:00:10. > :00:12.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock.
:00:13. > :00:15.Oil giant Shell posts a $6 billion loss compared to a year ago as
:00:16. > :00:18.falling prices and BIG write-downs drag on the bottom line.
:00:19. > :00:35.Live from London, that's our top story on Thursday 29th October.
:00:36. > :00:37.Across the board - Shell's results have nose dived,
:00:38. > :00:39.with plans for drilling in the Arctic and Alberta shelved.
:00:40. > :00:44.Can the oil giant turn its fortunes or is this the new normal?
:00:45. > :00:46.Also in the programme - the novel way to spread
:00:47. > :00:50.Google is on course to use helium balloons to connect
:00:51. > :01:03.And a mixed picture for markets. We will have all the details for you
:01:04. > :01:06.And we will be taking "time" out to talk about the
:01:07. > :01:08.lucrative business of selling high end watches and jewellery.
:01:09. > :01:11.Brian Duffy - the boss of Aurum Holdings - the biggest
:01:12. > :01:22.British distributor of Rolex and Cartier time pieces will join us.
:01:23. > :01:31.And as one woman admits to spending 6,000 dollars a week outsourcing her
:01:32. > :01:44.chores we want to know what would you pay someone else to do for you?
:01:45. > :01:47.Oil giant Shell has announced third quarter results
:01:48. > :01:50.The company posted a $6.1 billion loss -
:01:51. > :01:54.a huge slide into the red compared with a profit of $5.3 billion
:01:55. > :01:58.One of the main factors, unsurprisingly,
:01:59. > :02:02.Brent prices have been hovering around $50 a barrel
:02:03. > :02:05.and Shell has said that will cost them billions as the weak price is
:02:06. > :02:13.And that fall is dragging on Shell's market value.
:02:14. > :02:16.Shares are down by more than 17% since the beginning of the year.
:02:17. > :02:19.Another reason for the lacklustre share price - Shell's proposed
:02:20. > :02:31.After spending over $7 billion searching for oil in the Arctic, the
:02:32. > :02:35.company announced last month that it would be pulling out of the region
:02:36. > :02:42.It has written off $2.6 billion in this latest report.
:02:43. > :02:46.And another project was shelved just this week - Shell said it will take
:02:47. > :02:57.a $2 billion charge as it ends an oil-sands project in Alberta.
:02:58. > :03:04.Elet us get analysis. A lot of big numbers there and they are mostly
:03:05. > :03:09.bad news numbersers how bad is it? It is an enormous loss. It's the
:03:10. > :03:12.most valuable company in the FTSE 100, so what happens to Shell really
:03:13. > :03:16.matters. The thing is that projects that make
:03:17. > :03:18.sense when e most valuable company in the FTSE 100, so what happens to
:03:19. > :03:21.Shell really matters. The thing is that projects that make
:03:22. > :03:32.sense when oil is at 100 $s a barrel don't make sense at $48s a barrel.
:03:33. > :03:35.Also, the, parts of Russia where there are Shell projects there. So
:03:36. > :03:38.if you think of Shell like a sort of sinking balloon, what they are
:03:39. > :03:42.trying to do is chuck over the heaviest objects they have got to
:03:43. > :03:45.regain altitude because the gravitational pull is down because
:03:46. > :03:50.of the fall in oil prices we were talking about. And that going to
:03:51. > :03:54.stay in the downward direction and people are saying $50s a barrel is
:03:55. > :03:57.going to be the new normal for some time. How long will the blood
:03:58. > :04:01.letting last for? We have seen the same with BP and the boss of Shell
:04:02. > :04:06.have said, we need to make these businesses competitive, with oil at
:04:07. > :04:12.$50-60 a barrel. They are adjusting for a new normal. They are looking
:04:13. > :04:17.at places which are lower cost producing. As all of the additional
:04:18. > :04:22.supply sources get abandon the secure to low prices is low prices
:04:23. > :04:28.because people stop investing, the seeds of the future price spike in
:04:29. > :04:34.oil is being sown now. Don't rule out a return to high prices in the
:04:35. > :04:38.future. Investors are keeping the sweet ens in there, to keep
:04:39. > :04:43.investors pension funds onboard, to keep them hanging in. BP and Shell,
:04:44. > :04:48.between them paid something like 15% of all tiff depends in the FTSE 100,
:04:49. > :04:54.so they are massively important. So they are trying to keep investors on
:04:55. > :04:58.side. They know they will have to go back to them, so they need to keep
:04:59. > :05:01.them in return so they keep them onside. A lot more analysis on the
:05:02. > :05:04.business page online. Deutsche Bank has just announced
:05:05. > :05:07.it will axe 15,000 people from its The lender said it would cut 9,000
:05:08. > :05:10.full-time jobs and 6,000 external contractor
:05:11. > :05:12.positions as Germany's biggest bank It plans to dispose
:05:13. > :05:21.of $4.7 billion worth of assets. The bank has just reported a third
:05:22. > :05:29.quarter loss of $6.6 billion. Samsung posted
:05:30. > :05:34.its third-quarter earnings today, revealing that - the company is
:05:35. > :05:37.back to operating profit growth made $6.42 billion in operating
:05:38. > :05:42.profit during the Q3 period, a hefty The South Korean tech giant
:05:43. > :05:45.attributed its overall profit increase to
:05:46. > :05:47.strong shipment growth in its smartphones, including the S6 Edge+,
:05:48. > :05:59.the Note five, the A8, and the J5. The European Union says emissions
:06:00. > :06:02.tests for new models of cars will be changed to ensure that that harmful
:06:03. > :06:05.nitrogen oxides are measured under real-world driving conditions -
:06:06. > :06:07.not just in a test lab. The new rules will come
:06:08. > :06:10.into effect from 2017. Emission testing has come under
:06:11. > :06:12.scrutiny since the Volkwagen scandal when so called cheat software was
:06:13. > :06:30.used to manipulate results. It is looking at stories as they
:06:31. > :06:34.break. Let us look at some of the raking stories now. We mentioned
:06:35. > :06:37.Shell of course, there is lots of other companies with news, Lloyds
:06:38. > :06:42.bank, Barclays is very much in the news, we will talk about that later
:06:43. > :06:47.but Lloyds bank as well, share sale confirm. The crucial thing is that
:06:48. > :06:51.the Government stake below 10%. It has been slowly returning it to
:06:52. > :06:55.private hands, ahead of that big sell off at the end of the year.
:06:56. > :06:58.Some progress there. Progress for Lloyds, Barclays results have come
:06:59. > :07:03.through, we will talk about that in a second. There is more news about
:07:04. > :07:07.Deutsche Bank. All the banks have been to readjust their business
:07:08. > :07:12.models in a similar way to the oil giants, talking about Shell and BP.
:07:13. > :07:17.We have had Total earnings, the French oil company doing better than
:07:18. > :07:19.the likes of Shell, increasing its production, which is bucking the
:07:20. > :07:24.trend among the oil majors, Total Let's go to China,
:07:25. > :07:29.where a top-level Communist party meeting where the nation's economic
:07:30. > :07:31.and social policies for We're waiting for the official
:07:32. > :07:35.announcement - but expecting John Sudowrth is in the town
:07:36. > :07:39.of Rudong in Jiangsu province province once held up as a model
:07:40. > :07:50.for that policy, but now weighed There are too few young people to
:07:51. > :07:55.support the population. That is right. It's a County of one million
:07:56. > :08:00.or so people, and there has been nowhere in China that has been quite
:08:01. > :08:03.ass enthusiastic as this place, in terms of enforcing the one child
:08:04. > :08:08.policy, and the results are now everywhere to see. One of them,
:08:09. > :08:12.right here behind me. Closed schools, almost half of the schools
:08:13. > :08:17.in this County have closed their doors over the past decade or so.
:08:18. > :08:20.And although this has been the most enthusiastic enforcer of the one
:08:21. > :08:26.child policies, the rest of the country is not so far behind. So
:08:27. > :08:32.what they are looking at here, is staring into the abyss of that
:08:33. > :08:36.demographic time bomb. Falling birth rates, falling worker numbers and
:08:37. > :08:38.this real economic drag on growth, and that is why some people suggest
:08:39. > :08:48.that it is now high time that the issue, they have been encouraging to
:08:49. > :08:52.do so for a long time by analysts and advisers and a lot of
:08:53. > :08:54.speculation it will be at this party, in this plan we will see the
:08:55. > :09:04.back of the one child policy. As you say we could hear that announcement
:09:05. > :09:06.imminently. If they went from, to a two child policy is it would take
:09:07. > :09:30.decades get a communique this evening which
:09:31. > :09:33.may give us some hints about the sort of direction of travel. But
:09:34. > :09:37.analysts we have spoken to say that they are certain in the end it will
:09:38. > :09:40.be confirmed that this issue will be in there, although as you say, the
:09:41. > :09:45.big concern is that even allowing everybody to have two children will
:09:46. > :09:48.still not do enough to boost the population, and will still leave
:09:49. > :09:57.China with this giant change. Thank you John.
:09:58. > :10:05.So that is what the markets in the region are done, you see the Nikkei
:10:06. > :10:08.up 0.2%. Really all eyes on the fed last night, America's central bank
:10:09. > :10:15.signalling that interest rates could rise as soon as December, that was
:10:16. > :10:21.enough to push the Dow up. A tougher tone than its last meeting, but what
:10:22. > :10:25.is interesting is that tougher tone came despite weaker economic data.
:10:26. > :10:33.If you look at the data. The possibility of more moves by the
:10:34. > :10:36.European Central Bank, but, borrowing costing soared. We will
:10:37. > :10:40.get more on that in a moment but I want to take you to Europe. It has
:10:41. > :10:45.results from the likes of Barclay, results from the likes of Barclay,
:10:46. > :10:51.Shell, BT. Deutsche Bank, a mixed bag, that has left the markets mixed
:10:52. > :10:58.over the course of early trade. Bar kiss profited down sharply. Not a
:10:59. > :11:07.shuerge price. BT seeing a 15% rise in profit, and Santander up posting
:11:08. > :11:12.a near 5% rise in profit, but as we said Deutsche faring worse.
:11:13. > :11:15.Announcing plans to cut more jobs. But of coarse those details
:11:16. > :11:20.filletsering there. We will assess them later. What about the US? We
:11:21. > :11:24.have more on what we can expect out of the US today, particularly those
:11:25. > :11:28.long' waited GDP numbers. On Thursday we will get a look at
:11:29. > :11:34.American economic performance in the third quarter which is likely to
:11:35. > :11:41.show the US recovery is not as robust as thought. GDP expanded at a
:11:42. > :11:46.1.5% rate. If true, that would mark a slow down from the second quarter.
:11:47. > :11:50.The GDP report will serve as a barometer for how well the US is
:11:51. > :11:56.handling weakness oversea, growth was likely head back by trade and
:11:57. > :12:00.fallen exports. Analysts will see if lower oil prices encouraged more
:12:01. > :12:06.consumer spending and if the housing sector made gains, which could help
:12:07. > :12:19.off set the weak economy. Watch out for earnings results from MasterCard
:12:20. > :12:24.and Starbucks. Growth numbers coming out, other
:12:25. > :12:29.figure, earnings, give us your take on the US, in the light of the fed
:12:30. > :12:34.and last night. That is right. So the focus is now back to will the
:12:35. > :12:40.data be strong enough for the fed to move in December? Previously, last
:12:41. > :12:44.month in September, markets had assumed that rate rises for 2015
:12:45. > :12:57.were really off the table. It was a 2016 story. But last night, the
:12:58. > :13:01.commentary took away that... That bit about overseas economies and
:13:02. > :13:06.market, turbulence we saw in August, that really unnerved the fed and
:13:07. > :13:12.took away that impetus for rate rice. The door is wide-open. It S we
:13:13. > :13:17.have seen markets move to discount that, so from a one third chance to
:13:18. > :13:23.half a chance now. By December. So it all moves round. It did. It does.
:13:24. > :13:29.Let us touch briefly on Deutsche, we have heard about the job loss, not
:13:30. > :13:35.wholly unexpected, we knew they had to cut costs but the latest figure
:13:36. > :13:40.15,000. Significant number. Very big numbers, they are under pressure to
:13:41. > :13:45.do a number of thing, to lower the cost, so clearly staff cuts are part
:13:46. > :13:50.of that lower cost part, and the other aspect is to raise capital,
:13:51. > :13:57.now they have done two things, they have suspended their dividend for
:13:58. > :14:00.the next two years, so that will retain resources within the company
:14:01. > :14:05.and help that capital number and they will be selling is off parts of
:14:06. > :14:10.the business. Some staff will clearly go with the new business
:14:11. > :14:13.owners but that will also reduce the capital requirements for the
:14:14. > :14:17.remaining Deutsche group. OK, thank you Sue. Sue will be back in five
:14:18. > :14:22.minutes to look at some other stories. Still to come it is an
:14:23. > :14:25.age-old industry but there is a new player in town, can the smartwatch
:14:26. > :14:29.ever take on the luxury watch makers? And faced with a slow down
:14:30. > :14:35.in key markets for luxury goods we will meet the boss of watches of
:14:36. > :14:42.Switzerland as well as other outlets as it plans a major expansion.
:14:43. > :14:47.Let us discuss Barclay, because it is among those out with earnings
:14:48. > :14:51.today, reporting pre-tax profits of 861 million, that is for the three
:14:52. > :14:57.months to end the of September. That is half the profit the bank posted
:14:58. > :15:01.for the second quarter, our business editor has the details. A
:15:02. > :15:04.significant fall but once again, a company that we weren't expecting
:15:05. > :15:08.anything amazing and this confirming what we thought might happen?
:15:09. > :15:13.Barclays, yes, slightly treading water at the moment. They are the
:15:14. > :15:20.second of the Big Four UK banks to report. Yesterday we had Lloyds,
:15:21. > :15:23.tomorrow RBS and Monday HSBC. As you say, their profits slightly softer.
:15:24. > :15:35.Statutory profit, year or year are up slightly. ?560 million for
:15:36. > :15:38.foreign exchange mis-selling provisions and issues around
:15:39. > :15:43.mortgage-backed securities in America. Let's look at the share
:15:44. > :15:48.price this morning. Slightly soft profits, share price slightly down.
:15:49. > :15:53.Over the last six months, interesting things. This is when
:15:54. > :15:56.Anthony Jenkins, the previous chief executive, was fired. Investors
:15:57. > :16:01.quite liked that, they thought they might be a new focus on the
:16:02. > :16:07.investment bank. And recently the new Chief Executive was announced. A
:16:08. > :16:11.little uptick in the share price. What we are really waiting for is
:16:12. > :16:17.their full-year results, March one next spring. That's likely to be the
:16:18. > :16:21.chief executive's first outing in public in the UK and people here
:16:22. > :16:26.will be seeing what kind of Chief Executive he wants to be for
:16:27. > :16:32.Barclays. We'll watch closely to see what he manages to do with the bank.
:16:33. > :16:36.Thank you. A report will be released today to
:16:37. > :16:41.talk about how a government initiative will allow more women to
:16:42. > :16:47.get into the boardroom. They set themselves a target of 25% of women
:16:48. > :16:51.on the boards of fifth -- FTSE 100 companies. They are expected to say
:16:52. > :16:56.they have reached new milestones as far as that is concerned. That
:16:57. > :17:02.picture is Martha Lane Fox. She's on the board of Marks and Spencer. Now
:17:03. > :17:06.they want to extend it to the boardrooms of FTSE 250 companies and
:17:07. > :17:10.they want to increase that target to 33%.
:17:11. > :17:12.Clearly implications about whether quotas are the way to do that, but
:17:13. > :17:18.nonetheless some progress there. You're watching Business Live -
:17:19. > :17:20.our top story: Profits at the oil giant Shell have
:17:21. > :17:23.slumped, posting a $6 billion loss as falling oil prices take
:17:24. > :17:32.a bite out of its bottom line. Has the humble wristwatch had
:17:33. > :17:34.its day? Or does new technology mean that
:17:35. > :17:37.the craftsmanship and design that goes into watchmaking is more
:17:38. > :17:39.important than ever? Well, our next guest probably agrees
:17:40. > :17:42.that watchmaking is alive and well. Brian Duffy is the chief
:17:43. > :17:45.executive of Aurum Holdings. Aurum runs luxury and jewellery
:17:46. > :17:47.stores like Watches of Switzerland, It operates 139 shops across Britain
:17:48. > :17:54.and employs more than 1,500 people, with plans to expand into the US
:17:55. > :17:58.and Europe. They are currently the Crown
:17:59. > :18:01.jeweller and have a Royal warrant from both
:18:02. > :18:04.the Queen and Prince Charles The average timepiece costs
:18:05. > :18:14.around ?10,000 - about $15,000. The group is Britain's biggest
:18:15. > :18:16.distributor of Rolex, Patek Philippe, Jaeger-leCoultre
:18:17. > :18:23.and Cartier watches. Just to give you an idea,
:18:24. > :18:26.the global jewellery and watches market had a total revenue
:18:27. > :18:30.of $290 billion in the last year. And that represented a growth rate
:18:31. > :18:46.of nearly 7% between 2010 and 2014. I'm not wearing a watch today, I was
:18:47. > :18:52.too ashamed! Thank you for coming in. Before we talk about watches,
:18:53. > :18:59.let's find out how you got into this business. You've been working in the
:19:00. > :19:02.realm of luxury goods for some time. When the luxury goods player Ralph
:19:03. > :19:08.Lorenzo knocked on your door, you watch on a career break studying
:19:09. > :19:11.rock and roll. I was at the Academy of contemporary music in Guildford
:19:12. > :19:16.doing rock 'n' roll and blues and jazz, something I'd always wanted to
:19:17. > :19:21.do, study and learn guitar and music. Rav Lauren came knocking and
:19:22. > :19:25.your reaction was? It was irresistible. I've always loved
:19:26. > :19:31.Ralph Lauren. I effectively became the first president for Europe, a
:19:32. > :19:35.big new beginning for the brand. Right place, right time and an
:19:36. > :19:41.irresistible knock on the door. But I did regret not finishing my
:19:42. > :19:46.degree. Let's talk watches. It's an age-old industry, but we are talking
:19:47. > :19:51.about high end luxury watches, $10,000, $15,000. These are not just
:19:52. > :19:57.timepieces, they are things you inherit and pass on. It's about an
:19:58. > :20:02.investment not necessarily a product. It's the wonders of
:20:03. > :20:08.mechanical craftsmanship. They are precious materials. They are family
:20:09. > :20:12.heirlooms. They work every minute of every hour of every day of every
:20:13. > :20:18.year for your life and hopefully the life of generations to come. They
:20:19. > :20:24.are beautiful things to have. How do you convince people to part with
:20:25. > :20:28.that sort of cash in a market or an environment where the recession has
:20:29. > :20:33.taken its toll on some of the luxury goods maker 's? Markets are slowing
:20:34. > :20:37.down, like China. How do you convince people to part with cash
:20:38. > :20:39.for something that will live well beyond them? On some of the luxury
:20:40. > :20:42.goods maker 's? Markets are slowing down, like China. How do you
:20:43. > :20:50.convince people to part with cash for something that will live well
:20:51. > :20:54.beyond them? Honestly I call it rational indulgence. You don't need
:20:55. > :20:58.it to tell the time, your phone can tell you the time, or something much
:20:59. > :21:02.less expensive. But you're taking the money out of you your bank and
:21:03. > :21:06.putting it on your wrist. They generally don't do appreciate,
:21:07. > :21:11.values go up, they are made of precious materials which have gone
:21:12. > :21:15.up a great deal recently. It's a wonderful thing to have and enjoy
:21:16. > :21:22.and to pass on to the next generation. When it comes to
:21:23. > :21:24.persuasion, how important are the marketing sites? The likes of George
:21:25. > :21:33.Clooney and other big international stars becoming the face of a brand?
:21:34. > :21:36.I know Oma go -- pomade is the watch 007 is wearing inspector and you
:21:37. > :21:44.were at the premiere because your company is involved in the process.
:21:45. > :21:48.How important is that the sales? Marketing is very important. The
:21:49. > :21:53.image and association you want to have can be through celebrity
:21:54. > :21:58.endorsement, sports endorsement. Rolex, visibility at Formula one for
:21:59. > :22:05.example. Marketing is important for those brands who have global reach.
:22:06. > :22:15.Some brands are very... They trade on discretion because you have to go
:22:16. > :22:20.and find them. You've been with 2-1 for two years. What difference have
:22:21. > :22:26.you seen in terms of how to sell? Is it easier to sell a luxury watch in
:22:27. > :22:30.this environment rather than Ralph Lauren clothing? With the cooling of
:22:31. > :22:36.the global economy and the emerging market economy, people are thinking
:22:37. > :22:42.more about value. We can offer value. They are financial
:22:43. > :22:48.investments. That's a tougher argument if you're talking about
:22:49. > :22:51.fashion or high heels. Interesting when this March watch does a million
:22:52. > :22:57.thing and this is a watch that simply tells the time and date. -- a
:22:58. > :23:00.smartwatch. Interesting to meet you, thank you for coming in, but we've
:23:01. > :23:03.run out of time. That was a joke! Everybody is
:23:04. > :23:07.catching on. Here's a reminder of how to get
:23:08. > :23:18.in touch with us. The web pages where you can stay
:23:19. > :23:22.ahead of the news. We'll keep you up-to-date with the latest details,
:23:23. > :23:27.insight and analysis from the BBC's team of editors around the world.
:23:28. > :23:35.And we want to hear from you. Get involved on the web page. Or on
:23:36. > :23:46.Twitter. And you can find us on Facebook. On TV and online.
:23:47. > :23:50.Keep your messages coming in, particularly about things you would
:23:51. > :23:55.like to outsource. We'll run through some of those in a second. Sue is
:23:56. > :24:05.back with us to look at some of the stories in the papers. We want to
:24:06. > :24:13.talk about this Google story. It is amazing. This massive project to
:24:14. > :24:20.launch balloons into space. To create more bandwidth for areas that
:24:21. > :24:26.can't have, because of their geography, fibre networks or antenna
:24:27. > :24:32.networks. The balloons go up into the air and beam down bandwidth that
:24:33. > :24:38.will broadly make a 4G network available to a number of Indonesian
:24:39. > :24:41.islands. Indonesia is a very large, populous country and that the moment
:24:42. > :24:47.they are struggling to get connected. About 50% of people are
:24:48. > :24:52.not connected. This is one way, a cost-effective way, for Google to do
:24:53. > :24:56.it. It only takes 300 balloons to make a continuous string around the
:24:57. > :25:03.world, I'd imagine it would be much more. They will start off with a
:25:04. > :25:10.regional area, but that's claim. They go 20 kilometres up in the air.
:25:11. > :25:15.You can get quite a decent range on the ground. It sounds like a crazy
:25:16. > :25:22.project, Micah Richards Branson kind of project. We'll see how it works
:25:23. > :25:29.out. -- Richard like -- like a Richard Branson project. Let's talk
:25:30. > :25:36.about outsourcing in your private life. This is a mother in Sydney who
:25:37. > :25:39.is said she's spent $6,500 outsourcing things like cleaning,
:25:40. > :25:50.shopping, cooking. And a nanny. She has five children.
:25:51. > :25:55.$6,500 a week! About ?3000 a week. $4500. That's a lot of money. She
:25:56. > :26:01.says it's worth her while because she gets to spend quality time with
:26:02. > :26:06.her family, a bit of time for herself, enough sleep. She can
:26:07. > :26:10.afford it. Many working women and dads who can't afford to outsource
:26:11. > :26:14.the chores, unfortunately. We've been asking people to get in
:26:15. > :26:18.touch. The common theme is coffee, someone to buy copy for you in the
:26:19. > :26:24.morning. We share that feeling! Thank you for sending those in. What
:26:25. > :26:31.would you outsource? I do outsource some things. The things that take a
:26:32. > :26:35.lot of time, that allow me to have time to spend with my family. Spend
:26:36. > :26:42.money on the things you don't want to do, that's why you earn money.
:26:43. > :26:46.Thanks so much for coming in. Thank you for your company today.
:26:47. > :26:50.Thank you for your comments about my glasses, they've made their debut.
:26:51. > :27:10.We like those! You can wear those again. See you soon.
:27:11. > :27:16.Good morning. The general story today is of rain crossing from west
:27:17. > :27:19.to east across the country with sunny skies following on. A wet
:27:20. > :27:20.start