Tuesday 03 September 2019
COMPANIES&MARKETS
BUSINESS DAY
15
Business Event
OIL & GAS
Exxon Mobil faces exit from S&P 500 top 10 as hydrocarbon loses charm SEGUN ADAMS
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xxon Mobil Corp. is set to be removed from the S&P 500 Index’s 10 biggest companies for the first time ever portending the end of an era for oil firms as investors look beyond hydrocarbon to technology, Bloomberg reports. The S&P 500, a closely followed gauge, is a stock market index that measures the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. Exxon yielded its place to Visa Inc. by weighting on August 1 and then to Procter & Gamble Co. two weeks later, according to data compiled by Bloomberg which now believes that S&P Dow Jones Indices will an official annoucement in that regard. Once confirmed, it would be the first time in nearly a century of the S&P index that Exxon would be weighted out of the top 10. “The oil sector has gone
from being the leader of the world economy to a laggard,” said Tom Sanzillo, director of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told Bloomberg. In the last 10 years, the oil sector has weakened from 11.7 percent to 4.4 percent of the S&P 500 Index following the rise of tech firms like Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and the likes, and a shale-induced glut in the oil market. Exxon Mobil in the second quarter earnings published in August noted that earnings grew 13 percent over 2,876 million USD in the preceding quarter and 7.27 percent from the year before. In the downstream business, however, while Exxon Mobil turned the corner to post 451 million USD profit after it had made 256 million USD loss in Q1, year-onyear bottom-line slid 37.71 percent. In the chemical segment, earnings more-than-halved to 188 million USD from 518 million USD in the first quarter. Compared to the corre-
sponding quarter in 2018, the second quarter number was down by 78.9 percent. Lower margins due to lengthening supply, higher scheduled maintenance, higher expense related to growth projects and unfavourable tax, forex impacts, among others were cited as headwinds. Exxon Mobil is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, 1999 by the merger of Exxon (formerly the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey) and Mobil (formerly the Standard Oil Company of New York). The Company operations include exploration and production of oil and gas, electric power generation, and coal and minerals operations. Exxon Mobil also manufactures and markets fuels, lubricants, and chemicals. Exxon Mobil Corporation operates petroleum and petrochemicals businesses on a worldwide basis including in Nigeria.
CONSUMER GOODS
L-R: Grace Ihejiamaizu, founder, iKapture Centre for Development; Chidera Ogbu, founder/CEO, Olaedo Naturals Limited; Adetola Juyitan, national president of JCI Nigeria and Paschal Dike, CEO, Glitz Group of Companies, and 2016 president of JCI and CEO, Dega Multi Concept Limited, at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, Japan.
L-R: Sarah Agha, portfolio manager, International Premium Brands; Emmanuel Oriakhi, marketing director, Nigerian Breweries Plc; Grace Omo-Lamai, H.R. director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, and Martin Kochl, supply chain director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, at the unveil of Heineken’s newly designed 33cl cans in Lagos.
RedBull unveils documentary on Nigeria’s BMX athlete, Courage Adams TEMITAYO AYETOTO
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documentary on the rise of Nigerianborn bicycle motocross BMX talent, Courage Adams has been unveiled before a budding crew of local BMX athletes in Lagos. In its quest to spark youth’s interest in the bicycle racing sport, RedBull made a documentary of how Adams, from Edo state, grew from sheer childhood love for bicycles to developing passion in professional BMX sports in Spain. 23-year-old Adams left Nigeria for northern Spain at six. BMX, a recreative cycling sport performed on bikes either in competitive racing or freestyle is still in an infant stage in Nigeria. Using specially designed bicycles on skating parks or roads, cyclists attempt ingenious stunts and styles, maintaining proper balance. It began during the early 1970s in the United States when children began racing their bicycles on dirt tracks in southern California, inspired by the motocross stars of the time. In the United Kingdom, BMX was a popular trend which took off in the early 1980s, expanded by children and teenagers’ interest in
bicycles. Freestyle BMX is now one of the staple events at the annual Summer X Games Extreme Sports competition held primarily on the East and West coasts of the United States. With the popularity of the sport increasing, it was officially recognised in 1993 the International Cycling Union (UCI) fully integrated it. The sport made its Olympic debut at the 2008 Beijing Games. Mat Hoffman, Ryan Nyquist, Tinker Juarez, Dakota Roche and Dennis McCoy among others are globally reckoned in the BMX athletes. Few Nigerian youths have already begun pouring passion into sports in Lagos, with most of them using the streets as their stage, in the absence of purpose-built tracks. They leverage video streaming application, YouTube to learn intriguing and daring moves from international professionals such as Adams. For them, Adams is considered an inspiration that emboldened them to continue developing their skills on a professional level. Before RedBull decided to partner with Adams, he was in the streets of Spain practising possible moves with a
team of friends. “I would really like to see one of these guys doing what I am doing right now. I see the guys trying to do some tricks and they are afraid of nothing. That’s not normal in Spain or in Europe. People have a place to practise and practically everything but they don’t have the energy or that courage to try new tricks.” Adams said at the unveiling. “But here, they are actually creative at new tricks. I would really like to see one of them traveling around, doing what they really like. I wish everyone can do it.” Acknowledging that challenges are present in the sports just as many athletic ventures, he advised they pursue happiness in their passion most importantly in their journey to success. Many of the local BMX enthusiasts including Temitope Matthew, the initiator of the Lagos BMX crew and Oluwasegun Adosu draw inspiration from Adams. “Right from day one, Courage Adams has always been my inspiration. The name I give him is ‘king of balance’ because when it has to do with riding BMX, he has balance to the fullest. And for me to know that he is Nigerian, it makes me so happy.”
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L-R: Udeme Ufot, group managing director, SO&U/chairman of the occassion; Joshua Ajayi, publisher, Brand Communicator/convener, Women in Marketing and Communication Conference/Awards 2019; Caroline Ogbuma, executive head, corporate affiars, MultiChoice Nigeria, and Tony Agenmonmen, president, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN], at the 2019 Women in Marketing and Communications conference and awards in Lagos
L-R: Sanusi Isa, BLB Promo winner; Adenike Oyebami, legal officer, Lagos Lotteries Board; Ifureuwem Emoeka, BLB promo winner, and Celestine Achi, director-general, BLB Promo, at the 2nd weekly draw/ presentation of cheque and investment certificates to winners in Lagos.
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