:00:00. > :00:14.All the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:25.Digging a hole. A mining giant sees its first loss in more than 16
:00:26. > :00:27.years. Paying for plastic. Indonesia has a massive problem with plastic
:00:28. > :00:42.bags. Good morning. Glad you could join us
:00:43. > :00:52.for Asia Business Report. I am rigger he's on. -- I am Rico Hizon.
:00:53. > :01:01.BHP Billiton has a loss of 5.7 billion US dollars. It has slashed
:01:02. > :01:08.its dividend by 75%. The first loss in more than 16 years. Like many of
:01:09. > :01:14.its rivals it suffered from the collapse in commodity prices. They
:01:15. > :01:19.suffered a second downgrade. I spoke to David, a resource analyst from
:01:20. > :01:28.Sydney. I asked him about the main points he took. The first item, the
:01:29. > :01:36.primary driver for BHP, its first significant loss, is the fact that
:01:37. > :01:39.the nearly $8 billion in profit pulled out because of the lower
:01:40. > :01:43.commodity prices, that is a significant amount of profit they
:01:44. > :01:49.have lost. They could not make up the downward move. It clawed back a
:01:50. > :01:53.little bit through currencies and a little bit through the cost saving
:01:54. > :02:00.initiatives they have been undertaking for some time. Very
:02:01. > :02:03.challenging times indeed. Are these losses likely to pile up in the
:02:04. > :02:09.second half of the financial year from January to June? In the second
:02:10. > :02:13.half of the year we are looking for commodity prices to improve
:02:14. > :02:19.modestly. That improvement should be enough to see the second-half result
:02:20. > :02:26.being a little more positive. We would expect that after the
:02:27. > :02:32.full-year report for BHP it will be a tale of two halves. The first
:02:33. > :02:41.half, very poor, and the second with recovery. Iron ore and other metals
:02:42. > :02:44.have depressed the earnings of BHP Billiton. But one of that is they
:02:45. > :02:55.have over other rivals is that it has a major unit with 37% of
:02:56. > :03:00.earnings, from oil. -- one advantage. It is rebounding. We have
:03:01. > :03:07.seen an improvement in the oil price but also the iron ore price. Both of
:03:08. > :03:12.those commodities are key to their performance in the second half.
:03:13. > :03:19.Briefly, what if China's economic growth continues to slow down? This
:03:20. > :03:23.has been a linchpin for companies like BHP Billiton. Definitely. When
:03:24. > :03:27.you look at what China is doing, if you look at the imports of
:03:28. > :03:32.commodities China is bringing into that country, even though the
:03:33. > :03:37.economy has been slowing for a number of months, over 1.5 years,
:03:38. > :03:41.the amount of commodities they are importing is actually rising. We
:03:42. > :03:46.believe they are looking at the rest of the world and are maintaining
:03:47. > :03:56.their own domestic supply and are buying up very cheap imported in
:03:57. > :04:02.what it sees. -- commodities. Bad news for Qantas. They have a lower
:04:03. > :04:07.oil price and weaker Australian dollar. They have a record profit
:04:08. > :04:12.before tax of 665 million US dollars. That is more than double
:04:13. > :04:21.the profits for the same period last year. Virtual reality. A mobile
:04:22. > :04:25.industry in Barcelona believes connecting everything to the
:04:26. > :04:30.Internet is the next big challenge. Many mobile companies are betting
:04:31. > :04:36.that they will take off this year. -- virtual reality. It is an
:04:37. > :04:44.industry obsessed with getting connected. The Mobile world is
:04:45. > :04:49.turning to things. Cars are already going on line. The SIM card in this
:04:50. > :04:55.one turns it into a Wi-Fi hot what and tells the garage it needs a
:04:56. > :05:02.service. -- hotspot. And farmers can monitor their cows through their
:05:03. > :05:06.phones. Even this bike is on line. It has a light that flash is more
:05:07. > :05:12.when you are riding into danger. That makes the city streets safer.
:05:13. > :05:18.And what about your dog? It is soon to be hooked up to the Internet
:05:19. > :05:24.through its collar. It allows you to know were your dog is. A nice and
:05:25. > :05:29.simple application. It will be affordable and available. As well as
:05:30. > :05:32.connecting every object on earth they have another obsession,
:05:33. > :05:42.disappearing into a virtual world. Here we go. Wow. Virtual reality is
:05:43. > :05:47.everywhere. That is shown by the thrilling experiences you can have.
:05:48. > :05:53.It is the cheaper version where you slot a phone-in to your headset
:05:54. > :05:57.which first introduced people to the technology. -- phone in. For the
:05:58. > :06:03.first time you can take your phone that is always with you and put it
:06:04. > :06:05.into an affordable device and transport yourself anywhere around
:06:06. > :06:14.the world and get experience is A can't buy. -- experiences money
:06:15. > :06:20.can't. We want to turn any space into a car showroom? This
:06:21. > :06:27.application allows you to do that. It isn't for everybody. Not everyone
:06:28. > :06:31.can wear one of those headsets. Many people feel dizzy. With augmented
:06:32. > :06:37.reality it is a different experience we can take to everybody. Mobile
:06:38. > :06:43.phones is to be about making phone calls. Now, this industry feels that
:06:44. > :06:50.they can change every aspect of our lives. -- used to be. Do you use
:06:51. > :06:55.plastic bags to carry your shopping? In Indonesia, it is a massive
:06:56. > :07:02.problem, with rivers and oceans clogged with waste like this. It is
:07:03. > :07:06.damaging fishing and tourism. The government is trying to change
:07:07. > :07:13.consumer behaviour with shops introducing a fee for plastic bags.
:07:14. > :07:19.It is a trial before it goes nationwide. We are checking it out
:07:20. > :07:25.in Jakarta. A sea of plastic. Indonesia is the world's
:07:26. > :07:31.second-biggest ocean polluter. Every year, the country produces more than
:07:32. > :07:35.a million tons of traffic waste. -- plastic. Much of it ends up in the
:07:36. > :07:43.water. Now, the government is trying to cut the waste by taking people
:07:44. > :07:50.pay for plastic bags. It is only 14 cents a bag. The government should
:07:51. > :07:56.increase the price. 14 cents is too cheap. If it is more expensive,
:07:57. > :08:01.people will be reluctant to buy them. That is better. If shoppers
:08:02. > :08:07.are concerned about paying for banks, will this cut down their
:08:08. > :08:14.use? -- bags. And not everyone is following the rules. It has been
:08:15. > :08:18.implemented since Sunday but I just bought some biscuits and was offered
:08:19. > :08:27.a free plastic bag. Oil retailers implement the new plant? -- Will. --
:08:28. > :08:31.plan. The manager says that because it is only being trialled the
:08:32. > :08:38.company has decided to wait before making all their stores implement
:08:39. > :08:45.it. It takes effort and we have to train our staff. Retailers like this
:08:46. > :08:53.one say they are responsible for only eight Earth of Indonesia plus
:08:54. > :08:59.match waste. -- a small part. The next aim is supermarkets. The new
:09:00. > :09:04.policy does not apply to them. The government recognises the challenge.
:09:05. > :09:13.TRANSLATION: This is still a trial period. This is to influence peoples
:09:14. > :09:21.behaviour. -- people's. I hope people will use them wisely. It is
:09:22. > :09:27.clear there is a long way to go before Indonesian consumers decide
:09:28. > :09:31.to do away with plastic bags. But, environmentalists say that at least
:09:32. > :09:35.the government has taken the first step. Before we go, a quick look at
:09:36. > :09:45.the markets. Asian stocks are moving sideways.
:09:46. > :09:51.Giving up some early gains. This is despite US stocks jumping overnight
:09:52. > :10:04.and the price of oil surging again, lifting energy cost as well as
:10:05. > :10:15.mining company cost. -- costs. All Ords is down a ten of a per cent. --
:10:16. > :10:22.tenth. Wall Street, the major indixes, gaining 1.5%. Thank you for
:10:23. > :10:32.investing your time with us on Asia Business Report. I am Rico Hizon.
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