:00:00. > :00:00.The Prime Minister has described Wood
:00:00. > :00:15.Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:16. > :00:21.Cheating on its tests. We look at the fallout from Mitsubishi's
:00:22. > :00:28.admission that it falsified fuel efficient data.
:00:29. > :00:30.KFC sales in China used in profits, but it is going ahead with the
:00:31. > :00:35.sell-off of its local operations. Good morning. It is Thursday. Glad
:00:36. > :00:50.you could join us. We start with Mitsubishi. The
:00:51. > :00:55.Japanese car manufacturing giant has admitted to falsifying fuel economy
:00:56. > :01:00.data to make its emissions look more favourable. This is the company's
:01:01. > :01:07.president apologising in the traditional Japanese way. The news
:01:08. > :01:14.is wiping $1.2 billion off its market value on Wednesday and
:01:15. > :01:19.currently the stock has a lot of sellers, but not enough buyers. So
:01:20. > :01:26.will investors be more forgiving and how damaging the B for his
:01:27. > :01:34.company's reputation. -- will it be. Some say it will have a
:01:35. > :01:40.detrimental impact but it isn't as impactful as the VW scandal. The
:01:41. > :01:52.number of vehicles in fact it is far lower. I would say it is a lesser
:01:53. > :01:57.scale, compared to Volkswagen. But Mitsubishi is not in the best of
:01:58. > :02:07.shape financially. How damaging be to their bottom line going forward?
:02:08. > :02:12.I think, as you said, there are $1.2 billion off their market cap. They
:02:13. > :02:19.will have to rebuild confidence. The reputational damage is massive.
:02:20. > :02:23.That's what will hurt them the most. There will be legal risks, they will
:02:24. > :02:28.take it. But the reputational damage is long-term and that is what will
:02:29. > :02:33.impact them the worst. Their competitor was the one that
:02:34. > :02:38.discovered this falsification of data. Could they also be affected by
:02:39. > :02:42.the fallout from Mitsubishi? They must be having some kind of
:02:43. > :02:46.arrangement, because these vehicles were assembled by Mitsubishi. So I
:02:47. > :02:58.am sure they would have some legal agreement to pass on. To that extent
:02:59. > :03:01.Nissan's damage is less, but Mitsubishi needs to pick up the bill
:03:02. > :03:08.for whatever they have done. This also impacts that Japanese car
:03:09. > :03:13.industry, even though the likes of Toyota and Honda are not included in
:03:14. > :03:22.this scandal. Could they also be impacted in one way or another? If
:03:23. > :03:25.you bought the car now you would probably ask ten more questions
:03:26. > :03:31.before you do it. Because it is done in a manipulative way, that's what
:03:32. > :03:37.are the most. That was an auto analyst. In other news, lower
:03:38. > :03:43.first-quarter earnings have been reported off the back of weaker gold
:03:44. > :03:46.and copper prices. The US -based Newmont group is the world's second
:03:47. > :03:54.biggest gold miner by market value and it says its income is down from
:03:55. > :03:58.one year ago, but still well ahead from expectations. Results were
:03:59. > :04:06.helped by higher production and lower costs.
:04:07. > :04:09.Shares in the owner of off KFC says they are up I nearly 4% after the
:04:10. > :04:18.company reported better than expected quarterly numbers in New
:04:19. > :04:23.York. -- up I nearly. The Chinese company was tightlipped about the
:04:24. > :04:29.progress of its planned sale of its local operations. Here is our New
:04:30. > :04:34.York correspondent. The US investors greeted its latest
:04:35. > :04:39.earnings release with enthusiasm. Shares rose some 5% in after-hours
:04:40. > :04:44.trading, here in New York. Investors may have been especially pleased
:04:45. > :04:47.with the news from China. The Chinese division, which has
:04:48. > :04:52.struggled with everything from food scares to falling market share, has
:04:53. > :04:57.seen store sales grew 6% compared with one year ago. It's huge KFC
:04:58. > :05:03.operation did especially well. The performance of that business is
:05:04. > :05:06.likely to strengthen the hand in negotiations with potential buyers.
:05:07. > :05:13.China investment Corp is leading a group of investors reportedly in
:05:14. > :05:22.talks with Yum about buying a large stake or even complete ownership of
:05:23. > :05:26.the unit. Yum isn't ready to give any details about such a deal yet.
:05:27. > :05:30.Other than to say it is making progress with the plans to spin off
:05:31. > :05:35.the Chinese business first announced last year.
:05:36. > :05:39.While companies like Yum are planning to open more stores in
:05:40. > :05:43.Asia, many other Chinese companies are focusing their expansion plans
:05:44. > :05:47.on the West. But what are they buying and what does it tell us
:05:48. > :05:56.about the direction of the economy? How Asia business correspondent
:05:57. > :06:00.filed this report. -- our Asia. Everyone loves a good bargain and as
:06:01. > :06:05.economies in this part of the world slowdown prices have fallen as well.
:06:06. > :06:08.Which is one of the reasons why Chinese companies have been on a
:06:09. > :06:13.massive global shopping spree of, spending $80 billion buying up
:06:14. > :06:18.companies all over the world in the first three months of this year
:06:19. > :06:22.alone. That's at more than 300% in value terms. A record, but even in
:06:23. > :06:28.terms of volume the number of deals signed is up 51%. So, to put it
:06:29. > :06:33.simply, Chinese companies are buying up a lot more stuff this year than
:06:34. > :06:37.they have in previous years. But how are they slicing up the sectors?
:06:38. > :06:44.Nichols, consumer businesses and real estate stuck up the top. --
:06:45. > :06:49.chemicals. Part of that is skewed by a state owned firm's takeover of an
:06:50. > :06:54.agricultural company, worth some $43 billion. It is also a sign of how
:06:55. > :06:58.China's economy is transforming. It is a change in the Chinese economy,
:06:59. > :07:02.more towards a consumer driven economy, a services orientated
:07:03. > :07:06.economy and probably also a reflection of the growth of the
:07:07. > :07:09.middle class. Europe and the EU saw the biggest inflow of Chinese money,
:07:10. > :07:15.some 35% of their share. But again that's because of the agricultural
:07:16. > :07:18.deal. Asia also saw similar action, despite the political tension China
:07:19. > :07:22.has seen with neighbours in this part of the world. I think there's a
:07:23. > :07:25.pragmatism to the investment direction. I think there is a
:07:26. > :07:28.reflection of a longer term strategy, so a lot of those
:07:29. > :07:34.geopolitical issues arise from time to time. China's economic growth
:07:35. > :07:43.strategy, the one gold, one road strategy is a lot more long-term. As
:07:44. > :07:47.you came, Chinese companies are stepping -- snapping up assets all
:07:48. > :07:52.over the world to remain competitive. In the face of a
:07:53. > :07:54.slowing domestic economy, this is one way to remain profitable in
:07:55. > :07:59.other markets and if the first three months of this year are anything to
:08:00. > :08:07.go by Chinese companies are set for a record global shopping spree.
:08:08. > :08:12.Here is another opportunity where Chinese buyers are among the
:08:13. > :08:18.potential purposes. -- purchasers. Look at this, an entire town in
:08:19. > :08:22.Tasmania is up for sale. That's 145 hectares. And image you have 35
:08:23. > :08:30.Highland cattle, the church, a pub and a trout fishing dam and 33
:08:31. > :08:34.buildings! It was built in the 1920s and 30s for the workers of a nearby
:08:35. > :08:38.hydroelectric power station, but was largely abandoned in the 1990s.
:08:39. > :08:44.Recently the town in central Tasmania has been used for tourism.
:08:45. > :08:51.Now the owner is basically selling up and the interest is global. The
:08:52. > :08:53.manhandling the real estate says there has been an international
:08:54. > :08:58.interest, including a group of Chinese investors who view the site
:08:59. > :09:02.-- viewed the site last week. We've got a group of Chinese heading up
:09:03. > :09:09.there tomorrow. We've had interest from Singapore, as well as Dubai. So
:09:10. > :09:14.the interest has gone worldwide and yes we are certainly getting a lot
:09:15. > :09:19.of coverage. Tell us, what are the current bids for the village? We are
:09:20. > :09:24.expecting somewhere between 11 and 13 million. The actual real estate
:09:25. > :09:30.value of the whole town would be substantially more. The owner is
:09:31. > :09:34.certainly motivated to sell and our expectations are somewhere between
:09:35. > :09:37.that bracket. But there is some concern in Australia about selling
:09:38. > :09:43.off major properties to foreign investors. Will there be any
:09:44. > :09:49.concerns with this one in Tasmania? No, not in Tasmania. The property
:09:50. > :09:54.values are less than the ceiling of around 50 million, which means the
:09:55. > :10:03.purchaser from overseas will probably not be subject to the same
:10:04. > :10:07.approvals. Briefly, when do you think this village will be sold?
:10:08. > :10:15.When will it be signed and delivered? The expressions of
:10:16. > :10:19.interest close on the 19th of May. Hopefully we will receive a number
:10:20. > :10:25.of bids and we should know in a couple of weeks as to whether we
:10:26. > :10:29.have a buyer. Gains for Asian stock markets today after a rise in US
:10:30. > :10:34.equities overnight. Tokyo is up by 1.9%. Korean trade numbers are
:10:35. > :10:44.coming up. Thank you so much for investing your time with us.
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