04/05/2017 Asia Business Report

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

Facebook's revenues beat expectations. Now the social media

giant is promising to tackle violent content. And find out why this young

entrepreneur says Rick first is the best and the worst time of his day

-- says it first. Good morning. Glad you could join us

for this Thursday edition of Asia Business Report. The social media

giant Facebook reported an $8 billion in quarterly revenues,

fuelled by strong growth in its mobile advertising business. It says

1.94 billion people are now using Facebook and that's up 17% from one

year ago. Facebook has given us a taste of what it might do with some

of its earnings. The company promised to hire 3000 new people to

monitor and remove violent content. Earlier I spoke to our North America

technology correspondent and asked what Facebook hopes to gain from

this move. One of the big clouds hanging over Facebook at the moment

is that despite these fantastic profits and the growing revenues,

it's eighth consecutive quarter where it revenues have grown, but

despite that the thing that hangs over them are things like violence

on the platform, on things like Facebook Live, or general other

content. So the announcement they made earlier today, that they would

hire 3000 extra staff,, bringing the total number of staff is moderating

Facebook to just over 7000 people around the world. It signals the

intent that Facebook is taking the situation seriously and perhaps can

respond quicker to questionable content. You are right outside a

court. That's because Uber and Weymo are at

loggerheads over self driving technology?

I've been at court to hear the battle between the company that was

spun out of Google. It has accused Facebook of stealing itself driving

technology. It seems both sides of that case have squared off in court.

A very bitter battle. Waymo says that Uber concocted a conspiracy.

Uber denies it is doing any of that, saying it isn't using any of the

disputed technology that Waymo is so angry about. While we've been stood

here, and Uber self driving car has been circling this area. I don't

know if that is trolling or just a sign of power, but it is quite a

sight to see. That was Dave Lee in Silicon Valley. There were no

surprises from the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting. The

central bank kept the cost of borrowing on hold. It downplayed

week first quarter economic growth. It's a sign it is still track for

two more break hikes this year. Consumer spending continues to be

solid. Inflation has been running close to the Fed's target.

Australia's fourth-largest lender NAV reported a rise in profits,

boosted by lending growth. The bank's profits rose to $2.44

billion, however the company did signal concerns over slowing housing

price growth and a possible oversupply of inner-city apartments.

Indonesia's state-controlled mining company will resume exports this

month, with an initial shipment of 150,000 tons, expected to leave for

China in early May. The exports, after a three-year ban of raw

mineral exports, which the Indonesian government put in place

in 2014 to encourage investment in its projects. Donald Trump has

labelled it the failing New York Times, at the paper has posted its

best quarterly revenue growth in six years as the company added 308

thousand digital subscriptions in the quarter. Latest results, the

time when many traditional organisations are struggling. What's

driving the researchers, earlier we spoke to our business reporter in

New York and I asked if Mr Trump himself played a part in the paper's

strong results. Certainly as a businessman, as he says that he is,

he can appreciate just how much better the New York Times is doing

now than this time last year. In fact, if you look at the numbers, if

you look at just how much income New York Times made in this last

quarter, they made $13 million. Compare the exact same time the last

year. They actually reported a loss of $8 million. A big part of the

story of cause has to do with just the sheer number of new digital

subscribers that they've got and a big part of it has to do with the

political climate here in the US. It seems the New York Times is

succeeding where many newspaper and magazine publishers have struggled

amidst a host of websites and mobile apps delivering quick news for free?

Well, the New York Times is a subscription base and you do pay for

the service. The New York Times specifically isn't free. While we

can talk about the successes of digital and it is important to still

look at their print editions, that's where they are losing money. Their

ad revenue is down from the print editions. They aren't getting as

many advertisers for their print editions. But when you look at the

success of their digital platform, there are some pretty good pieces of

news for the bottom line at the New York Times. That was our business

reporter. In other business news, a better quarterly profit for KFC.

Sales grew by 2%, which was lower than expected profits jumping

because of lower operating costs. Sales rising 8% at Taco Bell

restaurants, more than double expectations. Part of its success

was strong sales in a taco with a fried chicken shell. After a few of

those you might need to get some exercise! Fit it has reported

quarterly revenues above its forecast. -- Fitbit. Shares are up

I7 .2% in after-hours trading. Investors are betting on it to

bolster sales after the company struggled with disappointing

profits. Immersive storytelling is a relatively new way of bringing

customers and audiences closer to a product or a message. It uses

virtual reality and tricks to make you feel like you are somewhere else

entirely. But is it a business made for millennials and how are they

running their companies? We found out more as part of our series Busy

Breakfast. This is where you come for your

morning coffee? Yes, it is. This is a pretty regular routine for you?

You come here and have a copy before you start work?

Your company deals with immersive storytelling. What is that?

Your office is in here. Let's go and have a look.

Do you want to try this? I would love to. What am I looking at?

We are relatively smart group. We are all good friends. This isn't an

easy job. When it communicate and finish some tasks together. It's not

like a traditional company in China. Breakfast and virtual reality. A

good combination and smack a quick look at the markets. A lacklustre

trading session in Asia, but some gains for the market that were

closed on Wednesday due to a public holiday. We have Japan up a 135

wins, resuming trade after yesterday's rate. The Hong Kong Hang

Seng index in positive territory by 81 points. The All Ords is in

negative territory by 12 points due to a fall in oil prices. Those are

the Asian markets. Names for investing your time with us. Sport

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