Browse content similar to 14/04/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Now for the latest financial news with | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
A slumping share price, thousands of jobs cut | :00:00. | :00:17. | |
So, does the boss of BP really deserve a 20% pay rise? | :00:18. | :00:29. | |
Trouble in the pipeline at the oil giant's shareholder meeting. | :00:30. | :00:31. | |
Plus, the nuclear option - only smaller. | :00:32. | :00:33. | |
Are mini-reactors part of our low carbon future, | :00:34. | :00:35. | |
Also in the programme: Emergency measures in Singapore to weaken | :00:36. | :00:49. | |
Rico is all over this for us and will join us in a moment. | :00:50. | :00:55. | |
We start here in London where in a few hours' time oil giant BP faces | :00:56. | :01:01. | |
That's because of growing anger over how much the boss is being paid. | :01:02. | :01:14. | |
Let's take a look at the numbers, which for many people simply don't | :01:15. | :01:17. | |
Last year, BP reported the company's biggest ever loss, | :01:18. | :01:21. | |
of $6.5 billion, as it struggled with the plunge in oil prices. | :01:22. | :01:24. | |
That's forced it to make massive job cuts, over 7,000 workers, | :01:25. | :01:30. | |
or 9% of its workforce, will go by the end of next year. | :01:31. | :01:37. | |
So, here's what has really got shareholders hot under the collar. | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
Last year, BP chief executive Bob Dudley actually saw his pay jump | :01:43. | :01:45. | |
BP's shareholders haven't had nearly such a good year. | :01:46. | :01:55. | |
If you take a look at BP's shares over the past 12 months, | :01:56. | :01:58. | |
They have lost almost a quarter of their value, over 23%, | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
And if BP needed any more awkward numbers, how about this one? | :02:03. | :02:06. | |
The boss of arch rival Shell, Ben van Beurden, | :02:07. | :02:08. | |
saw a huge cut in his pay package last year, down 77% to just over | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
$5.5 million, a little over a quarter of what Mr Dudley made. | :02:13. | :02:18. | |
Catherine Howarth is the chief executive of Share Action, | :02:19. | :02:20. | |
which advises pension funds on ethical investment. | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
It is good to have you in this morning. So, how will this meeting | :02:26. | :02:33. | |
go? It will be a rough ride for the board of BP. Once per year they have | :02:34. | :02:39. | |
to face the music. It is a fantastic opportunity for people with shares | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
in BP to grill the board and that is what will happen. Many investors | :02:44. | :02:48. | |
have said they are against the remuneration package. Absolutely. | :02:49. | :02:56. | |
Aberdeen Asset Management and Royal London are voting against the | :02:57. | :03:01. | |
report. Other shareholders have said the same. We will see very | :03:02. | :03:07. | |
significant numbers in terms of the revolt on pay. It is not the only | :03:08. | :03:13. | |
issue. There are a wide range of things to be raised at the meeting. | :03:14. | :03:22. | |
The whole question of sentiment and morale is crucial for the success. | :03:23. | :03:28. | |
7000 people lost its job. It is tone deaf to put in place a 20% pay rise. | :03:29. | :03:34. | |
There are other issues. An upset along the southern coastline of | :03:35. | :03:38. | |
Australia around deep sea drilling plans in the great Australian bight. | :03:39. | :03:42. | |
After their record of deep sea drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, | :03:43. | :03:45. | |
people are concerned the company doesn't have... -- Great Australian | :03:46. | :03:52. | |
Bite. People have flown across the world from Australia to make the | :03:53. | :03:56. | |
board understand just how vigorously this is opposed in Australia. The | :03:57. | :04:02. | |
company so far has not produced convincing oil spill response | :04:03. | :04:08. | |
plans. It is an area of special marine interest with many endangered | :04:09. | :04:15. | |
whales and so on. It doesn't make sense in the context of climate | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
debate either. What of the argument that Bob Dudley came in at the | :04:20. | :04:22. | |
height of the Gulf of Mexico disaster and has got them through | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
this difficult time. The share price is down, oil prices have sunk, job | :04:28. | :04:35. | |
losses, all of the majors, they are laying them off and you need a | :04:36. | :04:40. | |
leader at this time. Perhaps he is that. He has overseen BT through | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
very challenging periods. There is no question about it. He is very | :04:46. | :04:50. | |
well-paid already. People are struggling what justifies the pay | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
rise. Does it suggest a board out of touch with and stakeholders? I think | :04:55. | :04:59. | |
you will see that in spades today at the AGM. Thank you so much for | :05:00. | :05:05. | |
coming in and we will be a cross that AGM when it happens and we will | :05:06. | :05:07. | |
let you know how it is. Staying with the energy business, | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
and the highly controversial Its backers believe nuclear has | :05:13. | :05:14. | |
a role to play alongside renewable energy in helping to meet future | :05:15. | :05:17. | |
energy demand But nuclear power stations are | :05:18. | :05:20. | |
hugely expensive and complex to build and investment | :05:21. | :05:22. | |
is difficult to secure. Today companies from | :05:23. | :05:25. | |
around the world meet in Atlanta Georgia to discuss what they | :05:26. | :05:27. | |
see is the solution. Think nuclear, think big. These | :05:28. | :05:42. | |
giants provide energy for millions but their size is a problem. | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
Building replacements is often delayed and cost is overrun. Money | :05:47. | :05:51. | |
men are nervous putting up cash for new nukes. Is the solution beneath | :05:52. | :06:00. | |
the waves? The successful Pilares test missal from the USS Washington. | :06:01. | :06:07. | |
Submarines have been powered by small reactors since the 1950s. Can | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
small reactors provide energy on land? Yes, they can. This American | :06:13. | :06:19. | |
firm is part funded by the US government, expecting to have the | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
first mini nuclear reactor operating in the USA in 2025. It will be small | :06:25. | :06:30. | |
enough to fit on the back of a lorry and most importantly it will be | :06:31. | :06:36. | |
small enough to finance. Other firms in major countries are racing to | :06:37. | :06:40. | |
build small reactors also and experts are excited. You can build | :06:41. | :06:46. | |
them like aircraft engines, one after another, in a factory with | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
quality controls, so you increase quality and reduce cost overall. | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
Memories linger of nuclear promises in the past. They said it would | :06:57. | :07:02. | |
cheap to meet it. Now, cost is undercut by solar and wind power and | :07:03. | :07:07. | |
splitting atoms looks expensive as a way to get electricity. There is no | :07:08. | :07:12. | |
evidence it will be cheaper. The cost of renewables are coming down | :07:13. | :07:20. | |
and the cost of nuclear is going up. Small reactors are not without | :07:21. | :07:23. | |
problems. In the UK we still have no way of safely storing long-term | :07:24. | :07:30. | |
nuclear waste. And what's more small reactors won't be ready in time to | :07:31. | :07:34. | |
solve the short-term climate change targets. Experts say that by 2030 or | :07:35. | :07:41. | |
2040 mini nukes could play a significant role in supplying energy | :07:42. | :07:42. | |
needs. Lots more on that online. Let's go to Asia now where Singapore | :07:43. | :07:50. | |
has moved to boost Rico Hizon is there and is | :07:51. | :07:53. | |
following the story. Challenging times for the | :07:54. | :08:06. | |
Singaporean economy over the last year and now that the GDP figures | :08:07. | :08:10. | |
are out, results show the economy was flat in the first quarter. | :08:11. | :08:17. | |
Singapore's GDP rising 1.8% in the first quarter, the same growth | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
compared to the previous quarter. The headache for the government is | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
manufacturing. It contracted. Offsetting that you have | :08:28. | :08:31. | |
construction and services expanding. Due to this data, the Singaporean | :08:32. | :08:43. | |
central bank surprised markets, easing the currency policy, also | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
known as the monetary authority. They used exchange rates to guide | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
policy instead of interest rates like most global counterparts. So, | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
the MAS forecast growth to be weaker than estimated and inflation will | :08:58. | :09:04. | |
likely be at a slower pace. The dollar is around 1.36. Thank you so | :09:05. | :09:14. | |
much. See you soon. In other news: A US appeals court | :09:15. | :09:16. | |
has cleared Argentina to begin making payments on $9 billion | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
of debt, rejecting claims The decision paves the way | :09:22. | :09:24. | |
for the country to re-enter bond markets after more than a decade, | :09:25. | :09:27. | |
following its default in 2001. Settling the country's debt default | :09:28. | :09:30. | |
has been one of the main campaign promises made by | :09:31. | :09:32. | |
President Mauricio Macri, who came 40,000 workers at US telecoms giant | :09:33. | :09:35. | |
Verizon have gone on strike after contract negotiations failed | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
to produce a settlement. The unions organising | :09:40. | :09:43. | |
the action represent customer They have been without | :09:44. | :09:45. | |
a contract since August and talks have stalled over Verizon's plan to | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
cut healthcare and pension benefits Presidential candidate | :09:50. | :09:52. | |
Bernie Sanders spoke at a protest in It is all going up for financial | :09:53. | :10:15. | |
markets around the world. Japan, the Nikkei, 3% moments ago. Hong Kong is | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
wrong. The yen is weakening. Japanese banks are doing well today | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
off the back of better than expected news from JP Morgan, whose earnings | :10:25. | :10:29. | |
were out yesterday and the Wall Street bank posted better than | :10:30. | :10:32. | |
expected first-quarter profits, boosting the Dow. I just want to | :10:33. | :10:38. | |
show you the main markets in the US because they had a really good | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
session. You are up to date. I will see you in a moment when we look | :10:43. | :10:57. | |
through the papers. Sally will be back for a look at the papers. | :10:58. | :10:59. |