:00:00. > :00:00.territories will be taking part in the Games.
:00:00. > :00:15.Those are the headlines. Time for Asia Business Report.
:00:16. > :00:18.A big like for Facebook, posting better`than`expected results,
:00:19. > :00:30.sending its shares to an all`time high. Talk about Thai Airways, we
:00:31. > :00:38.ask what is ahead for the company as it tries to turn itself around.
:00:39. > :00:42.Hello and welcome to Asia Business Report.
:00:43. > :00:45.Social networking giant Facebook has announced a 138% rise in their
:00:46. > :00:48.income for the second quarter ending in June, sending its shares to an
:00:49. > :00:55.all`time high in extended trading hours in the US. The company has
:00:56. > :01:00.more than one billion users but it has had to work out a way to make
:01:01. > :01:03.money from them. These latest numbers show that the company's
:01:04. > :01:12.advertising model must be working, with advertising revenue up 67%
:01:13. > :01:22.compared to one year ago. I spoke earlier with a tech analyst to ask
:01:23. > :01:26.more about these owning. `` earnings. What has happened is the
:01:27. > :01:29.rise of mobile. We have seen the amount of mobile revenue from
:01:30. > :01:32.Facebook jump up to 60%. It has been amazing. An amazing rise for mobile
:01:33. > :01:34.advertising, but is Asia part of that equation? Are Asian Facebook
:01:35. > :01:41.users just using the social media platform for their selfies and
:01:42. > :01:44.photographs and status updates? I certainly get a lot of ads on my
:01:45. > :01:48.Facebook feed. Facebook does not break the numbers down by geography.
:01:49. > :01:55.It is emerging markets like Asia that are the biggest users of
:01:56. > :02:06.Facebook. It is not cheap. If you advertise... And that is just to
:02:07. > :02:10.boost your status. It can cost up to $50 just to do that. There are a
:02:11. > :02:19.whole range of advertisers including individuals. The corporate sector
:02:20. > :02:22.can target a certain demographic of people right down to very specific
:02:23. > :02:25.information about people. That is what Facebook allows them to do.
:02:26. > :02:27.This is indeed a frontier for advertising on Facebook in Asia,
:02:28. > :02:31.with countries like India and the Philippines being big users. What
:02:32. > :02:39.about China? Facebook would love to be everywhere. But China likes to
:02:40. > :02:50.promote their homegrown social media companies.
:02:51. > :02:58.Japan posted an unexpended 2% fall in exports. Imports rose 85%. It
:02:59. > :03:03.left the country with a shortfall of $8 billion. Policy makers hoped
:03:04. > :03:06.exports would offset the introduction of a sales tax increase
:03:07. > :03:12.in April which is waiting on the economy. A survey finds factory
:03:13. > :03:20.activity in China has accelerated at its fast as since January. HSBC
:03:21. > :03:24.manufacturing index shows manufacturing output reached 52 in
:03:25. > :03:30.July, a reading above 50 indicates an expansion while a reading below
:03:31. > :03:38.50 means retraction. The result beats expectations and need a raft
:03:39. > :03:40.of government stimulus initiatives. THAILAND Thailand's political system
:03:41. > :03:43.has faced turbulent times of late and so has the national carrier.
:03:44. > :03:47.Thai Airways is in the red, suffering massive losses last year.
:03:48. > :03:49.Its performance was inconsistent prior to that as well. A board
:03:50. > :03:52.meeting today will consider a detailed restructuring initiative
:03:53. > :03:58.for the struggling airline. However, the changes could be a little bit
:03:59. > :04:00.unusual. Thailand's military government says
:04:01. > :04:10.repairing the economy is a high priority. Repairing the flagship
:04:11. > :04:14.airline could be a test. Ticket sales have been weak, operating
:04:15. > :04:17.costs high and competition is increasingly fierce. Last year, Thai
:04:18. > :04:21.Airways lost nearly $4 billion and they have been in the red for the
:04:22. > :04:28.first two quarters of this year as well. `` $400 million. The chief of
:04:29. > :04:31.the Royal Thai air force has the job of fixing the airline. A detailed
:04:32. > :04:34.restructuring plan aimed at returning the airline to profit will
:04:35. > :04:38.be considered at a board meeting today. The board is reduced from its
:04:39. > :04:42.original size because several members resigned, including some
:04:43. > :04:47.with ties to the former regime. It seems politics is never far away.
:04:48. > :04:50.While Thai Airways's new management structure is unique among national
:04:51. > :05:01.carriers, its cash flow problems are not. Qantas is attempting to save $2
:05:02. > :05:04.billion in the next few years and relax 5000 jobs. There are reports
:05:05. > :05:07.it is considering splitting its domestic and international arms as
:05:08. > :05:11.part of a restructure. Malaysia Airlines has problems that are
:05:12. > :05:18.tragic and all well`documented. There are questions hanging over its
:05:19. > :05:21.future. Aviation analysts say it might be
:05:22. > :05:24.difficult for Thai Airways to turn things around it head of the Thai
:05:25. > :05:27.Air Force, without management experience, continues to run the
:05:28. > :05:31.carrier. He is just the acting president. They will appoint a
:05:32. > :05:36.full`time president over the next few months. He will be chairing the
:05:37. > :05:49.meetings for now, but obviously this is just the first of several moves.
:05:50. > :05:51.Eyes are on the government to see if they can fix an airline that,
:05:52. > :05:54.honestly, the previous government had trouble fixing as well. An
:05:55. > :05:57.unusual move. A permanent move would be bringing in a person who might
:05:58. > :06:02.know something about the aviation industry. What kind of person should
:06:03. > :06:04.they be hiring? Hopefully they will consider someone with significant
:06:05. > :06:06.airline industry experience, significant commercial experience.
:06:07. > :06:11.Possibly someone from outside Thailand, which is not something
:06:12. > :06:15.they have done traditionally. There will be many candidates but whoever
:06:16. > :06:24.gets the job will have a lot of hard work to do. A lot of hard work
:06:25. > :06:28.indeed, Brendan. They lost nearly $400 million last year. What must
:06:29. > :06:34.they do to turn things around? They will need to put in a restructuring
:06:35. > :06:42.plan. They will have to potentially cut their network and some
:06:43. > :06:45.unprofitable destinations. Other airlines did that a couple of years
:06:46. > :06:48.ago, like Malaysia Airlines. Thai Airways has not had such a network
:06:49. > :06:51.restructure in a while. They will have to trim the fat and cut costs.
:06:52. > :06:55.They might have to accelerate fleet renewal and get rid of some of their
:06:56. > :07:00.older aircraft. Like the 747 400s. Other carriers have retired them.
:07:01. > :07:09.There is also the political crisis and the tough competition,
:07:10. > :07:13.especially from Air Asia. That is also hurting its bottom line. There
:07:14. > :07:16.is a lot of competition especially from the low`cost airlines. Thai
:07:17. > :07:25.Airways has been hit with its European operation. European tourist
:07:26. > :07:34.figures are increasing to Thailand but its market share has gone down.
:07:35. > :07:44.Thank you. In other news, South Korea recorded
:07:45. > :07:48.its weakest growth in more than a year. GDP increased by 0.6% quarter
:07:49. > :07:59.on quarter for the April to June period, down from the last report.
:08:00. > :08:03.The IMF has downgraded economic forecast for the US for the second
:08:04. > :08:08.time this year, saying that overall growth would be disappointing at
:08:09. > :08:11.1.7%. It blames a contraction at the start of the year and suggests a
:08:12. > :08:15.boost in the minimum wage and an expansion of tax credits to help the
:08:16. > :08:24.poorest in the country. In June, it predicted growth of 2%.
:08:25. > :08:28.In India, vegetable prices have once again hit the headlines, soaring
:08:29. > :08:30.over the past month. It has proven to be a big challenge for the
:08:31. > :08:33.country's newly elected government to bring the prices down. Our
:08:34. > :08:36.correspondent reports from Mumbai. These vegetables are not just being
:08:37. > :08:39.consumed on dinner tables. They have also become part of the
:08:40. > :08:46.conversation. That is because the cost of buying them has gone up so
:08:47. > :08:49.steeply. This month alone, the price of tomatoes have trebled and that of
:08:50. > :08:52.onions has doubled. These vegetables are key ingredients in meals across
:08:53. > :08:54.the country and that is why this is really hitting domestic budgets
:08:55. > :08:58.hard. Last month, inflation came down sharply. Much of that was
:08:59. > :09:04.because of food prices. Nobody expects that to continue. There is a
:09:05. > :09:06.forecast of less than normal rainfall during the monsoon season
:09:07. > :09:12.and if that happens, it will inevitably hit food production.
:09:13. > :09:16.Already, wholesalers in some parts of the country have been holding
:09:17. > :09:19.onto their stocks and this has been blamed for the rise in prices. Last
:09:20. > :09:22.month, the government took some steps to bring down the cost of
:09:23. > :09:25.food, putting export controls on onions and limiting the quantity of
:09:26. > :09:33.vegetables that can be stocked up by wholesalers. So far, the effects of
:09:34. > :09:36.those measures is yet to be seen on the ground. PM Narendra Modi and his
:09:37. > :09:39.team promised to bring the cost of living down for ordinary citizens
:09:40. > :09:47.here. People in India will be hoping they can do more to live up to that
:09:48. > :09:52.promise. Before we go, here is a look at the
:09:53. > :10:04.markets in Asia. Stocks remain in positive territory in mid`morning
:10:05. > :10:07.trade. US equities ended mostly higher overnight, with the broader
:10:08. > :10:10.SNP 500's index closing at a record high. Conflict in Ukraine and the
:10:11. > :10:21.Gaza Strip keep the market gains in check. The Nikkei is up 23 points
:10:22. > :10:27.despite a trading deficit which was expected. China's better than
:10:28. > :10:34.expected factory output numbers, gaining 71 point four. Australia's
:10:35. > :10:41.index gained 7.5. Thank you for joining us.
:10:42. > :10:48.This is BBC News. The headlines: The UN High Commissioner for Human
:10:49. > :10:52.Rights has said Israel may be committing war crimes in Gaza. Navi
:10:53. > :10:57.Pillay has also condemned Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.