More than 1m Londoners have received first dose of Covid vaccine February 4, 2021 More than 1m people in London have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, following concerns that the capital had been falling behind in the nation’s immunisation programme. Official figures published last night showed 1,011,490 Londoners have received their first dose of either the Astrazeneca/Oxford University or Pfizer/Biontech vaccines, while a further 60,658 people [...]
Paypal profit surges as it cashes in on online shopping boom February 3, 2021 Paypal posted a surge in profit in the fourth quarter as the Covid-19 pandemic sparked a sharp rise in online shopping. The payments processor posted net profit of $1.6bn (£1.2bn) for the last three months of 2020, up 209 per cent on the same period the year before. It came on revenue of $6.1bn, which [...]
Amazon’s UK sales surge to £20bn thanks to lockdown boom February 3, 2021 Amazon’s UK revenue jumped more than 50 per cent to hit $26.5bn (£20bn) last year as coronavirus lockdown sparked bumper demand for online shopping. The US tech giant last night reported full-year sales of $280.5bn, with revenue surpassing $125bn in the final three months of the year alone. But in-depth documents filed with the Security [...]
Spotify paid subscribers hit 155m on lockdown listening boom February 3, 2021 Spotify today reported a sharp increase in subscribers in the fourth quarter as the pandemic drove demand for music and podcasts, but warned of uncertainty in the year ahead. The Swedish streaming giant said paid users hit 155m in the final three months of the year, while revenue grew 17 per cent to €2.2bn (£1.9bn). [...]
Test and Trace is failing to persuade 20,000 people to self-isolate each day, Dido Harding admits February 3, 2021 Around 20,000 people each day who should be self-isolating are not being convinced to do so by the government’s NHS Test and Trace scheme, chief executive Baroness Dido Harding has admitted. Facing a grilling from the Commons science and technology committee, Harding said that based on last week’s Test and Trace figures “circa 20,000 people [...]
Covid antibodies last at least six months after infection February 3, 2021 Coronavirus antibodies last for at least six months after infection for almost all people who have had the virus, according to a new study. A wide-scale study, by medical database UK Biobank, found that 99 per cent of participants who tested positive for coronavirus retained antibodies for at least three months, while 88 per cent [...]
Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon chief executive as quarterly sales hit $125bn February 3, 2021 Jeff Bezos will step down as chief executive of Amazon this year, moving to the new role of executive chair. Amazon today said Bezos will transition to the new job in the third quarter and will be replaced as chief executive by Andy Jassy, who currently leads Amazon Web Services. It came as the ecommerce [...]
Google owner Alphabet beats revenue estimates as cloud losses grow February 2, 2021 Google parent company Alphabet beat revenue expectations for the fourth quarter, but revealed hefty losses in its cloud computing division. The tech giant posted revenue of $56.9bn (£41.7bn) in the final three months of the year, up from $46bn in the same period last year. Alphabet said the figures were driven by strong performance from [...]
Paykey launches trading functionality to compete with ‘wild west’ app market February 2, 2021 The Gamestop frenzy last week not only showed the power of retail investors but the popularity and risks associated with free trading apps. Robinhood, which promises no user fees, faced backlash from investors after sharp swings in the value of stocks meant it was forced to restrict trading. It has sparked debate over whether these [...]
Uber shares fizz on $1.1bn takeover of alcohol delivery firm Drizly February 2, 2021 Shares in Uber moved up a gear this afternoon after it announced a $1.1bn (£806m) deal to acquire alcohol delivery service Drizly. The deal, which is Uber’s biggest acquisition since it bought rival Postmates last year, will be paid more than 90 per cent through stock, with the remainder paid in cash. Once the transaction [...]