Browse content similar to 28/01/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore | :00:00. | :00:14. | |
Samsung Electronics' business earnings estimates because of a | :00:15. | :00:24. | |
slump in smartphone sales. Energy of the future or an environmental | :00:25. | :00:28. | |
catastrophe? We will look at why coal seam gas is so controversial in | :00:29. | :00:30. | |
Australia. Good morning, Asia. Hello, world. | :00:31. | :00:42. | |
Glad you could join us for this Thursday edition of Asia Business | :00:43. | :00:45. | |
Report. I'm Rico Hizon in Singapore. We start with Samsung and | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
the Korean technology giant just released its latest results. And | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
after years of record profits, things appear to be slowing down. | :00:55. | :01:00. | |
Its profits falling by about 40% to $2.7 billion in the three months to | :01:01. | :01:06. | |
December. And that was significantly below analysts' expectations. What | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
is happening to the world's biggest smart phone maker? Earlier I asked | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
Jake Saunders. It's been a squeeze, should be a | :01:16. | :01:21. | |
fabulous number, but the markets aren't impressed. The revenue number | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
overall increased, the profit has been squeezed, it shows they are | :01:26. | :01:29. | |
under pressure. That squeeze, when you think about half their revenue | :01:30. | :01:33. | |
comes from mobile advice is, that the net result, other companies | :01:34. | :01:41. | |
getting traction traction in places like India, a very strong smartphone | :01:42. | :01:45. | |
market, the smart phone market growing a little over 2% in 2015. | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
They will have a tough time and with these economic headwinds they will | :01:52. | :01:54. | |
have a tough time. Not only challenging for Samsung but all the | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
other smartphone app makers. How should Samsung compete against the | :02:01. | :02:07. | |
iPhone and other cheaper rivals? They are trying to clean up their | :02:08. | :02:11. | |
portfolio and the F six didn't do particularly well. The one with the | :02:12. | :02:17. | |
curved screen came along and that helped them get some traction in the | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
second half of 2015. In February they are planning to come up with | :02:23. | :02:26. | |
the S7, that could go head to head with the top end of the market. But | :02:27. | :02:28. | |
there are challenges at the bottom end as | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
well. Jaque unders. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
after a two-day meeting in the US but has left the day open to more | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
gradual rate heights this year -- Jake Sanders. Janet Yellen, the | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
central bank chief, and her board members increased borrowing costs | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
for the first time in almost a decade last December and markets are | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
closely watching its next move. Michelle Fleury has more from New | :02:57. | :02:57. | |
York. America's Central Bank is keeping | :02:58. | :03:03. | |
its options open, even as it said growth in the world's biggest | :03:04. | :03:09. | |
economy had slowed. Weeks after raising rates Bramham record lows, | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
it stay the same on Wednesday. They said they wanted more time to study | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
the increased weakness in the economy. In a statement published | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
after the two-day policy meeting, it said it is closely monitoring global | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
economies and markets. Some economists said they now expect | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
three quarters point rate increases this year rather than the Force that | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
had been pencilled in. But no one can be sure -- four. The Fed did not | :03:36. | :03:41. | |
commit to slowing its place of rate increases. That perhaps explains why | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
US markets fell on the news. US investors hoping for a clear single | :03:47. | :03:51. | |
that the Fed would move more slowly this year were disappointed. | :03:52. | :03:53. | |
Michelle Fleury in New York. Another business news making headlines, | :03:54. | :03:59. | |
shares of Facebook have jumped by 6% in extended US trading after it | :04:00. | :04:03. | |
reported better than expected earnings. The world's biggest social | :04:04. | :04:07. | |
network software first-quarter revenue rose to a record $5.8 | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
billion, due to high advertising sales on mobile devices. Profits | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
coming in at 79 cents per share, beating analyst predictions by 68 | :04:19. | :04:23. | |
cents. The collapse in oil prices is hitting the central Asian nation of | :04:24. | :04:28. | |
Azerbaijan, particularly hard. The oil exporter is facing a currency | :04:29. | :04:32. | |
crisis and could require a financial bailout. Officials from The | :04:33. | :04:36. | |
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are ported Lee heading | :04:37. | :04:39. | |
there this week to discuss a possible $4 billion emergency loan | :04:40. | :04:47. | |
package -- are reportedly. It's a natural gas which could power and | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
other resources boom in Australia. Coal seam gas is banned in coal | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
deposits and it has supplied 90% of domestic gas in the state of | :04:57. | :04:59. | |
Queensland over the last two decades. But activists want to stop | :05:00. | :05:04. | |
exploration in neighbouring New South Wales because they say it is | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
an environmental catastrophe. The BBC's film so went to a protest near | :05:10. | :05:12. | |
the farming town of Nehra bright. Desperate measures. With the lock | :05:13. | :05:24. | |
around his neck, a farmer demonstrates against an industry | :05:25. | :05:28. | |
that he says has the potential to ruin some of Australia's prime | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
agricultural land. We're being forced to do this because the | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
government are backing this people and the government will not listen | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
to the people. We have made it clear we don't want this coal seam gas. In | :05:41. | :05:45. | |
this part of the world in the dry scrub of New South Wales, water is | :05:46. | :05:51. | |
critical to the survival of farming families. Anti-coal seam gas | :05:52. | :05:55. | |
industry here near Narrabri has faced community opposition for more | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
than five-year is. And the main concern is the effect on | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
groundwater. This is a risky, dangerous industry. Invariably we've | :06:05. | :06:09. | |
seen in other jurisdictions, Queensland, the United States, | :06:10. | :06:12. | |
groundwater contaminated. Water is more precious than short-term | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
profits from unconventional gas. Under my feet are the also seems | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
that contain the gas. It's trapped by the pressure of underground water | :06:22. | :06:29. | |
-- are the coal seams. For some the protest, process amounts to | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
environmental vandalism. For others it's an economic boom. $50 million | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
has been spent developing coal seam gas reserves in Eastern Australia. | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
Exports to Australia have also begun. Santos, the energy company | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
hoping to start production near Narrabri, said the project could | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
provide half of the natural gas used in the state of New South Wales. | :06:55. | :06:59. | |
Business leaders in the region say the community is mostly supportive | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
of the scheme. It's our duty now as leaders here to develop whatever we | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
can in a suitable, Safeway for the future. Narrabri has done extremely | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
well out of coal seam gas, particularly out of Santos, who have | :07:14. | :07:17. | |
been a model of corporate citizens in this area. They generally care | :07:18. | :07:22. | |
about the community, that's the truth. Despite concerns from | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
campaigners, the petroleum industry says that any credible scientific | :07:27. | :07:32. | |
study in Australia, Britain and the United States confirms | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
is safe when properly regulated. But Australia must find a way to balance | :07:37. | :07:41. | |
its economic necessities with its environmental obligations. | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
For more on this issue we are joined now by Steve Wright from the energy | :07:46. | :07:52. | |
resource centre, an industry funded group that promotes gas projects in | :07:53. | :07:56. | |
Australia. Great to have you with us on Asia Business Report. We heard | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
from Phil Mercer that there is a huge domestic market for coal seam | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
gas, but what is the potential to export this in Asia? Good to be | :08:06. | :08:16. | |
here. It is a very big potential and that is why it has been such a great | :08:17. | :08:20. | |
investment by Santos and other Australian companies as well as | :08:21. | :08:25. | |
global names. As we've seen in the US, investment in LNG can be very | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
good for the reduction in greenhouse gases. The development of a strong | :08:30. | :08:37. | |
industry of LNG into Asia in the developing countries and the | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
established countries will help as an interim towards a more heavily | :08:43. | :08:48. | |
renewable energy future. But Mr Wright, opponents are saying coal | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
seam gas poses threats to water and agriculture in particular. Why is | :08:53. | :08:58. | |
the industry so sure it is safe? Well, that is a claim that is made | :08:59. | :09:02. | |
but the claim that there is evidence of groundwater contamination is not | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
backed up by science or any respected analysis either in | :09:09. | :09:13. | |
Australia or in the United States or in Europe. There have been many | :09:14. | :09:17. | |
claims but none have been substantiated. In fact, the New | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
South Wales chief scientists conducted an 18 month enquiry and | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
studied in Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, and overseas, | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
and came to the conclusion that there was a lot of misinformation | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
about coal seam gas and natural gas. But a lot of companies have | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
already been sanctioned for water contamination and other violations | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
in the past. Why should we issue regulations are strong enough? In | :09:44. | :09:47. | |
New South Wales the regulations are regarded as one of the strongest in | :09:48. | :09:51. | |
the world, if not the strongest in the world. While there have been | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
reports of surface water, water sitting on the surface of the ground | :09:56. | :09:59. | |
having had accidental spills, they have been very small and they have | :10:00. | :10:03. | |
been cleaned up quickly without damage to the environment. As you | :10:04. | :10:08. | |
mentioned in the introduction, Queensland has been operating | :10:09. | :10:11. | |
successfully producing natural gas now for almost 20 years. In South | :10:12. | :10:15. | |
Australia, it's been going since the nineteen sixties. And a first | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
natural gas was actually put to use 100 years ago in Queensland -- | :10:21. | :10:27. | |
nineteen sixties. Steve Wright from the Energy Resource Centre. I'm Rico | :10:28. | :10:30. | |
Hizon. Thanks for joining us. Goodbye for now. | :10:31. | :10:34. | |
Scientists have warned it could be ten years before a Zika virus | :10:35. | :10:41. |