:00:00. > :00:07.This is Business Live from BBC News, with Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock.
:00:08. > :00:11.China's economy grows at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century -
:00:12. > :00:14.but its within the government's target.
:00:15. > :00:16.Live from London, that's our top story on Tuesday the 19th
:00:17. > :00:43.The world's second biggest economy grew by just under 7% last year -
:00:44. > :00:45.but some observers say growth could be much weaker
:00:46. > :00:58.Spies like us. Apparently Britain's Security service, the MI5, is the
:00:59. > :01:02.best place to work for gay and lesbian workers. The markets in
:01:03. > :01:06.Europe has begun its trading day. Much stronger than what we have seen
:01:07. > :01:08.in previous sessions and we will explain why.
:01:09. > :01:10.And assessing the health and wealth of private businesses.
:01:11. > :01:13.How do you do due diligence on firms - like these -
:01:14. > :01:15.that aren't listed on any stock market?
:01:16. > :01:18.Well, one website says it can give you the low down
:01:19. > :01:24.We'll be speaking to the founder later in the programme.
:01:25. > :01:27.And as tourism to North Africa slumps in the wake of
:01:28. > :01:31.we want to know - have you changed your travel
:01:32. > :01:34.Are there places you would no longer visit?
:01:35. > :01:51.China's released its official figures for 2015, showing
:01:52. > :01:54.the world's second largest economy has had its slowest full-year growth
:01:55. > :02:00.The economy grew 6.9% - in line with the government's target
:02:01. > :02:11.Taking a look over the past five years, you can see the steep drop
:02:12. > :02:17.in growth, from double-digit figures just a few years ago,
:02:18. > :02:19.as the country's manufacturing sector shrank and is now
:02:20. > :02:26.in the process of moving towards a consumer driven economy.
:02:27. > :02:29.And to make matters worse - some are concerned the figure may
:02:30. > :02:35.Fears over the slowdown have fuelled market volatility in China over
:02:36. > :02:42.recent weeks, spilling over into global markets.
:02:43. > :02:44.Miranda Carr, Senior Analyst, Haitong Securities joins us
:02:45. > :02:55.Good morning. Sally ran through the numbers there, and as we touched on,
:02:56. > :03:00.it is about refocusing and rebalance of the economy away from just
:03:01. > :03:03.exports. At the same time, it also means headlines like today, the
:03:04. > :03:11.slowest growth in 25 years, how worried should we be? We should not
:03:12. > :03:14.be that worried, we have good rebalancing services, 50% of the
:03:15. > :03:19.economy for the first time in history. People have called for
:03:20. > :03:22.this, China should not invest in bridges to know where or fuel a
:03:23. > :03:25.property bubble but when it stops doing that, and gets back to
:03:26. > :03:32.consumption growth, you get panicked headlines. The trust issue when it
:03:33. > :03:35.comes to these numbers is the big one. We are getting concerned about
:03:36. > :03:39.numbers to an extent, that might not be true anyway. Some suggest the
:03:40. > :03:44.figure could be much lower in reality? If you look at the details,
:03:45. > :03:48.things like the old economy is slowing significantly, things like
:03:49. > :03:52.electricity consumption, railway freight, even mining investment,
:03:53. > :03:56.things and steel mills, that is going into contraction which is
:03:57. > :04:01.quite painful for that bit of the economy. That is what we feel
:04:02. > :04:05.affected by because it is where we have had the most exposure,
:04:06. > :04:10.international companies, industrial companies, that is where the most
:04:11. > :04:15.pain is and why we think my God, it is slowing much more than we think.
:04:16. > :04:20.At the same time, the service sector shows good grades? The bit that they
:04:21. > :04:29.are trying to encourage? Yes, -- growth. If you have seen more
:04:30. > :04:34.closures, you would expect the consumption side to fall as well but
:04:35. > :04:39.it was doing pretty well. Auto sales, daily household goods, they
:04:40. > :04:43.are reasonably good. Some of this rebalancing is happening but it is
:04:44. > :04:48.not an easy process, it is quite a painful adjustment and we think 2016
:04:49. > :04:52.is going to be where a lot of that real crunch is going to happen. Yes,
:04:53. > :04:58.close scrutiny of the economy. Thank you.
:04:59. > :05:04.A lot of detail and further analysis on the website.
:05:05. > :05:06.In other news today... Attacks by the militant group
:05:07. > :05:09.IS have led to a fall in tourism in parts of North Africa,
:05:10. > :05:12.where millions rely on the trade New figures from the United Nations
:05:13. > :05:15.World Tourism Organisation indicate visits to North Africa fell by 8%
:05:16. > :05:18.in 2015, bucking The consumer goods giant Unilever
:05:19. > :05:22.has reported a sharp fall in full year profit for 2015 -
:05:23. > :05:24.saying it was a challenging year. The firm, which makes a vast array
:05:25. > :05:29.of products including Ben Jerry's ice-cream and Lipton tea says
:05:30. > :05:35.pre-tax profit fell 8% It expects even tougher market
:05:36. > :05:38.conditions in 2016. Tata Steel and trade unions have
:05:39. > :05:41.called for more British government support for the industry,
:05:42. > :05:43.after the company announced More than 1,000 posts are to go,
:05:44. > :05:46.mainly in Port Talbot But at the same time,
:05:47. > :05:55.BT has announced it will create 1,000 UK jobs as part
:05:56. > :05:58.of a commitment to answer more of its customer calls
:05:59. > :06:00.from within the UK. Currently only half of those calls
:06:01. > :06:02.are answered in the UK, with the rest answered by call
:06:03. > :06:21.centre teams based in Bangalore A look at the business live page for
:06:22. > :06:25.you. Details related to events in China. News that the FTSE 100 in
:06:26. > :06:27.London has opened significantly higher, relief after a difficult few
:06:28. > :06:32.days. Breaking news now, news from the
:06:33. > :06:37.live team suggesting there could be problems with Twitter this morning.
:06:38. > :06:43.They ask this... Let us know if you are having
:06:44. > :06:48.similar problems. The world's nudging bank, nudge
:06:49. > :06:54.theory. I like this idea. We've discussed this on the programme, the
:06:55. > :06:57.father of nudge theory, rather than rules and regulations telling you
:06:58. > :07:00.what you should and shouldn't be doing, nudge theory is about
:07:01. > :07:05.coercing you into doing it by telling
:07:06. > :07:12.you things are better. So rather than cutting spending, you may be
:07:13. > :07:18.aware of spending too much on a certain day.
:07:19. > :07:22.It's Friday for a lot of people, the Friday feeling overtakes them and
:07:23. > :07:24.they spend money online! Or in the streets. I'm pretty well-behaved!
:07:25. > :07:27.Let's take a look round the world at what's business stories
:07:28. > :07:31.Sarah Toms is in Singapore with more of the market reaction after those
:07:32. > :07:43.That is right, it is the news investors have been waiting for
:07:44. > :07:49.cross Asia. We want to know what the GDP figures were. 6.9%. It comes in
:07:50. > :07:53.line with expectations. For the markets across Asia, that has been
:07:54. > :07:57.good news. Investors have been worried about a slowdown, and abrupt
:07:58. > :08:02.slowdown, and these figures are showing China is slowing but it's
:08:03. > :08:09.going the way that economists had predicted. Now, this means the
:08:10. > :08:17.market's were not only relieved but cheering after today's figures. We
:08:18. > :08:25.turned to the Hong Kong index and that ended up at 2%. The Shanghai
:08:26. > :08:30.index is up 3.2%. Australia shares were up as well, even though
:08:31. > :08:35.investors were trading more cautiously, and, of course, in
:08:36. > :08:41.Japan, the nick a turned around earlier losses today to finish up.
:08:42. > :08:45.That is the same story in South Korea. -- Nikkei.
:08:46. > :08:56.That's all the action in Asia. That's not last night on Wall
:08:57. > :09:04.Street, that was Martin Luther King holiday. The states reopens today.
:09:05. > :09:08.Looking to what is happening in Europe, the positive sentiment
:09:09. > :09:12.flowing through to the trading day in Europe, gains across the board.
:09:13. > :09:18.Significant as well. Let's not forget that this is really following
:09:19. > :09:20.through from what is nearly three weeks of torrid and negative
:09:21. > :09:26.sessions for markets across the world. A 2% jump today for the FTSE
:09:27. > :09:31.100 is not much in light of losses we seen in markets across Europe in
:09:32. > :09:32.the last few weeks. In terms of winners and losers, we will discuss
:09:33. > :09:37.that in a moment. And now Nada Tawfik can tell us
:09:38. > :09:40.what will making the headlines in the business world
:09:41. > :09:44.in the United States today. After turbulence last week,
:09:45. > :09:47.investors may be hoping for a quiet time on Tuesday but they are
:09:48. > :09:51.unlikely to get it. Beyond the general fear that falls last week
:09:52. > :09:54.may have driven American stocks towards a fair market, there is a
:09:55. > :09:58.lot of news to be released. The banking sector remains in the
:09:59. > :10:02.spotlight, Morgan Stanley and the Bank of America Stadium four-year
:10:03. > :10:07.earnings. Morgan Stanley may be revealing falling profits caused by
:10:08. > :10:13.trading revenue, but the Bank of America should show a rise thanks to
:10:14. > :10:17.cost cutting. A slew of other big names from corporate America getting
:10:18. > :10:24.ready to report as well, from IBM to Netflix, and America's biggest
:10:25. > :10:33.health insurer, American Health, and its biggest airline, Delta.
:10:34. > :10:39.Jane Foley, Senior Currency Strategist, Rabobank joins me now.
:10:40. > :10:48.Sally touched on whether it was a bounce back. The data from China was
:10:49. > :10:52.not as bad as it could've been, there was some relief, but the
:10:53. > :10:56.markets are still very vulnerable. Looking not only add data from China
:10:57. > :11:01.but from the US, there has been bad data there, the markets are nervous
:11:02. > :11:05.about that, and in Europe, we see some more great but it is still very
:11:06. > :11:09.low. There is a concern in the markets, what do the central banks
:11:10. > :11:14.do? When it comes to where the money is going, it is traditional safe
:11:15. > :11:19.havens? We've seen that this year. Currency markets at the end. The
:11:20. > :11:22.dollar has done OK. The euro, the current account surplus in Europe, a
:11:23. > :11:28.big surplus of savers, money comes in for the Europe. Investors are
:11:29. > :11:33.keeping their cards close to their chest and not really wanting to
:11:34. > :11:41.disclose risky assets. In the UK, what does it mean about where we are
:11:42. > :11:45.in terms of recovery? More data at 9:30am. We have more warnings about
:11:46. > :11:50.things not being as great, true for Europe but here in UK it is
:11:51. > :11:57.particularly true? Here, it is big news, we are likely get very low
:11:58. > :12:00.inflation. Core inflation, when you take out or oil and food prices, it
:12:01. > :12:06.is supposed to be a better reflection of demand. It is still
:12:07. > :12:12.very moderate despite the easing monetary policy conditions for years
:12:13. > :12:16.now. The Bank of England need not be in any rush at all to hike interest
:12:17. > :12:20.rates. There is a point we will be talking more about. For now, thanks.
:12:21. > :12:23.Still to come, assessing the health and wealth of private firms.
:12:24. > :12:25.We'll meet the man behind the website that promises to give
:12:26. > :12:28.the inside track on how well a private company is performing,
:12:29. > :12:38.You're with Business Live from BBC News.
:12:39. > :12:41.Figures out overnight confirm that growth in the world's second biggest
:12:42. > :12:47.economy, China, is at its slowest rate for 25 years.
:12:48. > :12:52.Quite significantly if you think about the last 25 years. What does
:12:53. > :12:55.it mean for us here in the UK? Steph is at London Gateway,
:12:56. > :12:57.the UK's third busiest port, which recently took delivery
:12:58. > :13:10.of the UK's biggest ever It looks pretty calm there this
:13:11. > :13:17.morning but it tells the story of global trade, doesn't it? It really
:13:18. > :13:23.does. You can see here a beautiful setting this morning, it's peaceful
:13:24. > :13:26.out there but busy here. This container ship has just come in and
:13:27. > :13:33.you can see all of those containers on it being taken off, they will be
:13:34. > :13:36.moved to this area, there is a robotic system that works out which
:13:37. > :13:43.containers have to go on which Laurie. This really does tell a
:13:44. > :13:48.story of international trade. We are a country that imports a lot of
:13:49. > :13:52.products here -- lorry. We export a lot as well. China is an important
:13:53. > :13:57.trading partner for a business like this. As you mention, this company,
:13:58. > :14:02.this port, took their biggest ever shipment coming in from China on New
:14:03. > :14:06.Year's Day. It is important for them. When things slowdown in China,
:14:07. > :14:10.as we heard overnight that figure you mentioned about the slowdown,
:14:11. > :14:15.the slowest paced growth for the last 25 years, for a business like
:14:16. > :14:20.this one, it is a concern, does mean they went get as much business here?
:14:21. > :14:24.The slowdown is very much about things cooling in China, surrounding
:14:25. > :14:31.export and import, they are not trading as much with other countries
:14:32. > :14:35.and, because of that, they have seen debt spiral, they have taken on a
:14:36. > :14:39.lot of debt in the last decade, we've seen massive growth. We have
:14:40. > :14:43.to remember we are talking about growth in China at 6.9% last year,
:14:44. > :14:47.it is still a great figure when you think of how much we grow in the UK
:14:48. > :14:51.at the moment. It is nowhere near that. There is concern though
:14:52. > :14:55.because it is not like what it was in China, it was growing a lot
:14:56. > :14:56.faster. It has slowed now. This tells a story though of
:14:57. > :15:09.international trade here. Thank you. It is a story where the containers
:15:10. > :15:10.would come in full of goods from China and not necessarily go out
:15:11. > :15:14.that way either. Our top story, China's economy grows
:15:15. > :15:21.at its slowest pace for 25 years in 2015, marking a rollercoaster
:15:22. > :15:34.year but is within If you are on Twitter and you are
:15:35. > :15:37.having trouble, apparently the website is down. We can show what
:15:38. > :15:42.they're telling us at the moment. That's what you're going to be
:15:43. > :15:47.welcomed by if you're trying it get on Twitter or use Twitter today. But
:15:48. > :15:50.we are technically working for a change! No worries there.
:15:51. > :15:55.Everything, so far, I'm going to curse it now! If you're looking at
:15:56. > :16:00.the screen, it is not us, it is Twitter!
:16:01. > :16:03.Now, we often take it for granted that we can scrutinise the profits
:16:04. > :16:07.They're listed on the world's stock markets and have
:16:08. > :16:09.to make their accounts public, but private firms don't
:16:10. > :16:11.have the same responsibilities to be so transparent.
:16:12. > :16:20.The companies you can see here all have one thing in common -
:16:21. > :16:22.they're all private and they dominate the economy.
:16:23. > :16:25.Public companies represent less than 1% off all business in the US.
:16:26. > :16:28.The rest are privately run by private owners.
:16:29. > :16:30.While that brings lots of freedoms, not being beholden
:16:31. > :16:32.to shareholders, fewer regulations over their financial statements
:16:33. > :16:34.and less scrutiny from people like us.
:16:35. > :16:36.But if you wanted to learn more about those firms or even invest
:16:37. > :16:39.in them, how can you get information about private businesses?
:16:40. > :16:47.Our next guest says he has the answer.
:16:48. > :16:55.Damian Kimmelman is founder and Chief Executive of DueDil.
:16:56. > :17:01.Damien nice to see you. Just explain how this works. It strikes me from
:17:02. > :17:05.that introduction that there are some things private firms want to
:17:06. > :17:08.keep private, but you're trying to cast a bit of a spotlight on those
:17:09. > :17:12.things. How do you get that information? So most people assume
:17:13. > :17:16.that the private in private companies refers to privacy when in
:17:17. > :17:20.fact it refers to privately held and as such people are sort of blind to
:17:21. > :17:23.the fact that there is a wealth of data on private businesses, but it
:17:24. > :17:28.is siloed. It is siloed in the businesses themselves. It is siloed
:17:29. > :17:36.in Government institutions like Companies House or HMRC, it is
:17:37. > :17:39.siloed online and we take all that information together and
:17:40. > :17:45.contextualise it. And it is a service that you ask your customers
:17:46. > :17:51.to pay for, is it? ?100 a month, is that correct? Annually, charged
:17:52. > :17:54.annually. And for that, they get, access to all this information which
:17:55. > :18:06.is actually freely available already. So why would I sign up? So,
:18:07. > :18:11.most businesses use services like Google or Linked In which aren't
:18:12. > :18:18.purpose-built solutions to find out this information. They use our
:18:19. > :18:28.service because it is purpose-built. That's why we see so many of our
:18:29. > :18:33.businesses that use it like Dell, Aviva, Linked In use our service to
:18:34. > :18:38.really find the right businesses at the right time in the right
:18:39. > :18:41.location. This was borne out of necessity. It says you had a bad
:18:42. > :18:44.experience with a firm and therefore, you know, you were burnt.
:18:45. > :18:52.Tell us what that was. What happened to give you this idea, this spark,
:18:53. > :18:58.this is what the market is missing? So I went into business with a guy
:18:59. > :19:05.who wasn't that savoury. He falsified his accounts. He used his
:19:06. > :19:10.falsified accounts to get a loan and I had not done my due diligence, my
:19:11. > :19:13.research, I realised there was a wealth of information on these
:19:14. > :19:19.businesses and it could be used for solving the two biggest problems
:19:20. > :19:23.facing businesses. How do I get new customers and how do I get paid? At
:19:24. > :19:26.the moment you operate in the UK and Ireland, is that correct? And 18
:19:27. > :19:32.other countries. In Europe mainly? Yes. That's mainly in Europe. In
:19:33. > :19:36.terms of further expansion, I mean, to be fair, tracking all these
:19:37. > :19:41.companies in those countries, I would imagine is an enormous task
:19:42. > :19:46.anyway for your company, but your thoughts on future expansion beyond
:19:47. > :19:52.that? Indeed. Well, let's not discount Europe as the second
:19:53. > :19:56.largest economy. There is a wealth of opportunity within Europe, but
:19:57. > :20:00.yes, we will be expanding internationally very soon.
:20:01. > :20:04.You have talked about experiences that you've gone through. It strikes
:20:05. > :20:06.me, and I asked you at the beginning, about the sort of
:20:07. > :20:10.information that these firms wouldn't want to release. Do you get
:20:11. > :20:14.any of these private firms of certain bits of information that
:20:15. > :20:18.people don't made public. You must get a bit of backlash from them
:20:19. > :20:21.saying I don't want this out there, there is a reason we have not listed
:20:22. > :20:28.on the stock market for that reason? Of course, we do. So you know, the
:20:29. > :20:32.biggest number of complaints that we get are from actors and actresses
:20:33. > :20:38.who have fibbed about their age and own companies. But the reality is
:20:39. > :20:42.that the biggest problems facing private businesses is not keeping
:20:43. > :20:46.this private, that's such a misconception, it is really how did
:20:47. > :20:50.I get new customers and how do I get paid? Interesting stuff. Best of
:20:51. > :20:59.luck with it. Damien, really nice to see you. Thank you for coming in.
:21:00. > :21:04.You go on holiday and you're no longer able to stream sites that
:21:05. > :21:10.you are at home like Netflix or BBC iPlayer?
:21:11. > :21:12.This is because companies block content that is not licensed
:21:13. > :21:18.But the EU is trying to change that and ban the practice from happening.
:21:19. > :21:26.One expert says there's a lot at stake.
:21:27. > :21:33.One thing is pretty certain from a consumer prospective, it is good
:21:34. > :21:36.news in that we are definitely going to get content portability very
:21:37. > :21:39.soon. That's the thing about taking your existing content abroad with
:21:40. > :21:43.you. It is less far how the Commission is going to go with this.
:21:44. > :21:47.I don't think it knows itself. It is still being debated. The defence of
:21:48. > :21:52.the media companies really true. The media companies say if we split the
:21:53. > :21:56.market up territorially, we can earn more money for creators and if that
:21:57. > :22:04.argument stands up, maybe the Commission won't go the whole way.
:22:05. > :22:11.Jane, welcome back. MI5 is rated the best workplace for employees
:22:12. > :22:16.equality. This is the Stonewall list of the best 100 employers for
:22:17. > :22:21.lesbian and gay staff. MI5 topping that list? It is great news. If you
:22:22. > :22:26.go back some decades they used to dig out homosexual people because it
:22:27. > :22:31.was illegal and it could be used as blackmail, it is wonderful that we
:22:32. > :22:35.have come to a different part of the spectrum. It is right that the
:22:36. > :22:38.people who work for MI5 have got to represent the communities they live
:22:39. > :22:41.in. There is no use in having people looking like James Bond when you are
:22:42. > :22:47.trying to find intelligence from different... They don't look like
:22:48. > :22:51.James Bond, Jane, is that what you're telling me. James Bond and
:22:52. > :22:55.Johnny English. He would be extremely visible if he was trying
:22:56. > :22:58.to do undercover work in some communities. It is quite a
:22:59. > :23:05.scientific process, it is not just that they have a notional group that
:23:06. > :23:08.is supporting lesbian or gay staff. There are strict criteria that have
:23:09. > :23:12.to be met by the employees who make the list? That's right. If we talk
:23:13. > :23:17.about MI5, but we can talk about other big organisations at the top
:23:18. > :23:20.of the list including the Metropolitan Police, the Royal Navy
:23:21. > :23:26.and again these are old institutions. It suggest that is
:23:27. > :23:30.they have been deliberately and very successfully trying to change their
:23:31. > :23:34.ways. It is a success story. Let's talk about OPEC now. It is claimed
:23:35. > :23:38.we've defeated the shale revolution. This is in the Times newspaper. I
:23:39. > :23:42.remember last year talking about this, you know, middle of last year
:23:43. > :23:46.when the sort of start of the oil price slide began and we all talked
:23:47. > :23:51.about the problems this would cause for shale producers where it is so
:23:52. > :23:55.much more expensive to get the stufs out of the ground? The Saudis and
:23:56. > :23:58.the Middle Eastern OPEC players have done this. Now, it does seem from
:23:59. > :24:06.this report, that they were trying to focus on the shale producers.
:24:07. > :24:11.Shale, of course, being a new... On what grounds? They are still
:24:12. > :24:14.operating. If you look at the amount of debt and if you look at the
:24:15. > :24:17.likelihood that some of these companies will go into default,
:24:18. > :24:24.that's really quite significant. I was looking at the S and P data. It
:24:25. > :24:29.said that last month around about 50% of energy junk bonds are
:24:30. > :24:36.distressed. In 2015 they said many of the companies in the US were
:24:37. > :24:40.being subsidised because they were running at a loss and this year some
:24:41. > :24:45.would go? It is not just in shale. Metals and mining because those
:24:46. > :24:49.prices at multiyear lows as well, it is not just oil. This is what Saudi
:24:50. > :24:52.wanted to do. They wanted to be the dominant player and what had
:24:53. > :24:57.happened over the last 25 years, there had been more investment and
:24:58. > :25:02.other types of supply of energy and of course, that meant that there was
:25:03. > :25:10.less power for the Saudis. A brief word before time is up on motor
:25:11. > :25:15.insurance forming an alliance to tackle driverless cars. Whether or
:25:16. > :25:22.not this is add and good story depends whether you are an insurer
:25:23. > :25:28.or consumer. Premiums could go down by 80% in 25 years time. But from
:25:29. > :25:31.the insurer's point of view, loss of revenue treatens their business, so
:25:32. > :25:36.they are getting together to see what they can do about it. Liability
:25:37. > :25:39.for accidents could shift from the driver to the manufacturer when
:25:40. > :25:44.things are automated. It will be interesting, who do you blame if you
:25:45. > :25:46.crash if it is a driverless car? The lawyers are usually the ones that
:25:47. > :25:49.come out with plenty of work! We're back tomorrow. It is Davos.
:25:50. > :26:16.See you soon. Hello. We're stuck with the cold
:26:17. > :26:18.weather, but where you had the lowest temperatures overnight, here