23/02/2016 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from BBC News, with Aaron Heslehurst and Sally

The internet of things is set to wire up our world -

at the world's biggest wireless industry show,

the big auto makers are connecting our cars to cyberspace.

Live from London, that's our focus on Tuesday 23rd February.

The annual Mobile World Congress is underway in Barcelona -

it's the biggest trade show for the global wireless industry

where another trend is emerging, car bosses mingling with tech geeks.

Forget engine size and air con ? today,

Also in the programme: The world's biggest mining company,

BHP Billiton, suffers huge losses as the global

commodity slump hits it very hard indeed - our team in Asia

And markets in Europe are headed in the wrong direction yet again -

We will talk you through the winners and losers.

And we'll be getting the inside track on ceramics.

But think less of old English pottery and more cutting-edge

Modern ceramics helps both heart surgeons and drug abusers -

we'll tell you how later in the show.

Connected cars - are you turned on by smart, driverless cars or does

the thought of apps that control your car scare the living

It's the highlight of the mobile industry's calendar -

the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

One of the trends grabbing attention is auto giants mingling

It used to be that car buyers would care about engine size

and air-con, but today it's all about in-built smart technology

for safety, entertainment and connectivity.

So in 2020, three in four cars will come with integrated

connectivity - that's around 69 million cars,

according to the automotive security firm Giesecke Devrient.

With every year that goes by, analysts say the car is already

becoming part of the internet of things.

Germany's auto industry alone is expected to pump $12 billion

In fact, under new European Union laws, from 2018 all cars and light

vans in Europe must be fitted with a device

It's designed to cut road deaths by 10% a year.

But who'll foot the bill for all this?

Will you add your car as a "device" to your existing phone bill,

And then there's training - sales people could spend hours

teaching people like me, the not-so tech savvy,

how to use their car's advanced technology.

Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones is in Barcelona

Good to see you. I see a car behind you. Yesterday, interviewed on our

programme, the CEO of forward was unveiling a new SUB full of all of

this tech, and they have tripled their interest in technology, so I

wonder if this highlights the threat of the big tech global players, the

threat to the traditional car-makers?

Very good to be with you. Before I turn to cars, I just want you to

meet a friend of mine who tells us a bit about something, this is an

animatronic dog, part of the Internet of things that we are

talking about. Wake up, fella. He is wearing a collar with a cheap

sensor, and this is what is driving this revolution, the internet of

things. Everything in our lives is going to be connected to the

Internet over the next five years or so, which includes not just dogs but

cars. At this show, you have not just got the mobile phone makers and

networks, you have now got the car companies. This particular car is

being demonstrated by the mobile network AT It has got a SIM card

in it, more and more cars will have a SIM card, they will effectively

become mobile phones. Last year in America 50% of all new cars sold had

a connection to the Internet, it will become common. What does it

give you? This one has a mobile hotspot, you can connect to the

car... But your microphone back on! It

dropped off somewhere! It was after you strangled the robotic dog!

Yes, cars will be full to the boot with technology. Let me ask you

about five G, I'm still getting my head around 4G, but tell us about

five G? A lot of talk about 5G year. At this place, where 70,000 people

are trying to use networks at the same time, a bit of 3G would be

excellent! It is still a way off, five years or so, but already a big

debate about it. Mark Zuckerberg was on stage last night and raised an

interesting question, 5G is supposedly all about the internet of

things, about connecting things to the Internet, and making it better

for people who have already got the Internet to get connected. He is

billions of people around the world billions of people around the world

who have not even got any kind of Internet connection? A bit of a call

to the industry there, he got a round of applause for that. There is

a certain amount of controversy over how we roll out these networks,

whether we make sure everybody has got some connection before we make

sure that my dog can go online as well.

You go and play with your dog, we will talk to you soon!

Yes, it is on, you can take it off now!

You would expect our technology Guru to keep the microphone on!

He is still listening! Leaders from some of Britain's

biggest companies say that leaving the European Union would threaten

jobs and put the UK's Bosses from 36 FTSE 100

companies, including BT, Marks Spencer and Vodafone,

signed a letter published in The Times newspaper saying

an EU exit would deter However, those supporting a Brexit

say that leaving would cut "unnecessary" regulation

and costs, boosting growth. The founder of Microsoft,

Bill Gates, has told the Financial Times that

Apple should be forced to co-operate with the FBI's request to disable

the security software on an iPhone used by one

of the San Bernardino killers. His view is at odds with many

of the key players within the tech industry, and yesterday

Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said he was

sympathetic to Apple's position. Lower oil prices has helped Qantas

post a record underlying pre-tax profit of $665 million

for the six months to December. The result is the best first-half

profit in the Australian Despite the positive numbers,

shares in the company fell by 5% in morning trading, in part

due to a recent spike The flying kangaroo, that is right

up your alley! We will talk more about that later.

I was going to say something but thought I had better not!

Let's talk about what aircraft need, and that is airports. Heathrow, used

to be the biggest airport in the world in terms of international

passenger numbers, Dubai has overtaken that, but profits are up

well, up 22%. Heathrow reported the rise in its annual profits, made

?223 million. I was going to say times that by 1.5, but given the

drop in the pound, I don't think that is right.

A lot of stories on the website as ever. Migrant Labour so important

for horticulture, this was discussed on BBC Radio Cornwall today. An NFU

conference kicking off in Birmingham today, talking about the importance

of migrant labour to economic growth, such a hot topic with the

Brexit debate ongoing in the UK. Brexit debate ongoing in the UK.

190 days until the referendum. We are counting!

Count every day. Digging itself into a bit

of a hole - mining giant BHP Billiton sees its first loss

in more than 16 years. It reported a net loss amounting

to a whopping $5.7 billion for the six months to

the end of December. Sharanjit Leyl is in

Singapore for us. Nice to see you. Tell us more about

the HP, because no surprise it has had a bad time but these losses are

significant? They are, huge half-year losses.

Along with that, the company has issued dire warnings that weak

commodity prices will continue. Other comparison, the firm made a

profit of nearly the same amount that it has lost this time, over $5

billion, for the same period in the previous year, so what a change a

year makes. Of course there was more bleak news for shareholders because

BHP has cut its interim dividend pay-out from 62 cents a share to

just 16 cents, which is part of its long held policy of increasing or

maintaining dividend payments. BHP is warning the period of weak

commodity prices and higher volatility would be prolonged as a

slowdown in China's economy slows down demand for these commodities.

It is not just BHP, all mining companies are in the same boat. But

their shares closed 6.2% higher in Sydney as traders forecast a better

second half, but that is set against the context of it falling nearly 50%

in the past 12 months. Thank you. Let's show you the

markets in Asia, hopefully the numbers will appear over my

shoulder! Japan closed down by a bad .5% today, market across Asia had a

pretty tough session, though BHP Billiton's shares were up 2.6%.

Europe headed slightly lower as well. What is the difference today?

Oil prices going down again, safe havens like the Japanese yen are

back in favour. The nerves are back for the financial market around the

world. We cannot show you the numbers now... There you go, you can

see them on the screen. I don't know if they are the latest, so let's

ignore those now and hand you to New York for a look ahead at what is

happening in the US. US investors can look forward to a

detailed snapshot of the help of the housing sector on Tuesday. The index

measures the price of homes in the 20 major real estate markets. It is

forecast to show prices rising 6% compared with a year ago. Also out

is the measure of how many existing home sales are taking place in the

US, and the number is likely to have fallen slightly to a rate of just

over 5.3 million sales per year. But that is still higher than it was for

all of 2015, so between them the two reports should encourage investors

that the housing recovery is still on, and, if that was not enough, a

big home-builder puts out its earnings, which are expected to show

a healthy rise in revenue. I wanted to help you out and draw

the arrow, pointing down, in red! Let's get rid of those numbers, the

technology is not working! The internet of things has gone

down! Rory jinxed the entire show! Let's talk about the pound,

yesterday had steep falls, but everyone we were talking to

yesterday, on my other programmes on BBC world News, it was not down off

the back of hard economic fact, it is just uncertainty? That is exactly

what it is. If you look at the last month and a half, if you went into

the start of February, it was into interest rate differentials, nothing

more complicated than that. Three polls at the start of February said

there was a possibility that we could have an exit, and the

sentiment towards the pound changed. If you look at this week, the

announcement about the special deal from David Cameron came out before

the close of markets on Friday, sterling was upon the back of that,

so the referendum date was not the key. Only one thing happened, Boris

Johnson's announcement and how that changed the odds. That is the Mayor

of London, for our worldview was. You can see the changing odds on the

bookies people's websites, that is what caused the unrest, people don't

know what it means, it is as simple as that. What is interesting, as

well, the pound fell significantly against the dollar yesterday, it has

not fallen today, gone up a little bit, but multi-year lows for the

dollar, but the euro is weak as well, and is fairly weak because if

the UK were to leave it is not good for the European Union either?

Precisely, and it was very noticeable yesterday, sterling was

low against the dollar but it was not making it back with the highs

against the euro, you were getting a knock-on effect. It could be down to

the trade relations, or it could be a belief that populist parties will

be whacked on the back of the referendum, and it has a unknown

consequences within Europe. With the currency market, it has another

knock-on consequence, which is that there are fewer things for people to

buy into as a safe haven. Look at today, the strength of the yen, if

there is an untoward consequence of this, it but the bank of Japan in a

difficult position. Negative deposit rates and yet the yen is

strengthened, it is astonishing. On that bright note... I always like to

cheer you up! You will come back to take us through the papers later on.

We are talking ceramics and for you that may conjure up

images of an old English industry from centuries gone by,

but we'll be speaking to the boss of materials technology firm

Lucideon, that is reinventing a centuries old material

You're with Business Live from BBC News.

It's like the Duracell bunny, it's the debate that goes on and on,

and this morning 36 business leaders from some of Britain's biggest

companies have come out backing the campaign to remain

They are warning that a vote to exit will threaten jobs

Simon Jack is in the business newsroom.

.15am Simon, we were expecting this to happen today. It is in the Times

newspaper. Tell us who is on the list? Well, at first sight it is an

impressive list, you have got the Chairman of BT, BP, Shell, Goldman

Sachs, so a long list of powerful companies which employs tens of

thousands of people, but in a way, it is a list of the usual suspects.

36 of the FTSE 100 have signed it. That begs the question, 64 haven't

signed it and that's for a variety of reasons. Some will be leaning

towards going out and others won't have had a board meeting yet to

decide what posture their company will take. Legal and General is

expected to sign it. They are having a board meeting later this week

where they have got to decide, whether they are out, in, neutral.

Other companies won't want to sign something like this for fear of

annoying customers. So plenty of reasons why they haven't signed it.

They will probably get another letter in the next few days. Hey,

Sim, how effective are the letters? Well, it is a good question. You

think, "Who cares what the senior executives think?" Businesses can't

vote, but they have got a voice. In the last election, a letter of this

nature had a bit of an effect on Ed Miliband's economic credibility and

could have cost him. As I say, they may not be that effective. People

may not take notice of what Chief Executives think, but this won't be

the last letter we see in a national newspaper on this subject!

Thank you so much, Simon Jack there. A store that's just been breaking.

Standard Chartered reported a $1.5 billion loss. That's a pre-tax

annual loss compared to a profit of 4.2 billion the year before. This is

a bank that's very Asia-focussed and therefore is having a tough time.

We are A car that can make a cup of tea and keep the kids under control.

That's the type of car I want! We are talking ceramics

and for you that may conjure up Now when you think of ceramics,

does fine bone china come to mind? Stoke on Trent in Britain's Midlands

is still famous for its pottery, but there's more

to it than tableware. Today, ceramics is a material

at the cutting edge Used in heart surgery, aerospace

and nuclear industries too. Material company Lucideon was born

out of the pottery industry in the 1940s, but is hoping to put

Stoke on Trent back on the map with high-tech and innovative use

of materials like ceramics. The company was originally funded

by the UK government and the ceramics industry but it

became a fully commercial operation in the late 1980s when

the government pulled Lucideon still does research

and development and its materials technologies go to support

industries from healthcare For instance, it makes

biodegradable stents for heart surgery

and ceramic coated hips. Lucideon, which has operations

in the UK, US and partners in Asia, employs some 200 scientists,

engineers and commercial analysts. Group sales for 2015 were ?16

million or nearly ?23 million. Tony Kinsella who has been the boss

for the last 10 years Welcome Tony. Good morning. You

provided us with a picture and everything there. It is great to

have you in. It is an incredible story and it is a story that

highlights the evolution, the need of evolution for certain industries

and companies. Funding was withdrawn, you have gone commercial,

it has become a success, what's the secret? Talent. Need. We were forced

to either die or live. So we invested in some raw talent. We

talked to our customers, that's the big thing about innovation,

invention is great, but what's the point of invention if there isn't a

need. Invention is not cheap and quite often you have to invest for

sometime before you reap the rewards? Absolutely, Sally. That's

the other side of the innovation chain. I see great investment in

investment, echo sphere by the UK Government for instance, really

great, but there have too much supply and not enough demand. The

big issue we see is what about the Chief Executives are demanding unowe

vation and want to renew their industry. I go and talk to CEOs in

the UK and what I hear is, "Tony, am I the first?" I go to the States and

the guys say, "Tony, am I the first buddy?" They want to be first mover

and that's a completely change of culture. Does that make it difficult

then? To have a great focus in the UK if you're dealing with a

mentality. Why not just ship it, I don't want to take business away

from the UK, why not ship it to the US? A great place to be and we have

set-up a new place in North Carolina where the infrastructure, the

mentality, the culture is all about innovation and money and drive, but

the technology, the technologyist and the academic support is here in

the UK. We are still a brilliant world leader in invention. The UK

Government has done a great, great job. We are now number two on the

global index for innovation around the world. Number two. Behind

Sweden. So your passion is clearly, the

innovation, it is the invention, it is that brilliance that you're

talking about, but you're really passionate about Stoke-on-Trent in

particular and the fact that you want it to become a hub, you want

more financing to come to that area. Just talk us through that? It has

been the centre of materials. It has transformed materials for hundreds

of years. That's what it was built around, Wedgwood, so we have had

invention, but it transformed coal to power for the steel industry.

Coal to power for the Potteries, that's why the Potteries were there

because of coal. And then clay for obviously potteries. So it is a

centre of transforming materials. We're looking to get an advanced

materials, innovation research and commercialisation centre and the

commercialisation is the key. Will you get it? We're looking for the UK

Government to be innovative in funding. We want money for start-up

and we want them out. Let's fund it ourselves, let's be independent and

let's be commercial. Let the Government take a stake, take equity

and take risk, we don't want to be on the Government list of funding,

but give us a help, part of the Northern powerhouse and really do

something that's focussed on materials and transformation. I've

got to wrap it up unfortunately. In or out of Europe? Out. I believe in

democracy. He believes in democracy. Interesting, we will take you

through the business pages soon. In a moment we'll take a look

through the Business Pages but first here's a quick reminder of how

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TV and online whenever you need to know.

Simon is back. Let's start with Qantas, the

national carrier, Alan Joyce, an Irish chap, the CEO, a lot of people

wanted his head because the airline was in such trouble. The turn

around? Yeah, look back to where we were 12 months and where the oil

price was and look where the oil price is now!

Given there has been a slowdown in the Asian economy, that would have

been a drag on Qantas and given the fact that there has been problems

within the Australian economy as a result, you would have thought that

that would have been an issue. So you have got to believe that the

major shift is the fact that we have gone from $120 to $35. I think it is

a good thing. One of the things I love is the shift in the oil price

is making people to talking about non-stop flights to Australia. It is

great that the shift is opening up. The airline world to do some radical

new things. Simon, we're out of time. We

appreciate it though. That's it. More business throughout the rest of

the day. We will see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.

Winter weather conditions remain in control across the United Kingdom.

Cold yes, but actually plenty of sunshine. Cold because we've got a

northerly flow around high pressure to the west of us and low pressure