16/08/2016 Asia Business Report

The former Aston Villa striker Mr Atkinson has died. He suffered a

cardiac arrest as he was being taken to hospital.

Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live from Singapore.

Full-year results from mining behemoth BHP Billiton. How is it

whether in with the mining industry slowdown? And cheaper, greener cars.

How is Nissan Motors from Japan on track to meet those goals?

Good morning, Asia. Hello, world. I'm Rico Hizon. Thank you for

investing your time in us. This is Asia Business Report. It's a

Tuesday. Copper, oil, these are BHP Billiton's main stock. They are

reporting their full-year earnings and the market is reporting huge

losses, with some estimates close to 6 billion US dollars. Last month, in

the fourth quarter update, they'd miss targets for iron ore and

lowered its gas outputs. All of this comes along low demand for the

biggest commodity customer, China. Our reporter in Sydney says this

isn't the only factor behind its losses. They are likely to announce

their largest loss ever. They are coming from the Americas, in

particular, the US energy operations. They will take that down

almost $5 billion. That is the largest write-down by a mining

company ever. And they will also have the Samarco mining disaster

factored into that. $1.2 billion. That is over 6 billion already.

Given that we have an underlying profit of 600 billion, it looks like

it will be in the loss margin of 6 billion. This looks like an

extraordinary change for BHP Billiton. But it is also affecting

commodities. Demand is starting to pick up with prices. Only three

years ago the HP announced a profit of $4.4 billion for a single year,

their best ever. But sliding demand has hit their operations. They are

working hard to keep it going. There are signs in the commodity prices,

in particular iron ore and oil, they have stabilised. Demand may be

ageing back towards equilibrium again. That is good news for

long-term BHP Billiton investors are. What will this mean for job

prospects for them? Unfortunately, many of the job losses have already

occurred. They have been on this bent for the last three years. There

were significant losses, especially in northern Australia. It looks like

that have been paired back and shouldn't mean any more job losses

in the next 12 months. What are you looking for in the next 12 months in

terms of commodity prices and earnings for BHP? Therefore, major

commodities are key. A more positive outlook for iron ore and the energy

complex means two out of four working well for them. But there are

concerns about the oversupply in the market. While the commodity market

may have stabilised, at this stage there is no sign of an upturn. The

trading floor of the markets in Sydney. Chinese stock is surging to

a seven-month high. That is after speculation of more stimulus from

the Central Bank. Their index kicked off the week with more than double

the normal trading volume two post its best two-day climb since March.

Shares listed have been among the world's best stock performers in

August. Stay with us on Asia Business Report as we will be

bringing you analysts is what this means for mainland stocks. That is

coming up in the next hour when mainland markets resume trading in

Shanghai and Shenzhen. Show voters have voted to accept the buying out

of the commercial property unit in Hong Kong for $4.4 billion. Trading

in shares owned by China's richest man were suspended on Monday ahead

of an expected delisting. They are looking to refloat in China at a

later date. Thailand's economy is expanding more than ever expect it

in this quarter. That is due to increased spending on road and rail

projects. Gross Domestic Product, GDP, expanded by 3.5% in the three

months until June compared to levels a year ago. Infrastructure spending

is a sign to offset weak demand for Thai exports. The United Nations

nuclear watchdog is warning of a growing threat from terrorism

involving nuclear material. The head of the International Atomic Energy

Agency told the BBC that the agency has already seeing evidence of the

legal nuclear materials being transported across borders. Our Asia

Business Report correspondent asked him about the possibility of a

nuclear attack in Asia. Whether based you'll material or attack, the

danger exists of terrorists acquiring it. -- whether they steal

We have been maintaining the database since 1995 and have

collected a lot of information. Not all of it points towards a serious

incident, but some of it is pointing towards real danger. You have talked

about cyber security as a major issue for nuclear power plants. That

nuclear terrorists could hack into these digital systems and take the

plants over. How much of an issue is this the age? Nuclear power plants

are operating by a digital system. If the hackers entered the system,

they can alter the data or steal it or compromise the operations. This

is a real danger. Such an attack has already taken place. Two or three

years ago, that was. It was a real case. Much electricity was suspended

for a long time. After everything you have described, why is nuclear

energy still a viable option? This is a source of energy. It does not

emit climate change. This is serious. It can provide a base load,

that means a huge amount of electricity in a stable manner. And,

it will bring maintained economic prosperity and development goals.

These are some of the reasons that member states include nuclear

energy. Also, energy security is very important for some countries.

The energy chief speaking to our correspondent. Ever since cars

became the great villains of climate change there has been a scramble to

develop these kinds of vehicles, electric ones. One area that has

seen massive investment are solar-powered batteries. Most of

this relies on hydrogen cells. It is a very expensive process. Nissan

seems to have found an alternative solution. Let's take a look. FUNK

It is a fuel cell system that will transform it into hydrogen. Hydrogen

will become electricity. And you charge your battery. In Brazil, it

is available in gas stations. Our duty as carmakers is to show

what we can do and let them decide. Before we go, a quick look at the

markets. Currently flat and lower. They are negative territory despite

the stocks at record highs. Thank you so much for joining us. I am

Rico Hizon. Goodbye for now.