:00:07. > :00:14.Hello. This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson and Sally
:00:15. > :00:18.Bundle. Powering ahead, or is it? India's growth figures are expected
:00:19. > :00:21.to show it's one of the fastest growing economies in the world,
:00:22. > :00:24.but do the official figures reflect India's growth figures are expected
:00:25. > :00:34.to show it's one of the fastest growing economies in the world,
:00:35. > :00:36.but do the official figures reflect Live from London, that's our top
:00:37. > :00:40.story on Monday, 8th February. India is poised to show it's
:00:41. > :00:44.the world's most dynamic economy amidst a sluggish global picture
:00:45. > :00:46.but who is really benefiting Also in the programme:
:00:47. > :00:53.Lunar New Year celebrations look to the monkey for good fortune,
:00:54. > :01:00.but there's mischief in the air as China sees its massive foreign
:01:01. > :01:04.exchange reserves shrink. And a brand new trading
:01:05. > :01:07.week is under way - in Europe with little guidance
:01:08. > :01:11.from Asia as most of the main markets there are closed
:01:12. > :01:13.for the new year holidays. We'll get the inside track
:01:14. > :01:18.on what it takes to make it big The founder of one of the industry's
:01:19. > :01:23.biggest players will join us And as Valentine's Day
:01:24. > :01:27.approaches - are you a fan Or are you an old romantic
:01:28. > :01:50.and prefer the traditional methods? It is the killer combination of love
:01:51. > :01:55.and money. More on that in a few minutes. First, let's focus on the
:01:56. > :01:56.Indian economy. They today we will find out how it grew in the final
:01:57. > :02:01.three months of last year. Analysts will be looking
:02:02. > :02:04.to see if the country which imports 80% of its oil
:02:05. > :02:06.will have benefited from the collapse in the price
:02:07. > :02:08.of the black stuff. The World Bank predicts that India
:02:09. > :02:11.will grow by 7.8% this year, that's the fastest rate for any
:02:12. > :02:16.major global economy. If we look at the trend from 2013
:02:17. > :02:20.through to the projected growth we can see that India is predicted
:02:21. > :02:30.to not only be ahead of the US but also the other global
:02:31. > :02:34.growth giant, China. China is in the red and the US is
:02:35. > :02:39.the blue line. One of the key advantages India has
:02:40. > :02:42.is the age of its population, half the country is under the age
:02:43. > :02:46.of 25 and that provides a strong However it's not all good news,
:02:47. > :02:52.the country needs to create an average of 8.4 million jobs
:02:53. > :02:55.a year just to keep up growth and maintain
:02:56. > :02:58.their unemployment rate. And that's quite
:02:59. > :03:02.hard to do in a country that's ranked 130th out of 189 countries
:03:03. > :03:05.when it comes to the ease That's behind Nicaragua,
:03:06. > :03:15.Uganda and even Iran. Our Mumbai Correspondent Yogita
:03:16. > :03:28.Limaye joins me now from India. We expected those figures to be
:03:29. > :03:33.good, putting India in one of the top spots for economic growth.
:03:34. > :03:39.That's already there are questions about whether it reflects the
:03:40. > :03:43.reality on the ground. What are you hearing now? It would definitely be
:03:44. > :03:49.fair to say there is scepticism about the figures. The Government
:03:50. > :03:53.revised the way they calculate GDP data in January last year, and that
:03:54. > :03:57.was when we saw the 5% growth in previous years suddenly becoming 7%
:03:58. > :04:03.and more than that. What nobody disputes, even if they wonder if it
:04:04. > :04:06.should have the title of the fastest-growing economy in the
:04:07. > :04:09.world, nobody disputes that Indian growth is picking up that we have
:04:10. > :04:15.seen that on the ground over the past year. We have seen industrial
:04:16. > :04:20.output picking up, mining picking up. And the people of India have
:04:21. > :04:27.been helped by oil prices being low. Inflation has not gone up. If you
:04:28. > :04:31.went out today on the streets, and we have been out over the past year
:04:32. > :04:35.asking people if they see any effect on their lives, and people are very
:04:36. > :04:39.likely to say that compared to previous years, they are having
:04:40. > :04:43.better lives today. But the problem that Sally talked about, job
:04:44. > :04:49.creation, I am not sure that is being sorted. One thing that has not
:04:50. > :04:52.been happening throughout 2015 is private investment. The Government
:04:53. > :05:03.really needs private players, big manufacturing companies to set up
:05:04. > :05:07.new factories to create lots of new jobs that that is not happening yet.
:05:08. > :05:09.As far as the view on the ground is concerned, two big challenges remain
:05:10. > :05:10.the bureaucracy in India so businesses can get things done and
:05:11. > :05:13.infrastructure, whether the necessary infrastructure is in place
:05:14. > :05:16.to allow businesses to grow at the rate that they could be growing at
:05:17. > :05:22.if they did not face those problems. That is right. Later this week, on
:05:23. > :05:30.Saturday, the Government is launching a huge summit in Mumbai
:05:31. > :05:34.called the Naked India week. They are hoping to make it easier to do
:05:35. > :05:37.business in India and invite manufacturers from around the world
:05:38. > :05:42.and domestic players to set up factories that plants, open
:05:43. > :05:47.companies. Has it become easier to do business? The Government has been
:05:48. > :05:50.trying to pass a particular tax law that would really simplify tax
:05:51. > :05:56.procedures in India and they have not been able to do that. They were
:05:57. > :06:00.hoping to prevent it in April 2016 but it has not cleared Parliament
:06:01. > :06:08.yet so the struggles remain. Thank you. Some other stories now.
:06:09. > :06:11.Nearly 150 oil platforms in the UK's North Sea could be scrapped over
:06:12. > :06:13.the next decade, according to analysts.
:06:14. > :06:15.The estimate from Douglas-Westwood says that the low oil prices
:06:16. > :06:17.will result in many oil fields in UK waters,
:06:18. > :06:19.including the North Sea, becoming uneconomic and less
:06:20. > :06:33.Germany's financial watchdog says it has cut
:06:34. > :06:39.down the German arm of Canada's Maple Bank.
:06:40. > :06:41.The bank has been forbidden from taking customers' payments,
:06:42. > :06:43.other than those made to repay debts.
:06:44. > :06:46.In September, German prosecutors searched the bank's offices as part
:06:47. > :06:50.of an investigation into tax evasion and money laundering.
:06:51. > :06:53.Over 100 million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl last
:06:54. > :06:55.night and as always, advertisers did their best to cash
:06:56. > :07:00.Companies paid as much as $5 million for a 30 second slot with Doritos
:07:01. > :07:02.and Mountain Dew's adverts receiving over 300,000 tweets between them
:07:03. > :07:07.Before the game had even kicked off this year's adverts were viewed more
:07:08. > :07:29.Let's have a look at the Business Live page. Dangers to the world
:07:30. > :07:34.tourism industry as a result of terrorism and the Zika virus hanging
:07:35. > :07:40.over parts of South America. They say the industry will manage to
:07:41. > :07:45.whether this crisis, as it is growing by 3.5% compared to last
:07:46. > :07:51.year, so not all bad news despite the headlines. Another story on
:07:52. > :07:59.here, Rand gold. Production is hitting a record high. The chief
:08:00. > :08:03.executive Mark Bristow is quoted describing last year as one of the
:08:04. > :08:10.best years in the company's mystery. Of late the price of gold has been
:08:11. > :08:15.edging upwards actually as people's concern about the year ahead and
:08:16. > :08:19.nervousness about the global economy has meant people are buying more
:08:20. > :08:21.goals. That old adage that it is a safe place to put your cash in
:08:22. > :08:24.turbulent times. China's foreign currency
:08:25. > :08:25.reserves slumped by nearly China has been running down its vast
:08:26. > :08:29.foreign currency reserves in an attempt to boost the value
:08:30. > :08:31.of its own currency. Tim McDonald is in our
:08:32. > :08:43.Asia Business Hub in Singapore This is something that the Chinese
:08:44. > :08:49.authorities revealed on Sunday. Most people trying to digest what it
:08:50. > :08:53.means today. That is right. $100 billion flowing out in the space of
:08:54. > :08:59.a month seems like a lot, following a slump of 420 billion in the second
:09:00. > :09:04.half of 2015. This flood of cash is being used to prop up the value of
:09:05. > :09:07.the currency and it has been falling because investors are worrying about
:09:08. > :09:12.the slowing Chinese economy and they are moving their money overseas in
:09:13. > :09:20.search of better returns. This puts downward pressure on the currency,
:09:21. > :09:24.so the Bank of China is using $3.23 trillion to slow the descent. This
:09:25. > :09:27.strategy is not unique by any stretch of the imagination but there
:09:28. > :09:34.are questions about whether they can continue to empty the cough is so
:09:35. > :09:37.rapidly, and some analysts say it is causing more worry among investors,
:09:38. > :09:43.so more people will move their money overseas and start the process
:09:44. > :09:50.again. Thank you. Looking at the markets, these guys were definitely
:09:51. > :09:54.closed on Friday, because most of the markets in Asia will be closed
:09:55. > :10:01.all week because of the lunar New Year celebrations. China is the
:10:02. > :10:06.exception. It is a turbulent day because when I came in today, it was
:10:07. > :10:11.down, because Toyota shares are down for example. That is rightly's close
:10:12. > :10:20.in the United States reflecting the jobless figures that came out on
:10:21. > :10:26.Friday in the USA. Add all of the European market at about 0.5%. The
:10:27. > :10:31.price of oil is higher today and energy stocks doing rather well as
:10:32. > :10:34.well. Just to say, the jobs figures out on Friday, how many jobs have
:10:35. > :10:39.been added to the US economy, which was disappointing. Still markets
:10:40. > :10:52.around the world stage testing that news.
:10:53. > :10:55.This is what Nada Tawfik had to say that since filing this report she
:10:56. > :11:08.has had her baby! This report looks at the total
:11:09. > :11:11.number of drilling rigs in operation and their productivity, so traders
:11:12. > :11:17.will be interested in those figures as oil prices remain a concern along
:11:18. > :11:23.with the supply glut. 21st Century Fox also released its results. At
:11:24. > :11:25.quarter of the 2016 fiscal year, after the media Corporation
:11:26. > :11:32.announced they were looking to reduce costs and staffing by $215
:11:33. > :11:45.million in the fiscal year that begins in July. And there is a
:11:46. > :11:52.possible merger with Mattel to create a massive toy company.
:11:53. > :11:54.Massive congratulations to Nada Tawfik and we will let you know when
:11:55. > :11:58.she gets back into the office. Joining us is Sue Noffke,
:11:59. > :12:08.UK Equities Fund Manager, Let's talk about India. How closely
:12:09. > :12:12.will the rest of the world be talking and watching India? I think
:12:13. > :12:16.increasingly because there are questions hanging over the two
:12:17. > :12:19.largest world economies, because that is putting greater focus on
:12:20. > :12:27.everywhere else and Indian growth is something that is big and powerful
:12:28. > :12:30.enough, but with some growth will it be sufficient to bail out the
:12:31. > :12:39.weakness we are seeing in China and the slow down in the USA? Years ago
:12:40. > :12:46.we were talking about Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa,
:12:47. > :12:50.the bricks. They are falling. This is the only brick left in the wall
:12:51. > :12:55.and it is interesting how it is developing as an economy. Yes, a
:12:56. > :13:00.large and useful economy, but one where bureaucracy, which was
:13:01. > :13:07.mentioned in your report earlier today, and other impediments to
:13:08. > :13:11.business. When we look at India as a global economy, all that hope that
:13:12. > :13:17.was pinned on it, and on the other bricks nations, the shine is coming
:13:18. > :13:20.off somewhat as the slow down in the world economy goes on. Where else
:13:21. > :13:28.should we be looking and where do we have glimmers of hope on the
:13:29. > :13:31.horizon? Well, a lot of the world is interconnected, so the slowdowns in
:13:32. > :13:38.other major economies of course have an impact. It is a tough ask to
:13:39. > :13:42.expect the rest of the world's fast-growing economies to take up
:13:43. > :13:47.the baton entirely. They will do some of that running so. Thank you.
:13:48. > :13:49.We will see you later and there is plenty more to discuss and plenty in
:13:50. > :13:52.the newspapers as ever. Still to come: Flirting
:13:53. > :13:54.with a fortune. We get the inside track
:13:55. > :13:57.on the dating business and how firms are vying for the top spot
:13:58. > :14:00.in the $2 billion industry. The boss of one top dating
:14:01. > :14:02.firm joins us live. You're with Business
:14:03. > :14:13.Live from BBC News. In the UK, the energy company Total
:14:14. > :14:16.says the first gas has come ashore at its new plant in
:14:17. > :14:18.the Shetland Isles. It's thought the site
:14:19. > :14:20.will eventually produce almost Our Scotland Correspondent
:14:21. > :14:30.Lorna Gordon is there. Tell us more about this announcement
:14:31. > :14:38.that came through just a few hours ago. Oil has been coming ashore to
:14:39. > :14:45.Shetland for about 40 years but what we are seeing now is this new gas
:14:46. > :14:50.plant behind me operated by Total opening up. It is difficult to get
:14:51. > :14:55.to gas fields in deep waters West of Shetland but they are considered
:14:56. > :14:59.important reserves strategically. The Government estimates they may
:15:00. > :15:04.contain 70% of UK's remaining gas. When this plant is fully online it
:15:05. > :15:08.could provide enough energy for up to 2 million homes. It really is
:15:09. > :15:13.good news for an industry that more widely is really suffering because
:15:14. > :15:16.of the downturn in oil and gas prices and of course that is really
:15:17. > :15:22.good news for these islands in this most northerly part of Britain. That
:15:23. > :15:26.is what I wanted to pick up on, what it could mean for the people in and
:15:27. > :15:32.around where you are today. What does it mean for the island?
:15:33. > :15:36.Shetland is a really interesting part of the country, the only part
:15:37. > :15:41.of the UK with an oil and gas fund, a sovereign wealth fund. That fund
:15:42. > :15:49.and the council reserves are worth about half ?1 billion. In terms of
:15:50. > :15:54.that capital, it is only second to the city of Westminster. It is an
:15:55. > :15:58.awful lot of money. They have saved for a rainy day. Every barrel of oil
:15:59. > :16:05.that has come onshore has given a tied to the island and the same will
:16:06. > :16:08.happen with this plant. It has paid for amenities and gone to good
:16:09. > :16:10.causes. The islanders are very lucky and they know it. They welcome the
:16:11. > :16:24.gas plant coming online. HSBC, it has been a long running
:16:25. > :16:28.saga, about whether HSBC will keep its head quarters in London. It was
:16:29. > :16:34.debating whether it would move them to Hong Kong.
:16:35. > :16:37.They say the bank levy makes the playing field uneven and it is
:16:38. > :16:40.unfair and it would restrict them from being here. Perhaps we'll get a
:16:41. > :16:44.decision later. Our top story: All eyes are on India
:16:45. > :16:47.as the country gets set to report But, as always, there are worries
:16:48. > :16:52.about a slowdown in Asia's third-largest economy and questions
:16:53. > :16:54.over how accurate that official As St Valentine's Day approaches,
:16:55. > :17:07.our next discussion is a timely one. In recent years it has grown
:17:08. > :17:13.from a niche business venture The online dating industry is now
:17:14. > :17:23.estimated to be worth more In fact, it's now so big the UK
:17:24. > :17:29.Government checks on the price of subscriptions to help calculate
:17:30. > :17:32.the headline rate of inflation. One of the industry's
:17:33. > :17:36.market leaders is Venntro, who own a number of dating sites
:17:37. > :17:40.including Just Singles and Smooch. As well as running their own sites
:17:41. > :17:43.Venntro also provide the software and infrastructure to allow
:17:44. > :17:48.25,000 other business Founded in a spare bedroom in 2003,
:17:49. > :17:53.the business now turns over around $63 million a year and employs
:17:54. > :18:01.people right around the globe. The founder and Chief Executive
:18:02. > :18:13.of Venntro Group, Ross Ross nice to see you: Good morning.
:18:14. > :18:18.First things first, 25,000 other dating sites. You have the
:18:19. > :18:21.technology that powers those sites. I never knew there were that many,
:18:22. > :18:28.really? It is niche dating around the world. So when you look at the
:18:29. > :18:31.different users, you might based on where you live, what you job as a
:18:32. > :18:35.job, interests and characteristics and sport, and when you look at that
:18:36. > :18:39.across the English speaking territories, as well as UK, New
:18:40. > :18:47.Zealand, Canada and the US, it comes up to 25,000. And you know, our
:18:48. > :18:53.business is built on the white label platform. So for example, you know,
:18:54. > :18:58.I don't know much about towns in Ohio or if you look at Miami and New
:18:59. > :19:03.York and Boston, we have got partners that can build sites on our
:19:04. > :19:08.platform for those territories. And you're kind of winning in every
:19:09. > :19:10.which way because you are running some sites and you have got the
:19:11. > :19:15.white label option which enables other people to run dating websites
:19:16. > :19:20.through your services so you've got people who are trying to find a
:19:21. > :19:25.partner, you're getting subscription money from them, but you're getting
:19:26. > :19:32.businesses paying you, it is coming in all from all sources? We started
:19:33. > :19:37.back in 2003. No external funding. So no private equity, VCs, me and my
:19:38. > :19:43.business partner started it using half a dozen credit cards and we
:19:44. > :19:46.have grown it to $62 million a year, revenue, still all privately owned
:19:47. > :19:53.and it is a great success story, as well as our sites like Snaoch.com
:19:54. > :19:57.and Just Singles, it allows newspapers and magazines to create
:19:58. > :20:02.those sites. If you see the white label as our B to B operation, our
:20:03. > :20:06.sites is our B to C, direct to consumer operation. It is an
:20:07. > :20:10.industry that's been made possible, it is fair to say, by technology.
:20:11. > :20:13.You would not be able to do what you do without technology, whether it is
:20:14. > :20:17.smartphones or the websites. People can do it on the move and it will
:20:18. > :20:21.match based on location and we have seen a growth in the Tinder and IPO
:20:22. > :20:25.and the valuation that's put on these firms. It strikes me that
:20:26. > :20:30.there is so much competition for what is a very basic service. It is
:20:31. > :20:37.matching person A with person B, how do you stand out? Ultimately, we
:20:38. > :20:43.have seen consolation in the market. Tinder is owned by Match Group
:20:44. > :20:53.valued at $1 billion. Match Group own Plenty of Fish and OK Coop I had
:20:54. > :20:57.and they are the UK and Venntro is the UK equivalent. If you are
:20:58. > :21:00.looking for a relationship, a marred ableg we have this portfolio and
:21:01. > :21:04.that's the approach we're taking. Just briefly, because we are being
:21:05. > :21:11.told to end the interview at this moment, I'm being naughty. It is the
:21:12. > :21:16.Year of the Monkey, I feel I can get away with it today. In terms of
:21:17. > :21:22.safety, how do you guarantee that, that must be a big part of your big,
:21:23. > :21:29.guaranteeing that? We have 140 staff and 50 people based in Windsor
:21:30. > :21:32.moderating 24/7. 4am Christmas Day, I had people checking every profile,
:21:33. > :21:37.photo, everything. That's a huge part of what we do, and it is one of
:21:38. > :21:49.the reasons why people are paying for dating subscriptions on our
:21:50. > :21:55.plait #230r78. Tform. -- our platform.
:21:56. > :21:58.Today it's the turn of Perfumer Jo Malone.
:21:59. > :22:00.Here's the business advice she wishes she'd been given
:22:01. > :22:06.Never make a life changing decision on a bad day. How many times I have
:22:07. > :22:11.done that and made a really big decision when I felt emotional and
:22:12. > :22:14.has been the wrong decision. So make that life changing decision always
:22:15. > :22:21.when you're on the up and you feel more balanced.
:22:22. > :22:26.When you're building a business, it can be really tough and you need
:22:27. > :22:29.that kind of a business muscle. When your feet leave the ground and you
:22:30. > :22:32.have the celebration moment, enjoy it and celebrate it with the team
:22:33. > :22:38.and the family that have helped you get there.
:22:39. > :22:45.Jo Malone who was one of our guests on Business Live.
:22:46. > :22:46.Some top tips there. We have got more in that series and we will
:22:47. > :22:57.bring them to you. Let's take a quick look
:22:58. > :23:13.at the stories making business Those reserves at $100 million pale
:23:14. > :23:16.into insignificance compared to what China's reserves are. They are the
:23:17. > :23:21.highest for 17 years, we have been building them up and the question is
:23:22. > :23:27.why do we need them? There is the Brexit vote coming later this year,
:23:28. > :23:31.likely. And a Brexit would put pressure on the pound and why is
:23:32. > :23:35.that important? Well, we actually import more than we export. So we
:23:36. > :23:39.have got a deficit, a current account deficit and we need to fund
:23:40. > :23:43.that. We need to have investors confidence in the stability of the
:23:44. > :23:48.UK economy and the value of the pound in order to do that. There is
:23:49. > :23:52.some scary projections out there, aren't there? If the UK were to come
:23:53. > :23:56.out of the European Union because it is an unprecedented thing. It is
:23:57. > :24:00.such an unknown that the pound would fall like a stone in the initial
:24:01. > :24:06.reaction? So Goldman Sachs, I think, have put out a forecast and said
:24:07. > :24:08.that it could fall 20%. Now, of course, the foreign exchange
:24:09. > :24:13.reserves are constantly moving and trying to take account of lots of
:24:14. > :24:17.these potential events. And we have seen some weakness in sterling in
:24:18. > :24:22.recent months against the dollar and against the euro from quite high
:24:23. > :24:31.levels during last year. So some that is getting priced in. Google is
:24:32. > :24:40.back in the spotlight. Google Island staff -- Ireland staff paid less
:24:41. > :24:45.than our London colleagues. The controversial about Ireland they
:24:46. > :24:48.book the majority of their sales in Ireland for tax purposes. A big
:24:49. > :24:52.difference? Yes, that's right. London wages and salaries tend to be
:24:53. > :24:57.higher. There is the London waiting? There is. This is a large
:24:58. > :25:02.differential. So how do they explain that? Given that the majority of
:25:03. > :25:11.their business is in and through Ireland? I think they are likely to
:25:12. > :25:16.have to answer to MPs later. It is not the first time. I think it is
:25:17. > :25:22.people trying to hold these large new companies where the tax profiles
:25:23. > :25:25.are different, hold them to account. It is interesting because Amazon is
:25:26. > :25:28.in the headlines. Doubling the amount of money it spends on
:25:29. > :25:34.lobbining politicians in the US. I found this astounding. Briefly, Sue?
:25:35. > :25:40.A lot of companies will want to get representatives of their views
:25:41. > :25:45.through the law courts and Amazon is joining the likes of Microsoft. So
:25:46. > :25:48.up there with the big boys in terms of its lobbying spend. Sue, as
:25:49. > :25:50.always, thank you very much. Really nice to see you.
:25:51. > :26:11.Good morning. The working week is not getting off to the best of
:26:12. > :26:14.starts weather wise because of our ninth named storm of the season.