Author: Newsdesk

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Business

YouTube’s ads revenue touches $5 billion

Google CEO Sundar Pichai. (File Photo: IANS)

YouTube brought in $5 billion in advertising revenue in the third quarter of 2020, signaling that there has been a rebound in advertising revenue for both Google and YouTube.

YouTube now has over 30 million music and premium paid subscribers, and over 35 million including those on free trials. YouTube TV now has more than 3 million paid subscribers.

“As a sign of the times, views for guided meditation videos are up 40 per cent since mid March, while DIY face mask tutorials have been viewed over 1 billion times,” informed Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

“Onto YouTube, people come to YouTube for entertainment, information and opportunities to learn something new,” Pichai said during the conference call on Thursday.

Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet and Google said that consumers are showing strong demand across nearly all verticals.

“YouTube advertising revenues were $5 billion, up 32 per cent year-on-year, driven by ongoing substantial growth in direct response, followed by a rebound in brand advertising from increased spending by advertisers,” she informed.

Google’s advertising division brought in revenue of $37.1 billion, an increase from $34 billion last year.

YouTube ads revenue increased 30 per cent from $3.8 billion in the third quarter of 2019.

“Within YouTube’s subscription revenues, we continued to benefit from subscriber growth across its various offerings,” Porat said.

Also Read: Facebook, Google, Twitter CEOs to testify before Congress

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Football India News Sport

ISL to begin with ATK Mohun Bagan – Kerala Blasters match

Kerala Blasters players during practice sessions

ATK Mohun Bagan will face Kerala Blasters in the opening match of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) on November 20, organisers Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) announced on Friday.

The schedule was announced of only the first 11 rounds. The first 11 rounds feature six double-headers which will all be held on Sundays.

The matches will be played behind closed doors across three venues in Goa — JL Nehru Stadium (Fatorda), GMC Stadium (Bambolim), and Tilak Maidan (Vasco).

East Bengal will face arch rivals Mohun Bagan on their ISL debut on November 27 at the Tilak Maidan Stadium. Jamshedpur FC and Odisha FC play the first match of the double headers at 5 pm on November 29 at the Tilak Maidan Stadium. The rest of the matches will kick off at 7.30 pm.


“The schedule for the remaining 55 league matches will be published in December post clarity on calendar dates of Asian Football Confederation competitions matches,” said the FSDL in a statement.

The last match of the first 11 rounds of fixtures will be between Mohun Bagan and Mumbai City on January 11.


Categories
Business India News

Exports to China come to the rescue India’s aluminium sector

Indian aluminium manufacturers have exports to thank for offsetting a sharp decline in domestic offtake this fiscal, a Crisil Research report has said .

Though on domestic front, primary aluminium is estimated to have plunged 45-50 pet cent on-year in the first quarter following the nationwide and local lockdowns to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, its exports rose 50 per cent on-year in the first quarter and constituted over 75 per cent of total primary aluminium production as against 48 per cent in the same quarter of last fiscal.

Sales in the domestic market and the resultant economic contraction, labour shortage, and logistic disruptions affected key demand segments — power, construction and automobiles — which account for over three-fourths of the demand pie.

Yet, the Crisil research showed most smelters were operational during the entire lockdown period.

To be sure, India’s primary aluminium production fell just 5 per cent on-year during the quarter, with utilisation levels largely unchanged. Primary aluminium production is a continuous process, and categorised under essential services.

The export market that provided the necessary outlet to Indian aluminium producers were those that have had early success in containing the pandemic, such as China, South Korea and Malaysia.

Exports to China rose a massive 4,500 per cent on-year over a low base. In fact, the sharp rise in exports to China saw its share in India’s primary aluminium export basket expand to 10 per cent in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 from a mere 0.5 per cent in the same period last fiscal.

Also Read: Demand in China boosts Indian steel industry

Categories
Football Sport

Improved infra helping Indian football: Adil Khan

Indian Defender Adil Khan (R)

Defender Adil Khan feels that Indian football is moving forward and growing on “the right path”.

“Indian football is growing in a good way and through the correct path. I just wish (Indian football) keeps growing the way it has been and tries to maintain the quality,” the 32-year-old defender expressed during an AIFF TV interview, a year after he faced off with neighbours Bangladesh at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

Following an aggravated injury that had halted his footballing career, Adil came back strongly to appear for the Indian team after a seven-year hiatus. The sturdy central defender lauded the changes that have been brought into Indian football to move things ahead, as players can now avail better infrastructure.

“During my initial days, there was a dearth of quality grounds. Infrastructures, facilities have improved immensely since then. These things always help a player perform to their true potential. That has helped Indian players perform in a better way,” stated Adil.

“Earlier, teams used to depend heavily on foreigners to churn out results. But, the scenario has changed of late. Indians have been taking responsibilities and proving their worth. They are scoring goals, providing assists, taking guards in the defensive half, tackling with more conviction – only to take Indian football forward,” he added.

Adil praised the authorities for resuming football actions in the country in the aftermath of the lockdown that was enforced owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It is great! After more than seven months without any football activity, we’re back to the pitch once again. I followed the I-League Qualifiers closely and have noticed the positive buzz around it – that’s fantastic,” he said.

“It was difficult for everyone who is connected to football – supporters, owners, players and every single stakeholder. Our pre-season has also started. I am very excited and hopefully, everyone is,” Adil added.

Also Read: Bundesliga willing to help Delhi Football

Also Read: FIFA plans $1.5 bn support to football world

Categories
Business USA

Amazon records 37% spike in sales

E-commerce behemoth Amazon has reported better-than-expected Q3 results in the pandemic times when people tend to shop more online, as net sales increased 37 per cent to $96.1 billion in the third quarter, compared with $70 billion in the third quarter 2019.

Amazon said that the sales in the fourth quarter will be between $112 billion and $121 billion – a healthy growth from a year earlier.

Net income increased to $6.3 billion in the third quarter, compared with net income of $2.1 billion in third quarter 2019.

“We’re seeing more customers than ever shopping early for their holiday gifts, which is just one of the signs that this is going to be an unprecedented holiday season,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO.

“Offering jobs with industry-leading pay and great healthcare, including to entry-level and front-line employees, is even more meaningful in a time like this, and we’re proud to have created over 400,000 jobs this year alone,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

The company’s cloud arm Amazon Web Services (AWS), generated sales of $11.6 billion for the quarter, up 29 per cent. The operating income $3.54 billion for AWS topped estimates of $3.45 billion.

AWS in September quarter announced significant customer momentum with new commitments and migrations, including leading payments technology company Global Payments, to manage issuer processing and handling of their approximately 27 billion transactions processed annually.

Amazon’s “other” category, primarily its advertising business, saw revenue rise 51 per cent to $5.4 billion.

Subscription services, including revenue from Prime memberships, jumped 33 per cent to $6.58 billion.

Amazon now has more than 1.12 million full-time employees across the globe, an increase of 50 per cent year over year.

Also Read: Amazon to invest $18 billion in SMBs

Categories
-Top News Arab News

Israel set to commence agro exports to the UAE

Israeli Agriculture Minister Alon Schuster

Israeli farmers and companies have received permission to export agricultural produce to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to an official statement.

“Following a concerted effort that included talks, exchanges of correspondence and coordination with the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Israel has received official approval from the UAE authorities to export fresh agricultural produce and propagating material, including seeds,” Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry of Agriculture’s statement as saying on Thursday.

The Ministry noted that export costs to the UAE will be low due to the geographical proximity between the two countries and the logistical options for transportation.

Minister of Agriculture Alon Schuster said that “the agreement will move us forward toward a future of cooperation in agriculture, not only in knowledge and technology, but also in the direct trade of agricultural produce”.

The development comes after the UAE signed normalization deal with Israel at the White House on September 15.

It is the first Arab nation in 26 years to establish formal ties with Israel, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

On October 25, the Israeli cabinet ratified the normalisation agreement the two nations.

Also Read: F-35s to the UAE: Trump Admin notifies congress

Categories
-Top News Arab News

F-35s to the UAE: Trump Admin notifies congress

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in Washington D.C (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua/IANS)

The Donald Trump administration informally notified Congress of its plan to sell advanced fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the chair of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel on Thursday said in a statement that Congress must analyze all of the ramifications of the export of F-35. “Rushing these sales is not in anyone’s interest.”

The Democratic congressman noted that the potential F-35 sale to the UAE would change the military balance in the Gulf and affect Israel’s military edge. He also expressed concerns about the possible leaks of F-35’s sensitive technology, and the sale might generate demands from other Arab states for advanced weapons in exchange for normalization with Israel, Xinhua news agency reported.

“In the coming days, I invite members of Congress who share my concerns to join me in introducing legislation to ensure that the sale of these types of weapons adhere to our most important national security goals,” Engel said.

The proposed sale needs to be approved by Congress.

According to media reports, the deal would include up to 50 of the Lockheed Martin-made F-35 jets at the cost of US $10.4 billion. If the sale is completed, the UAE will become only the second country in the region to fly these stealth fighter jets after Israel.

Reports said that the F-35 deal was a part of the US-brokered agreement to normalize ties between the UAE and Israel, which was signed last month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially opposed the UAE’s purchase of the F-35, but Israel’s position changed after the United States pledged to ensure Israel’s military edge in the region.

A joint statement by Netanyahu and his Minister of Defence Benny Gantz last Friday said that Israel would not oppose the sale of “certain weapon systems” to the UAE in light of a promise by the United States to upgrade Israel’s military edge in the Middle East.

The “certain weapon systems” is an apparent reference to the advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets, reported Israeli media.

The joint statement was published upon Gantz’s return from Washington, where he met with Pentagon chief Mark Esper and signed a deal “to secure Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge.”

Also Read: Israel says it won’t oppose selling ‘certain’ weapons to the UAE

Also Read: UAE reiterates need to leverage Israel peace accord in Middle East

Categories
Business

IndiGo’s Q2 loss stads at Rs 1,194 cr

InterGlobe Aviation, which runs airline major IndiGo, on Thursday posted a quarterly net loss of Rs 1,194.8 crore for the second quarter of 2020-21.

The company had posted a net loss of Rs 1,062 crore in the like period of the previous fiscal.

According to the company, its total income for the quarter declined to Rs 3,029.2 crore, down 64.5 per cent over the same period last year.

In the quarter, passenger ticket revenues declined to Rs 2,208.2 crore, a decrease of 68.9 per cent and ancillary revenues went down to Rs 506.6 crore, a reduction of 45.5 per cent compared to the same period last year

Total expenses for the quarter also declined to Rs 4,224.1 crore, a decrease of 55.9 per cent over the same quarter last year.

Besides, IndiGo said that it had a total cash balance of Rs 17,931.8 crore as on the September 30, comprising Rs 6,973.4 crore of free cash and Rs 10,958.4 crore of restricted cash.

“We are pleased that we are slowly but surely stair-stepping our way back to normal capacity. While we are very much focused on managing the crisis of the present, we are also reimagining the promise of the future,” CEO Ronojoy Dutta said.

“Once we are back at 100 per cent capacity, we will have lower unit costs, a stronger product, a more efficient fleet and a robust network. We are impatient for the arrival of the future.”

Also Read: Air India Express records highest ever profit

Categories
Business India News

SP group seeks split up with the TATAs before the Apex Court

Ratan Tata.

Shapoorji Pallonji Group has formally sought separation from Tata in the Supreme Court and argued that Tata Sons is effectively a two-group company.

The Tata Group comprises Tata Trusts, Tata family members and Tata companies holding [ 81.6%] of the equity share capital, and the Mistry family owning the balance 18.37%.

Tata Sons is a core investment company and is the holding company for the Tata Group and its value arises from its stake in listed equities, non-listed equities, the Brand, cash balances and immovable assets.

The value of 18.37% stake of the SP Group in Tata Sons is more than Rs 1.75 lakh crore.

The contours of the scheme of separation are that disputes over valuation can be eliminated by doing a pro-rata split of listed assets (share price value is known) and pro-rata share of the Brand (Brand valuation already done by Tata and published).

SP Group said a neutral third-party valuation can be done for the unlisted assets adjusted for net debt (i.e. debt less cash). As a non-cash settlement, SP Group to be given pro-rata shares in listed entity(ies) of the Tata Group where Tata Sons currently owns stake.

For example, 72% of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) is owned by Tata Sons. SP Group’s ownership of 18.37% translates to 13.22% shareholding of TCS (valued at Rs 1.35 lakh crore at present market capitalisation of TCS).

Pro-rata share of Brand value adjusted for net debt (i.e. debt less cash and cash equivalents) can be settled in cash and / or in listed securities. For the unlisted companies, an expedited valuation can be done with a valuer selected by both sides. This can be settled in cash and /or in listed securities.

Cyrus Mistry. (File Photo: IANS)

Benefits of proposed scheme of separation through a reduction of capital are that a pro-rata separation of assets and liabilities would be a fair and equitable solution to all stakeholders.

A largely non-cash settlement would ease pressure on Tata to raise large quantum of debt and minimises any dispute on valuation.

The value of listed companies is based on last traded price which is published daily. The value of Brand as per the latest valuation report done by Tata and value of unlisted companies can be taken at book value or through a valuation process and adjusted for net debt (i.e. debt less cash on hand).

Tata Sons would continue to have control over the underlying assets (and more than 51% stake in TCS). It would be beneficial to Tata Companies as a similar scheme can also be used to provide liquidity to the Tata Group companies, who have cross-holdings in Tata Sons.

The value to companies by unlocking cross holdings would be in excess of Rs 1 lakh crore, and would benefit millions of shareholders. It would be quicker to implement with minimal disruption to operating companies.

Also Read: Tata Motors touches 4 million units milestone

Also Read: SP group to quit as TATA’s largest minority investor

Categories
Cricket Sport

KKR’s playoff hopes dim as CSK steal the night

Ravindra Jadeja slammed consecutive sixes off the last two balls of the match to take Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday.

Jadeja scored 30 off 11 balls and followed up Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 72 and Ambati Rayudu’s 38 to take CSK to their second consecutive win. Chasing KKR’s 172/5 wickets, CSK ended their innings on 178/4 wickets off 20 overs at the Dubai International Stadium.

The defeat keeps KKR in fifth place on 12 points with one game left to play. Their inferior net run rate puts them below Kings XI Punjab, with whom they share 12 points. The result also confirms league leaders Mumbai Indians’ qualification for the playoffs.

CSK got off to a 50-run opening partnership between Shane Watson and Gaikwad. This was followed by a 68-run stand between Gaikwad and Rayudu before KKR got back into the game. Spinner Sunil Narine kept the run rate in check after which Pat Cummins dismissed Rayudu.

Varun Chakravarthy then got the wicket of CSK captain MS Dhoni before Cummins struck again with the wicket of Gaikwad.

However, the penultimate over bowled by Lockie Ferguson went for 20 runs, with Jadeja hitting two fours and a six off a free hit. Jadeja then hit back to back sixes off the last two balls of the final over to take them to victory.

Earlier, Nitish Rana hit 10 fours and four sixes, three of which came on the trot in the 16th over, on his way to 87 off 61 balls as KKR scored 172/6 wickets in their 20 overs. He fell in the 18th over to Lungi Ngidi after which Karthik saw them through to the last over, with captain Eoin Morgan chipping with 15 off 12 balls.

Brief scores: KKR 172/5 wkts in 20 overs (Nitish Rana 87, Shubman Gill 26; Lungi Ngidi 2/34) lost to CSK 178/4 wkts in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 72, Ambati Rayudu 38; Varun Chakravarthy 2/20) by 6 wkts