http://www.psych.org/MainMenu/Research/ResearchTrainingandFunding/Researc hFellowships/APAAstraZenecaYoungMindsinPsychiatryInternationalAward.aspx

ABOUT YOUNG MINDS IN PSYCHIATRY INTERNATIONAL AWARDS PROGRAM

Young Minds in Psychiatry is an APA career development research initiative sponsored by AstraZeneca that has been running since 2002, the first award recipients received their awards during the APA annual meeting in May 2003. To date, 31 young researchers have been awarded research grants. The following distinguished, independent steering committee is responsible for reviewing proposals and advising on those to be funded.

United States Review Committee

Nancy C. Andreasen, M.D. Robert N. Golden Stephen R. Marder,
University of Iowa M.D. M.D.
Hospitals & Clinics University of North UCLA Neuropsychiatric
Psychiatry Carolina at Chapel Institute
Hill

Jerrold F. Rosenbaum, M.D. Alan F. Schatzberg, Charles Schulz, M.D.
Massachusetts General M.D. University of
Hospital Stanford University Minnesota Medical
School of Medicine School

International Review Committee

Gerhard Heinze, M.D. Valery N. Krasnov, Michael Phillips, M.D.
Instituto Nacional de M.D.
Psiquiatria Ramon de la Moscow Research Beijing Hui Long Guan
Fuente Institute of Hospital
Psychiatry

Alan F. Schatzburg, M.D. Stuart Yudofsky, M.D.
Stanford University Baylor College of
School of Medicine Medicine

ABOUT THE AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION

The American Psychiatric Association is a national medical specialty society whose more than 38,000 physician members specialize in diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses including substance use disorders. Visit the APA at http://www.psych.org and http://www.HealthyMinds.org

ABOUT ASTRAZENECA

AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in research, development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and supplier for healthcare services. AstraZeneca is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of US $29.55 billion and is a leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infection product sales. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.

For more information about AstraZeneca, please visit: http://www.astrazeneca.com or http://www.astrazeneca-us.com

Media Contacts:
AstraZeneca, International
James Read
+1-302-885-9944
james.read@astrazeneca.com
American Psychiatric Association
Office of Communications and Public Affairs
press@psych.org

COPYRIGHT © 2008