0:00:00 > 0:00:01He'll be sentenced later today.
0:00:01 > 0:00:04Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:17 > 0:00:23Apple, Alibaba, and is on and alphabet reporting strong news but
0:00:23 > 0:00:25will investors give
0:00:25 > 0:00:27alphabet reporting strong news but will investors give them an A+? From
0:00:27 > 0:00:34chicken farm to boardroom, the unusual career path of a tech CEO.
0:00:38 > 0:00:45I am Rico Hizon, you will watch it World Business Report. Good morning
0:00:45 > 0:00:50Asia, hello world. Corporate earnings in America and revenues
0:00:50 > 0:00:57have surged a long list of tech titans. Apple has reported quarter
0:00:57 > 0:01:08revenues of 80 $80 billion but iPhone sales fell short. -- 88.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13According to the latest earning reports Apple is selling fewer
0:01:13 > 0:01:17iPhones than it was last year but it may not be quite as bad as it
0:01:17 > 0:01:24sounds. The period it measures in the 17 was one week shorter than
0:01:24 > 0:01:29that in 2016 which may account for the drop of 1%. Also, because of the
0:01:29 > 0:01:35iPhone X, the average selling price has gone up to nearly $100 so while
0:01:35 > 0:01:41they were selling less, they were making more money on each one. --
0:01:41 > 0:01:47$800. Still they did not smash it out of the park and came in below
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Wall Street expectations which is why investors were a bit unnerved.
0:01:51 > 0:01:58While not a huge lot last quarter for Apple, it is certainly not a
0:01:58 > 0:02:05problem for the company going into the year.Alibaba also reported its
0:02:05 > 0:02:11latest numbers and it continues to grow bigger and bigger. Alibaba
0:02:11 > 0:02:19racing revenue forecasts after sales jumped 56% to 13 billion US dollars
0:02:19 > 0:02:28in the quarter. On top, it is buying one third of online business.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32Despite these fantastic numbers, stocks are down by 6%?That is
0:02:32 > 0:02:38because investors considered those figures to be a mixed result.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42Focusing on the good parts first, the sales jump so high and it is to
0:02:42 > 0:02:45do with the fact that Alibaba traditionally does well in this
0:02:45 > 0:02:52quarter because of November in Lavant, a sales day which broke
0:02:52 > 0:02:59records. It lifted all revenue figures. Another strong aspect has
0:02:59 > 0:03:04to do with cloud compute in. Alibaba investment in that business is
0:03:04 > 0:03:11paying off. -- computing. They are also extending further into online
0:03:11 > 0:03:25payment.What about the red flags? China's e-commerce market is showing
0:03:25 > 0:03:32signs of saturation. Alibaba is still king but they're at Davids
0:03:32 > 0:03:42taking on the Goliath. Offshore... Off-line retail. Particularly in the
0:03:42 > 0:03:48area of supermarket.They might be stretching themselves to thing. The
0:03:48 > 0:04:02main competitor is J.D. .Com. Amis on is also posting strong results.
0:04:02 > 0:04:14-- Amazon. Google's alphabet is surging past the billion dollar in
0:04:14 > 0:04:20revenue on strong online ad business but reported a $3 billion
0:04:20 > 0:04:27third-quarter loss due to a one-time tax charge. Airbnb does not plan to
0:04:27 > 0:04:32go public even though it is a profitable business. They say they
0:04:32 > 0:04:39are working on their timetable. Airbnb announced several big
0:04:39 > 0:04:43management changes. Its chief financial officer is living and they
0:04:43 > 0:04:49have appointed a new seat are over. Fahmy and will develop and other big
0:04:49 > 0:04:53winners in India's budget. The budget comes against an election in
0:04:53 > 0:04:57yet but India is battling an economic slowdown and so the
0:04:57 > 0:05:04government have to balance politics with economics. Can it impress
0:05:04 > 0:05:11voters and investors? As India's Finance Minister stepped out from
0:05:11 > 0:05:17his office, plenty of promise in the air, in the end, he delivered the
0:05:17 > 0:05:23budget many had expected. And within minutes of him starting his speech,
0:05:23 > 0:05:29it became clear what the government's main priority was...My
0:05:29 > 0:05:36government is committed to the welfare of the farmers because the
0:05:36 > 0:05:41policy has remained production centric. We are seeking a paradigms
0:05:41 > 0:05:47shift.The government is looking to improve the lives of the rural
0:05:47 > 0:05:53population and the government 's new scheme would ensure 500 million
0:05:53 > 0:05:56families, was perhaps the biggest announcement of the day, followed
0:05:56 > 0:06:01closely by corporate tax cuts for small business which many would hope
0:06:01 > 0:06:08would boost employment.It was fought registered companies rather
0:06:08 > 0:06:16than this must quantity and turnover. I think it is pragmatic
0:06:16 > 0:06:22and move that will be looked at very well.Unfortunately, a corporate tax
0:06:22 > 0:06:32reduction shows no evidence that the government will invest more.The
0:06:32 > 0:06:36government finances are already stretched and so it will be looking
0:06:36 > 0:06:39to sell stakes in public sector companies and it is also
0:06:39 > 0:06:44reintroducing a capital gains tax for health and education, a move
0:06:44 > 0:06:49which will increase the burden on the. The middle class will also lose
0:06:49 > 0:06:55out on the costs of consumer goods like phones and TVs. They will now
0:06:55 > 0:07:00be taxed at a high gear rate, an effort to boost domestic
0:07:00 > 0:07:03manufacturing. Industry experts in Delhi are not impressed with budget
0:07:03 > 0:07:09announcement calling many policies just token initiatives. The
0:07:09 > 0:07:14government is in a difficult spot. India wants and a percent quote rate
0:07:14 > 0:07:21at general elections are due in over a year. The focus of the budget is a
0:07:21 > 0:07:27rural areas, with two thirds of population living there. The finance
0:07:27 > 0:07:32and Prime Minister are hoping a broader base will be happy at the
0:07:32 > 0:07:38very least. The chief executive of one Seattle's most important
0:07:38 > 0:07:43publicly traded tech companies has a very different story to many
0:07:43 > 0:07:47business leaders. He spent most of his teenage years in the west
0:07:47 > 0:07:53African country of Togo before moving to France. At the time he had
0:07:53 > 0:07:58to dream stashed on in the chicken farm and plan for Paris St Germain.
0:07:58 > 0:08:04He never played for PSG but there was another completely different job
0:08:04 > 0:08:15waiting for him.Sometimes your first dreams do not pan out but I
0:08:15 > 0:08:19started engineering in front and undertook a career in technology.
0:08:19 > 0:08:27Join the communications industry in the late 90s and ended up joining F5
0:08:27 > 0:08:34five months ago.It is such a big challenge, running a publicly that a
0:08:34 > 0:08:40company in the US. Did you want to become a XCO?I did stop the
0:08:40 > 0:08:45technology industry attacks talent from all over the world and all
0:08:45 > 0:08:52types of background.What lessons did you learn from owning a chicken
0:08:52 > 0:08:57farm the dreams of becoming a footballer to becoming a chief
0:08:57 > 0:09:02executive?There are lots of similarities. You have to be
0:09:02 > 0:09:06tenacious, deal with adversity and some of the adversity you face in
0:09:06 > 0:09:18the chicken farm business.When you join you faced a lot of adversities,
0:09:18 > 0:09:22disappointing earnings numbers and you also had to lay off people.The
0:09:22 > 0:09:26company is going through a transition. We have a phenomenal
0:09:26 > 0:09:29opportunity in front of us because the world is going more digital. The
0:09:29 > 0:09:36currency is applications and F5 is really the only company in making
0:09:36 > 0:09:40all the applications go faster, smarter and safer.A big sigh of
0:09:40 > 0:09:45relief that last week you reported positive earnings in the last
0:09:45 > 0:09:50quarter?The results are going in the right direction and we are
0:09:50 > 0:09:57pleased with the progress. F5 support a lot of applications in
0:09:57 > 0:10:00data centres and we have the opportunity to support applications
0:10:00 > 0:10:08all over and our goal is to support any application anywhere.Beyond the
0:10:08 > 0:10:14F5, what are your dreams? Do you want to own your French football
0:10:14 > 0:10:21club?Maybe one day. Right now my dreams are centred around F5 and
0:10:21 > 0:10:29growing the company. We have a great opportunity in front of us.