:00:00. > :00:10.the force be with your wallet. Why parents in Asia are spending so much
:00:11. > :00:14.a birthday parties like this. It is Tuesday. Glad you could join us for
:00:15. > :00:20.this edition of Asia Business Report. I'm Rico Hizon. The new Tata
:00:21. > :00:25.group chairman takes up office today, ending one of India's most
:00:26. > :00:29.public boardroom spats. A bitter feud was sparked with its
:00:30. > :00:34.predecessor, when he was fired last year. Tata owns more than 100
:00:35. > :00:38.companies and is one of the oldest businesses in the country. So what
:00:39. > :00:45.are the top issues waiting for the new boss?
:00:46. > :00:50.Seeking divine help, this man is all set to lead one of India's oldest
:00:51. > :00:57.businesses, the Tata Group. He is the first person out of India's
:00:58. > :01:01.community to be appointed to the post. After an acrimonious stand-off
:01:02. > :01:07.with its previous chairman, it will be a huge shift here at the
:01:08. > :01:13.headquarters of Tata. He is the seventh chairman of the Tata Group.
:01:14. > :01:17.He spent his entire professional life inside the group. He is popular
:01:18. > :01:21.amongst employees and has long in the favourite for the new role. It
:01:22. > :01:27.is lower -- it is largely accepted that the task ahead of him is
:01:28. > :01:34.nothing more -- short of monumental. The Tata Group has interests ranging
:01:35. > :01:37.from steel and cars to salt and tea. But many other companies have been
:01:38. > :01:43.struggling in recent years. Luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover and TCS
:01:44. > :01:47.are generating enough profits to keep the group afloat. Together they
:01:48. > :01:51.account for more than half of the combined revenues. So Natarajan
:01:52. > :01:55.Chandrasekaran's first challenge would be to reduce the dependence on
:01:56. > :02:02.these two businesses and turnaround others.
:02:03. > :02:08.His second big challenge will be making a decision the future of Tata
:02:09. > :02:17.Steel in the UK, when it has suffered heavy losses. Union workers
:02:18. > :02:26.backed the move towards saving Britain's largest steel producer.
:02:27. > :02:35.His other challenge will be the global uncertainty are round the IT
:02:36. > :02:39.industry. TCS is the jewel in the crown for Tata Group, contributing
:02:40. > :02:43.40% of its profit. But that's now threatened as a new US bill aims to
:02:44. > :02:47.limit the entry of high skilled workers. With over 100 group
:02:48. > :02:53.companies, many analysts compared the Tata Group to a lumbering
:02:54. > :03:02.elephant, but Mr Chandrasekaran has the experience and many hope he will
:03:03. > :03:06.have success with a conglomerate. There is indeed a gift for
:03:07. > :03:12.shareholders, as he takes over today. The group's outsourcing
:03:13. > :03:16.company says it will spend a whopping 2.4 million dollars to buy
:03:17. > :03:20.back shares. TCS shares jumped on Monday after the company said it
:03:21. > :03:24.would buy back their shares at a price 20% higher than on Friday.
:03:25. > :03:29.Moving to other news making headlines. Trading in shares of
:03:30. > :03:32.Fairfax media have been halted this morning news that the company is
:03:33. > :03:38.considering is reeling off domain. That is its online real estate
:03:39. > :03:42.classified business. Major shareholders have been asking
:03:43. > :03:48.management to sell Domain, which they believe could be worth billions
:03:49. > :03:51.of dollars. Toshiba wants to raise nearly $9 billion by selling a
:03:52. > :03:55.majority stake in its business, according to Reuters. The troubled
:03:56. > :03:59.Japanese companies under pressure to raise money after revealing a $6
:04:00. > :04:08.billion write-down due to its US nuclear business. Part of the
:04:09. > :04:13.company has been reluctant to sell a majority stake.
:04:14. > :04:20.Unilever's rejection of a merger with Heinz has seen the stock fall
:04:21. > :04:26.by 9%, before clawing back some losses to close about 7% lower. The
:04:27. > :04:31.sharp fall follows the collapse of a takeover deal which would have been
:04:32. > :04:36.the biggest in corporate history. Banking giant HSBC reports its
:04:37. > :04:42.full-year numbers later today. The shares have surged over the past six
:04:43. > :04:46.months in part course of a $2.5 billion buyback programme. Also a
:04:47. > :04:54.weaker pound since Brexit mail, it was the UK-based lender does most of
:04:55. > :05:00.the business abroad. Andrew Sullivan explained what we can expect. They
:05:01. > :05:03.would have turned to profit in the last quarter, which will be
:05:04. > :05:08.encouraging. A lot of that is because the year-on-year basis is a
:05:09. > :05:13.very bad quarter in 2015. It was a disaster, the last quarter. Yes. But
:05:14. > :05:17.things have been improving. We put a lot of structures in place.
:05:18. > :05:21.Cost-cutting was one of the majors things mentioned last year, so it
:05:22. > :05:26.will be interesting to see how far they've got with that. Will the bank
:05:27. > :05:30.react to potentially 2-3 rate hikes in the US this year? A rate hike
:05:31. > :05:35.should be good for them. That interest margin should increase as
:05:36. > :05:39.the rates go up, but it is still a very competitive with us. It is not
:05:40. > :05:44.like they can immediately erase the rates. It is competitive and they
:05:45. > :05:48.will have to stay on their toes. What about return in equity in their
:05:49. > :05:52.Hong Kong business? The Hong Kong business has held up quite well and
:05:53. > :05:57.one of the key thing is what they will do with the US. You mentioned
:05:58. > :06:02.share buybacks. A lot of that has come out of cash they taken out of
:06:03. > :06:06.US operations, but obviously with Trump saying you have to be in
:06:07. > :06:12.America to deal with America that could be problems with that.
:06:13. > :06:18.Speaking of President Trump, trade finance is an integral part of
:06:19. > :06:23.Asia's business and they have major businesses in China and Mexico,
:06:24. > :06:30.which are currently the focus of President Trump. -- HSBC's business.
:06:31. > :06:34.What will they do? I think they will focus on saying we still have the
:06:35. > :06:38.household industry, we are still HSBC USA, which will be crucial.
:06:39. > :06:45.Obviously a lot of the money last year came out of the share buybacks.
:06:46. > :06:48.The question is that it opens them up to the regulators as well. That
:06:49. > :06:53.was Andrew Sullivan on HSBC. How much money did your mum spend on
:06:54. > :06:56.your fifth birthday party? These days children's parties are becoming
:06:57. > :07:00.increasingly more elaborate and expensive. As part of our business
:07:01. > :07:07.of kids series, we met some top-notch party planners who are
:07:08. > :07:13.cashing in on the opportunity. Laser lighting, storm troopers,
:07:14. > :07:20.Darth Vader. It looks like a big old way production, but it's not. It's a
:07:21. > :07:27.kids birthday party in Singapore, which cost $150,000. Planning such
:07:28. > :07:35.parties has become big business. Meet Tanya, the party plan behind
:07:36. > :07:39.this costly soirees. She sorts everything out from the Cape to the
:07:40. > :07:43.venue and even doubles up as an entertainer. Are you ready to have
:07:44. > :07:47.some fun? Boast of them have an idea of how much they will spend. We
:07:48. > :07:51.don't mention money to the kids, as the kids are just kids and they
:07:52. > :07:54.don't understand that concept. But if the kids really want to have a
:07:55. > :08:01.particular thing, then the parents might go, OK, we will have it. On
:08:02. > :08:07.average parents coming to her have budgets of just over $2000 for kids
:08:08. > :08:15.as young as one. But it would always need a party planner. For parents
:08:16. > :08:19.like this, a party for their 100 day old baby is more than just a fun
:08:20. > :08:24.celebration. It is part of tradition. Historically, it is kind
:08:25. > :08:29.of like the Chinese one-month party, a celebration to say we are out of
:08:30. > :08:34.the woods, the baby made it. These days it's a little bit more like the
:08:35. > :08:38.parents are still alive after 100 days. They've invited their friends
:08:39. > :08:42.to an ice cream themed party and are giving it the personal touch. In
:08:43. > :08:47.line with the trend of big budgets, it is being held at one of
:08:48. > :08:51.Singapore's most luxurious hotels, where celebrities like Madonna have
:08:52. > :09:00.stayed. High end event planner augur offers advice. I think it's a bit of
:09:01. > :09:04.peer pressure. -- plan A Olga. If one person holds a big party is an
:09:05. > :09:11.indication for other parents to do a similar thing. So as parents strive
:09:12. > :09:15.to create memories of that special day, it could also mean a lot of
:09:16. > :09:17.money going up in a puff of smoke, law and after the candles are blown
:09:18. > :09:26.out. Expensive parties for young kids!
:09:27. > :09:30.YouTube plans to scrap the 32nd advertisements that you normally can
:09:31. > :09:36.skip. You won't have to watch them on the video stream service from
:09:37. > :09:40.next year. Google confirmed the plans want to focus on formats that
:09:41. > :09:45.work well for users and advertisers. Before we go, a quick look at the
:09:46. > :09:49.markets. As you can see on the screen is trading is very thin in
:09:50. > :09:55.Asia at the moment. This is because US markets remain shut for the
:09:56. > :10:01.holidays. Wall Street reopens and investors await reports on economic
:10:02. > :10:05.data and minutes from the Fed's meeting. Thanks for investing your
:10:06. > :10:07.time with us. Sport Today is a