Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was back on the training pitch on Thursday as he bids to rid himself of a hamstring injury before Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg at Bayern Munich. "The big novelty of this Thursday's training session was Leo Messi," Barca said in a statement on their website (www.fcbarcelona.es). The Argentine World Player of the Year damaged the muscle during Barca's quarter-final first leg at Paris St Germain on April 2, reports Reuters.
Updated 6 Years ago

Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid will check on the fitness level of his Nigerian striker, Obafemi Martins, before deciding whether to include him in his plans for the team’s clash with Colorado Rapids tomorrow at the Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Nigerian international missed Sounders last two games due to a minor knee injury and with the relegation battle heating up, Schmid will not want to take any chances as Sounders are yet to record a win in their last five games.
Updated 6 Years ago

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says Olivier Giroud will not shirk the responsibility of spearheading the club's bid to secure a place in next season's Champions League. France striker Giroud came in for criticism for his failure to convert a number of chances in the Gunners' goalless home draw with Everton this week. Arsenal's failure to win that game opened the door for Chelsea to move above them into third place, although the places will be reversed if Wenger's side can beat Fulham at Craven Cottage, 24 hours before the Blues travel to Liverpool.
Updated 6 Years ago

The global demand for smartphones, which boast web connectivity, high resolution touch-screen displays and access to application stores is at an all time high. In Nigeria the case is not different as it is highly sought after by individuals ranging from corporate executives to housewives who feel the need to be at the top of their game. Perhaps, this informed the introduction of the L series II smartphones by LG Electronics, recently. The L series II according to LG, consist of the L7 II, L5 II and the L3 II. These mobile devices are all aimed at the budget-conscious consumer. The new Android Jelly Bean phones offer significant improvements on the previous models, including new, rounded and friendly design aesthetics. Overall, they are irresistibly beautiful as well as undeniably brilliant.
Updated 6 Years ago

With an Average Revenue per User of $7 (N1,090.25), the 144,492,384 active telecoms subscribers in the country spent about N401.25bn on voice calls and text messages between November last year and January this year. The 144,492,384 subscribers might have boosted the coffers of the telecoms service providers in January 2013 by over N157.5bn; while for December and November last year when the subscriber base was 113,195,951 and 110,348,131 respectively, telecoms firms would have made about N123.4bn and N120.3bn for the periods.
Updated 6 Years ago

Asian shares and oil prices climbed on Friday, but more soft U.S. economic data and mixed U.S. earnings sustained worries over global growth at the end of a volatile week that began with a broad sharp sell-off. European stock markets were seen recovering, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100 .FTSE, Paris's CAC-40.FCHI and Frankfurt's DAX .GDAXI would open as much as 0.3 percent higher. .L.EU U.S. stock futures were up 0.4 percent to suggest a firm Wall Street open.
Updated 6 Years ago

Dangote Sugar is one of the most profitable arm of the huge conglomerate owned by Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote. The company released its 2012 audited accounts posting a revenue of 106.8 billion naira ($668 million). Operational profit at the end of the period rose 49.5% to 16.3 billion naira ($100 million) raising post-tax profit to 10.8 billion naira ($63 million) at the end of the year or an earnings per share of about 90kobo per share (2011: 62kobo).
Updated 6 Years ago

Blackstone Group LP has ended its pursuit of Dell Inc, three people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, easing the way for founder Michael Dell and his private equity partner Silver Lake to go ahead with a $24.4 billion deal to acquire the world's No. 3 PC maker. New York-based Blackstone pulled out just a month after it first launched a challenge to the billionaire's attempt to take private the PC maker he founded.
Updated 6 Years ago

Two major players in the Nigerian brewery industry, Guinness Nigeria Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc are building potential profit boxes with expansion and acquisition of other breweries. Analysts, who assessed their recent acquisition strategy, say that the brewers are diversifying their likely profit pool more than they would have if they were limited to one brand.
Updated 6 Years ago

There are indications that the over 700 workers of the now-rested Air Nigeria who were sacked last year may not secure the 25 per cent of their pension deposits. This is because they were not issued with disengagement letters and the company which relieved them of their jobs did not communicate to the Pension Commission (PENCOM) that they have been sacked, THISDAY has learnt.
Updated 6 Years ago