Author: Business News Asia

Filinvest Land Inc.’s (FLI) reported 12.54 billion in gross total revenues for the first nine months of 2020 with residential revenues increasing by 45% to Php2.12 billion in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the second quarter. The marked improvement was brought about by the easing of lockdowns as well as consumer demand for this segment. It was a turnaround from the second quarter which was heavily impacted by the lower sales take-up and delays in revenue recognition due to the construction restrictions during the quarantine period and the implementation of Bayanihan 1 deferment of customer payments. “We have…

Despite the global market uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the confidence and interest that foreign companies have in the Chinese market appear unchanged, with the value of tentative deals reached for one-year purchases of goods and services at the third China International Import Expo (CIIE) hitting $72.62 billion, a 2.1 percent year-on-year increase. The expo, which ended on Nov 10, took up nearly 360,000 square meters of exhibition space, an increase of nearly 30,000 sq m from the previous edition. Nearly 400,000 professional visitors and over 3,000 Chinese and foreign journalists attended the event. Statistics showed that 411 new…

Wuxi Biortus Biosciences Co Ltd, a company in the structural biology service for drug discovery, recently closed round A financing with US$15 million investment led by Bayland Capital, and the fund will be used to establish a global cryo-EM innovation center. In 2018, Biortus launched the very first commercial gene-to-structure one-stop-shop cryo-EM platform. Since then Biortus’s cryo-EM team has witnessed the transformative power of cryo-EM in breaking the barrier of traditional structural biology methodologies by delivering atomic resolution information on membrane proteins and large protein complexes. With the support from round A fund, Biortus is upgrading its cryo-EM platform to…

Adagio Medical, Inc., an innovator for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) and ventricular tachycardia (VT), and developer of the intelligent Continuous Lesion Ablation System (iCLAS™), today announced that it has closed a $42.5 million Series E equity financing. Proceeds from the financing will be used to support the ongoing iCLAS™ Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) trial, accelerate the European VT CE-Mark trial, advance the commercialization of the iCLAS system in CE-Mark countries, and continue the development and clinical validation of Adagio’s pulsed field cryoablation (PFCA) technology. The Series E equity financing included new investors ArrowMark Partners, RA Capital Management and…

AC Energy Philippines (PSE: ACEN) today announced the potential investment of an affiliate of GIC Private Limited (“GIC”), Arran Investment Pte Ltd, in ACEN, in a deal valued at approximately Php 20bn. The Board of Directors of ACEN approved today the proposal of GIC’s affiliate to acquire a 17.5% ownership stake in ACEN (the “Investment”), and which 17.5% ownership stake is on the basis that ACEN’s stock rights offering (“SRO”) and follow-on-offering, and the infusion by ACEN’s parent company, AC Energy, Inc. (“AC Energy”), of its international business into ACEN, have been completed. The Investment, which will be implemented through…

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), one of the leading integrated property developers in Southeast Asia, is set to open this November 13, Friday, its latest mall in the Philippines, the SM City Butuan. Located in the highly urbanized City of Butuan, Agusan del Norte in Mindanao, this latest development is the sixth SM mall in Mindanao and first in the CARAGA Region, adding 48,000 square meters (sqm.) of gross floor area (GFA) in the Company’s portfolio. SM City Butuan is located along JC Aquino Avenue in Butuan City, and is set to be a major hub in Northeastern Mindanao…

Nhi Dong 315, a Vietnamese tech-enabled healthcare services company, has recently closed its pre-Series A financing from a consortium of international investors from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Europe. The investment syndicate family offices (Nisaetus, Samsara Holdings), Venture Capital funds (Tremont Capital Ventures International), a Japanese healthcare corporate and individual financial investors (Bo Tan, Dennis Ly, Christophe Péron, Grégoire Amigues). This was Nhi Dong 315’s first external funding since opening its first clinic in June 2019. Nhi Dong 315, which operates a network of pediatric clinics – each with an embedded and fully licensed pharmacy – stated that it will use the funds to increase…

MarkPlus, Inc. in collaboration with Philip Kotler Center for ASEAN Marketing will hold ASEAN Marketing Summit (AMS) 2020 on Monday, November 9th 2020, starting from 09.00 AM to 04.00 PM Jakarta Time. This annual event will come up with ASEAN: Moving Ahead with Technology as the main theme and will be conducted virtually or live broadcast. This biggest marketing summit in ASEAN will present industry expert speakers from various countries, especially in business and marketing. The event will discuss the most relevant issues in business through technology not only ASEAN coverage, but also Asia and worldwide. And in this pandemic…

Chindata Group has successfully opened Asia’s largest single hyperscale data center in its Taihang Mountain Energy and Information Technology Industrial Campus of the Pan-Beijing Area, Datong, North China’s Shanxi province, on Sunday 25 October. The data center has a total IT capacity of 50 megawatts to support artificial intelligence-based computing delivered by global tech giants. For a single server room in this data center building, its IT capacity could be over 18 megawatts. Chindata Group launches an online video to take a virtual tour inside this Asia’s largest single hyperscale data center and reproduce its construction process to show those state-of-the-art…

Bangkok, Thailand – Ms.Natha Kittiaksorn (3rd from right), Deputy CEO of Major Development Public Company Limited (MJD) and Mr.Chaiphun Thongsuthum (3rd from left) General Manager, Centra by Centara Maris Resorts Jomtien were honored by Dr. Ronnachit Mahattanapreut (2nd from left) Senior Vice President – Finance & Administration, Centara Hotels & Resorts, to congratulate on the occasion that Centra by Centara Maris Resort Jomtien; which is owned by MJD, received “Hotel of the Year Awards 2020″ as its performance this year got the highest points out of Centara Group’s Hotels worldwide in Hospitality Experience Program (HX) by SGS (Thailand), a local branch…

Below is a statement by U.S. Conference of Mayors President and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer on the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris: “The nation’s mayors congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. We stand ready as Democrats, Republicans and Independents to come together and work with you to defeat the coronavirus and rebuild our economy. In the days ahead, mayors across this great nation will do all that they can to help you forge a path forward that strengthens our communities and sustains our common humanity.” About The United States Conference of Mayors — The U.S. Conference…

Even though CES 2021 has gone virtual, the Robotics division of Korean technology giant Hancom (KOSDAQ: 030520, HAANSOFT) is putting its best physical foot forward. The company is announcing that its latest AI-powered robot, the Hancom Malang Malang Home Robot, will be available in the US home services market starting in 2021. Earlier generations of Hancom Robotics’ AI-based home services robots, including the Hancom Toki robot, have been widely used for several years in Korea and other markets. Dr. Yonmook Park, CTO of Hancom Robotics says that “The Hancom Malang Malang Home Robot is the first AI edutainment service robot…

Tampa General Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer John Couris announced the creation of Tampa General Hospital’s InnoVentures, a venture capital fund dedicated to driving a culture of innovation across the region’s leading academic medical center through the support of early-stage startups and direct investments. With the inauguration of TGH InnoVentures, Tampa General will join an elite group of the nation’s leading medical centers engaged in venture capital investing. TGH InnoVentures will officially launch in the first quarter of 2021. “TGH InnoVentures is a critical ingredient in our strategic vision to become the safest and most innovative academic health system…

Philippine-listed San Miguel Corporation posted a net income of P15 billion for the third quarter of 2020, a full turnaround from the P4 billion loss during the first half of the year, following the easing of restrictions starting July. “The country has proven its adaptability and resilience in these trying times, and we, in San Miguel Corporation, will continue to deliver on our commitment to help the country build back better and stronger as we emerge from this pandemic,” SMC president and COO Ramon S. Ang said. Consolidated revenues and operating income of P531.1 billion and P41.5 billion for the…

RIWI Corp. (TSXV: RIWI) (OTC: RWCRF) (the “Company” or “RIWI”), a global trend-tracking and prediction technology firm, today publicly released all of the U.S. Election reports that the Company prepared for global finance clients since September 8, 2020. In contrast to almost all public polling and mainstream media forecasts that predicted a “Blue Wave” and blowout victory for former Vice President Joe Biden, RIWI’s final client report on November 2, at 10 am Eastern Standard Time, showed a different story: the much tighter race that we see in today’s results. RIWI’s randomly engaged forecasters represented a continuous evaluation of the…

Frontline Education, a leading provider of school administration software for the K-12 education community, today announced that it has acquired SuccessEd, a Texas-based K-12 software provider. With this acquisition, Frontline enhances its commitment to serving the special education community. “This new partnership between Frontline Education and SuccessEd brings a best-in-class relationship management and customer care model together with continuous technical innovation in product functionality,” said Mark Gruzin, CEO of Frontline Education. “Our combined organization will drive additional value and an enhanced client experience for our partners in special education management across the country.” SuccessEd team members, most of whom are former…

AIA Group Limited announced that AIA China has received approval from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) to begin preparations to establish a new branch in Sichuan. This will be AIA China’s first new branch since the inauguration of our wholly-owned life insurance subsidiary in July 2020. Lee Yuan Siong, AIA Group Chief Executive and President, said, “We are delighted to receive approval to prepare for AIA’s first branch in Western China. This reflects the trust and confidence placed in us to make a lasting contribution to the sustainable development of the life insurance industry in the region. We are privileged to have the opportunity…

Subsea excavation pioneer Rotech Subsea has successfully completed a North Sea rock placement removal scope for a major oil and gas offshore contractor. Rotech Subsea’s state-of-the-art TRS2 Controlled Flow Excavation (CFE). Suspended Jet Trenching tool was also mobilised from Aberdeen for the North Sea for the decommissioning scope at just four day’s notice in early September. The decommissioning scope, in offshore Netherlands, saw the company carry out 50m of rock dispersal work at around 43m water depth around flanges to expose spool pieces at the oil and gas asset. Rock had to be removed for access prior to the de-commissioning…

CommScope and Converge ICT have partnered to build an internet backbone that will connect the unserved and underserved market and communities in the Philippines, recently named the top digital riser in East Asia and the Pacific. As the Philippines undergoes a nationwide shift towards remote working and e-commerce activity, having robust, high-speed internet infrastructure has become a critical resource for Filipino businesses and citizens. To address this demand, Converge ICT will expand network coverage in rural and urban areas. CommScope is working closely with Converge ICT and will support this evolution contributing its network design, deployment, and project management expertise.…

The research team at the National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital announced that it has developed a machine learning model for predicting a COVID-19 mortality risk in patients at the point of care, the Korea Herald reported. The model not only predicted the final outcome — whether patients will die or recover — but also early mortality According to the researchers, the machine model was able to estimate poor outcomes in patients with COVID-19 for over 90 per cent of the cases. The model considered information such as medical history, age, sex, and income level in predicting the prognosis of…