TEXT-S&P summary: Global A&T Electronics Ltd.

(The following statement was released by the rating agency)

July 02 -

===============================================================================

Summary analysis -- Global A&T Electronics Ltd. ------------------- 02-Jul-2012

===============================================================================

CREDIT RATING: B/Positive/-- Country: Singapore

Primary SIC: Semiconductors

and related

devices

Mult. CUSIP6: 379390

===============================================================================

Credit Rating History:

Local currency Foreign currency

25-Nov-2010 B/-- B/--

05-Aug-2009 B-/-- B-/--

19-Dec-2008 B/-- B/--

===============================================================================

Rationale

The corporate credit rating on Singapore-based outsourced semiconductor

assembly and test services (OSAT) provider Global A&T Electronics Ltd. (GATE)

reflects the "highly leveraged" financial risk profile, the cyclical nature of

the OSAT business, and aggressive competition. Furthermore, rapidly evolving

technology requires heavy capital expenditure. GATE's stable EBITDA margin of

about 27% and the potential growth of the OSAT industry temper these

challenges.

GATE's business risk profile is "weak," in our view, and we expect it to

remain unchanged. The company is the sixth-largest player globally in the

cyclical and highly fragmented OSAT industry. The industry faces short product

life cycles, continuing technological developments, and price erosion with

aggressive competition. It also requires heavy capital expenditure at 15%-20%

of revenue.

However, we expect the OSAT industry to continue to grow due to the increasing

complexity of packaging and economies of scale. The growth in smartphones,

tablets, and PCs also provides opportunities for the semiconductor industry.

We believe revenue could increase faster than global GDP growth. GATE's EBITDA

margin was stable at 27%-28% in the past three years, supporting the business

risk profile of the company.

We expect GATE's ratio of debt to EBITDA to remain above 4.5x in 2012 and

funds from operations (FFO) to debt at about 15% in 2012. In our view, GATE is

likely to improve its financial risk profile to "aggressive" in 2013 by

reducing its leverage and capital expenditure.

We expect GATE to show modest low single-digit revenue growth and EBITDA

margin of about 27% in 2012. GATE also plans to restrict its cash capital

expenditure in 2012 to about 14% of revenues, down from 18%-20% seen in the

past. However, the ratio of debt to total capital is unlikely to improve

significantly from about 70%, without an equity issuance. We believe the

company might reduce its leverage by using its cash and internal accruals to

repay the US$145 million outstanding on the revolving credit facility due in

October 2013. This would result in the ratio of debt to EBITDA falling below

4.5x with the ratio of FFO to debt improving to about 18% in 2013.

In 2011, GATE's revenue was 7% below our estimate due to a shift of U.S.

customers to lower price packaging and weaker overall demand in the second

half, stemming from lower customers' inventory in the market. However, the

company improved its EBITDA margin by almost 90 basis points above our

expectation. Its capital expenditure was in line with our expectation at 20%

of revenues. As a result, FFO to debt at 15% and debt to EBITDA at 4.8x were

in line with our expectations. The financial performance for the first quarter

of 2012, which is seasonally weaker, was in line with our expectations.

Liquidity

GATE's liquidity is "adequate," as defined in our criteria. We expect the

company's ratio of liquidity sources to uses to be well above 1.2x in the next

12-24 months. However, we believe GATE has little flexibility to increase debt

due to limited headroom on its covenants. We expect the company to be able to

meet its liquidity uses even if its EBITDA falls 15%-20%. Our liquidity

assessment is based on the following factors and assumptions:

-- GATE's liquidity sources include cash and cash equivalents of US$262.6

million as of March 31, 2012, and our FFO projection of about US$180 million.

-- Liquidity uses include US$6.7 million debt maturing in 2012 and

estimated capital expenditure of US$140 million.

In our view, GATE would be able to maintain adequate liquidity even if it

meets the US$145 million maturity in October 2013 from its own funds and

internal accruals. We expect that GATE will need to refinance its large bullet

maturity of US$577 million in October 2014.

Outlook

The positive outlook reflects our expectation of stable operating performance

and EBITDA margin. We also assume that the company will contain its capital

expenditure.

We may raise the rating if GATE maintains its operating performance and

strengthens its financial risk profile such that the debt-to-EBITDA ratio is

consistently below 4.5x, which is likely if the company meets its 2013 debt

maturities using its own funds.

We may revise the outlook back to stable if GATE refinances the entire

maturities in 2013 and 2014 with debt, or if the operating performance

deteriorates, resulting in debt to EBITDA above 4.5x on a sustained basis.

Related Criteria And Research

-- Methodology And Assumptions On Risks In The Global High Technology

Industry, Oct. 15, 2009

-- Business Risk/Financial Risk Matrix Expanded, May 27, 2009

-- 2008 Corporate Criteria: Analytical Methodology, April 15, 2008

-- Credit FAQ: Knowing The Investors In A Company's Debt And Equity,

April 4, 2006

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/text-p-summary-global-t-electronics-ltd-104935209--sector.html

daylight savings rpi dst friends with kids pacific standard time northern mariana islands summer time

Denmark can triple its biomass production and improve the environment

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Morten Gylling
gylling@foi.ku.dk
(45) 27-24-34-84
University of Copenhagen

The industry is interested in establishing a biorefinery sector in Denmark that can replace oil-based products with biofriendly materials, chemicals, energy and fuel. But this requires a larger biomass production than we are currently achieving. Scientists from University of Copenhagen and Aarhus University have published an extensive report that shows how we can increase the production of biomass by more than 200% in an environmentally friendly way.

The report called "The ten-million-tonne plan" shows how we can increase the Danish production of biomass from agriculture and forestry by 10 million tonnes per year without affecting the current production of feed and food.

The plan also shows how we can substantially reduce the environmental impact compared with current levels.

"It sounds too good to be true, but it is quite realistic. By concentrating on a number of areas we can in practice double plant production and improve the utilisation of existing resources so there is enough both for food and feed production and for an additional 10 million tonnes of biomass in 2020," says Morten Gylling, senior advisor at the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen.

The report contains a number of specific subelements that combined provide a solution for how we can use sustainable biology and technology to get an additional 10 million tonnes of biomass a year by 2020 without incorporating more agricultural land.

"One of the options is to double crop yield per hectare in selected areas. This can be done by converting to cropping systems with improved perennial crops and break crops to extend the growing season and thus more fully exploit the solar radiation. This will be sufficient to meet the requirements for both feed and food production and for the biomass production for a number of biofriendly products," explains Uffe Jrgensen, senior scientist at Aarhus University.

The increased production of biomass means that it would be possible to establish a biorefinery sector in Denmark a sector that is crucial for the establishment of a green growth economy in Denmark.

"A future Danish biorefinery sector would create around new 20,000 jobs in production and industry, primarily in the provinces," says professor Claus Felby from University of Copenhagen and continues:

"10 million tonnes of biomass actually corresponds to 20 percent of our current consumption of natural gas and to 30-50 percent of our consumption of petroleum and diesel. To this should be added a significantly higher feed production that to a large extent will be able to replace what we currently import from countries such as South America," says Claus Felby.

The results of the report also show that the aquatic environment will improve with a focus on biomass: The loss of nitrogen from farmland can be reduced by more than 20,000 tones:

"A focus on biomass production alone will help meet our obligations in the EU Water Framework Directive, which is one of the most important tasks of Natur og Landbrugskommissionen (Agriculture and Nature Council) at the moment. It is particularly a better utilisation of animal manure that will help us to significantly reduce nitrate leaching," emphasizes Morten Gylling.

Biodiversity in Denmark will also be enhanced:

"We can increase biodiversity by harvesting the grass from approx. 70,000 ha of lowland meadows so they do not become smothered in nettles and willow as a result of nutrient overloads. Another option is to increase the area with natural woodland by 47,000 ha, and it is also possible to cut and remove the biomass and nutrients from approx. 7,000 ha of road verges to increase floral diversity," adds Uffe Jrgensen.

In order to realise the biomass potential, a massive investment in research and development will be needed in future years, particularly within agriculture and forestry, but also within the biological and chemical conversion of biomass.

The project is part of the collaboration between University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University and DONG set up in December 2011 to help launch special initiatives within research and education in green energy.

###

Further information:

Senior advisor Morten Gylling, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen telephone: +45 2724 3484, e-mail: gylling@foi.ku.dk

Senior scientist Uffe Jorgensen, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, telephone: +45 2133 7831, e-mail: uffe.jorgensen@agrsci.dk

Professor Claus Felby, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, telephone: +45 4089 8932, e-mail: cf@life.ku.dk

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Morten Gylling
gylling@foi.ku.dk
(45) 27-24-34-84
University of Copenhagen

The industry is interested in establishing a biorefinery sector in Denmark that can replace oil-based products with biofriendly materials, chemicals, energy and fuel. But this requires a larger biomass production than we are currently achieving. Scientists from University of Copenhagen and Aarhus University have published an extensive report that shows how we can increase the production of biomass by more than 200% in an environmentally friendly way.

The report called "The ten-million-tonne plan" shows how we can increase the Danish production of biomass from agriculture and forestry by 10 million tonnes per year without affecting the current production of feed and food.

The plan also shows how we can substantially reduce the environmental impact compared with current levels.

"It sounds too good to be true, but it is quite realistic. By concentrating on a number of areas we can in practice double plant production and improve the utilisation of existing resources so there is enough both for food and feed production and for an additional 10 million tonnes of biomass in 2020," says Morten Gylling, senior advisor at the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen.

The report contains a number of specific subelements that combined provide a solution for how we can use sustainable biology and technology to get an additional 10 million tonnes of biomass a year by 2020 without incorporating more agricultural land.

"One of the options is to double crop yield per hectare in selected areas. This can be done by converting to cropping systems with improved perennial crops and break crops to extend the growing season and thus more fully exploit the solar radiation. This will be sufficient to meet the requirements for both feed and food production and for the biomass production for a number of biofriendly products," explains Uffe Jrgensen, senior scientist at Aarhus University.

The increased production of biomass means that it would be possible to establish a biorefinery sector in Denmark a sector that is crucial for the establishment of a green growth economy in Denmark.

"A future Danish biorefinery sector would create around new 20,000 jobs in production and industry, primarily in the provinces," says professor Claus Felby from University of Copenhagen and continues:

"10 million tonnes of biomass actually corresponds to 20 percent of our current consumption of natural gas and to 30-50 percent of our consumption of petroleum and diesel. To this should be added a significantly higher feed production that to a large extent will be able to replace what we currently import from countries such as South America," says Claus Felby.

The results of the report also show that the aquatic environment will improve with a focus on biomass: The loss of nitrogen from farmland can be reduced by more than 20,000 tones:

"A focus on biomass production alone will help meet our obligations in the EU Water Framework Directive, which is one of the most important tasks of Natur og Landbrugskommissionen (Agriculture and Nature Council) at the moment. It is particularly a better utilisation of animal manure that will help us to significantly reduce nitrate leaching," emphasizes Morten Gylling.

Biodiversity in Denmark will also be enhanced:

"We can increase biodiversity by harvesting the grass from approx. 70,000 ha of lowland meadows so they do not become smothered in nettles and willow as a result of nutrient overloads. Another option is to increase the area with natural woodland by 47,000 ha, and it is also possible to cut and remove the biomass and nutrients from approx. 7,000 ha of road verges to increase floral diversity," adds Uffe Jrgensen.

In order to realise the biomass potential, a massive investment in research and development will be needed in future years, particularly within agriculture and forestry, but also within the biological and chemical conversion of biomass.

The project is part of the collaboration between University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University and DONG set up in December 2011 to help launch special initiatives within research and education in green energy.

###

Further information:

Senior advisor Morten Gylling, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen telephone: +45 2724 3484, e-mail: gylling@foi.ku.dk

Senior scientist Uffe Jorgensen, Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, telephone: +45 2133 7831, e-mail: uffe.jorgensen@agrsci.dk

Professor Claus Felby, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, telephone: +45 4089 8932, e-mail: cf@life.ku.dk

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/uoc-dct070212.php

regis philbin last show regis philbin last show sarah vowell fire in reno kelly ripa reno wildfire reno wildfire

Future Of For-Profit College Regulations Now In Obama Administration's Hands

After a federal judge struck down key parts of new regulations on for-profit colleges last weekend, it's undecided whether the Department of Education will appeal the case or start again with a new set of regulations.

But observers said that although the rules were invalidated on technical grounds, the judge's decision supports the department's right to hold for-profit colleges accountable for leaving students with unsustainable debts.

"The key victory for the department is that they do have the authority to set these standards," said Amy Laitinen, who served as a policy adviser in the DOE and now works as a deputy education policy director at the New America Foundation. "In my mind the question is going to be one of political will. How much is the department going to want to take on this fight again?"

The department was attempting to rein in abuses by for-profit colleges, which were taking in disproportionate amounts of federal student aid dollars while their students defaulted on loans at much higher rates than in other higher education sectors. It issued the so-called gainful employment regulations in 2011 to gauge whether for-profit schools and other vocational programs were setting up students with careers that allowed them to repay student loans. The for-profit college industry countered with a lobbying battle in Washington aimed at blocking any new rules.

When the department issued the rules in June 2011, the industry's trade group filed a lawsuit a month later seeking to undo the regulations. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras on Saturday struck down several key provisions, ruling that the department "failed to provide a reasoned explanation" for creating a rule mandating that at least 35 percent of students are repaying loans.

But the decision also provided a pathway for re-crafting and concluded that the department could create rules that tested whether programs prepared students for "gainful employment."

"The department has set out to address a serious policy problem, regulating pursuant to a reasonable interpretation of its statutory authority," Contreras wrote.

The regulations were intended to evaluate for-profit and vocational college programs based on several measurements, including whether a graduate has an excessive debt burden when compared with his or her income (based on total income and discretionary income) and whether a student is able to repay at least a portion of his or her loan debt each year.

Groups that supported the regulations said Monday the administration should not delay in crafting new rules to prevent abuses.

"Now that it has been reinforced that the department can regulate these programs, the ball is back in their court," said Mamie Lynch, a higher education research and policy analyst with the Education Trust, a student advocacy group. "They need to take actions to protect students and make sure that students aren't going into too much debt and being victimized by these programs."

The head of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, the for-profit college trade group that brought suit against the department, said in a statement Sunday that he hoped the "era of litigation was over" following the judge's decision. The group did not respond to questions about the department's authority to regulate for-profit colleges.

Going forward, the politics of the next few months could be tricky for the president; the industry's relentless lobbying campaign pitted many Democrats in Congress against the Obama administration.

"It's in the middle of the election year," said Laitinen, the former administration official who works at the New America Foundation. "This has taken a lot of political capital, but the lobbyists are strong and the pushbacks are strong."

It took nearly two years for the department to issue the first set of rules, resulting in more than 90,000 public comments -- many of them identical form letters distributed to students by for-profit college trade groups.

Jarrel Price, an analyst who follows the for-profit education industry at Height Analytics in Washington, said he expected the industry would be "far more organized and more vocal" if the department started the process again. But he expected that a new push for regulation could provide a rallying cry for younger voters.

"I doubt that Democrats would want to shy away from gainful employment, which is designed to make sure that students are getting trained for an occupation and are in a position to repay their loans," Price said. "Especially given the labor market and the continued economic problems ? these have been priorities for Democratic campaigns throughout the spring and summer, and I think this is an important way for them to reinvigorate their student base."

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/02/for-profit-college-regulations_n_1644645.html

jon bon jovi kim jong il died warren hellman survivor south pacific survivor south pacific house of wax patrick willis

What kind of bang was the big bang?

* Required fields

* First name

* Last name

* Country

* Email address

* Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters

* Confirm password

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/20e9a92b/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg21428710A0B10A0A0Ewhat0Ekind0Eof0Ebang0Ewas0Ethe0Ebig0Ebang0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

mastectomy st. nicholas st. nicholas heisman finalists heisman finalists kepler 22 b kepler 22 b

Bomb kills 2 Afghan policemen outside bank

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Afghan officials say a bomb has killed two policemen outside a bank in an eastern city.

Paktia provincial government spokesman Rohullah Samon says an explosive strapped to a bicycle went off Saturday near a Kabul Bank branch in Gardez, the provincial capital. Samon says the target of the blast was not clear.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-06-30-AS-Afghanistan/id-486fb26b25fe4fa4984d2e69aab34282

words with friends phlebotomy survivor dog show best in show bret michaels bret michaels

Video: Army, Navy square off in cook-off

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/48031666#48031666

human nature arkansas football howard johnson blackhawks real housewives of new jersey levon helm firelight

Rising Slovak star Sagan wins Tour's 1st stage

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rising-slovak-star-sagan-wins-tours-1st-stage-165949228--spt.html

alec baldwin alec baldwin college basketball oakland pinnacle airlines kansas vs kentucky joe posnanski