:00:00. > :00:00.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Thompson
:00:00. > :00:14.Despite plunging oil prices, investment in shale gas
:00:15. > :00:34.Live from London, that's our top story on Wednesday 6th April.
:00:35. > :00:38.The price of crude has slipped back below $40 a barrel as supply
:00:39. > :00:44.So why are investors still piling their cash into shale?
:00:45. > :00:49.A $160 billion deal goes up in smoke.
:00:50. > :00:53.US drugs giant Pfizer scraps its takeover of Botox maker
:00:54. > :00:59.Allergan, as President Obama gets tough on tax inversion.
:01:00. > :01:03.And European markets are higher despite Greece's debt saga
:01:04. > :01:13.The global beauty industry is worth more than $110 billion a year,
:01:14. > :01:17.but how do you make your brand stand out?
:01:18. > :01:20.We sit down with the boss of skincare giant Rodial.
:01:21. > :01:23.It's a hit with celebrities and the rest of us, but is it
:01:24. > :01:29.And as Paypal scraps plans to create 400 jobs in North Carolina
:01:30. > :01:33.after the state recently passed anti-gay laws we want to know,
:01:34. > :01:37.is big business right to get involved in social issues?
:01:38. > :01:42.And is this corporate activism the way to change the law?
:01:43. > :01:58.Oil has been particularly volatile over the past couple of days
:01:59. > :02:03.But despite the uncertain outlook for producers,
:02:04. > :02:06.America's fracking fever continues, because new figures suggest
:02:07. > :02:11.investors still have their faith in the US shale story.
:02:12. > :02:14.According to research from the Carbon Tracker Initiative,
:02:15. > :02:22.investors are piling back into the sector, investing
:02:23. > :02:25.an incredible $8.9 billion in the first quarter of 2016.
:02:26. > :02:27.That's the highest level of investment in the industry
:02:28. > :02:30.on a quarterly basis since 2011, and a tenfold increase
:02:31. > :02:35.It's a surprising figure, considering Carbon Tracker forecasts
:02:36. > :02:38.that fracking companies will suffer 10% lower output this
:02:39. > :02:42.Investors are apparently betting that the price
:02:43. > :02:47.of oil can't go any lower, and that now the only way is up
:02:48. > :03:18.We have been talking about how billions of investment money has
:03:19. > :03:26.been withdrawn or put on hold, we are seeing a lot of investment, is
:03:27. > :03:29.this investors betting that the US shale oil and gas has hit rock
:03:30. > :03:35.bottom? That is the inspiration I would say, because oil was below $30
:03:36. > :03:44.in January, so the first quarter of this year, that is the lowest. We
:03:45. > :03:47.have had forecast of $10 by some banks, but the perception had been
:03:48. > :03:53.that this is the bottom, and from now on the prices would gradually
:03:54. > :03:59.recover. That is the only explanation I can see. It is all
:04:00. > :04:10.about nothing, they are taking risks, and I doubt if those putting
:04:11. > :04:16.money in two huge analysis, they go by ear, feelings, and they take
:04:17. > :04:22.positions. It is like playing at the casino. If you look at the US
:04:23. > :04:28.fracking picture, it is fragmented, you have big players, little
:04:29. > :04:34.players, they each need a different price to break even. There is a lot
:04:35. > :04:40.of the smaller guys that are suffering. Did you think this is
:04:41. > :04:44.right for consolidation, the guys sucking up the little ones? That has
:04:45. > :04:53.been the expectation for the oil industry in general. But it has not
:04:54. > :05:01.been as much as people expected. The costs vary. The range of different
:05:02. > :05:11.companies, each company has its own break even price. The cost of
:05:12. > :05:21.operations has fallen, there are now less than 500 bricks, there had been
:05:22. > :05:27.2000. The costs have come down, which might make the investors say,
:05:28. > :05:36.they can not be as bad losers, maybe profit makers. It is unusual. We
:05:37. > :05:39.always appreciate your time, thank you for explaining that.
:05:40. > :05:42.Germany's Angela Merkel has warned that it's not legally possible
:05:43. > :05:46.for Greece to reduce its debt burden while remaining in the EU.
:05:47. > :05:49.Talks have resumed this week between Greece and its creditors
:05:50. > :05:55.The IMF has long argued for Greece to be given debt relief.
:05:56. > :05:58.Ford says it plans to build a new $1.6 billion
:05:59. > :06:04.It says the move will create 2,800 jobs, and will focus
:06:05. > :06:10.But Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called
:06:11. > :06:20.The instant-messaging service Whatsapp says it will be encrypting
:06:21. > :06:25.So-called end-to-end encryption scrambles messages,
:06:26. > :06:29.making them only readable by the sender and
:06:30. > :06:32.The firm, which has a billion users around the world,
:06:33. > :06:44.says file transfers and voice calls will also be encrypted.
:06:45. > :06:51.I sent a message to a friend last night and I got that message. Have a
:06:52. > :06:59.look at the Business Live website, talking about the Swedish fashion
:07:00. > :07:06.retailer, pre-tax profit for three months down, although sales in March
:07:07. > :07:12.were up by 2%. This is one of my favourite subjects, aviation, and
:07:13. > :07:23.easyJet. This is a tweet from our colleague. Not a bad number of
:07:24. > :07:26.passengers. That percentage is also important,
:07:27. > :07:28.because it is about getting those planes full and being able to charge
:07:29. > :07:33.more for them. The temperature is rising in Mumbai
:07:34. > :07:38.and the heat has been on the UK's Business Secretary Sajid Javid over
:07:39. > :07:40.the last few days. He's been accused of not
:07:41. > :07:42.doing enough to protect He'll arrive in Mumbai today
:07:43. > :08:11.for talks with Tata Steel over In a couple of hours in that
:08:12. > :08:19.building behind me the Tata chairman will meet Sergei Javad. I have
:08:20. > :08:23.spoken to Tata, they are sending out an assurance that the process of
:08:24. > :08:26.sale they will follow for their UK operations will be thorough and
:08:27. > :08:30.transparent. The Business Secretary is hoping to get an agreement that
:08:31. > :08:36.whatever deal they strike for the takeover of those operations, it
:08:37. > :08:43.would result in mass job losses in the UK -- won't. They employ 15,000
:08:44. > :08:45.workers in its steel operations in Britain. The Business Secretary met
:08:46. > :08:51.with a potential buyer yesterday, the Chief Executive of liberty
:08:52. > :08:56.house, a commodities firm. He has told us he might be interested in
:08:57. > :09:01.purchasing the UK steel operations, and if there was an offer on the
:09:02. > :09:04.table that he made yesterday, that is something which we are expecting
:09:05. > :09:15.to be discussed in this meeting here today. We will be back with you if
:09:16. > :09:18.we hear any more. An important day, not only for Tata in India, but also
:09:19. > :09:20.for those here in the UK. Japan's Nikkei ended lower again
:09:21. > :09:22.today, marking its longest losing It's more than three years
:09:23. > :09:26.since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched his three-pronged
:09:27. > :09:29.stimulus-and-reform plan to revive the stagnant economy,
:09:30. > :09:35.but it's had limited impact. Elsewhere, European markets
:09:36. > :09:42.are higher today despite the fact that Greece is dragged back
:09:43. > :09:47.into the headlines by the IMF. We'll hear from Christine Lagarde
:09:48. > :09:50.on those comments over Greece later And later today we'll get the most
:09:51. > :09:54.recent minutes from the US Fed, where there could be some detail
:09:55. > :10:03.on any divisions on the committee. We will keep a close eye on those
:10:04. > :10:08.numbers. US drugs giant Pfizer has decided
:10:09. > :10:16.to kill off its planned $150 billion takeover of rival Allergan
:10:17. > :10:19.after US authorities launched a clampdown
:10:20. > :10:25.on so-called tax inversion. The deal would have moved
:10:26. > :10:28.the biggest drug company in the US to Ireland to lower its taxes,
:10:29. > :10:50.but that deal is now off. It is not confirmed, what we are
:10:51. > :11:02.expecting it to be off. Great to have you with us. It is fascinating.
:11:03. > :11:10.As a lay man, you would go, hang on, perhaps Pfizer were not interested
:11:11. > :11:14.in the product, it wanted lower tax? That was a key part of the deal,
:11:15. > :11:23.they were going to save $1 million a year. The tax rate in Ireland is
:11:24. > :11:30.12.5%, in the US it is 35%. The challenge now, if the deal is off,
:11:31. > :11:32.what they do next, but also it is interesting from the US
:11:33. > :11:36.administration point of view that this is their headline act, that
:11:37. > :11:43.they wanted to stop this happening, to send a message. Yes, and the boss
:11:44. > :11:49.of Tata tried to buy AstraZeneca in 2014, that was predicated on taxing
:11:50. > :11:58.version, partly, that did not work either. The Administration bringing
:11:59. > :12:05.in these antique inversion rules, purely aimed at Pfizer, with
:12:06. > :12:10.language relating to the way this deal was structured. He did not
:12:11. > :12:16.specifically mention Pfizer, but on top of that, multinationals will be
:12:17. > :12:24.looking at it. Multinationals operating in the US are up in arms.
:12:25. > :12:30.It is an expensive end to the deal, they will have to pay a break fee.
:12:31. > :12:37.Bankers were due to earn money on the deal. They will get some of it,
:12:38. > :12:41.but not all of it. It is part of a movement to get tough on tax, we
:12:42. > :12:48.have seen it, who is paying tax where. That continues apace. Yes,
:12:49. > :12:53.Bernie Sanders has mentioned it, as has Donald Trump, in the wake of the
:12:54. > :12:58.Panama papers being released, it is more relevant than ever. We will
:12:59. > :13:12.keep our eye on that, and you will talk through some stories later.
:13:13. > :13:20.The global beauty industry is worth $110 billion a year,
:13:21. > :13:22.but how do you make your brand stand out?
:13:23. > :13:24.If you thought snakes, dragons and super stem cells
:13:25. > :13:26.were the stuff of fantasy, think again.
:13:27. > :13:28.The cosmetic brand Rodial used flashy-sounding names
:13:29. > :13:37.to capture a corner of the market, treating skin conditions.
:13:38. > :13:39.When you arrive at work in a morning, ever spare a thought
:13:40. > :13:42.for the teams of overnight workers who keep our schools,
:13:43. > :13:45.An army of contract cleaners work overnight
:13:46. > :13:48.to look after two thirds of offices and schools in the UK.
:13:49. > :13:51.The cleaning sector is worth ?8 billion to the British economy.
:13:52. > :13:53.Steph is at the British Cleaning Council's trade
:13:54. > :14:13.Good morning, yes, this is one of the companies being exhibited, you
:14:14. > :14:19.have failed their! I am on one of the ride on bits of kit. It is an
:14:20. > :14:23.end street worth to the UK economy. It employs 450,000 people, which
:14:24. > :14:30.will increase by 3% in the next year. It is one that is growing. It
:14:31. > :14:35.is changing a lot. Often, cleaners would be the people you did not
:14:36. > :14:40.really see in the office, because they would be the people working
:14:41. > :14:45.when you are not there, but that is changing. Because of that, the kit
:14:46. > :14:51.is changing as well. A lot smaller kit, although this is not
:14:52. > :14:55.representative! That is so they can actually make sure they can get
:14:56. > :14:58.round the offices. They were telling me something that has had a big
:14:59. > :15:03.impact is the increase in the minimum wage, because this is an
:15:04. > :15:08.industry that pays around the minimum wage. That has made an
:15:09. > :15:13.impact. The company you saw earlier were telling me that they have had
:15:14. > :15:21.to put up prices in order to cover this. Jackie is racing me this
:15:22. > :15:25.morning! A lot of innovation here, it is changing the way the industry
:15:26. > :15:31.is working. If you look at the types of people employed in the sector,
:15:32. > :15:35.one in three in England is a migrant, so the EU referendum could
:15:36. > :15:40.cause uncertainty. And I think I will finish this by racing Jackie,
:15:41. > :15:41.so I will see you later. Big industry, but what is more important
:15:42. > :15:59.is I win this race. Of good stuff. I hope she is not
:16:00. > :16:05.trying to get back to the office. The website, the place to find the
:16:06. > :16:06.latest revelations. The price of crude slips back below
:16:07. > :16:16.$40 a barrel as supply But despite this, investors
:16:17. > :16:24.are still piling their cash into shale, as they bet
:16:25. > :16:36.on a recovery in energy prices. Even though production is expected
:16:37. > :16:40.to be down on last year. Beauty may well be in
:16:41. > :16:46.the eye of the beholder. More people watching, would probably
:16:47. > :16:48.agree! But it's also a billion dollar
:16:49. > :16:50.industry. Skin care is an especially important
:16:51. > :16:53.part of the picture - with latest figures suggesting it's
:16:54. > :16:55.worth more than $110 That there is a lot of money, for
:16:56. > :17:10.cream, stuff for your face! So do you distinguish yourself
:17:11. > :17:13.in such a crowded market place? That's a question for our next
:17:14. > :17:16.guest. Maria Hatzistefanis
:17:17. > :17:19.is the founder of Rodial. The company specialises in helping
:17:20. > :17:22.deal with a range Maria started life as a journalist -
:17:23. > :17:32.but spotted a gap in the market It's grown a lot since then -
:17:33. > :17:37.and now operates in 35 It's said to count celebrities
:17:38. > :17:40.amongst its fans - Unfortunately, we could not get Kim!
:17:41. > :17:55.So we got Fritzy! Victoria Fritz sat down
:17:56. > :17:57.with the founder of the company and asked her whether Rodial's
:17:58. > :17:59.claims that its fancy ingredients fix skin complaints
:18:00. > :18:01.were medically proven. With all our products,
:18:02. > :18:03.we use ingredients that have gone Everything we use, backed
:18:04. > :18:11.up by research. At the same time, we want them
:18:12. > :18:16.to be exciting, fun, we want the customer to get involved
:18:17. > :18:21.with the lifestyle. Your range includes snake serum,
:18:22. > :18:27.dragon blood, stem cell superfoods. I assume you have neither snakes,
:18:28. > :18:34.dragons, in your products! So do you not feel
:18:35. > :18:38.you're misrepresenting? When we started, we were really
:18:39. > :18:42.small, so I needed to come up with names to make
:18:43. > :18:47.the range stand out. One of the first
:18:48. > :18:52.products, snake serum. When I came up with the idea,
:18:53. > :18:55.I thought shall I call it anti-ageing, or use
:18:56. > :19:04.the main ingredient, I thought, how much more exciting
:19:05. > :19:12.to call it snake serum, Of course, people love
:19:13. > :19:18.the name, some hate it. But what we got, a lot of buzz,
:19:19. > :19:24.people talking about the brand. And when you do not have a huge
:19:25. > :19:27.advertising budget, it takes your company
:19:28. > :19:32.to the next level. You first worked as a beauty writer
:19:33. > :19:36.so you've been on both sides. You know how many freebies
:19:37. > :19:47.these magazines get. How unbias is the advice
:19:48. > :19:51.from beauty editors? When it comes to magazines,
:19:52. > :19:56.I think we know most journalists are unbias,
:19:57. > :19:58.at times we would send products, they wouldn't cover it
:19:59. > :20:00.unless they liked it. If they are not an advertiser they
:20:01. > :20:14.do not have an obligation to cover. Win it comes to celebrities, unbias
:20:15. > :20:24.recommendation of the products, but sometimes. Anybody can be a beauty
:20:25. > :20:31.blogger. How concerned are you about controlling the brand online? You
:20:32. > :20:36.cannot control it. What we do as a business, we make sure that whatever
:20:37. > :20:41.content we produce, whatever the message, we take it across
:20:42. > :20:47.platforms, Instagram, YouTube, e-mail databases, making sure that
:20:48. > :20:53.everybody gets the same message. How people take that message,
:20:54. > :20:58.interpreted, that is something that we cannot control. What does the
:20:59. > :21:07.future hold? Do you plan on expanding? I want to develop social
:21:08. > :21:15.media, even further, that could be with the YouTube channel, we also
:21:16. > :21:19.launched a docu-series, behind-the-scenes, a project. And
:21:20. > :21:30.that would enable us to communicate with everyone, grow the brand. And
:21:31. > :21:39.on the other hand, physical stores, grow in the UK with Harvey Nichols,
:21:40. > :21:42.and I want to take this internationally, New York, Hong
:21:43. > :21:47.Kong, and take this spatial, flagship business globally. That was
:21:48. > :21:54.the boss speaking. Her name? Maria Hatzistefanis
:21:55. > :22:18.is the founder of Rodial. Sorry if you're watching for that!
:22:19. > :22:28.Quickly moving on, James is back. Taking a look at the newspapers.
:22:29. > :22:34.Prince Andrew stepping in with Tata. Beijing. He has been critical, China
:22:35. > :22:41.has been said to be part of the problem? Prince Andrew was in China,
:22:42. > :22:47.speaking to the president, we do not know what the response was, but as
:22:48. > :22:52.we were talking about, Russia is another huge issue, in terms of the
:22:53. > :23:03.amount of steel, it is not just China, so presumably Xi give him a
:23:04. > :23:08.robust response. And Lithuania also exports about 95% steel. Is it
:23:09. > :23:14.correct that the royals get involved? We have even been told,
:23:15. > :23:24.they could get involved, with the EU debate, should they be getting
:23:25. > :23:33.involved, using any clout? Prince Andrew, he was involved, with her,
:23:34. > :23:42.-- the trade envoy, he clearly would have been bruised, Dell must --
:23:43. > :23:50.briefed, it is not going to change policy but it does add some
:23:51. > :23:59.pressure. Clearly, this widens it to an audience. Royals getting
:24:00. > :24:05.involved. Raises the profile. Do you think that he has been raising the
:24:06. > :24:14.profile, more than Business Live? I doubt that. And PayPal. PayPal, not
:24:15. > :24:22.going to tolerate North Carolina discrimination. They have been
:24:23. > :24:33.calling this the bathroom law. It has been targeting the transgender
:24:34. > :24:38.community, using public bathrooms lined with the gender on their birth
:24:39. > :24:42.certificate. Yes, PayPal weren't going to be opening an office, and
:24:43. > :24:47.North Carolina, but do note, business and action, not going to
:24:48. > :24:51.this day because they do not like the stance on the issue. We have
:24:52. > :24:57.been asking people, a people think this was correct. Christina has
:24:58. > :25:01.said, yes, it is the only way to hit the bottom line. Businesses should
:25:02. > :25:14.be free to take decisions, according to ethos. But Jack says it raises
:25:15. > :25:18.questions for Nissan. At Mississippi. It raises the question
:25:19. > :25:25.is, does business have an active role to play, or just an observer?
:25:26. > :25:29.That is correct, and American tech businesses have been on the front
:25:30. > :25:40.foot, then some more traditional companies, when it comes to social
:25:41. > :25:48.activism, money where the mouth is. Funny place, the States! So
:25:49. > :25:51.different, between the coasts. It is difficult to believe it is 2016.
:25:52. > :25:58.Good on you James.