Afren Nigeria raises over $2billion through equity to finance operations

Pfizer Inc, has posted first quarter profit of $13.5billion in 2013- reflecting gains from Pfizer’s joint venture in China- and lowered its 2013 forecast.

The company’s quarterly profit surged to $2.75 billion from $1.79 billion in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, its adjusted earnings from continuing operations came in at $0.54 per share. Pfizer’s Inc has also shed businesses outside its core medicine franchise to focus on drug development.

In November 2013, Pfizer sold its nutrition business to Nestle for $11.85 billion in cash. The February 2013 initial public offering (IPO) of Pfizer’s animal-health unit Zoetis Inc. raised $2.2 billion in the largest IPO from a U.S. company since Face book $16 billion deal in May 2012.

The company’s profit for the first quarter of 2013 is coming at a period when stakeholders have been tasked to defend and improve the health status of the Nigerian child, in commemoration of the Children’s Day.

Speaking with Business Day, Kodjo Soroh, medical director, Pfizer Nigeria said there was urgent need for government, corporate organisations and the individual to explore partnership strategy for a better health care of the Nigerian child.

Lamenting on the prevalent cases of pneumonia and diarrhea among children in Nigeria, Soroh stressed that everyone, including the media have a prominent role to play in fighting the diseases while promoting a healthy nation.