25/02/2016 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock.

Sales at brewing giant AB InBev lose their fizz in China and Brazil

as economic worries force consumers to cut back on beer.

Live from London, that's our top story on Thursday 25th February.

Profits are not as frothy as hoped from the world's biggest

It's been hit by economic woes in Brazil and China.

So will its mega takeover of SABMiller help it thrive again?

Japan's struggling electronics firm Sharp is rescued at last,

but Foxconn of Taiwan is an unlikely white knight, and it marks the first

foreign takeover of a major Japanese tech firm.

We'll hear from our correspondent there.

And, the rollercoaster ride on financial markets continues.

Today we are seeing gains across Europe but the pound

We'll have more on our globe-trotting mission to find out

how Britain could fare outside the EU.

We'll head to another island, Singapore, to find out what the UK

can learn from this small but mighty Asian hub.

And what's the toughest question you've ever been asked

It's reported that Facebook asks candidates, what did you do

Send us your best and worst interview questions.

The world's biggest brewer AB InBev warns economic challenges in Brazil

The maker of Stella Artois and Budweiser saw profits rise

by 6.6% to $4.31 billion in the latest quarter.

It's on course for a $106 billion mega takeover of rival SABMiller,

which owns Grolsch and Peroni, a big shakeout of the industry

But even with a slowdown, China is already the world's biggest

beer-drinking country, guzzling a whopping 47.5

Well ahead of the US, in second place with 17.7 billion

Established brands, like Budweiser, are being challenged

by the craft-beer phenomenum, as the micro-brewery craze spreads

from Europe and the US to China, Brazil and Russia.

Craft makes up not even 0.5% of the total beer market.

Jonny Forsyth is global drinks analyst at Mintel.

Sally running through the issues, what I want to pick up on is they

blame the slowdown in China and Brazil, it is a common complaint, a

lot of businesses warning that the slowdown is hitting their bottom

line. Is it fair, as an excuse? No, because they have small coverage in

China. A China slowdown is not good but it is not necessarily a

disaster. It points to how reliant these brewers are on the emerging

markets. We have talked about those markets and what growth potential

they give to big firms. With a slowdown they are looking for

alternatives, where are the alternatives? The big one is Africa.

So much potential growth. It is a continent where a lot of people like

to drink beer, huge potential to bring people into a retail market

who have not been in before. Craft beer is a big issue. It is funny,

because we see that beer companies are getting bigger, but they are

telling us it is all about Craft beers. They don't seem to go

together. There is a disconnect. It is a threat for the company. It is a

long-term threat. It is more of a bubble in Western markets at the

moment, people are turning against big brands, but in a decade or so it

will be a big problem in emerging markets as well. We can see by the

big firms are doing it, they make efficiency, the bigger they get, but

that is the thing that consumers do not want, they want local beers,

craft beers, they are not necessarily getting it from the big

firms. But not everybody drinks Craft beer. It may have amazing

growth potential, but even in America it is still only around 11%

of all beer sold. It does have exponential growth, but a lot of

people are interested in mainstream beers as well. What does it tell us

about the power of marketing? They are huge conglomerate but they are

trying to portray an image of a niche luxury brand. It is the

marketing. It shows the susceptibility of consumers to

lifestyle marketing. A lot of these major brands, there is not a lot of

difference in taste but it is selling a dream of how people like

to see themselves. It has worked well in Western markets, and it

works in emerging markets as well. French authorities have demanded

Google pays $1.7 billion The figure is substantially more

than the $180 million the search engine agreed to pay in back

taxes to UK authorities. But reports suggest Google

is to negotiate and may not pay The IMF says the global economy has

weakened further and is vulnerable It says that's a result of increased

financial turbulence The IMF's report comes before

a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central-bank governors

in Shanghai later this week. The South African rand has slumped

further after the country's finance minister warned the

economy is in crisis. Pravin Gordhan cut the country's

growth forecast, warning that the economy is struggling

with shrinking growth, 25% unemployment and

widespread poverty. The South African currency has

halved in value over To Japan now, where struggling

electronics giant Sharp says it has accepted a takeover

bid worth $4.3 billion from the Taiwanese

multinational Foxconn. We will talk about BT, they are

subject to a review from the regulator. The result was sent

through this morning, they must open up its network to competition, but

the regulator has stopped short of demanding a full spin off of the

Openreach broadband business. Lloyd say profits are up 5%. A 9% stake

owned by the Government as a result of the bailout in the financial

crisis. Profits are up, but it is putting in provision for mis-selling

of PPI, largely in the UK. That is costing the big bounce the -- the

big banks the. Shares are up 9% in a moment, we

will explain why. To Japan now, where struggling

electronics giant Sharp says it has accepted a takeover

bid worth $4.3 billion from the Taiwanese

multinational Foxconn. Foxconn is the biggest

supplier to Apple and makes, It's the biggest foreign buyout

of a Japanese firm in its Shop has been struggling for some

years with massive losses and it has been cutting thousands of jobs, so

it has been looking for a saviour. It had two options, one possibly

Japanese state backed fund and the other was Foxconn. Many people

thought the company would go with the Japanese fund, because the

industry is known to be reluctant to accept foreign takeovers. But

Foxconn's offer was more attractive, double the amount, and the board

accepted it. The company will raise more than $4 billion by selling two

thirds of its shares to Foxconn. The deal still has to be approved by

shareholders, they are not impressed, shares were down 20% at

one point, they ended the day 14% lower.

Sharp's shares fell significantly. They closed down over 10%. But Japan

is up, on the speculation. The Government will do more to boost the

economy. Elsewhere, a mixed picture. The market up slightly in the US.

Lloyds Bank shares up 9% on the FTSE 100. That was after announcing the

earnings, which were pretty solid, and they announced a special

dividend, which is good news for shareholders. Therefore, people

would buy the shares. We have trouble showing give those numbers,

but when we can bring them to do, we well. Also, Zodiac aerospace, shares

down 34%, it issued a profits warning. Maybe we will get the

European numbers in 80 minutes, but in the meantime, this is what is in

store in the United States. It is earnings season, we will hear

results from a bunch of companies, including many retailers, including

cols. They said their sales and profit were hurt by unusually warm

weather during the holiday season. Likewise, Sears is expected to

announce the loss, and Weight Watchers International seems to have

been boosted by Oprah Winfrey, who signed on as a stakeholder and

spokesperson. The company is coming off 11 straight quarters of

declining revenue. The commerce Department's durable goods report

for January is due out. The numbers will be pored over for signs of the

sector's resilience. These are the European numbers, they

are green. Joining us is Lawrence Gosling,

editor-in-chief of Investment Week. A lot of financial data due today.

Eurozone inflation, what are we expecting? Not a large number.

Things are muted in the Eurozone, as most people would expect. Syrup with

one, 0.2%. When you strip out the energy and a bed, prices go up by

around 1%, but because energy is going down so sick of the conflict,

it keeps pulling the number down. Absolutely. People looking for

inflation as a positive sign of economic growth, that 1% number is a

good sign that things are gradually going in the right direction. Let's

talk UK. It is the second estimate for the first quarter of GDP, it

should give us an indication about a slowdown in the world economy are

born out in the figures. We are not expecting a very large number, it

will be positive, which is good news. The sign of weakness that

people will look at, retail sale is beginning to drop off, which might

make people nervous. It is interesting, the IMF is all over the

business pages today, various comments coming from Christine

Nygaard. One of their suggestions to global Finance minister's and

central bankers meeting tomorrow in Shanghai is, club together, let's

come up with a strategy to help the global economy. Your thoughts? She

has argued for an coordinated approach, but that is whistling in

the wind, because the economies are moving at different speeds. You

cannot get the central banks or the finance ministers getting their

heads together, because they cannot do the same thing. I would like to

be a fly on the wall, especially with George Osborne and Mark Carney

there, given the whole scenario of Brexit. Yes, that will dampen growth

a bit in the next couple of months. We had Mark Carney teasing the

market about interest rates, suggesting there could be a cut,

which is an interesting scenario to play with. You will be back later,

we will look through the papers. Still to come, can the UK thrive

outside the EU? As the debate continues as friend of

the referendum, what can Britain learn from Asia's trading hub

Singapore? More about the UK telecoms regulator

of calm, just told BT to open up its cable network to allow competitors

to connect more homes and offices to superfast Internet.

Openreach provides and maintains the cables that deliver connections into

consumers' homes but the regulators stopped short of demanding a

complete rake up of BT. Some damning comment from the

regulator, not least about the so-called jewel divide. Absolutely,

a big point in this report is this notion of a digital divide. Fast

swathes of Britain do not get the service that people in the big

cities enjoyed when it comes to things like superfast broadband and

mobile. This morning's disappointment for BT's rivals, they

say the way to solve this divide problem is to break up BT. Relief

from BT itself that Ofcom has not gone the extra mile and said that BT

should be broken up. If you look at the share price, investors in BT

pleased that the Chief Executive has not gone as far as many expected her

to go, she says there has to be proven, the share price affected by

the volatility at the beginning of the year, and it has picked up this

morning. The Chief Executive of BT has said they will improve the

service, but has also said that investment depends on certainty.

Ofcom has said, yes, the voluntary agreements will still be in place,

they must improve, but break-up is still on the table. Although there

is this major report, they are still saying that at the moment BT can try

to keep its own house in order, but if it doesn't, break is still on the

cards. Investors will still have that concern to content with.

Thank you. Good stuff, as always. Now have a listen, and watch this.

WHISTLE. Don't you just love it? This is Britain's most famous steam

train, the Flying Scotsman, setting off this morning from King's Cross

heading to York. Thousands of spectators expected along the 200

mile route. It was built back in 1923.

Our top story: Challenges brewing for the beer industry.

The maker of Stella Artois and Budweiser, AB InBev,

see profits hit by economic problems in Brazil and China.

We have been discussing whether it is fair to blame that slow down when

they have small exposure to those markets but it is a common excuse we

are hearing from many firms with falling profits, the slow down in

China. As the UK contemplates a possible

life outside the EU, there have been a number

of scenarios of what could happen One theory suggests it could become

an Atlantic Singapore, an outward-looking trading nation

with a large financial sector. Our Asia Business Correspondent

Karishma Vaswani looks at what lessons the UK can learn

from Singapore's success, From third World to first. In just

50 years since independence, Singapore has turned into one of the

world's richest cities. Not too long ago this was a sleepy fishing

village. On the banks Indian and Chinese merchants used to haggle

over goods but now the icons of global finance tower over the

horizon. Trade has always been at the pulse of this place. This

transformation has not been repeated anywhere else in the world but

Singapore's leaders knew that this tiny island could not survive by

itself, so it has used its neighbours to chart its own course

of success. Just look at where Singapore is in the region. A tiny

dot in a sea of bigger, more powerful countries. That is why in

1967 it was one of the founders of the association of Southeast Asian

nations also known as ASEAN which is now an economic block of ten member

states. They have also signed 21 free trade agreements with everyone

from America to China. Looking beyond its shores is what has helped

Singapore thrive according to the boss of the country's largest bank.

S benefits enormously from the free capital and Labour movement. Frankly

I don't think Singapore would be able to survive let alone thrive

without access to this. With a small population, this country has looked

elsewhere to fill its workforce. Today four out of ten people here

are foreigners. This has brought with its own problems and the

Government is trying to address them, but Singapore can pick and

choose who it wants to let in. If you look at the situation in

Singapore and in ASEAN, they have a single market. Not as deep as

Europe's but there is a free-trade agreement that covers almost all the

trade within ASEAN's borders but there is no free movement of labour.

There are efforts to introduce it in some skilled professions but they

have not gone very far. In a sense, Singapore now has what Britain

wants. As you have seen, Singapore has benefited from being part of the

ASEAN grouping. It has been able to sell its products to its neighbours

and make use of the workforce in the region. Although ASEAN certainly has

its limitations, at its core there is a belief that member states

should not get involved in each other's business and currently that

is an option the UK does not have. From Singapore to Iran,

and one of the biggest deals Tehran has made since sanctions

were lifted has been to upgrade its aging

fleet of aircraft. The opening up of Iran's economy

helped seal the $25 billion It includes 45 A330 jets and 12

A380 super jumbos. Speaking to the BBC's Theo Legget,

Airbus's chief executive says financing is an issue which needs

to be resolved for the What we concluded as a first aid

agreement, memorandum of understanding, and in our business

you need a purchase agreement to fill it up. When you have a purchase

agreement, predelivery payments flow, so yes, we hope to get this

agreement, this memorandum of understanding into a firm purchase

agreement in the coming months. Financing is obviously one of the

big issues we have got to deal with. So where is the money coming from?

This is what we are currently discussing. A lot of other companies

and industries are in the same situation. This is not easy. I am

hopeful that we will find a solution but we will nevertheless comply with

all the restrictions and sanctions and regulations that are still in

place with respect to Iran. The boss of Adas there. Let's have a look at

the other stories making the headlines around the world.

The Business Insider asks - China's GDP growth has slowed

while its debt has increased so is China heading

A regular question and we will look at the detail.

The Washington Post has details about the daunting job interview

On your very best day at work what did you do that day?

This seemingly simple question was conceived to help assess

And the FT reports on the CEO email scam that has cost

Apparently more than 12,000 people around the world have fallen victim

We will explain this particular scan in a minute. Let's talk interview

questions, Lawrence, because it has got everybody animated this morning.

Keep your questions coming in. If you go for a job at Facebook, they

touch on this question, trying to assess a candidate's usefulness to

the business. You interview people. What do you ask them? I always ask

at the end, tell me the most memorable thing about Hughes said

that we will know you over the other candidates. One guy said to me that

he learned to drive a steam train before he learned to drive a car,

which was great! It revealed him as a railway enthusiast. Khatami one

your daughter had to answer yesterday. She went to an interview

and in the job they asked her what your best friend and worst enemy

would say about you in the workplace. It threw her. You end up

focusing on your worst enemy and to did not get the job unfortunately.

It is about standing out. Christopher says that his worst

question was whether his knowledge was deep or broad. To me that means

nothing. You cannot say both. It is about coming up with something

original. Say whatever you want it to be if you want the job! Fabrics,

thank you for getting in touch. The toughest question is why do you

think you are the right person that we need? It is tricky, controversial

and stressful. It is addressing what you can do versus what the business

needs. Everybody has identical CVs these days and trying to find

something personal that makes them stand out is difficult. Let's get to

this email scam, an issue for cyber security. The story here, it is

costing companies $2 billion and you think the email comes from your boss

asking you to transfer money but it is from a fraudster. You feel sorry

for people that have fallen for this. If my boss asked me to wire

him money, I would worry, about him and about the business. But these

are clearly plausible emails. This is a large amount of money and the

police have made some arrests around the world so it is genuinely global

fraud. Some businesses need to take this seriously but I do wonder. You

see the cost to business, $2 billion, and they are now investing

even more to make sure they are prepared. It is about the cost

benefit thing, putting the money up now so they are not at risk. We have

talked about the threat of cyber crime, which is

becoming a huge amount of company's spent that they cannot grow their

businesses and hire more people. Thank you for being on the show and

talking through the newspapers today. If you have a job interview,

the best of luck. If your boss asks you for money, say no. Top tips from

as! We will see you soon. Goodbye. Good morning. Another day where we

are starting off in a deep freeze with widespread frost. Temperatures

took another dive last night, similar to the previous