:00:00. > :00:07.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson and Aaron
:00:08. > :00:16.Reshaping Britain's relationship with the European Union -
:00:17. > :00:19.businesses on tenterhooks as leaders of the world's biggest trading bloc
:00:20. > :00:21.gathering in Brussels to try to hammer out a deal.
:00:22. > :00:23.Live from London, that's our top story on Thursday
:00:24. > :00:49.Trade figures from Japan shows exports falling
:00:50. > :00:52.again, squeezed by China's waning appetite for its goods.
:00:53. > :00:54.Is it yet more evidence that the country's Abenomics
:00:55. > :01:00.And higher education and lower prices.
:01:01. > :01:04.We'll get the inside track on cut-price university courses.
:01:05. > :01:06.As the University of the People delivers online teaching
:01:07. > :01:10.without the heavy cost, we'll find out how it works.
:01:11. > :01:13.And since it's a topic we just can't escape here in the UK -
:01:14. > :01:16.the Business battles over Brexit - so we want to know what do
:01:17. > :01:22.Would British business be better off in or outof the European Union?
:01:23. > :01:35.You can't have failed to notice the clamour and excitement
:01:36. > :01:44.European leaders prepare for a summit today on the future
:01:45. > :01:49.For the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, that means fighting
:01:50. > :01:51.for changes to the way the region is run.
:01:52. > :01:54.It's a big deal for companies, who all want certainty in a time
:01:55. > :02:01.So amid all this Brexit chatter - what do businesses really think?
:02:02. > :02:04.Those wanting to stay in the EU, claim trade and productivity
:02:05. > :02:10.Then there's growth - French bank Societe Generale says
:02:11. > :02:13.leaving the EU could "reduce British economic growth,
:02:14. > :02:22.And that could hurt the currency, Japanese bank Nomura believes
:02:23. > :02:24."the pound could fall 10 to 15% if overseas investors
:02:25. > :02:31.The voices that want out of the EU club, such as leading figures
:02:32. > :02:35.in the Commonwealth, have cited immigration
:02:36. > :02:37.as an obstacle, saying they face difficulties employing people
:02:38. > :02:43.And small business groups complain about "EU red tape" and want rules
:02:44. > :02:47.that unfairly impact small business liberalised.
:02:48. > :02:50.Others, like white goods manufacturer Ebac, said the UK
:02:51. > :02:55.needed its own trade policy to strike deals with growing
:02:56. > :03:03.Professor Nigel Driffield, Strategy and International Business
:03:04. > :03:09.at Warwick Business School, joins us from there,
:03:10. > :03:11.and David Buik from market commentator Panmure Gordon
:03:12. > :03:24.Let me start with Nigel. Good to have you. Viewers around the world
:03:25. > :03:24.watching this they perhaps are starting to
:03:25. > :10:27.What is more expensive! Bad news from Japan - exports have fallen for
:10:28. > :10:29.a fourth straight month. The value of country's exports fell by 12.9%
:10:30. > :10:36.in January from a year earlier. Ali Moore is in Singapore for us. I can
:10:37. > :10:42.only imagine with all of the other bad news that Japan has been
:10:43. > :10:46.injuring, they do need this like a hole in the head and policymakers
:10:47. > :10:51.must be struggling to reignite the world's third biggest economy? This
:10:52. > :10:55.is the biggest fall in annual exports since the financial crisis.
:10:56. > :11:03.No surprise that it has been put down to weaker demand from China,
:11:04. > :11:10.one of the key trading partners, exports fell by 17.5%. Another
:11:11. > :11:13.headache for policymakers. On Monday we find out that the economy in
:11:14. > :11:19.Japan is shrinking again. Partly because of a very big demand --
:11:20. > :11:27.decline in consumption, the central bank pushing interest rates below
:11:28. > :11:35.zero, there are not many tools left, remarkably, investors seem sanguine,
:11:36. > :11:52.the Nikkei closed up by more than 2%. Thank you very much. We can show
:11:53. > :11:55.you those numbers. Tokyo shares closed up more than 2% higher today,
:11:56. > :11:58.bouncing back from losses to extend a global rally fuelled by a surge in
:11:59. > :12:00.oil prices. And Yesterday European markets saw some of their best gains
:12:01. > :12:03.so far this year, as financial stocks and commodity prices soared,
:12:04. > :12:12.led by that gain in crude oil prices. Last night's Fed minutes may
:12:13. > :12:14.well have helped, too - they showed that policymakers are cautious about
:12:15. > :12:25.a deterioration in financial conditions around the world. Another
:12:26. > :12:26.factor weighing on the Fed was the response of Chinese policymakers and
:12:27. > :12:32.what they'll do about slowing growth. Michelle Dewberry has the
:12:33. > :12:36.details of the day ahead on Wall Street. If you had to pick one
:12:37. > :12:39.company whose performance stands as a measure for all of the consumer
:12:40. > :12:43.sector in America you could do worse than Walmart, the world's biggest
:12:44. > :12:47.bricks and mortar chain Alyce annual earnings on Thursday and it is
:12:48. > :12:52.possible they would show the first decline in revenue for 25 years. It
:12:53. > :12:56.is not expected to be by much and the company still rakes in nearly
:12:57. > :13:03.500 billion dollars every year. But the profits are also expected to
:13:04. > :13:09.slip slightly. However, shares have been rising in recent months as
:13:10. > :13:14.investors improve the cost-cutting measures and its attempts to lay
:13:15. > :13:19.claim to online shopping. Also out tomorrow, weekly job figures which,
:13:20. > :13:28.as always, will capture plenty of investor attention. We can stay with
:13:29. > :13:32.the markets. Joining us is Brenda Kelly, Head Analyst at London
:13:33. > :13:42.Capital Group.. And happy birthday. Thank you for coming in on Europe
:13:43. > :13:48.birthday! Bonjour? I am trying to keep the European theme going! We
:13:49. > :13:55.were talking about oil, we thought yesterday that Iran will not listen
:13:56. > :14:01.to that freezing. With all of those agreed freezes. We thought Iran will
:14:02. > :14:08.not do that give us the update, Russia says no? They say they will
:14:09. > :14:12.not necessarily keep it frozen in 2016 so we have record levels of oil
:14:13. > :14:16.being pumped by these countries and freezing them is one thing but
:14:17. > :14:19.ultimately demand is not there and over the next couple of years we
:14:20. > :14:25.will see demand for oil dropping back considerably so with supply
:14:26. > :14:32.still very much front and foremost, it is looking very shaky for oil
:14:33. > :14:36.prices to consider -- maintain. The reason for the jump was the weekly
:14:37. > :14:40.inventory which is lower than expected but that could just be one
:14:41. > :14:44.weekly point that we do not depend on, the real driver is supplied,
:14:45. > :14:50.which is high, although possibly frozen, and demand is weakening and
:14:51. > :14:54.China is one of the biggest slowing down economies and that is one of
:14:55. > :15:01.the reasons behind lower demand. Yesterday, the minutes from the Fed,
:15:02. > :15:06.they give packed on the markets. We can see what is happening already.
:15:07. > :15:12.Yesterday there was a big boost for the US markets and Asian markets
:15:13. > :15:18.from what we heard from the Fed. Yes, the fact that there are
:15:19. > :15:23.different headwinds, not necessarily just domestic, preventing this hike
:15:24. > :15:26.in interest rates. We have seen something of a balanced but we are
:15:27. > :15:30.still in this tightening all Aussie when it comes to the Federal Reserve
:15:31. > :15:34.so any up the news might well make them rollback on what they said at
:15:35. > :15:38.the last meeting. And we could well see interest rate hikes in the next
:15:39. > :15:43.year but the market is not pressing anything. It is pressing a cut from
:15:44. > :15:50.the Federal Reserve, albeit a small probability. That would mean a big
:15:51. > :15:51.change in the picture. He must come back and take us through the papers.
:15:52. > :16:04.Higher education, lower price. We will see you shortly.
:16:05. > :16:07.We meet the firm offering university courses for a fraction of the price
:16:08. > :16:10.And it's aiming for students in the developing world.
:16:11. > :16:12.We look at the rise of online learning -
:16:13. > :16:15.can you really get higher education at rock bottom prices?
:16:16. > :16:23.You're with Business Live from BBC News.
:16:24. > :16:25.There has been a sharp fall in profits at Centrica,
:16:26. > :16:33.But it's a different story for British Gas itself.
:16:34. > :16:42.Our industry correspondent John Moylan has the details.
:16:43. > :16:55.They up, down, can you explain it? British Gas is the residential arm
:16:56. > :17:01.of Centrica and profits soared at ?574 million, the best performance
:17:02. > :17:05.since 2014. The two main reasons the company are stating is that the
:17:06. > :17:09.customers used more gas in 2015. Temperatures at the beginning of
:17:10. > :17:13.2015 were more normal whereas the previous year they had been slightly
:17:14. > :17:18.milder so customers used less gas. The second thing is that the company
:17:19. > :17:22.has to insulate people's homes, the equal scheme the Government insisted
:17:23. > :17:30.on, and the cost of that were less than the previous year. However, I
:17:31. > :17:33.sat down in front of the boss of Centrica, Iain Conn, and put to him
:17:34. > :17:37.that surely this is because the companies have not been passing on
:17:38. > :17:43.the big pitfalls we have seen in gas to customers over the past few
:17:44. > :17:49.years. This is what he had to say. Because we buy some of our gas and
:17:50. > :17:54.head of time, her cost of gas is down 24% -- our cost. People need to
:17:55. > :17:59.remember nearly 60% of the bill is not the actual commodity, and as a
:18:00. > :18:04.result our costs have come down just over 10% and we reduced prices --
:18:05. > :18:07.reduced prices by 10% last year. Furthermore we made a third
:18:08. > :18:10.production at the end of this year making a total of 14% so we really
:18:11. > :18:20.are trying to pass everything onto the consumer to be as competitive as
:18:21. > :18:22.we can be. Profit up at British Gas but down at the parent company,
:18:23. > :18:25.Centrica, which has been really hit by the falling global oil and gas
:18:26. > :18:28.prices and it also has a lot of pirate stations and the price of
:18:29. > :18:32.power, electricity, has fallen in the UK as well. As always, thanks,
:18:33. > :18:47.our industry correspondent there. The number of UK homes worth more
:18:48. > :18:50.than ?1 million, set to triple by 2030. Look at that. That is just
:18:51. > :18:56.yours? Yeah right! Unbelievable. In or out - we're not talking
:18:57. > :19:09.about the hokey kokey. European leaders are in Brussels
:19:10. > :19:13.to try to agree a deal on key reforms, that will ultimately decide
:19:14. > :19:16.whether Britain stays or leaves Full coverage of that across the BBC
:19:17. > :19:19.today. Now - if you've been
:19:20. > :19:21.to university or college - But many believe such an education
:19:22. > :19:28.should be available for all, And one man has set up the first
:19:29. > :19:34.non-profit, tuition Shai Reshef, founded
:19:35. > :19:41.the University of the People. Its open to students around
:19:42. > :19:44.the world and currently has more than 3000 students
:19:45. > :19:50.from 180 countries. It's not completely free, however -
:19:51. > :19:53.there is a small charge for most students, with a payment of $100
:19:54. > :19:57.for the exam processing fee. And it's already attracting
:19:58. > :19:59.the high-calibre staff with academics from Harvard,
:20:00. > :20:09.Stanford and Yale. And Unesco estimates
:20:10. > :20:11.that by the year 2025, there will be
:20:12. > :20:13.98 million young people seeking seats in universities that don't
:20:14. > :20:15.physically exist. Shai Reshef, president and founder
:20:16. > :20:25.of University of the People, Shai, great to have you with us in
:20:26. > :20:28.the studio. This is amazing that the first question that comes to your
:20:29. > :20:34.mind looking at the numbers, how do you make money? We don't. It is
:20:35. > :20:38.nonprofit, however we rely on everything free on the Internet,
:20:39. > :20:42.open source technology, open educational resources and
:20:43. > :20:46.volunteers. We have 4000 professors who jumped on board to help achieve
:20:47. > :20:50.our mission and as such we are able to beat tuition free. Moreover, by
:20:51. > :20:58.the end of this year we are sustainable -- be tuition free. You
:20:59. > :21:04.are not for profit, but I mean it must take money to run what you are
:21:05. > :21:10.offering. Yes, as I said, we are going to be sustainable but until
:21:11. > :21:14.that point we are supported by foundations, with many great
:21:15. > :21:18.individuals and corporations standing behind us to make it
:21:19. > :21:22.happen. If I fancied a change of career and came to you and I wanted
:21:23. > :21:28.to study to be an astrophysicist or something... What would it cost me?
:21:29. > :21:33.What would I need to subscribe to, to pay, to join the University? We
:21:34. > :21:36.only offer a business administration...
:21:37. > :21:41.LAUGHTER However, as I said, $100 per exam,
:21:42. > :21:48.$100 a year for the students who study full-time. How does that
:21:49. > :21:50.compare with cost around the world? We know that depending where you
:21:51. > :21:56.study the cost can be very different. Give us sense of how that
:21:57. > :22:01.compares? That is a good question. Compared to the USA, it might be
:22:02. > :22:05.about 1% of the cost, in other countries it varies, and a fraction
:22:06. > :22:08.of the cost here in the UK. In other countries, however, I think the most
:22:09. > :22:18.important thing to say is it is a remission that no one will be left
:22:19. > :22:20.behind for financial reasons and as such we offer scholarships who
:22:21. > :22:22.cannot afford even this amount. Yes, I wanted to ask about that. Speaking
:22:23. > :22:26.about developing countries as well. $1000 is still a lot of money for
:22:27. > :22:29.many people, particularly in developing countries full stop what
:22:30. > :22:33.opportunities do you have four people their? We have scholarships.
:22:34. > :22:38.It is our aim that no student should be left behind for financial reasons
:22:39. > :22:45.and we have scholarships to enable students to go. Right now, I mean,
:22:46. > :22:50.lately we announced 500 scholarships for Syrian refugees. We have
:22:51. > :22:53.scholarships for different genders, nationalities and different cultures
:22:54. > :22:59.who need help and we bring them to study with ours. Tuition free. It is
:23:00. > :23:08.really nice to see. I am sorry time is against us. But good luck with
:23:09. > :23:09.it. An amazing system. Shai, the founder of the University Of The
:23:10. > :23:13.People. Lets take a quick look
:23:14. > :23:16.at the stories making business The Wall Street Journal has
:23:17. > :23:19."Overproduction Swamps Smaller Chinese Cities,
:23:20. > :23:20.Revealing Depth of Crisis". Above a photo of stored
:23:21. > :23:22.cement mixer bodies, it says that Beijing had hoped that
:23:23. > :23:25.smaller Chinese cities would help drive the expansion of the middle
:23:26. > :23:29.class and sustain economic growth. The New York Times says the battle
:23:30. > :23:33.between Apple and law enforcement officials over unlocking
:23:34. > :23:34.a terrorist's smartphone is the culmination of a turning
:23:35. > :23:37.of the tables between the technology And the Daily Telegraph claims
:23:38. > :23:41.new research shows home sellers lose out on thousands of pounds
:23:42. > :23:43.if properties lack 'kerb appeal'. It says what people need
:23:44. > :23:46.to do is tidy the garden, Brenda Kelly, head analyst
:23:47. > :24:02.at London Capital Group, Where shall we start? Let's start
:24:03. > :24:06.with this amount. China three years prior to a year ago, the use more
:24:07. > :24:13.cement than all of the native state of the 20th century. That is not the
:24:14. > :24:17.case? It is not the case, and certainly the way China has been
:24:18. > :24:21.restructuring its economy it has been trying to reorganise our lot of
:24:22. > :24:24.the rural parts of it and create a more reformed middle-class, building
:24:25. > :24:28.itself from within rather than depending on exports but because of
:24:29. > :24:31.the cheap credit and the fact there has been overproduction domestically
:24:32. > :24:37.it has created a slowdown in growth in China. A very interesting story
:24:38. > :24:43.here based on small city, which is ultimately seeing slower growth at
:24:44. > :24:48.the moment. Did you know that China actually provides 80% of the global
:24:49. > :24:56.supply of shiitake mushrooms? Which I did not know! No! There you go.
:24:57. > :25:01.They are trying to provide growth because there are so many other
:25:02. > :25:04.growers in the sector, and it is producing havoc. The smaller farmers
:25:05. > :25:09.are starting to feel the bite so the global slowdown is starting to get
:25:10. > :25:14.into regular people's lives. Let top national obsession, global
:25:15. > :25:23.obsession. House prices. This statistic. You stand to lose this
:25:24. > :25:28.money if you do not keep up, and if you have a BMW in the drive? Yes,
:25:29. > :25:33.people prefer a mini Cooper or something. They don't like BMWs. I
:25:34. > :25:37.don't know why. There must be some kind of connotation to owning a BMW.
:25:38. > :25:41.You could lose up to 20% of the value of your house if you do not
:25:42. > :25:46.pay the upper around it. That makes sense to an extent but 20% is a huge
:25:47. > :25:52.amount for just one thing that of paint on the door and weeding run
:25:53. > :25:55.the front. But this amounts up to about ?100,000 loss. Wonderful
:25:56. > :25:58.stuff. Happy birthday again. Thank you for coming in.
:25:59. > :26:02.There will be more business news throughout the day on the BBC Live
:26:03. > :26:05.webpage and on World Business Report.