:00:00. > :00:00.Live from London, that's our top story on Thursday
:00:00. > :00:22.Shell shareholders have given the green light -
:00:23. > :00:28.now it's up to investors in BG Group to seal the deal.
:00:29. > :00:35.And to say they are on board. With prices at around $30 a barrel, does
:00:36. > :00:38.it make financial sex. Tax transparency -
:00:39. > :00:43.will the new OECD deal make corporate giants pay
:00:44. > :00:45.the right amount of tax.? And it's a mixed picture emerging
:00:46. > :00:48.in Europe on financial markets - lots of companies have reported
:00:49. > :00:51.earnings as investors cherry pick Monarch Airlines was close
:00:52. > :01:00.to collapse just two years ago, but it's set to return to profit
:01:01. > :01:02.after rebranding itself And how much is your
:01:03. > :01:07.information worth? Facebook says it makes $3.73
:01:08. > :01:11.a year from each of us, so we want to know -
:01:12. > :01:14.is it right that firms profit Let us know, use the
:01:15. > :01:25.hashtag BBC BizLive. Royal Dutch Shell shareholders have
:01:26. > :01:34.given the go ahead for its takeover It's a merger that would make Shell
:01:35. > :01:45.the world's biggest liquified The deal is worth $49 billion
:01:46. > :01:49.dollars - and as well as LNG assets, it would also give Shell access
:01:50. > :01:52.to valuable oil resources But some Shell shareholders have
:01:53. > :01:59.questioned the logic of the deal - as oil has dropped from 55 dollars
:02:00. > :02:03.a barrel when it was first announced in April - to just 30
:02:04. > :02:08.dollars a barrel. BG Group shareholders
:02:09. > :02:10.are expected to approve the deal If it goes ahead, the companies
:02:11. > :02:18.would merge on the 15th of February. Christopher Wheaton,
:02:19. > :02:32.Energy Analyst at Allianz Global Welcome. $49 billion, the deal, but
:02:33. > :02:38.makes financial sense given the makes financial sense given the
:02:39. > :02:42.sell-off in oil. Clearly shareholders in Shell think it does.
:02:43. > :02:47.We have had mixed views in the market but it is important to note
:02:48. > :02:53.the value of the deal has come down the third, $25 billion, since it was
:02:54. > :02:58.announced last year. That is because Shell chose to pay sensibly part in
:02:59. > :03:02.shares in part in cash and the falling price has been reflected in
:03:03. > :03:08.the lower price they are paying. On paper it seems to make sense because
:03:09. > :03:12.it is about streamlining operations and controlling a bigger slice of
:03:13. > :03:22.the market. What is in it for both sides, when we talk about potential
:03:23. > :03:26.gains? BG, they get part of a bigger business. Shell, it is important
:03:27. > :03:31.they focus on the parts of the oil industry they are good at, such as
:03:32. > :03:37.liquefied natural gas and deepwater offshore oil and gas industry. If
:03:38. > :03:42.you look their history, that is where they have made the highest
:03:43. > :03:49.return on capital. It makes sense for Shell to focus on the bits of
:03:50. > :03:53.the industry it is good at. What is interesting in the climate of lower
:03:54. > :04:00.oil prices, yesterday reports that officials from the IMF and World
:04:01. > :04:04.Bank looking at Azerbaijan, and an emergency loan to prop up their
:04:05. > :04:08.industry, given their dependence on oil. Are we likely to see more of
:04:09. > :04:12.that, with countries dependent on the price of oil, in the same way
:04:13. > :04:16.these companies look at the price, these countries say they cannot
:04:17. > :04:23.afford to pay their bills? The industry is screaming in pain at $30
:04:24. > :04:29.oil. And countries like Azerbaijan, you could add Nigeria, Columbia, and
:04:30. > :04:35.Middle Eastern nations. It is hurting. We will see more of this
:04:36. > :04:40.intervention at government level. There have been issues in Russia on
:04:41. > :04:43.whether they need to tax the oil and gas industry to raise more
:04:44. > :04:50.government revenue because the budget does not work at $30 oil. We
:04:51. > :04:53.will see more of this, just as in the commercial sector more banks
:04:54. > :04:56.trying to recover money they have led to the oil industry,
:04:57. > :05:03.particularly the US shale industry over the last five years. To return
:05:04. > :05:07.to this merger issue. What happens next? Shell shareholders giving this
:05:08. > :05:15.the green light, are we set for it to go ahead? That is one formality,
:05:16. > :05:20.the BG shareholder vote today which will almost certainly go through.
:05:21. > :05:21.And the green light goes on on the 15th of February. Thanks very much.
:05:22. > :05:30.Good to see you. When we hear about that result, the
:05:31. > :05:34.vote, which is expected to be approved, we will let you know.
:05:35. > :05:37.Facebook has been winning more friends on Wall Street.
:05:38. > :05:42.Shares in the social media giant jumped almost 12 per cent
:05:43. > :05:45.in after-hours trading after it said profits doubled in the last quarter.
:05:46. > :05:48.Revenue was up strongly - as were the number of active users
:05:49. > :05:52.Facebook has now beaten analysts' expectations for ten quarters
:05:53. > :05:59.in a row as advertising revenue continues to surge.
:06:00. > :06:02.EBay's shares have fallen sharply after it forecast lower
:06:03. > :06:04.than expected earnings that could mean a decline
:06:05. > :06:08.EBay is struggling with competition from rival Amazon and traditional
:06:09. > :06:13.retailers like Wal-Mart that are boosting their online presence.
:06:14. > :06:18.Rules to stop companies using complex tax arrangements
:06:19. > :06:22.to avoid paying corporate tax have been agreed by 31 OECD members.
:06:23. > :06:26.They will make it harder for firms to hide money in tax havens or play
:06:27. > :06:28.one country's tax authority against another.
:06:29. > :06:30.Firms such as Google, Amazon and Facebook must now pay tax
:06:31. > :06:40.in the country where the profits are made.
:06:41. > :06:48.Staying with the theme of tax, I want to take you to the life page
:06:49. > :06:52.because the Today programme have spoken to a Commissioner responsible
:06:53. > :06:55.for the deal over taxes and a debate about whether the EU could force
:06:56. > :07:03.Google and other companies to pay more tax in the country's revenue is
:07:04. > :07:08.earned. It has been debated, Starbucks, Tech giants, specifically
:07:09. > :07:12.related to this row. A debate on the life page about whether the EU could
:07:13. > :07:19.make a firm start paying fairer tax in the countries in which they earn
:07:20. > :07:24.the money. I was going to jump in to say something I noticed today, this
:07:25. > :07:30.is my opportunity to mention it, we have results coming in, Apple,
:07:31. > :07:36.Boeing, eBay. Yesterday we had a steep fall on the markets in the US.
:07:37. > :07:39.Apple and Boeing plunging on disappointing results. Together the
:07:40. > :07:44.share price fall accounted for more than half the slide on the Dow Jones
:07:45. > :07:51.industrial average. They are such big companies, and Apple the biggest
:07:52. > :07:55.in terms of market capitalisation. That is interesting. Please agree
:07:56. > :07:57.with me! The world is glad he reported on that news. We have heard
:07:58. > :08:02.from many big names in technology. Samsung has reported profits down
:08:03. > :08:19.40% for the fourth quarter, It is squeezed at both ends of the
:08:20. > :08:29.smartphone market we can talk to Sarah. Give us more detail on how
:08:30. > :08:34.Samsung is doing. Hello, Sally. After years of record profits it
:08:35. > :08:40.appears things are finally slowing down for Samsung Electronics.
:08:41. > :08:44.Profits fell by about 40% down to $2.7 billion in the first three
:08:45. > :08:50.months to December. That is significantly below estimates.
:08:51. > :08:55.Samsung warned it would be difficult to maintain profits this year.
:08:56. > :09:02.Smartphone sales hit by strong competition, and cheaper Chinese
:09:03. > :09:10.rivals and at the top of the market, Apple. The slowdown in China is
:09:11. > :09:18.taking its toll. The most recent top of the range handset, Galaxy Essex,
:09:19. > :09:23.fails to excite consumers and their other core business, semiconductors,
:09:24. > :09:27.faces we can demand, for personal computer. It makes components for
:09:28. > :09:34.the iPhone and that too is also facing a slowdown in sales. Thanks.
:09:35. > :09:48.Ling us in on Samsun, it is one of those companies that has a massive
:09:49. > :09:58.impact on the market here. The big loser on the Dow Jones, Apple, and
:09:59. > :10:02.Boeing. Six and a half per cent down, Apple shares. A lot of
:10:03. > :10:09.companies have come up with earnings. Diageo, better than
:10:10. > :10:14.expected news. The FTSE was up. And Germany France hovering around the
:10:15. > :10:17.same level, one third. It is reading between the lines as companies
:10:18. > :10:25.reveal how they are faring stock companies like Diageo and the
:10:26. > :10:36.American firms, some of them affected by the dollar. For a look
:10:37. > :10:47.ahead today and what we can expect, we can go to the US. Microsoft
:10:48. > :10:51.should impress and it is looking at how the strong dollar is affecting
:10:52. > :10:57.revenue. The company has been more focused on its cloud business.
:10:58. > :11:01.Amazon will look to beat expectations when it reports
:11:02. > :11:04.fourth-quarter revenue. It is thought to have cornered 43% of
:11:05. > :11:07.online sales in November and December and that combined with
:11:08. > :11:12.strength in cloud computing should have led to strong growth. Ford
:11:13. > :11:18.motor company is expected to announce record profits in 2015. The
:11:19. > :11:22.US Congress department will release data on orders for US manufactured
:11:23. > :11:27.goods which likely slipped in December because of the strong
:11:28. > :11:36.dollar and fall in global demand. As far as financial markets are
:11:37. > :11:39.concerned, in Asia we saw reaction to the Fed statement about interest
:11:40. > :11:46.rates. But they are keeping a close eye on events before they make their
:11:47. > :11:51.next choice on rates. We expect it to go up rather than down.
:11:52. > :11:58.We are keeping an eye on UK GDP figures also today. We asked at the
:11:59. > :12:03.start of the programme how much your personal information was worth,
:12:04. > :12:08.relating to the fact Facebook said it makes $3 73 from each of us on
:12:09. > :12:15.average from information we put on the site. Add that up and it comes
:12:16. > :12:19.to a lot of money. Some comments. Never give correct details, says
:12:20. > :12:23.Jerome Hurel. Protect your security data. Is he
:12:24. > :12:29.really called to Rome?! If you are a product and you are
:12:30. > :12:33.using it for free, you are the product and they are entitled to
:12:34. > :12:38.make that money from you. Alistair says few people know how
:12:39. > :12:44.Facebook generates their revenue, including HMRC. Perhaps like me the
:12:45. > :12:47.best protest is to cancel our Facebook accounts, he says.
:12:48. > :12:53.Another says, perhaps there should be an opt out where Facebook users
:12:54. > :12:57.could pay $4 to opt out from that data being used. Other suggest stop
:12:58. > :13:07.using it. Still to come. Monarch Airlines was
:13:08. > :13:12.close to going under but the company has reinvented itself as a low-cost
:13:13. > :13:25.carrier. That move is paying off. The chief executive will be hair.
:13:26. > :13:34.Stay with us for that. We can bring you more detail now on the figures.
:13:35. > :13:39.We are expecting to get a number of around double .4,. .5%, something
:13:40. > :13:44.consistent with the economy growing at 2%. Not terrible and that not
:13:45. > :13:50.relent. Let me show you where we have been. There is the Big Dipper,
:13:51. > :14:01.the great recession. We have been hovering -- between 2% and 3% -- the
:14:02. > :14:08.big decrease. Recently we have seen service sector is doing well but the
:14:09. > :14:11.bit the government would like to stimulate, manufacturing,
:14:12. > :14:16.construction, have been pretty weak. The march of the makers has not
:14:17. > :14:21.materialised. Manufacture has been weak. Expects the oil price plunge
:14:22. > :14:25.to affect the North Sea, which will have an impact on manufacturing. We
:14:26. > :14:28.expect half a per cent but it will not be the headline number that is
:14:29. > :14:34.interesting, it will be the way it is made up and it will show a
:14:35. > :14:43.picture of a balanced, rebalanced economy. And the cocktail of risks
:14:44. > :14:47.facing the economy, which the Chancellor highlighted. Those are
:14:48. > :14:56.still ringing in the air is of many. -- in the ears. We have seen big
:14:57. > :15:00.market falls and we have had volatile stock markets. Confidence
:15:01. > :15:04.is not running at a high level. Perhaps people are not taking on an
:15:05. > :15:09.extra person, not investing in an extra bit of equipment. At 2%, the
:15:10. > :15:15.Chancellor will say we are hanging in there. He would like to see it
:15:16. > :15:19.more balanced. It is easy to underestimate the effect the North
:15:20. > :15:22.Sea house on the UK manufacturing economy, particularly in north-east
:15:23. > :15:24.Scotland and North East England and I expect it to show up in the
:15:25. > :15:37.numbers. David Cameron has is visiting
:15:38. > :15:43.Aberdeen, this is a real issue for those parts of Scotland but for the
:15:44. > :15:46.industry as a whole in the UK. Extra help is being demanded by the
:15:47. > :15:48.authorities in Scotland when it comes to the help that can be given
:15:49. > :15:56.to Aberdeen. You're watching Business
:15:57. > :16:09.Live - our top story: The energy megamerger. There is
:16:10. > :16:13.expected to be a $49 billion deal today. We will be watching the
:16:14. > :16:18.details. Until then we are going to turn our attention to the airlines.
:16:19. > :16:20.In 2014 - one of the UK's oldest airlines - Monarch -
:16:21. > :16:23.looked like it was on the edge of collapse.
:16:24. > :16:25.But after a rescue deal and more than a year of restructuring.
:16:26. > :16:28.It says its underlying earnings for 2015 will be more
:16:29. > :16:31.So how did the airline manage to turn itself around?
:16:32. > :16:34.Its workers took large pay cuts - and 700 staff were made redundant.
:16:35. > :16:36.It also restructured its routes, axing long-haul services -
:16:37. > :16:43.and instead focusing on becoming a low-cost carrier.
:16:44. > :16:46.With us is Andrew Swaffield, chief executive of Monarch Airlines
:16:47. > :17:02.He has a lot to do with the changes. Thanks are coming on the show. Just
:17:03. > :17:08.to say that when you took over, you were not aware of how bad things
:17:09. > :17:16.were. That's right. I came in and aware of those issues, which turned
:17:17. > :17:19.out to be helpful for me because I think that when you come to try to
:17:20. > :17:26.restructure the company of that size, talking to the workforce, it
:17:27. > :17:29.was helpful that I was nothing to do with the problem and I had not
:17:30. > :17:35.actually been aware of it. We discovered it together. Talk me
:17:36. > :17:49.through that moment you discovered things were quite so bad. What
:17:50. > :17:55.happened? Escape! I had 20 years with British Airways and the parent
:17:56. > :18:04.company. I was not used to being in an environment in that kind of
:18:05. > :18:16.state. My first reaction was that this is going to be very difficult.
:18:17. > :18:30.I was not the CEO at the time. I was number two. From a series of events
:18:31. > :18:35.I was asked to take over. It was as much of an instinct decision as a
:18:36. > :18:43.logical one. We have touched on some of the measures you had to take
:18:44. > :18:48.which were not easy. We know what it is like when bosses try to reshape
:18:49. > :18:53.airline companies. Unions are involved, strike action, problems
:18:54. > :19:05.for the users of the airline, how did you go through that process in
:19:06. > :19:14.such a way that the company came out like that? I think it was in such a
:19:15. > :19:20.way that the owners had made it clear that they were not going to
:19:21. > :19:27.continue owning it and no new owner would buy the company with the cost
:19:28. > :19:31.base that it had. The lack of prospects and profitability. It was
:19:32. > :19:42.about making that clear to the employees and the trade unions, and
:19:43. > :19:46.the great thing about airlines is many of the implied he is our
:19:47. > :19:53.professional. If you take pilots and engineers and cabin crew, they
:19:54. > :19:57.understand if you explain it to them straightforward, they got the
:19:58. > :20:02.message and be understood that the alternative was the company ceasing
:20:03. > :20:07.to exist so they chose that. We spoke in the introduction about this
:20:08. > :20:12.move away from what the company had been towards our low-cost model.
:20:13. > :20:21.What was on that list when you said, these are the things that we've got
:20:22. > :20:27.to cut. It was fairly straightforward to make the
:20:28. > :20:30.decision. That is the future of European aviation. You can see it
:20:31. > :20:35.with the growth of easyJet and Ryanair. The long haul operation
:20:36. > :20:42.only had two Mac planes. It was not scalable. The charter operation was
:20:43. > :20:46.dying. That business has been in decline for years. That was an easy
:20:47. > :20:51.decision and it inspired a lot of other decisions behind it which
:20:52. > :20:55.allowed us to build a new business plan. We are running out of time but
:20:56. > :21:10.I want to ask you a question about being the boss of an airline, safety
:21:11. > :21:18.is on the mind of everybody, tell us about that area of your job. I
:21:19. > :21:23.understand in the industry there is incredible transparency and
:21:24. > :21:29.collaboration between airlines. The aviation industry thrives on
:21:30. > :21:39.openness and we have thorough investigations, and then the
:21:40. > :21:43.industry gets safer. That happened after a previous incident and will
:21:44. > :21:49.happen with the current threat. Aviation is very good at adapting,
:21:50. > :21:55.so whether it is a port security or in the air, it will get safer. It
:21:56. > :22:00.takes safety very seriously. That is one of the reasons why I love it
:22:01. > :22:08.because it is a group of professionals. On that note we shall
:22:09. > :22:11.end the interview. Thank you for coming in.
:22:12. > :22:13.Diageo, the maker of Johhny Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka says it
:22:14. > :22:16.has increased its global sales, despite the slowdown in China.
:22:17. > :22:19.Major bright spots include the high end market in Africa -
:22:20. > :22:22.where premium brands saw sales surge 65 per cent.
:22:23. > :22:27.Ivan Menezes is the chief executive of the drinks maker,
:22:28. > :22:37.speaking a little earlier he gave us his take on.
:22:38. > :22:46.China is not growing double-digit but it grew a very solid 4%. Africa
:22:47. > :22:52.remains a good opportunity. We are used to volatility in emerging
:22:53. > :22:57.markets, these underlying demographics and the trend towards
:22:58. > :23:01.consumers and the middle-class drinking better, they are intact and
:23:02. > :23:06.that bodes well for the company. We need to stay the course and handle
:23:07. > :23:11.the volatility but I'm pleased that our emerging markets grew. We've got
:23:12. > :23:19.some breaking news about the economy Minister of Japan, he has announced
:23:20. > :23:22.his resignation at a press conference. A lot of attention on
:23:23. > :23:28.Japan. The bank of Japan will be having a very important meeting at
:23:29. > :23:32.the end of this week to decide on monetary policy. A lot of pressure
:23:33. > :23:40.on the Japanese central bank to do more to stimulate the economy. That
:23:41. > :23:49.has just occurred. That came as a surprise because they were hoping he
:23:50. > :23:50.would go to New Zealand to sign a big trade deal. This relates to
:23:51. > :23:59.Braves which he denies. Richard Jeffrey from
:24:00. > :24:11.Cazenove Capital Management Talk with us about the other
:24:12. > :24:19.stories. We are starting with tax. Google and apple have hit back.
:24:20. > :24:23.Google settling with UK authorities and some said it was not as good as
:24:24. > :24:30.it could have been, it is paying a lot more in Italy. This debate will
:24:31. > :24:34.rumble on. I think it will. What we are beginning to see is some
:24:35. > :24:39.international agreement that you cannot tackle these issues of big
:24:40. > :24:44.corporations and where they pay their tax on a country by country
:24:45. > :24:47.basis. It must be done amongst countries. There needs to be
:24:48. > :24:52.agreement with America and the European Union in order to locate
:24:53. > :24:56.where profits are made and insured they are taxed where they are made
:24:57. > :25:02.rather than transferred to lower tax areas. It is quite a step forward. I
:25:03. > :25:06.can imagine the likes of Margaret Hodge and others thinking we are
:25:07. > :25:10.getting there. We are getting there, we are still quite a long way away
:25:11. > :25:16.from where we want to be, but you've got to take the first steps, and
:25:17. > :25:20.they are being taken. It is up to corporations to respond to this and
:25:21. > :25:26.realise the environment is changing, people expect them to pay more
:25:27. > :25:32.taxation. What we need now is a more transparent system so people can
:25:33. > :25:36.quite clearly see where these companies are making profits and
:25:37. > :25:40.where they are being taxed on these profits. Very nice to see you. Short
:25:41. > :25:47.but sweet. That is all for now.