21/02/2017 Asia Business Report


21/02/2017

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 21/02/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

the force be with your wallet. Why parents in Asia are spending so much

:00:00.:00:10.

a birthday parties like this. It is Tuesday. Glad you could join us for

:00:11.:00:14.

this edition of Asia Business Report. I'm Rico Hizon. The new Tata

:00:15.:00:20.

group chairman takes up office today, ending one of India's most

:00:21.:00:25.

public boardroom spats. A bitter feud was sparked with its

:00:26.:00:29.

predecessor, when he was fired last year. Tata owns more than 100

:00:30.:00:34.

companies and is one of the oldest businesses in the country. So what

:00:35.:00:38.

are the top issues waiting for the new boss?

:00:39.:00:45.

Seeking divine help, this man is all set to lead one of India's oldest

:00:46.:00:50.

businesses, the Tata Group. He is the first person out of India's

:00:51.:00:57.

community to be appointed to the post. After an acrimonious stand-off

:00:58.:01:01.

with its previous chairman, it will be a huge shift here at the

:01:02.:01:07.

headquarters of Tata. He is the seventh chairman of the Tata Group.

:01:08.:01:13.

He spent his entire professional life inside the group. He is popular

:01:14.:01:17.

amongst employees and has long in the favourite for the new role. It

:01:18.:01:21.

is lower -- it is largely accepted that the task ahead of him is

:01:22.:01:27.

nothing more -- short of monumental. The Tata Group has interests ranging

:01:28.:01:34.

from steel and cars to salt and tea. But many other companies have been

:01:35.:01:37.

struggling in recent years. Luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover and TCS

:01:38.:01:43.

are generating enough profits to keep the group afloat. Together they

:01:44.:01:47.

account for more than half of the combined revenues. So Natarajan

:01:48.:01:51.

Chandrasekaran's first challenge would be to reduce the dependence on

:01:52.:01:55.

these two businesses and turnaround others.

:01:56.:02:02.

His second big challenge will be making a decision the future of Tata

:02:03.:02:08.

Steel in the UK, when it has suffered heavy losses. Union workers

:02:09.:02:17.

backed the move towards saving Britain's largest steel producer.

:02:18.:02:26.

His other challenge will be the global uncertainty are round the IT

:02:27.:02:35.

industry. TCS is the jewel in the crown for Tata Group, contributing

:02:36.:02:39.

40% of its profit. But that's now threatened as a new US bill aims to

:02:40.:02:43.

limit the entry of high skilled workers. With over 100 group

:02:44.:02:47.

companies, many analysts compared the Tata Group to a lumbering

:02:48.:02:53.

elephant, but Mr Chandrasekaran has the experience and many hope he will

:02:54.:03:02.

have success with a conglomerate. There is indeed a gift for

:03:03.:03:06.

shareholders, as he takes over today. The group's outsourcing

:03:07.:03:12.

company says it will spend a whopping 2.4 million dollars to buy

:03:13.:03:16.

back shares. TCS shares jumped on Monday after the company said it

:03:17.:03:20.

would buy back their shares at a price 20% higher than on Friday.

:03:21.:03:24.

Moving to other news making headlines. Trading in shares of

:03:25.:03:29.

Fairfax media have been halted this morning news that the company is

:03:30.:03:32.

considering is reeling off domain. That is its online real estate

:03:33.:03:38.

classified business. Major shareholders have been asking

:03:39.:03:42.

management to sell Domain, which they believe could be worth billions

:03:43.:03:48.

of dollars. Toshiba wants to raise nearly $9 billion by selling a

:03:49.:03:51.

majority stake in its business, according to Reuters. The troubled

:03:52.:03:55.

Japanese companies under pressure to raise money after revealing a $6

:03:56.:03:59.

billion write-down due to its US nuclear business. Part of the

:04:00.:04:08.

company has been reluctant to sell a majority stake.

:04:09.:04:13.

Unilever's rejection of a merger with Heinz has seen the stock fall

:04:14.:04:20.

by 9%, before clawing back some losses to close about 7% lower. The

:04:21.:04:26.

sharp fall follows the collapse of a takeover deal which would have been

:04:27.:04:31.

the biggest in corporate history. Banking giant HSBC reports its

:04:32.:04:36.

full-year numbers later today. The shares have surged over the past six

:04:37.:04:42.

months in part course of a $2.5 billion buyback programme. Also a

:04:43.:04:46.

weaker pound since Brexit mail, it was the UK-based lender does most of

:04:47.:04:54.

the business abroad. Andrew Sullivan explained what we can expect. They

:04:55.:05:00.

would have turned to profit in the last quarter, which will be

:05:01.:05:03.

encouraging. A lot of that is because the year-on-year basis is a

:05:04.:05:08.

very bad quarter in 2015. It was a disaster, the last quarter. Yes. But

:05:09.:05:13.

things have been improving. We put a lot of structures in place.

:05:14.:05:17.

Cost-cutting was one of the majors things mentioned last year, so it

:05:18.:05:21.

will be interesting to see how far they've got with that. Will the bank

:05:22.:05:26.

react to potentially 2-3 rate hikes in the US this year? A rate hike

:05:27.:05:30.

should be good for them. That interest margin should increase as

:05:31.:05:35.

the rates go up, but it is still a very competitive with us. It is not

:05:36.:05:39.

like they can immediately erase the rates. It is competitive and they

:05:40.:05:44.

will have to stay on their toes. What about return in equity in their

:05:45.:05:48.

Hong Kong business? The Hong Kong business has held up quite well and

:05:49.:05:52.

one of the key thing is what they will do with the US. You mentioned

:05:53.:05:57.

share buybacks. A lot of that has come out of cash they taken out of

:05:58.:06:02.

US operations, but obviously with Trump saying you have to be in

:06:03.:06:06.

America to deal with America that could be problems with that.

:06:07.:06:12.

Speaking of President Trump, trade finance is an integral part of

:06:13.:06:18.

Asia's business and they have major businesses in China and Mexico,

:06:19.:06:23.

which are currently the focus of President Trump. -- HSBC's business.

:06:24.:06:30.

What will they do? I think they will focus on saying we still have the

:06:31.:06:34.

household industry, we are still HSBC USA, which will be crucial.

:06:35.:06:38.

Obviously a lot of the money last year came out of the share buybacks.

:06:39.:06:45.

The question is that it opens them up to the regulators as well. That

:06:46.:06:48.

was Andrew Sullivan on HSBC. How much money did your mum spend on

:06:49.:06:53.

your fifth birthday party? These days children's parties are becoming

:06:54.:06:56.

increasingly more elaborate and expensive. As part of our business

:06:57.:07:00.

of kids series, we met some top-notch party planners who are

:07:01.:07:07.

cashing in on the opportunity. Laser lighting, storm troopers,

:07:08.:07:13.

Darth Vader. It looks like a big old way production, but it's not. It's a

:07:14.:07:20.

kids birthday party in Singapore, which cost $150,000. Planning such

:07:21.:07:27.

parties has become big business. Meet Tanya, the party plan behind

:07:28.:07:35.

this costly soirees. She sorts everything out from the Cape to the

:07:36.:07:39.

venue and even doubles up as an entertainer. Are you ready to have

:07:40.:07:43.

some fun? Boast of them have an idea of how much they will spend. We

:07:44.:07:47.

don't mention money to the kids, as the kids are just kids and they

:07:48.:07:51.

don't understand that concept. But if the kids really want to have a

:07:52.:07:54.

particular thing, then the parents might go, OK, we will have it. On

:07:55.:08:01.

average parents coming to her have budgets of just over $2000 for kids

:08:02.:08:07.

as young as one. But it would always need a party planner. For parents

:08:08.:08:15.

like this, a party for their 100 day old baby is more than just a fun

:08:16.:08:19.

celebration. It is part of tradition. Historically, it is kind

:08:20.:08:24.

of like the Chinese one-month party, a celebration to say we are out of

:08:25.:08:29.

the woods, the baby made it. These days it's a little bit more like the

:08:30.:08:34.

parents are still alive after 100 days. They've invited their friends

:08:35.:08:38.

to an ice cream themed party and are giving it the personal touch. In

:08:39.:08:42.

line with the trend of big budgets, it is being held at one of

:08:43.:08:47.

Singapore's most luxurious hotels, where celebrities like Madonna have

:08:48.:08:51.

stayed. High end event planner augur offers advice. I think it's a bit of

:08:52.:09:00.

peer pressure. -- plan A Olga. If one person holds a big party is an

:09:01.:09:04.

indication for other parents to do a similar thing. So as parents strive

:09:05.:09:11.

to create memories of that special day, it could also mean a lot of

:09:12.:09:15.

money going up in a puff of smoke, law and after the candles are blown

:09:16.:09:17.

out. Expensive parties for young kids!

:09:18.:09:26.

YouTube plans to scrap the 32nd advertisements that you normally can

:09:27.:09:30.

skip. You won't have to watch them on the video stream service from

:09:31.:09:36.

next year. Google confirmed the plans want to focus on formats that

:09:37.:09:40.

work well for users and advertisers. Before we go, a quick look at the

:09:41.:09:45.

markets. As you can see on the screen is trading is very thin in

:09:46.:09:49.

Asia at the moment. This is because US markets remain shut for the

:09:50.:09:55.

holidays. Wall Street reopens and investors await reports on economic

:09:56.:10:01.

data and minutes from the Fed's meeting. Thanks for investing your

:10:02.:10:05.

time with us. Sport Today is a

:10:06.:10:07.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS