Daily Archives: February 3, 2022

A trip to Las Vegas to CES included a 24-mile drive north of the Las Vegas Strip to visit the Las Vegas Motor Speedway ahead of the big show. The reason? It was a chance to view competitors taking part in the Indy Autonomous Challenge.

Farm Progress wrote about that challenge in 2021, when the idea was launched. And despite the pandemic, nine teams took place in the speed challenge at the legendary Brickyard in Indianapolis in October 2021. The key was speed, and the PoliMove (for Politecnico of Milan, Italy) team earned $1 million by hitting 157 mph to win the initial challenge. The fastest lap was 139 mph, and the fastest two-lap average was 136 mph. That same PoliMove team, later in the year, set a new land speed record for an autonomous car at 175.96 mph.

A few days before the race challenge, Farm Progress checked out the teams. Each car has the same infrastructure;what differs is the programming code and management of the onboard systems.

It's an interesting exercise, and the program sent out invitations, netting 41 universities that signed up to compete. In the end, it winnowed the field down to 10 teams representing 23 universities and partners. But the challenge wasn't over.

Nine teams made the trip to Las Vegas, and this time, the goal was different. "This time it's not about speed; it's about passing," says Paul Mitchell, CEO, Energy Systems Network, organizer of the challenge.

That trip out of the Strip is an eye-opener when a visitor arrives at the track to find cars, engineers and programmers poring over their vehicles. Then without a driver the car leaves the pit area and heads around the track.

As one grad student explains, the cars use ROS 2.0, which is short for "robot operating system," as a baseline program. From that, the routing and controls are programmed by each team. The cars, engines, sensors and base code are the same, but each team can innovate the code as they see necessary.

The challenge many faced is that harsh conditions and operating above 100 mph can be harsh have more impact on physical parts than the programming. Harnesses, sensors and vision systems that become unhooked don't work so well.

The cockpit of the Indy Autonomous Challenge cars is filled with technology and computers, including vision systems to see along the route.

These are complex machines, and while a series of left turns around an oval may seem like easy programming, it isn't. Add in that the passing challenge worth $150,000 to the winning team complicates operation even more.

A walk around the pits and chatting with programmers was an eye-opener. Farm Progress gravitated to the team with an Auburn University logo on the side of the car, where we watched the teams work on programming and the cars. Where a driver would sit rests the brains of the car. The space in an Indy car is tight, so cramming in computer systems didn't make the space look roomier.

Farm Progress was unable to attend the "passing challenge," but the PoliMove team that walked away with the $1 million took the $150,000, too.

"This program started with the DARPA autonomous vehicle challenge," Mitchell says. DARPA is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, promoting advanced tech that could be leveraged by the military.

That vehicle challenge wasn't about speed, but about autonomy across a specific course in a specific time. The challenge builds on the awareness systems of DARPA and others. The cars use Lidar, a sensing method that uses pulses of laser light, to look ahead for objects. While the system in use is good for up to 200-feet, we learned it's better at 40 to 80 feet, given that the course turns. The system offers visual data for running the course.

Why might a farmer be interested in a driverless race car? Not for the future of competition, but these systems working at this speed help validate the programming and provide confidence that autonomous vehicles on road or off will perform as designed.

Nine teams competed in the Las Vegas Indy Autonomous Challenge, including Auburn University, in a team called Autonomous Tiger Racing. There are 19 universities from eight countries on the nine teams.

Mitchell notes that one surprise he got out of the program is the level of cooperation between teams during development. "Sure they're competing, but they're also working to share ideas and solve problems," he says.

You can learn more, and watch those cars passing at speed by visiting indyautonomouschallenge.com.

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Robot cars hit the track - Farm Progress

If there is one area of the pitch where Manchester City have no cause for concern at present, judging by the success seen in recent years and the first-half of the ongoing season, then it is in the wide department.

With Raheem Sterlings recent resurgence, Phil Fodens ascent as one of the best youngsters in Europe, Riyad Mahrez continuing to put in the numbers, and Jack Grealishs 100 million capture last summer, City have an enviable roster of wingers.

The prodigious Cole Palmer can also now be added to the list, while Gabriel Jesus has largely operated on the right flank this season, highlighting the strength in depth out wide within Pep Guardiola's squad.

However, Manchester City supporters have now become accustomed to an impressive method of forward planning executed by Etihad officials, and a new report has highlighted this trend.

As per the information ofESPN's Mark Ogden, Manchester City arewatching the progress of Arsenal's Bukayo Saka and could be tempted to make a move if the Gunners fail to qualify for the Champions League by the end of the season.

It has been claimed that Manchester City have been joined by Premier League title rivals Liverpool in monitoring the England internationals situation and performances at the North London club.

With Bukayo Sakas current contract set to expire in 2023, there may be a chance that the 20-year old could be open to a switch in the summer, if he decides not to commit his long-term future to the Emirates Stadium.

Considering the likes of Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez are also contracted to the club until 2023, there may be a possibility that one of Manchester Citys stalwarts are let go next season.

Bukayo Saka is one of the most gifted young wingers in Europe at present, and a potential swoop for the young forward in the summer could prove to be an incredible coup for years to come.

You can follow us for live updates here:@City_Xtra

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Manchester City and Liverpool Monitoring Progress of Arsenal Star Forward With Summer Swoop Mooted - Sports Illustrated

01 February 2022

Work on the Safety Significant Confinement Ventilation System (SSCVS) at the US Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico made significant progress last year following earlier delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Construction of the three major facilities of what will be the largest containment fan system in the underground complex "showed major advancements" in 2021, WIPP said.

The foundation for the New Filter Building, where 1000-horsepower fans will pull air through high-efficiency particulate absorbing (HEPA) filtration, was completed three weeks early, kick-starting construction of the building's walls.

The precast concrete walls and roof of the Salt Reduction Building were also installed. This, WIPP said, was a DOE/HQ Environmental Management complex-wide priority for 2021.

In addition, the utility shaft - the massive air intake for the system - has reached 124 feet (38 metres) of its projected 2275-foot (693-metre) depth. The new shaft saw the installation of a plenum (chamber) and ductwork that will force air into the underground. It will be WIPP's largest shaft at 26 feet (8 metres) in diameter when completed.

The SSCVS system is scheduled to start operating in 2025, providing up to 540,000 cubic feet per minute (cfm) of air in either filtered or unfiltered modes.

"More air allows more machinery to work in the underground and makes for a safer and more comfortable working condition," WIPP said.

Whilst WIPP constructs the SSCVS system, it has prepared to restart one of its legacy fans, the 700-C, in order to maintain ventilation capacity. The WIPP ventilation system currently pulls 170,000 cfm of filtered air throughout the underground. The 700-C fan will provide 240,000 cfm of unfiltered air for non-emplacement activities, such as mining and rock bolting.

Mining of the eighth panel at WIPP was completed in October 2021, seven years after work began. After outfitting with power, communications and air monitors, Panel 8 will be ready to start accepting transuranic (TRU) waste when Panel 7 reaches full capacity in April this year.

WIPP is the USA's only repository for the disposal of TRU waste. Sealed drums of waste - clothing, tools, rags, residues, debris, soil and other items contaminated with small amounts of plutonium and other man-made radioactive elements from the US military programme - are placed in "rooms" carved out of salt rock by laser-guided continuous miner machines.

The WIPP repository is mined out of an ancient salt formation more than 2000 feet below ground. The repository is configured to have eight panels - four on each side of the main access passageways, or drifts - although two further panels are also planned.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Link:

Progress on WIPP ventilation upgrade : Waste & Recycling - World Nuclear News

DCCA News

By Marilyn Delk

The Metropolitan Opera opened its 2021-2022 season with Fire Shut Up in My Bones, a work composed by Terence Blanchard based on a memoir by journalist Charles Blow; interesting but the most intriguing component underlying this announcement is that real progress is being made, slow as that progress may have been. This production is the first opera written by a black composer ever staged at the Met in its 138 years of existence!

Blanchard expressed his feelings about this disturbing fact by saying, The arts are supposed to be things that bring us together, that throw away all of those notions of bigotry and intolerance, right? So it breaks my heart to think that William Grant Still approached the Met, and was turned away. Over a 20-year span, William Grant Still, known as the dean of African American composers, submitted three operas to the Met, all deemed not suitable for performance by the company.

Still was the first African American composer to have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company, and the first to have an opera performed on national television, yet his work was not suitable for our nations most prestigious opera company! He composed nearly 200 works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over 30 choral works, plus art songs, chamber music, and works for solo instruments; when he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl in 1936, he became the first African American to conduct a major American orchestra in a performance of his own work. He received three Guggenheim Fellowships in music composition, was awarded honorary doctorates from Oberlin College, Wilberforce University, Howard University, and several more prestigious institutions, and in 1976 his Los Angeles home was designated a Historic Cultural Monument but the Met found his work amateurish and uninteresting. Hmmm could there be a racial component to this?

However, in this case, the Met reached out to black musician and composer Terence Blanchard about presenting his opera. Blanchard was raised in a New Orleans home filled with opera, but discovered his passion for jazz after starting to play trumpet at age nine; his highly successful and diverse career as a jazz trumpeter and composer has won acclaim from music lovers around the world, with his work earning numerous prestigious awards. When considering subject matter for his first opera, Blanchard says that he was drawn to Charles Blows autobiography, explaining that he related to the notion of being isolated in your own community.

Charles Blow grew up in a poor, dysfunctional household in a small Louisiana town, earned a scholarship to Grambling University, and is now a highly respected op-ed columnist for The New York Times. His autobiographys title, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, comes from a Biblical quote in the book of Jeremiah: Within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones. Blanchard expertly translated the emotions expressed in the book into music that stirs emotions in listeners of all races and ethnic origins.

One of Blows sentences which especially moved Blanchard provides a high point in the opera: There once was a boy of peculiar grace. Blanchards lyric then goes on to say that this is a dangerous existence for a man of my race, and The South is no place for a boy of peculiar grace. The song ends on a hopeful note, as the boy puts his questions aside and moves to a brighter future.

The Mets first presentation of an opera written by a black composer was warmly received, selling out all performances which were often interrupted by standing ovations while winning high critical acclaim; the production has been praised as being unlike any other opera. Blanchard says, Its time for us to move on . Im trying to find the sound for my generation. And the Met has said that it would like to commission the black composer to write another opera. So after 138 years, a venerable elite institution is progressing toward a more inclusive future.

Marilyn Delk is the former executive director of the Darke County Center for the Arts and can be reached at [emailprotected] Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

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Tale of artistic progress in honor of black history month - The Daily Advocate

You know your health system or organization needs to focus on physician well-being to curb burnout, but how do you know if what you are doing is making a difference?

In a JAMA Viewpoint column, How to Measure Progress in Addressing Physician Well-being Beyond Burnout, Christine A. Sinsky, MD, the AMAs vice president of professional satisfaction, and her co-authors offer suggestions on how to evaluate whether specific interventions an organization has taken to address occupational distress and enhance professional satisfaction are working.

Demonstrating outcomes is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of programs to address physician well-being and for making the case for continued investment in well-being to clinic, hospital, system and national leadership, the viewpoint says. As with the patient safety and quality movements, intermediate outcomes (upstream of the big, important outcomes such as mortality or, in this case, burnout) will be needed to help evaluate specific interventions and assess progress on efforts to enhance physician well-being.

Six useful metrics

The National Academy of Medicine in 2019 laid out priority areas for enhancing clinician well-being, including creating positive work and learning environments, and reducing administrative tasks. The viewpoint suggests that the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has an opportunity to develop measures that correspond to each of the focus areas.

The AHRQ could, for example, recommend choosing from a core set of validated, evidence-based intermediate measures in their funded studies focused on physician experience. This could facilitate more standardized evaluation of interventions to improve well-being, the viewpoint says.

From a table accompanying the viewpoint, here are six examples of intermediate metrics that correspond to key focus areas for enhancing physician well-being that can be measured from existing data or newly collected data.

Positive work environments

Existing data: Physician turnover rates. The percentage of physicians who complete set amounts of time with their organization. For example, two years, five years or 10 years.

Newly collected data: Team communication, such as the presence of regular team huddles. Team structure, such as how many clinical support staff employees there are per physician. Team function, such as skill level and institutionally allowed scope of work. Team stability, such as the frequency of the same individuals working together.

Positive organizational culture

Newly collected data, new structures: Establish a chief wellness officer with a dedicated resource and budget. This also includes regular measurement of burnout and its precursors.

Additionally, track costs of physician burnout and report to senior leadership. There should also be shared accountability among the executive leadership team for the physician workforces well-being scores.

Positive learning environments

Existing data: Decrease in the number of reports of bias and sexual harassment over time. Percent of positive responses to educational environment responses on the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Graduation Questionnaire. Increases in percent of positive responses over time.

Newly collected data: Percentage of learners who endorse their clinical preceptors providing regular feedback.

Reducing administrative burden

Existing data: Active EHR time. Time logged into the EHR. Documentation time. Work outside of scheduled clinical hours. Inbox time. Percentage of orders with team contribution.

Newly collected data, new structures: Percentage of prior authorizations completed by a nonphysician team member. Inbox reduction initiative. Policy de-implementation initiative at the institutional level.

Enabling technology solutions

Existing data: Time spent dailytotal and after-hourson the EHR.

Newly collected data: Number of notes written with documentation assistance.

Providing support to clinicians and learners

Existing data: Percentage of trainees and faculty who successfully progress in and graduate from medical training by gender, race, and ethnicity.

Newly collected data: Number of annual visits to confidential, onsite occupational support resource.

Leverage existing data

Using data that organizations are already collecting and minimizing the amount of time spent on data collection is important.

Doing so will allow enhanced understanding of the experiences of work without adding to the numerous measurement requirements already faced by physicians, the viewpoint notes.

Committed to makingphysician burnouta thing of the past, theAMA has studied,and is currently addressing, issues causing and fueling physician burnoutincluding time constraints, technology and regulationsto betterunderstand and reduce the challenges physicians face.

By focusing on factors causing burnout at the system level, the AMA assesses an organizations well-being and offers guidance and targeted solutions to support physician well-being and satisfaction.

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6 ways to measure progress toward physician well-being - American Medical Association

Work can now be done to name Highway 65 in Porterville in honor of Porterville Fire Captain Ramon Raymond Figueroa and Firefighter Patrick Jones.

As part of its consent calendar the council approved a Caltrans permit for the installation of the memorial signs along Highway 65 in honor of Figueroa and Jones, who were killed in the February 18, 2020 fire that destroyed the Porterville Public Library.

The action now paves the way for Highway 65 to be known as the Captain Ramon Figueroa Firefighter Patrick Jones Memorial Highway.

State Senator Melissa Hurtado introduced a resolution last year to name Highway 65 in honor of Figueroa and Jones. The Captain Ramon Figueroa Firefighter Patrick Jones Memorial Highway will run along Highway 65 from Teapot Dome to Pioneer.

The families of Figueroa and Jones were consulted on the preferred memorial highway signage. Caltrans has designated the southbound and northbound locations of the signs.

The city will be financially responsible for the maintenance of the signs should they become damaged or if they need to be replaced. KRC Safety Company, has donated the cost for the signs and their installation.

A dedication ceremony for the Captain Ramon Figueroa Firefighter Patrick Jones Memorial Highway will be held at a still to be determined date.

REDISTRICTING

The Porterville City Council reached a consensus on Tuesday that a map designed by its consultant in the redistricting process, Best, Best and Krieger, be the one that's the frontrunner to be the new map for the five districts the council members represent.

The council could approve introducing an ordinance for the map to be the one that's used at its meeting on February 15. The third public hearing on redistricting was held at Tuesday's meeting and the final public hearing on the matter will be held at the February 15 meeting.

There's still time for anyone from the public to draw their own proposed draft map to be considered. Maps can be drawn at MapPorterville.org where all the information on the redistricting process can be found. Maps need to be drawn by Monday, February 7 to be considered at the February 15 meeting. Final adoption of the map needs to be done by April 17 and then submitted to the county registrar.

The council could still make revisions to the map it has selected if it chooses to do so. One other map drawn by a member of the public was submitted and considered at Tuesday's meeting.

But the council came to a consensus that it favored the map drawn by its consultant. The consultant's map significantly reduced the population deviation of the five districts to less than one percent, well below the 10 percent required threshold. The current population deviation of the districts is above the threshold at 15 percent.

The other map drawn by a member of the public also had a population deviation below the threshold at 5 percent.

But the biggest advantage of the consultant's map is it was able to achieve a population deviation of less than one percent by making minor population changes and keeping the districts virtually the same as they are now.

The map drawn by the member of the public made major population changes, moving large populations from District 2 to Districts 3 and 4. So that would mean many people who would have voted in the November election would have had to wait until 2024.

The new map for the districts will go into effect for the November election and Districts 1 and 2 are up for election in November. Districts 3, 4 and 5 will be up for election in 2024.

Since the consultant's map made little changes as far as who will vote this November, the council favored that map.

Lawana Tate represents District 1 and has said she will run in the November election to stay in her seat. Milt Stowe represents District 2 and announced recently on Kent Hopper's Hopper in the Morning Podcast he won't run for reelection.

One member of the public spoke during the public hearing and that was 75-year-old Rae Dean Strawn, who was taken into handcuffs and into a police car to the Porterville Police Station for not wearing her face mask properly.

Strawn said since the council isn't representing the community the way it should there should be at least 7 districts which would give more community members more of a say since the city is growing.

It's my opinion there needs to be more districts in the city, Strawn said. Right now we have five council men and women that aren't representing our city and getting the job done.

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Progress continues on naming highway in honor of firefighters - Porterville Recorder

There is always room for improvement in everything we do; being open to constructive criticism is a must if you are to improve on your product or service. Think of the progress made in technology year over year. Improvements were driven by the customer experience, needs, and interests. However, aspiring to do better every day should not negate the accomplishments made over time. Our successes need to be honored and celebrated as well.

Much has been said over the past several months about the interactions between those living with mental illness and law enforcement. We have heard about the catastrophic outcomes, including the loss of life for the person living with mental illness and/or addiction, as well as the pronounced trauma experienced by the law enforcement professionals involved. These situations are tragic and deserve a careful examination of the circumstances and the facts. The hope is that we could develop ways to avoid negative outcomes in the future.

At the same time, it is important to recognize the progress made to support those living with mental illness not only during times of crisis, but also when living successful, fulfilling lives in the community. For many years Riverbend Community Mental Health has worked closely with Concord first responders. Riverbends board of directors has been fortunate to have retired N.H. commissioner of safety John Barthelmes, Concord Police Chief Brad Osgood, and John Chisholm, the deputy chief of administration for the Concord Fire Department.All three are integral members of a diverse board addressing several key strategic initiatives, including integrated approaches to treating people in crisis.

We are also grateful for the leadership of Chief Osgood and that of Commissioner of Safety Robert Quinn. They have dedicated countless hours to training their teams on signs and symptoms of mental illness and de-escalation techniques when working with people in psychiatric crisis.In addition, Commissioner Quinn was recently honored for his work in supporting his troopers in managing daily stress, burnout, and critical incident debriefing and post-traumatic stress.

The Mobile Crisis Response Team has been active in Concord for 6 years.In the past three years, Riverbend alone has responded to 11,904 calls to assist someone in psychiatric crisis. The mobile crisis team has been deployed to community locations 1,017 times. Of these calls, 69 were referrals from the police department. Working together we have reduced the need to use force to manage a situation. The other nine community mental health centers in New Hampshire are engaged in similar processes. With the Jan. 1implementation of the Rapid Response Access Point and Rapid Response teams, all of New Hampshire now has access to mobile crisis services.

Although a high percentage of incarcerated people are also living with mental illness, the vast majority of people living with mental illness are not involved in the criminal justice system. They are not violent, they are not dangerous. Consider this: Riverbend serves over 7,000 people a year; 95 percent are living in the community, and most are employed either independently or through the Supported Employment Program. They attend outpatient services, pay taxes, and have families and friends who love them. They deserve to be treated with kindness, compassion, dignity, and respect, like every other person living with any other illness.

We all strive to do better every day. We will continue to work with our law enforcement and other first responder colleagues in a collaborative manner. We will continue to have high expectations of ourselves and the services we offer. People living with mental illness and/or addiction deserve nothing less.

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Commentary: Improving mental health and law enforcement interactions, and recognizing progress made New Hampshire Bulletin - New Hampshire Bulletin

It was not the traditional State of the City address by Dunkirk Mayor Wilfred Rosas we have become accustomed to viewing. Before COVID-19, the event was in Common Council chambers and filled with nearly 100 community and business leaders.

Last week, it was a video a sign of the times. However, there was still plenty to appreciate in his comments.

Most importantly, Rosas has a vision each year that normally begins at the waterfront. With improvements continuing to take place at the most vital of locations in the city, he also turned to infrastructure work that needs maintaining.

Improvements continue to be completed at our water treatment plant, and the consent order project is scheduled to be completed by summer of 2022, Rosas said. This is a huge municipal facility improvement. Again, this consent order started over a decade ago, and Im very pleased this is going to be fully complete. Work is continuing on installing new valves throughout the distribution system to mitigate any further water supply disruptions.

There is no denying Dunkirk has plenty of work to do regarding a rebirth. The good news, especially in the manufacturing sector, is there is progress.

Those are tremendous steps forward for a city that has been trying to find its footing for decades.

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DUNKIRK State of the City shows progress | News, Sports, Jobs - Evening Observer

Company announcement no. 2 2022 Holmens Kanal 2 12DK-1092 Kbenhavn KTel. +45 45 14 14 00

3 February 2022

Steady progress driven by good customer activity, strong capital markets performance and solid credit quality Net profit of DKK 12.9 billion and return on equity of 7.6% for the yearProgress with ambitious sustainable finance targets continuesProposed initial dividend of DKK 2 per share. Intention of total 2021 dividend of DKK 7.5

Danske Bank has announced its financial results for 2021.

Carsten Egeriis, Chief Executive Officer, comments on the financial results:

Throughout 2021, our expert advisory services, digital services and sustainable products have resulted in good customer activity. In turn, our business continued to develop positively with total income increasing 4%, and our initiatives to become a more efficient bank resulted in costs decreasing 4%. Our cost/income ratio thus improved significantly from 66% to 60%. We continued to invest in even better customer journeys, all the while also increasing our profitability and our return on equity to 7.6%. Building on this progress, we are making changes in our organisation to further improve the quality and speed of our compliance efforts and to further increase customer focus to ensure a strengthening of our commercial momentum. We are well-positioned to continue our progress and deliver long-term sustainable value creation for our stakeholders.

The annual report is available at danskebank.com. Highlights are shown below:

2021 vs 2020Total income of DKK 42.6 billion (up 4%) Operating expenses of DKK 25.6 billion (down 4%)Loan impairments of DKK 348 million (2020: DKK 7.0 billion)Net profit of DKK 12.9 billion (2020: DKK 4.6 billion)Return on shareholders equity of 7.6% (2020: 2.6%)Strong capital position, with a total capital ratio of 22.4% and a CET1 capital ratio of 17.7%

Changed organisation and updated ambitions towards 2023 and beyondAs 2021 is now behind us, we have reached the mid-point of the period for our transformation to become a better bank with satisfactory results, and we will continue to deliver value for all of our stakeholder groups: customers, employees, society and shareholders. Enhancing our services and products to customers as well as supporting innovation in society will continue to be part of the agenda along with focusing on ensuring employee engagement.

In October 2021, we updated our 2023 ambitions. We confirmed that our business model will allow for a sustainable return on shareholders equity of 8.5-9% in 2023 and 9-10% through the cycle. In addition, we also extended the timeline for reaching a more normalised compliance cost level to 2025 to allow us to sustain the resilience of Danske Bank. With recent progress, we are further strengthening our position to deliver long-term sustainable value creation.

In November 2021, we strengthened our compliance efforts and improved our execution in this area by gathering the overall responsibility for the Financial Crime control environment across Danske Bank end-to-end with Philippe Vollot, our new Chief Administrative Officer.

And in January 2022, we addressed the need to strengthen the commercial momentum of our retail banking activities and build on the strong position we have in relation to business customers by announcing a further finetuning of the organisation. We will adjust our business unit setup to increase customer centricity for our three key customer segments Personal Customers, Business Customers and Large Corporates & Institutions and further strengthen our commercial momentum.

Recovery evident in the Nordic economiesFollowing the gradual reopening of societies and the vaccine roll-out during 2021, the recovery in the Nordic economies became evident, with strong labour markets and consumer spending, albeit also with some inflation fears and scarcity of labour being reported. In Denmark, the recovery is broadly based, and the attention has shifted towards mitigating the risk of overheating. However, despite the fact that most of the population has been vaccinated, we saw the coronavirus on the rise again during the autumn with restrictions being reintroduced over the winter.

At Danske Bank, we are ready to continue supporting our customers with their needs. Even though the economy is doing well, the government support packages contributed to subdued credit demand in the banking sector in Denmark. The upcoming transition to a gradual return to banks offering creditworthy and viable businesses loans on reasonable terms is likely to generate more bank lending from the first half of 2022, thus supporting our income streams.

Credit quality remained strong, and we saw more normalised impairment levels than in 2020.

Diversified business model continued to prove valuableDespite the subdued credit demand in the banking sector in Denmark, our diversified business model continued to prove valuable, with total income increasing 4%. During 2021, we were able to further utilise our platform and strengthen our market position for capital markets-related activities, and our efforts to capitalise on the opportunities for increased investment activity provided by market conditions also paid off.

Net interest income stabilised, compensating for continued margin pressure and lending product mix effects, while our strong capital markets performance and landmark transactions as well as solid business and personal customer activity ensured a very positive development in net fee income. The strong activity in the debt and equity capital markets we have seen in the past quarters continues. Our leading platform has enabled us to capitalise on this trend, and we take a number one position as the leading Nordic bank in terms of volumes across both of these markets, while net trading income declined from the level in 2020 due to lower activity in 2021 along with less positive value adjustments on the derivatives portfolio. Our insurance business continued to develop positively, as income benefited from growth in the underlying business and high investment returns.

Our cost initiatives continue to drive down expenses 4% in 2021 and this remains a priority in order to become an even more efficient and competitive bank. Combined with low impairment charges based on strong credit quality, this led to the return on equity improving from 2.6% in 2020 to 7.6% in 2021.

While our business delivered good growth in many of our segments throughout the year, resulting in total income increasing DKK 1.7 billion, costs have decreased DKK 1 billion. A strong performance in our capital markets activities on the back of solid business and personal customer activity led to a significant increase in net fee income, and this growing momentum comes on top of a more stable development in other income streams. Throughout the year, our initiatives to become an even more efficient bank have resulted in a significant decrease in expenses, and we remain focused on ensuring continuous improvement of our profitability, says Stephan Engels, CFO.

Solid progress on the sustainability agendaOn the sustainability agenda, we made considerable progress during the year, and as an integral part of our strategy, Danske Bank is dedicated to further accelerating these efforts, building on our customers strong performance in the sustainability transition.

In July 2021, we raised our sustainable financing ambitions again and revised our 2023 target from DKK 100 billion to DKK 300 billion. We also raised the bar for investments made by Danica Pension in the green transition, increasing the 2023 target from DKK 30 billion to DKK 50 billion. During 2021, we increased sustainable financing from DKK 102 billion to DKK 192 billion, while investments in the green transition increased from DKK 27 billion to DKK 33.5 billion.

Throughout the year, we supported issuers and investors in a substantial number of transactions, affirming our position as a leading Nordic bank within sustainable finance. Activity was high across business areas, and we are proud to be ranked number one among the Nordic banks within arranging of sustainable bonds as well as number one within arranging of sustainability-linked loans in terms of volumes supported.

Furthermore, we joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, and in doing so, Danske Bank is committed to becoming a net-zero bank by 2050 or sooner. To substantiate this commitment and support our customers in the transition, we have set ambitious 2030 targets for carbon emission reductions related to corporate lending in the key oil and gas, shipping and utilities sectors.

The financial sector plays an important role in the transition towards a more sustainable society, and at Danske Bank, we have continued to support our customers in their green transition with best-in-class sustainable finance products and advisory services. We recognise that we have an obligation as a leading Nordic bank, and with the resources we have at our disposal to contribute to the green transition in the societies that we are a part of. Our ambition is to be at the forefront of this important work, and we will therefore continuously be developing our offerings to meet the growing sustainability needs and expectations of our customers, says Carsten Egeriis.

Dividend for 2021In accordance with Danske Banks dividend policy, Danske Bank intends to pay-out a total dividend of DKK 7.5 per share for 2021, corresponding to 50% of the net profit for the year. The Board of Directors proposes an initial dividend payment of DKK 2 per share to the annual general meeting. The remaining DKK 5.5 per share is intended to be paid out in three tranches following the publication of interim reports in 2022, subject to a decision by the Board of Directors in accordance with the authorisation given to the Board and based on the usual assessment of the banks capital position at the end of each interim period. This approach is taken to preserve the dividend policy of the bank while ensuring a prudent capital management with a high degree of flexibility in light of the Estonia matter, where we remain unable to estimate any potential outcome or timing.

Thus Danske Banks dividend policy remains unchanged, targeting a dividend of 40-60% of net profit.

Outlook for 2022We expect net profit for 2022 to be in the range of DKK 13-15 billion in 2022.

Our outlook is based on an expectation of higher income from our core banking activities in 2022 due to good economic activity and progress towards our 2023 financial ambitions, while expenses are expected to be around DKK 25 billion and impairments are expected to be below normalised levels, says Stephan Engels.

The outlook is subject to uncertainty and depends on economic conditions.

We maintain our ambition for a return on shareholders equity of 8.5-9% in 2023.

Danske Bank

More information about Danske Banks financial results is available at danskebank.com/reports.

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Steady progress driven by good customer activity, strong - GlobeNewswire

VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI) today reported financial results for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2021.

HEADLINES

Roger Perreault, President and Chief Executive Officer of UGI Corporation, stated "This quarter, we navigated the challenging macro-economic environment that provided rising cost inflation and a tight labor market. With this backdrop, UGI reported lower first quarter 2022 adjusted results, which were impacted by unfavorable weather in the U.S. as the country experienced the warmest December on record. AmeriGas reported lower volumes due to weather, the impact of customer service challenges from the prior year after establishing the new operating business model, and the effect of higher commodity prices on customer usage. We also saw significantly higher and unprecedented volatility in commodity prices in Europe that had a negative impact on average LPG unit and energy marketing margins at UGI International. Our natural gas businesses delivered strong results, despite the warmer weather, due to incremental earnings from Mountaineer and higher margin from renewable energy marketing activities.

"Consistent with our past practice, we do not discuss adjusted EPS guidance until the completion of the second fiscal quarter. However, we remain focused on executing our strategy in order to achieve our long-term EPS growth commitment of 6 10%. We have developed a robust plan to leverage our proven capabilities of focused margin and expense management and expect increased benefits as fiscal 2022 progresses due to ongoing expense control and other actions to recover the Q1 shortfall. In addition, there is still a significant portion of the heating season ahead and we are encouraged that January was colder than normal in the U.S.

We continue to advance on our strategy to further invest in renewables and rebalance our business in order to deliver reliable earnings growth. The Stonehenge acquisition that closed in January 2022 represents an important step in both our rebalancing and reliability efforts. This investment is in some of the most prolific production areas in the Appalachian Basin, is immediately accretive to earnings and has stable cash flows underpinned by a long-term contract with minimum volume commitments.

"In December 2021, we were pleased to receive regulatory approval of the intended joint venture with SHV Energy to produce rDME. In addition, we have announced several partnerships related to renewables, with the most recent being a partnership with Vertimass to produce and distribute renewable energy solutions within the U.S. and Europe. Our continued efforts to advance our ESG programs and activities were recognized with the upgrade to AA by MSCI.

KEY DRIVERS OF FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

EARNINGS CALL AND WEBCAST

UGI Corporation will hold a live Internet Audio Webcast of its conference call to discuss the quarterly earnings and other current activities at 9:00 AM ET on Thursday, February 3, 2022. Interested parties may listen to the audio webcast both live and in replay on the Internet at https://www.ugicorp.com/investors/financial-reports/presentations or by visiting the company website https://www.ugicorp.com and clicking on Investors and then Presentations. A telephonic replay will be available from 12:00 PM ET on February 3 through 11:59 PM ET February 10. The replay may be accessed toll free at 855-859-2056 and internationally at +1 404-537-3406, conference ID 9390638.

ABOUT UGI

UGI Corporation is a distributor and marketer of energy products and services. Through subsidiaries, UGI operates natural gas and electric utilities in Pennsylvania, natural gas utilities in West Virginia, distributes LPG both domestically (through AmeriGas) and internationally (through UGI International), manages midstream energy assets in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia and electric generation assets in Pennsylvania, and engages in energy marketing, including renewable natural gas, in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and California, and internationally in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.

Comprehensive information about UGI Corporation is available on the Internet at https://www.ugicorp.com.

USE OF NON-GAAP MEASURES

Management uses "adjusted diluted earnings per share," a non-GAAP financial measure, when evaluating UGI's overall performance. Management believes that this non-GAAP measure provides meaningful information to investors about UGIs performance because it eliminates the impact of (1) gains and losses on commodity and certain foreign currency derivative instruments not associated with current-period transactions and (2) other significant discrete items that can affect the comparison of period-over-period results. Volatility in net income at UGI can occur as a result of gains and losses on commodity and certain foreign currency derivative instruments not associated with current-period transactions but included in earnings in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP").

Non-GAAP financial measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, GAAP and should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, the comparable GAAP measures.

Tables on the last page reconcile net (loss) income attributable to UGI Corporation, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to adjusted net income attributable to UGI Corporation, and diluted (loss) earnings per share, the most comparable GAAP measure, to adjusted diluted earnings per share, to reflect the adjustments referred to above.

1 Reportable segments earnings before interest expense and income taxes represents an aggregate of our operating segment level EBIT as determined in accordance with GAAP.

USE OF FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains statements, estimates and projections that are forward-looking statements (as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). Management believes that these are reasonable as of todays date only. Actual results may differ significantly because of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond managements control. You should read UGIs Annual Report on Form 10-K for a more extensive list of factors that could affect results. Among them are adverse weather conditions (including increasingly uncertain weather patterns due to climate change) resulting in reduced demand, and the seasonal nature of our business; cost volatility and availability of all energy products, including propane and other LPG, natural gas, and electricity, as well as the availability of LPG cylinders; increased customer conservation measures; the impact of pending and future legal or regulatory proceedings, inquiries or investigations; liability for uninsured claims and for claims in excess of insurance coverage; political, regulatory and economic conditions in the United States, Europe and other foreign countries, and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations (particularly the euro); the timing of development of Marcellus and Utica Shale gas production; the availability, timing and success of our acquisitions, commercial initiatives and investments to grow our business; our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses and achieve anticipated synergies; the interruption, disruption, failure, malfunction, or breach of our information technology systems, and those of our third-party vendors or service providers, including due to cyber-attack; the inability to complete pending or future energy infrastructure projects; our ability to achieve the operational benefits and cost efficiencies expected from the completion of pending and future transformation initiatives, including the impact of customer disruptions resulting in potential customer loss due to the transformation activities; uncertainties related to global pandemics, including the duration and/or impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the impact of proposed or future tax legislation, including the potential reversal of existing tax legislation that is beneficial to us; and our ability to overcome supply chain issues that may result in delays or shortages in, as well as increased costs of, equipment, materials or other resources that are critical to our business operations.

SEGMENT RESULTS ($ in millions, except where otherwise indicated)

AmeriGas Propane

For the fiscal quarter ended December 31,

2021

2020

Increase (Decrease)

Revenues

$

778

$

666

$

112

17

%

Total margin (a)

$

360

$

394

$

(34

)

(9

) %

Operating and administrative expenses

$

240

$

221

$

19

9

%

Operating income/earnings before interest expense and income taxes

$

86

$

141

$

(55

)

(39

) %

Retail gallons sold (millions)

241

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UGI Reports First Quarter Results and Solid Progress on Rebalancing Strategy - Business Wire