Amazon said Thursday second-quarter profit jumped 48 percent from a year ago to $7.8 billion, but shares in the tech and e-commerce giant fell on a disappointing revenue number. Total revenues increased 27 percent to $113.1 billion, below most Wall Street forecasts, sparking a slide of some seven percent in after-hours trading. Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said on an earnings call that a reason for missing revenue expectations appeared to be vaccines giving people the confidence to get back into action in the real world. “Not only shopping offline but also living life and getting out,” Olsavsky said.…
Author: Temitope N.
A Consultant Gastroenterologist at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, Dr. Adesegun Adekale, has urged Federal Government to prioritise the treatment of hepatitis from birth. He gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Thursday, to commemorate the World Hepatitis World. NAN reports that WHD is observed each year on July 28 to raise awareness on viral hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver that causes severe liver disease, and has ‘Hepatitis Can’t Wait’ as the theme for 2021. The liver disease, commonly caused by a viral infection, but there…
The Delta State Government has appropriated N50 million to boost family planning in the state this year. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the appropriation is coming on the heels of the withdrawal of The Challenge Initiative from a four-year-old family planning programme in which it served as facilitator. TCI is owned by the US-based Johns Hopkins Centre for Communication. At a valedictory session on Wednesday in Asaba to mark TCI close-out meeting with Delta State, Dame Edith Okowa, the wife of the State Governor, pledged to sustain the programme. Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr.…
Reportedly, the benefits of nanotechnology include energy-efficient products such as fuel and solar cells, improvements in manufacturing that allow for durable, light-weight, efficient production tools, while leading advances in disease treatments, such as cancer, better imaging and diagnostic equipment. The technology, which is yet to receive needed adoption in countries like Nigeria can also address environmental and agricultural challenges. Speaking at the 4th African Nano Conference, which was organised by the University of Nigeria, Nssuka, Onu insisted that the growing application of nanotechnology across the world could leapfrog Nigeria’s industrial projections across different sectors of the economy. The minister noted…
Emirates Airline has extended the suspension of its flights from Nigeria to the United Arab Emirates to at least August 7.The initial suspension of flights was scheduled to end on July 31. Suspension of flights from South Africa to UAE will also remain in place until the same date. “Affected flight bookings have been cancelled,” the airline said in a statement on its website. Emirates said its decision was in line with the UAE government’s directives restricting entry to travellers originating from the two countries. Those who have travelled through South Africa and Nigeria in the last 14 days will…
Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday logged bumper second-quarter profits as oil prices recovered from Covid fallout, and rewarded investors with a buyback and dividend hike.Net profit hit $3.4 billion (2.9 billion euros) in the three months to the end of June, the Anglo-Dutch energy major said in a results statement. That contrasted sharply with a colossal loss of $18.1 billion last time around, when it made massive asset writedowns due to the Covid-ravaged oil market. The performance was boosted by “higher realised oil prices, one-off favourable tax impacts, higher marketing margins and lower operating expenses”, the group added. Shell had…
With the capacity to generate N5 billion yearly, stakeholders have blamed the issue of the poor regulatory framework as a factor hindering the gaming industry from optimal performance. For instance, there are reports that the gaming industry in Nigeria, including international stakeholders in 2019, generated about N25 billion, yet revenue to the government did not exceed N1 billion in the same year. They argued that the industry does not look properly organised. They said the amendment of existing lottery laws to provide a legislative and regulatory framework would serve the industry to perform optimally. Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental…
Facebook on Wednesday reported its profit doubled in the recently ended quarter as digital advertising surged, but warned of cooler growth in the months ahead in an update which sent its shares sinking.Profit jumped to $10.4 billion on revenue of $29 billion, a 56 percent increase from last year, mainly from a jump in ad revenues, Facebook said in its second-quarter report. The number of people using the social network monthly climbed to 2.9 billion, a year-over-year gain of seven percent. And some 3.5 billion people used at least one of the company’s apps including Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. “We…
•We are formalising, developing, enhancing value- Minister Six months after the Federal Government declared its intention to establish an international gemstones market in Ibadan and stated that it had commenced the process for the construction, The Guardian reports that the site remains bare. This is as the sector continues to be controlled by locals and foreigners who harness the resources for their personal use without paying royalties to the government to boost the country’s economy. Gemstones are one of the key economic and industrial minerals in Nigeria. They are natural organic matter, minerals or stones, which are present in…
After five days of an uptrend, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) halted its gaining streak as sell pressure in 20 stocks dragged the All-Share Index (ASI) by 0.1 per cent. Specifically, the ASI dropped by 46.93 absolute points, representing a decline of 0.12 per cent to close at 38,802.15 points, while the overall market capitalisation value lost N25billion to close at N20.216 trillion. The downturn was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks among which are, MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust, Africa Prudential, Unilever Nigeria and International Breweries. Market sentiments closed at par,…