17/04/2014 World Business Report

candidates. Those are the latest headlines from

BBC World News. Now, time for the latest financial

news with World Business Report. China's version of Twitter, Weibo,

is set to make its US trading debut. But following a recent sell off in

tech stocks, how will it fare? A big jump in first quarter profits

is expected for ZTE, one of the world's largest technology

companies. Welcome to World Business Report.

In a minute we'll look at The Jockey Club, which stages some of British

horse racing's most famous events and has just announced record

financial results. But first, China's most`popular microblogging

platform Weibo, China's twitter, is expected to start trading on the

Nasdaq in New York . Weibo, which means microblog, is huge, about 100

million messages are posted on Weibo each day. Twitter has about 240

million. The platform said it had about 129 million monthly active

users at the end of 2013. It filed to raise $500 million through an

initial public offering last month, but tech markets have soured since

the heady days when Twitter itself went public. Many of the tech firms

have seen their share price dive. So has Weibo missed its moment? Samira

Hussain reports from New York. Many tech companies trade here, on

the NASDAQ. So, it's no surprise that Weibo, China's equivalent to

Twitter, has chosen this exchange as its home. But it's doing so at a

time when investor interest in tech companies is on the decline. There

is also a more general worry that investors are losing interest in

IPOs altogether. That is one reason why many will be watching Weibo's

debut closely. Weibo says it has 130 million active users. Compare that

to Twitter, which has recently surpassed 240 million users.

Although, only about 5% of Weibo's users generate original content.

Also putting pressure on Weibo, is the company's latest financial

results, losing $48 million in the first quarter of this year. That is

almost double the losses from the same period last year. Investors

will also be looking for hints on how other Chinese companies Mayfair.

Ali Pardo, the e`commerce giant, produces more net income and sales

than both eBay and Amazon combined `` Alibaba. It will start trading

here in New York in the coming months. Only two other Chinese

companies have become publicly traded companies in this year and

neither have had stellar starts. That means many investors are going

to be looking very closely at how Weibo does.

In China, a big jump in first quarter profits is expected for ZTE,

one of the world's largest technology companies. The Hong

Kong`listed maker of mobile phones and telecommunications equipment has

recently changed its business strategy, after posting a big loss

in 2012. Rico Hizon is there. What are we expecting?

Taking a look at the guidance from ZTE, their fortunes have indeed

change changed in a year. They expect a net profit increase of 100

`200% in the January to March quarter, compared to year ago

levels. One of the changes they made to return the profitability was to

pass over investing in areas where returns won't likely to be high.

They have focused on 4G technology, resulting in strong demand for their

equipment. It is optimistic looking ahead that this domain could be

sustained as their order books show accelerating 4G network deployments

around the world and rising sales for their 4G devices. This forecast

comes two weeks after ZTE reported 2013 results, showing slight profits

after steep losses of more than $400 million in 2012. Indeed, a

turnaround. Briefly, CandyCrush, lots of people like it it looks like

lots of people in China will play at things to Tencent. It will be

launched in mainland China, using UK`based creator, King digital

entertainment, Piggott exposure `` bigger exposure to the market. The

Chinese version of the Candy Crush game will be available through the

middle of this year. It will help the mainland internet giant attract

more users to its online and mobile users platform, which includes

social media sites. Tencent is fighting for market share at home

but its rival Alibaba will be launching in America this year.

Britain's Jockey Club, which runs 15 racecourses across the UK and stages

events including the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National and the

Derby, has announced record annual financial results. Maintaining

Britain's appeal to race horse owners from the Middle East is an

important part of the mix ` many of them are major overseas investors in

British flat racing, both as sponsors of some of the biggest

races and in terms of the hundreds of race horses they own, which train

on Jockey Club grounds. With me is Simon Bazalgette, Group

Chief Executive, The Jockey Club. Weight is written so important to

racing worldwide? We have a fantastic heritage in jumps and flat

racing `` Britain. Flat racing is international. We stayed seven of

the top races in the world. We are the most competitive place for flat

horses. That means people want to have the best horses and they want

to test them against the best horses, which they need to do in the

UK. That supports the breeding injury `` industry, which is crucial

to this sport. You can only be the best horses in the world in the UK.

Middle East investment is so important to the UK industry. What

does that investment look like? We are lucky to have investment from

around the world, Watt particular you from the Gulf states like Qatar,

Saudi Arabia and others. They are investing in bloodstock and

supporting the racing with horses and sponsorship and a range of

activities. British racing has always attracted big investors from

around the world who would like to get involved in it as a sport and as

a business. Is that in the form of sponsorship? All, Horst reading?

Mainly in the support of horses themselves. `` horsebreeding. It

will help us generate commercial returns which we then reinvest in

the sport, to keep it going. How important is that invest ``

investment? Highly important. There are a range of people in flat and in

jumps. Financial results have been tricky strong. What's behind the

growth? `` pretty strong. It is a matter of continual improvement.

Customer service and how we present ourselves in the media. 40% of the

UK watch racing during some point in the year, whether on television or

elsewhere. It is the second most popular sport and contributes 3.5

billion to the UK economy. It comes down to customers having a good

experience, whether on the racecourse, watching a race, or

watching TV. Good to talk to you. Thank you.

In other news: Google fell sharply in after`hours trading when their

quarterly results disappointed investors. The Internet giant's

first`quarter earnings growth faltered as it dealt with a

persistent downturn in advertising prices while spending more money to

hire employees and invest in daring ideas.

Labour disputes pop up regularly in China, but one strike in the

southern Chinese city of Dongguan is attracting attention because of its

size. Earlier this week 40,000 workers walked off the job at seven

Yu Yuan shoe factory locations across the city. A minority have

also been involved in vocal protests over unpaid social security

benefits. Time for a look at the markets. It is a busy day. They are

law will looking positive. `` all looking positive. Investors have

been looking profits in Asian markets, at that we have seen

optimism in the US. Janet Yellen talked about the bank providing more

stimulus for the economy. That is helping Asian markets. That's it for

me. Goodbye. Many thanks. We will look at the

papers in a moment. But first, Lamb takeaways will be tested as a

priority from next month after a study found that around forty

percent had been contaminated with cheaper meats, and some contained no