:00:00. > :00:00.County Londonderry. Now on BBC News all the latest
:00:00. > :00:15.business news live from Singapore. It is Asia Business Report with Rico
:00:16. > :00:20.Hizon. The world's biggest listed
:00:21. > :00:30.winemaker, Treasury Wine Estates, post`s at 20% fall in profit.
:00:31. > :00:34.Panasonic, branching out in unexpected ways for the electronics
:00:35. > :00:39.giant. Thanks for joining us of this
:00:40. > :00:42.addition of Asia Business Report on BBC World News. The world's biggest
:00:43. > :00:50.listed winemaker and producer of Penfold 's, Lindemans and others, ,
:00:51. > :00:58.posted a 20% year on here fall in net profit for the 12 months to
:00:59. > :01:05.June. The company is sought after by two private equity groups but has
:01:06. > :01:11.been struggling in some markets. Treasury Wine Estates is behind one
:01:12. > :01:16.of Australia's biggest wines, including Penfold 's, and others
:01:17. > :01:21.including Lindemans and Rosemount. It is much in demand. Private equity
:01:22. > :01:26.group KKR is bidding and so is a second, and as yet unnamed
:01:27. > :01:34.investment house, both set to offer takeover bids of more than $3
:01:35. > :01:37.billion. Fats in spite of TWE's turbulent year with increased
:01:38. > :01:41.competition in Australia's home market being just one challenge.
:01:42. > :01:45.It's been hit by the government imposed austerity measures in China.
:01:46. > :01:50.The company last year said it expected sales there to triple to
:01:51. > :01:56.500 million cases per year by 2023. But, the government's anticorruption
:01:57. > :02:00.drive has slowed to land for higher priced wine `` demand. They are
:02:01. > :02:04.having a tough time in the US were it has cut shipments because of
:02:05. > :02:07.excess stock. Last year, it was forced to destroy tens of millions
:02:08. > :02:12.of dollars worth of wine that it couldn't sell. That's not stopping
:02:13. > :02:16.private equity firms putting the business squarely in their sights.
:02:17. > :02:21.Although the interest is conditional and still needs to undergo due
:02:22. > :02:24.diligence. For its part, TWE's Management has tried to turn the
:02:25. > :02:31.company around with ongoing restructuring.
:02:32. > :02:35.Earlier, I spoke with Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG markets in
:02:36. > :02:40.Melbourne to ask for his take on the company's four year result. If
:02:41. > :02:48.anything, they are a slightly disappointing `` full year. The net
:02:49. > :02:53.loss came in at 100 billion dollars. The underlying number is $112
:02:54. > :02:57.million in profit `` $100 million. As you alluded to it is
:02:58. > :03:05.disappointing and is coming from the Australian and Asian arm where they
:03:06. > :03:10.have seen significant slowdown is. How will these disappointing numbers
:03:11. > :03:13.impact of a bidding war for TWE? That is interesting and I assumed
:03:14. > :03:18.this might take some heat out of any bidding war if it goes ahead.
:03:19. > :03:24.Looking at what we can see, the fact that the Asian arm has fallen by
:03:25. > :03:29.around 7`$10, down about 10% compared with last year, suggest
:03:30. > :03:34.that maybe $5 20, the offer currently, per share, would be fair
:03:35. > :03:37.value. It could take the heat off what could have been ramped out of
:03:38. > :03:43.it and we wait to see what happens from KKR and the other takeover
:03:44. > :03:50.target in TPG. Briefly, what about China's policies, clamping down on
:03:51. > :04:02.extravagance? Has this impacted TWE's results are still `` results?
:04:03. > :04:04.Certainly. They had to see Intercontinental in China stop
:04:05. > :04:09.selling Penfold 's wine which saw a sharp sales fall at the back end of
:04:10. > :04:14.the sales you. Evan Lucas from IG markets in Melbourne. In other news,
:04:15. > :04:19.the US technology giant Hewlett`Packard has boosted profits
:04:20. > :04:25.with a 1% rise on its third quarter revenues to about 28 billion
:04:26. > :04:28.dollars. The firm has undergone a global restructuring amidst lower
:04:29. > :04:34.demand for its core desktop computers. CEO Meg Whitman said her
:04:35. > :04:39.confidence in the turnaround in the firm was growing stronger. From cars
:04:40. > :04:45.to groceries, taxi hire service Huber has launched a grocery
:04:46. > :04:49.delivery service. The facility is available as an option via the
:04:50. > :04:53.smart`phone application and covers more than 100 items `` Uber. The
:04:54. > :04:57.products are competitively priced against high street stores and there
:04:58. > :05:02.is no delivery fee. The taxi service is an experiment and is available in
:05:03. > :05:06.America for the moment only. While millions own their own
:05:07. > :05:12.products, Hong Kong`based Liam Summer is not a household name. The
:05:13. > :05:22.profit numbers out today will be watched by investors here in Asia
:05:23. > :05:27.and in the US `` Fung. Today's half`year results won't only show
:05:28. > :05:31.how he has performed, it will be a guide to the health of American
:05:32. > :05:35.retailers. When they are doing well, they order more. I spoke earlier
:05:36. > :05:40.with our correspondent to ask what we should expect from the company.
:05:41. > :05:47.We might be surprised. Most people don't think this will have been the
:05:48. > :05:54.best six months for Leah Fung. Analysts expect modest growth,
:05:55. > :06:03.perhaps 1%, or even a decline, due to a variety of factors, chiefly
:06:04. > :06:07.America's unseasonably cold weather, putting off shoppers from shopping
:06:08. > :06:15.and also, we have had a number of high`profile anti` Chinese protests
:06:16. > :06:18.in factories in Vietnam. Both factors delayed shipments to
:06:19. > :06:25.America, which is expected to turn up in the earnings results.
:06:26. > :06:31.Traditionally, the second half of the year tends to be much stronger
:06:32. > :06:35.for retailers. And, companies that source for them. We will have to see
:06:36. > :06:39.how they get on in the coming months for example, the back`to`school
:06:40. > :06:42.season, which is when people shot a lot more and of course,
:06:43. > :06:49.Thanksgiving, Christmas, the holiday season is. `` seasons. We will get
:06:50. > :06:53.an indication of how they are doing in the second half of the year. For
:06:54. > :06:57.the first time, Fung can't count on contributions from the brand
:06:58. > :07:02.management unit, which was spun off into a separate business on the Hong
:07:03. > :07:05.Kong stock exchange, which contributes quite a lot to the
:07:06. > :07:10.bottom line, so we will see how they get on without it.
:07:11. > :07:16.Our correspondent in Hong Kong. You might think of Panasonic as an
:07:17. > :07:19.electronics giant. Think again. Try it vegetable farmer. The Japanese
:07:20. > :07:23.brand building its name on television sets and DVD players and
:07:24. > :07:28.splashing out to smart phones and cameras, is now growing lettuce and
:07:29. > :07:34.radishes here in Singapore. Our correspondent discovers.
:07:35. > :07:40.No, it's not a TV or a DVD player, in fact, there is not an electrical
:07:41. > :07:45.wire inside, it is our letters, a premium Japanese variety, but still
:07:46. > :07:49.a vegetable, grown by Panasonic. This is Singapore's first licensed
:07:50. > :07:52.indoor vegetable farm, the temperature, humidity and level of
:07:53. > :07:58.oxygen, everything, is carefully controlled. There are no pesticides
:07:59. > :08:05.in the soil and there are special lamps to simulate the rays of the
:08:06. > :08:10.sun. And, there is one other thing, the plants are played special music
:08:11. > :08:23.to help them grow. Before entering, you need to put this mask on. Every
:08:24. > :08:30.plant counts. We treat them like our kids. Like babies. Yes. We give them
:08:31. > :08:36.tender loving care. For manager Alfred Tan this the factory grows
:08:37. > :08:40.three different varieties of vegetables right now with the aim of
:08:41. > :08:46.expanding to 30. But with so much tender loving care, there is a
:08:47. > :08:54.pricetag to match. How affordable and sustainable is this type of
:08:55. > :08:59.farming? We are targeting premium crops kind of market and then
:09:00. > :09:01.definitely, you know, it is definitely affordable by everyone.
:09:02. > :09:06.If you are in the premium range? That is right. Can you see a time
:09:07. > :09:12.when this is not just for premium crops? We don't want to rule out the
:09:13. > :09:16.possibility. More than 90% of the vegetables eaten in Singapore are
:09:17. > :09:18.imported, so the aim is to try to help the islands become more food
:09:19. > :09:25.self`sufficient and of course to make money. Panasonic sees big
:09:26. > :09:27.potential in agribusiness and points to growing populations and
:09:28. > :09:33.increasing concerns over food safety and quality. They are starting
:09:34. > :09:40.small, but thinking big. First steps, we will start in Singapore
:09:41. > :09:49.and then in future we want to expand to other countries in South Asia,
:09:50. > :09:53.such as Thailand, Indonesia. Panasonic is expert at automated
:09:54. > :09:57.factory systems and its those skills the company is now transferring to
:09:58. > :10:04.vegetables. Perhaps one day per brand will be synonymous with
:10:05. > :10:10.radishes like it is with TVs. Most stock markets in Asia are
:10:11. > :10:12.rising after US equities ended higher overnight following minutes
:10:13. > :10:16.from the Federal Reserve's July meeting giving investors reason to
:10:17. > :10:20.believe the central bank is in no rush to raise interest rates.
:10:21. > :10:26.Currently, the Nikkei gained 138 points, the Sydney benchmark all
:10:27. > :10:28.ordinaries benchmark is higher by 38.
:10:29. > :10:29.points, the Sydney benchmark all ordinaries benchmark is higher You
:10:30. > :10:32.have been watching Asia Business Report. Thank you for investing your
:10:33. > :10:43.time with us. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter. I am Rico Hizon.
:10:44. > :10:47.Goodbye for now. I am Mike Embley in London with the
:10:48. > :10:48.main headlines this hour: the