:00:08. > :00:10.This is Business Live from BBC News with Rachel Horne
:00:11. > :00:13.Snapchat files for a stock market flotation -
:00:14. > :00:16.that could be the biggest tech IPO since Facebook.
:00:17. > :00:38.Live from London, that's our top story on Friday 3rd February.
:00:39. > :00:41.It's set to be a massive deal - Snapchat could be worth up
:00:42. > :00:43.to $25 billion, but the photo messaging company
:00:44. > :00:46.is yet to record a profit in its five year history.
:00:47. > :00:51.Apple switches its focus to India following a slowdown in China -
:00:52. > :01:00.The European markets have opened for for the latest.
:01:01. > :01:07.The European markets have opened for trade and are holding pretty steady.
:01:08. > :01:09.We will bring them to you when we get them.
:01:10. > :01:11.Also in the programme: Brexit - round one.
:01:12. > :01:14.As EU leaders gather in Malta - its Prime Minister calls
:01:15. > :01:16.for a "fair deal" for Britain - but warns it will pay
:01:17. > :01:26.And following the announcement that Snapchat will be listing
:01:27. > :01:29.on the US stock market, today we want to know -
:01:30. > :01:32.would you buy shares in a company with a limited track record
:01:33. > :01:39.The value of Facebook has tripled since it went public in 2012,
:01:40. > :01:53.but will Snapchat be a similar success?
:01:54. > :01:58.In the last few hours the social networking company has filed
:01:59. > :02:01.documents to float its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
:02:02. > :02:04.It's likely to be the biggest IPO in the technology world
:02:05. > :02:12.For those of you who don't use it - it's kind of the opposite
:02:13. > :02:15.of Facebook - instead of making a permanent record of your life it
:02:16. > :02:17.lets you send picture messages that then disappear.
:02:18. > :02:23.According to the company - 158 million people use Snapchat
:02:24. > :02:27.every day to send picture messages or Snaps.
:02:28. > :02:31.That's nothing compared to the almost 2 billion
:02:32. > :02:35.But it's very popular among young people,
:02:36. > :02:42.An estimated 41% of Americans aged 18-34 are on Snapchat.
:02:43. > :02:45.Its users are young - and so are its founders.
:02:46. > :02:50.It was set up by Evan Spiegel, on the left - now still only 26 -
:02:51. > :02:57.Three years ago they turned down $3 billion
:02:58. > :03:01.in cash for the company from Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg.
:03:02. > :03:08.We'll find out - Snapchat could have a stock market value
:03:09. > :03:17.Making the founders multi-billionaires.
:03:18. > :03:23.How does that sound? I want to cry.
:03:24. > :03:27.With me is our Technology Correspondent Rory-Cellan Jones.
:03:28. > :03:33.I could have got deja vu here because around five years ago we
:03:34. > :03:37.would have been sitting in the BBC studio somewhere talking about
:03:38. > :03:43.Facebook before it went public and gone how is it going to monetise its
:03:44. > :03:49.ads and make money, and it's the same here, I will Snapchat make
:03:50. > :03:52.money? It already is that you are right, there is a huge parallel with
:03:53. > :04:00.Facebook but is there a parallel with Twitter? We have a company, it
:04:01. > :04:05.is not aimed at you, and Rachel I am not even sure it is aimed at you.
:04:06. > :04:19.Sadly not, just out the bracket! It is aimed at 15 to 24-year-olds, I
:04:20. > :04:23.have just done a little Snap which features us fooling around with
:04:24. > :04:29.fresh. It's about reinventing the camera which is what the company
:04:30. > :04:34.say, injecting fun into the way kids interact. People who understand this
:04:35. > :04:40.understand it brilliantly and use it all day, but the rest of us struggle
:04:41. > :04:44.with it. If it is going to be worth what the market thinks it's worth it
:04:45. > :04:50.has two continue growing its audience. There are some quite
:04:51. > :04:53.worrying charts in the IPO document released overnight, one of them
:04:54. > :05:01.shows the growth tailing off a little just as they are coming to
:05:02. > :05:05.market. You don't want to see that. That reflects they are up against
:05:06. > :05:09.the gorilla in the room, Facebook, which has been taking their ideas
:05:10. > :05:15.and putting them into Instagram which it owns and winning over some
:05:16. > :05:20.of that audience. Rachel wants to come in but can I bring that end,
:05:21. > :05:29.you said it, Mark Zuckerberg says here is $3 billion, they did not
:05:30. > :05:35.take it so he went and bought Instagram, thinking if I cannot have
:05:36. > :05:41.you nobody will. Mark Zuckerberg was offered billions at quite an early
:05:42. > :05:45.stage in his early 20s, for Facebook, he was brave, rejected all
:05:46. > :05:51.offers and said I will do it my way. The Snapchat guys are doing exactly
:05:52. > :05:54.what Mark Zuckerberg did. The question is if they can follow the
:05:55. > :05:59.same path but I think a lot of people will be spooked by slowing
:06:00. > :06:03.user growth. In the listings they talk about themselves as a camera
:06:04. > :06:09.company, what is that about, are they trying to monetise through
:06:10. > :06:15.hardware? They released spectacles. Yes, they have released these things
:06:16. > :06:18.were you record instant video. They are trying to stress the difference
:06:19. > :06:22.between them and Facebook and Twitter. They are not about text,
:06:23. > :06:28.they are about images and they think they have tapped into something real
:06:29. > :06:34.and powerful amongst that group, the millennial is that love to
:06:35. > :06:41.communicate and have fun. They think it's powerful to advertisers. Always
:06:42. > :06:47.a pleasure, we have two wrap it up but let's put you on the spot to
:06:48. > :06:48.revisit in five years, will it be Twitter or Facebook? I think it will
:06:49. > :06:52.be Twitter. Sad. The Chief Executive and co-founder
:06:53. > :06:55.of Uber, Travis Kalanick, has quit President Donald Trump's
:06:56. > :06:57.business advisory group. The boss of the ride hailing service
:06:58. > :07:00.has been coming under mounting pressure over the Trump
:07:01. > :07:01.administration's Critics included Uber drivers, many
:07:02. > :07:05.of whom are themselves immigrants - and a social media campaign urging
:07:06. > :07:16.users to delete the Uber app. The e-commerce giant Amazon has
:07:17. > :07:18.reported record sales of $43.7bn However that was short of market
:07:19. > :07:25.expectations so it's shares have The US based firm said growing costs
:07:26. > :07:41.would hit future profits. Apple is to start making iPhones
:07:42. > :07:45.in India this year as the firm looks to tap into a booming middle class,
:07:46. > :07:52.as sales in China slow. The chief executive Tim Cook said
:07:53. > :07:55.this week the company intends to "invest significantly" in India -
:07:56. > :08:16.where they only have a 2% share Isn't the issue with these Apple
:08:17. > :08:21.iPhone's, are they not just too expensive for the market?
:08:22. > :08:28.Absolutely, it's beyond the reach of many ordinary citizens. They did
:08:29. > :08:32.ship about 2.5 million iPhone's, a record for Apple, but in the Indian
:08:33. > :08:37.market which consumes about 300 million smartphones in a year it is
:08:38. > :08:44.only in tenth place. One of the problems is that it is so expensive
:08:45. > :08:49.because they are not manufacturing or assembling in India. They have
:08:50. > :08:54.just had a meeting with IT officials in a southern state to express the
:08:55. > :08:57.intention to maybe assemble and in the long-term manufacturer there. I
:08:58. > :09:02.spoke to the local IT minister who confirmed they had this meeting and
:09:03. > :09:09.they are hopeful they might start as soon as April this year. Apple has
:09:10. > :09:16.tied up with a company from Thailand and they might start making these
:09:17. > :09:19.iPhones very soon. If they want to scale up they also have
:09:20. > :09:26.manufacturing facilities in India so it will be an easy job. There are
:09:27. > :09:32.challenges ahead because Apple want a lot of concessions which India has
:09:33. > :09:32.not agreed to and already other manufacturers are protesting. Great
:09:33. > :09:38.explanation, thank you. So lets take a look at the markets
:09:39. > :09:43.and in Asia there was a bit of a shock when China's central bank
:09:44. > :09:47.announced plans to raise the cost of short term borrowing -
:09:48. > :09:49.no official word on why they've done this but analysts think
:09:50. > :09:51.the government is worried about the huge amount of lending
:09:52. > :09:54.that has been going on - concerned about a property bubble
:09:55. > :09:56.so tightening policy. The Chinese markets had been closed
:09:57. > :10:00.for a week because of lunar new year and when they opened they fell
:10:01. > :10:02.posting their biggest losses for two weeks -
:10:03. > :10:06.and that followed on from what investors called
:10:07. > :10:11.a cautious day on Wall Street. The Dow closing ever so slightly
:10:12. > :10:16.down. In Europe markets
:10:17. > :10:18.were expected to continue that cautious trend -
:10:19. > :10:22.but lots of figures due out today - services PMI for germany
:10:23. > :10:27.and france and a key US Jobs report - so lets go
:10:28. > :10:37.to Wall Street and see It's the first Friday of a new month
:10:38. > :10:41.which means we are expecting the latest American job numbers. The
:10:42. > :10:46.unemployment rate is currently at 4.7%, the lowest in almost a decade.
:10:47. > :10:53.This particular report will be closely watched by the Federal
:10:54. > :10:58.reserve and of course the new Trump administration. Something delicious
:10:59. > :11:03.will be happening on Friday, the maker of her shoes and Reese 's
:11:04. > :11:07.peanut butter cups will be reporting earnings, they have raised their
:11:08. > :11:13.full-year profit forecast in October because demand strengthened in the
:11:14. > :11:20.United States and they spent less on advertising. It also expects new
:11:21. > :11:23.products to help boost sales during the holiday season. Funny that I now
:11:24. > :11:26.fancy some chocolate. I always fancied some chocolate.
:11:27. > :11:29.Joining us is Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst, CMC Markets.
:11:30. > :11:39.Good to have you with us, the Chinese, the lunar New Year holiday,
:11:40. > :11:44.the centre back coming back saying let's surprise them, are they
:11:45. > :11:49.worried about a real estate bubble in China? I think they have been for
:11:50. > :11:53.quite some time and I don't think this slight tightening of policy
:11:54. > :11:57.will make that much difference. There are wider issues at play,
:11:58. > :12:02.financial conditions are tightening across the world. We see it
:12:03. > :12:06.reflected in bond yields, rising inflation, maybe they are concerned
:12:07. > :12:13.about that, Chinese factory gate prices have rebounded massively.
:12:14. > :12:19.Maybe they are sounding a note of caution with reserve to that, the
:12:20. > :12:22.Bank of England yesterday was resident about upgrading inflation
:12:23. > :12:26.forecasts, I think inflation will run a lot hotter than a lot of
:12:27. > :12:30.people think it will do and I think this is maybe a reflection of that
:12:31. > :12:34.and also there is a concern with Donald Trump in the White House they
:12:35. > :12:39.do not want to weaken the currency at the moment. American job figures
:12:40. > :12:45.out later today, people say it might be about a hundreds 2000, you think
:12:46. > :12:55.it may be 200,000? I think it could be above 200,000, the private
:12:56. > :13:02.payroll report, generally there is a close correlation over the last 12
:13:03. > :13:10.months between the two, never more than a 30,000 discrepancy, 246,000,
:13:11. > :13:15.I think as President Obama's legacy... These are his last
:13:16. > :13:17.numbers. I think we should get an number in excess of 200,000. We
:13:18. > :13:26.shall find out. Also in the programme:
:13:27. > :13:30.Brexit - round one. As EU leaders gather in Malta -
:13:31. > :13:33.its Prime Minister calls for a "fair deal" for Britain -
:13:34. > :13:35.but warns it will pay You're with Business
:13:36. > :13:44.Live from BBC News. Some supermarket's are rationing
:13:45. > :13:46.some vegetables to customers - blaming poor growing conditions
:13:47. > :13:48.in Europe for a shortage Both Tesco and Morrisons
:13:49. > :14:00.are limiting shoppers, following a UK courgette shortage
:14:01. > :14:03.last month, after wet and cold weather in southern
:14:04. > :14:10.Europe devastated crops. Our business correspondent
:14:11. > :14:23.Theo Leggett joins us now Did I hear this right, some
:14:24. > :14:29.supermarkets are limiting iceberg lettuce to three? When is the last
:14:30. > :14:34.time somebody bought three? There is a point to this that I will get to
:14:35. > :14:39.but yes Tesco are limiting customers to three iceberg lettuce's per
:14:40. > :14:43.person, Morrisons with the same limit and they are limiting people
:14:44. > :14:48.to three florets of broccoli per person as well, I think that is the
:14:49. > :14:52.right term, broccoli is not my specialist subject. A lot of this
:14:53. > :14:58.vegetables over the winter come some southern Spain where you can get a
:14:59. > :15:03.winter crop, grown in regions near Valencia, but there has been
:15:04. > :15:07.appalling weather in that region over Christmas. Whites bled
:15:08. > :15:12.flooding, crops ruined, fields out of action. When the young crops were
:15:13. > :15:19.coming through there was also frost and snow, the coldest weather in
:15:20. > :15:23.decades. So the crop from Spain has been drastically reduced which has
:15:24. > :15:27.greeted the shortage. This shortage has been made worse by supermarkets
:15:28. > :15:31.because you have catering companies and restaurants and corner shops
:15:32. > :15:36.running out of supplies and heading down to the supermarkets to stop up.
:15:37. > :15:41.It is them those rules are aimed at, because if I go into a supermarket I
:15:42. > :15:45.am not going to buy three iceberg lettuces what a catering company
:15:46. > :15:49.that is thinking all my goodness the normal supplier cannot get us what
:15:50. > :15:52.we need, they will go down to the supermarket and clear the shelves.
:15:53. > :16:00.Letters and broccoli, also courgettes. Go and get your quarter.
:16:01. > :16:08.Have you ever bought three... You have got it?
:16:09. > :16:12.Yes, but they don't eat a whole iceberg each!
:16:13. > :16:14.It is a lot for your hamburgers! Too much.
:16:15. > :16:18.Our top story - the social networking company Snapchat has
:16:19. > :16:25.filed documents to float its shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
:16:26. > :16:28.It's likely to be the biggest IPO in the technology world
:16:29. > :16:39.The company is yet to return a profit in its five-year history,
:16:40. > :16:42.but Snapchat could still be worth up to $25 billion when it goes public.
:16:43. > :16:47.Staggering. That is a lot of money.
:16:48. > :16:49.Let's cross over to the Maltese capital Valletta now -
:16:50. > :16:52.EU leaders are gathering for their first summit of the year
:16:53. > :16:54.two days after the British parliament voted overwhelmingly
:16:55. > :16:59.Prime Minister Theresa May will be holding one-on-one talks
:17:00. > :17:02.with various EU leaders - so what is she up against?
:17:03. > :17:09.Malta holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
:17:10. > :17:12.Its Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, has been clear Britain can't
:17:13. > :17:25.He has told the European Parliament, "We want a fair deal
:17:26. > :17:28.But "that deal necessarily needs to be inferior to membership".
:17:29. > :17:34.Assuming Britain formally gives its two-year leaving
:17:35. > :17:37.notice next month - known as triggering Article 50
:17:38. > :17:40.of the Lisbon Treaty - Mr Muscat says they must agree
:17:41. > :17:44.That's so it has time to be ratified by member states
:17:45. > :17:46.and the European Parliament before the UK is formally out.
:17:47. > :17:49.Then there's the small matter of this - the UK's bill
:17:50. > :17:56.As much as 60 billion euros is what Britain will owe -
:17:57. > :18:06.according to some in Europe - taking into account its share
:18:07. > :18:18.of budget commitments, pensions, spending on UK-based projects, etc.
:18:19. > :18:21.That bill, that's likely to be the subject of a lot of wrangling.
:18:22. > :18:32.Thomas, you are an independent analyst, great happy with us. They
:18:33. > :18:39.are going to be discussing all sorts of things, including... President
:18:40. > :18:43.Trump. In what way could he be a threat to the EU? We have seen
:18:44. > :18:50.comments prior to and since inauguration saying he thinks other
:18:51. > :18:54.countries might want to leave the EU said there is a fear among the
:18:55. > :18:58.member states that after the EU -- that after Britain leaving, there is
:18:59. > :19:02.a certain fear about that, so they are concerned and we saw this
:19:03. > :19:05.manifest in President Donald Tusk, the president of the European
:19:06. > :19:11.Council, in his statement to the European ladies, saying, United we
:19:12. > :19:13.stand, divided we fall. The future of the EU will be discussed at the
:19:14. > :19:19.afternoon session of the meeting today.
:19:20. > :19:22.Theresa May will be there this morning and then leave that
:19:23. > :19:25.lunchtime, then this afternoon the other states will discuss the future
:19:26. > :19:32.of the EU. What do you think will be on the agenda? This morning Pospert
:19:33. > :19:35.procession and the afternoon session are inextricably linked, this
:19:36. > :19:39.morning is about migration, specifically the mortar and Libya
:19:40. > :19:43.Brut, yesterday there were talks with Donald Tusk and the Italian
:19:44. > :19:46.Prime Minister to see how they can improve operations with Libyans on
:19:47. > :19:51.the ground and stop the migration flows. We know that in regular
:19:52. > :19:54.migration has been an issue in many European election campaigns, also in
:19:55. > :19:58.the Brexit referendum last year, so that brings us on to the future of
:19:59. > :20:04.the EU and how to take things forward. Donald Tusk essentially
:20:05. > :20:09.saying to all EU leaders, the EU 27, because Theresa May will not be
:20:10. > :20:14.there, we need a firm start, we have the migration crisis, we have
:20:15. > :20:18.Russia, we have the US administration which we are not sure
:20:19. > :20:21.where they are going with that, radical terrorism, populism, all
:20:22. > :20:26.these issues we need to take a stance. They can all very well sit
:20:27. > :20:30.there all these leaders and do the talking but the people in their
:20:31. > :20:33.respective countries may do the talking for them and they may not be
:20:34. > :20:41.the leaders any more? Very good point. That is the issue they will
:20:42. > :20:47.be facing, Netherlands, France, Germany elections. Exactly, go back
:20:48. > :20:52.to 2007, the 50th anniversary of the European Community which became the
:20:53. > :20:58.EU. Back in 2007 no-one would have said that ten years onward beat this
:20:59. > :21:02.crisis, the Ihenacho crisis, the social crisis and now the political
:21:03. > :21:06.crisis. This is something they will be whereof, they may welcome up with
:21:07. > :21:10.suggestions how to tackle migration, take the EU forward, but at the end
:21:11. > :21:13.of the date a lot of them will be concerned about domestic electoral
:21:14. > :21:18.issues closer to home. And whether they have a job or not! Thomas, we
:21:19. > :21:20.appreciate your time, we will talk to soon.
:21:21. > :21:23.In a moment we'll take a look through the Business Pages but first
:21:24. > :21:26.here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us.
:21:27. > :21:28.The Business Live page is where you can stay
:21:29. > :21:30.ahead with all the day's breaking business news.
:21:31. > :21:32.We'll keep you up-to-date with all the latest details,
:21:33. > :21:34.with insight and analysis from the BBC's team of editors
:21:35. > :21:41.Get involved on the BBC Business Live web page,
:21:42. > :21:47.On Twitter we're @BBCBusiness, and you can find us on Facebook,
:21:48. > :22:00.Business Live on TV and online, whenever you need to know.
:22:01. > :22:14.Michael is back. Snapchat. I don't.
:22:15. > :22:24.Neither do I, we are far too old! Remember the press conference
:22:25. > :22:27.earlier this year where someone was caught doing bunnies, misbehaving?
:22:28. > :22:37.We asked our audience to send us a text, a Tweet! That his owl -- that
:22:38. > :22:42.is how old I am! To ask whether it will take off.
:22:43. > :22:46.I'm 26 and just signed up. Tut, it is confusing, don't see why it has
:22:47. > :22:50.spread outside millennials. Ryan things Snapchat will be a fad,
:22:51. > :22:54.a waste of money and people will look stupid in 12 months' time.
:22:55. > :23:01.A lot of people are saying, wait and see. There are so many of these
:23:02. > :23:09.social media instant gratification apps, Instagram, Twitter has just
:23:10. > :23:15.dropped Vine, which was six second videos, I'm not sure how different
:23:16. > :23:18.Snapchat is, $25 billion, hasn't made a profit, you have no voting
:23:19. > :23:22.rights with the shares. Investors need to decide whether or not to buy
:23:23. > :23:27.it, they cannot wait and see. What do you think will happen when it
:23:28. > :23:31.floats? I think initially there will be a bit of a pop but automatically
:23:32. > :23:35.when you look at the company you look at the commercials, and
:23:36. > :23:39.ultimately even though revenue growth is going the right way, user
:23:40. > :23:43.growth is starting to slow and that, for me, is the problem Twitter is
:23:44. > :23:49.having, they cannot monetise their user base. If Snapchat cannot
:23:50. > :23:56.monetise its user base, it will ultimately be a flash in the pan. Or
:23:57. > :24:01.a snap... Your household must be a barrel of
:24:02. > :24:06.laughs! This story is amazing, could you
:24:07. > :24:10.imagine UK, Brits, even Aussies, chipping into their own pockets to
:24:11. > :24:14.help out the Government? I am buying a house next week so I guess I am
:24:15. > :24:17.helping out the Government! Mongolian citizens offering cash,
:24:18. > :24:22.jewellery and horses to pay Government debt. Mongolia is a
:24:23. > :24:26.victim of the crash in property prices, it is a resource rich
:24:27. > :24:37.nation. What commodities do they have? Copper, gold, easily extract a
:24:38. > :24:40.ball, so it should be a rich country but the government went on a
:24:41. > :24:43.spending boom just as monetary conditions in China started to
:24:44. > :24:48.tighten and ultimately they spent more than they had coming in, so now
:24:49. > :24:52.IMF and their citizens have decided IMF and their citizens have decided
:24:53. > :24:58.to offer cash, jewellery, horses to help. That is lovely! Help your
:24:59. > :25:03.Government even though it has been completely incompetent. That is
:25:04. > :25:07.true! I don't think it would happen over here, somehow. Nordstrom, very
:25:08. > :25:18.nice department store in the United States, they have dropped Ivanka
:25:19. > :25:27.Trump's brand. Yes, this is a hashtag campaign that was started in
:25:28. > :25:33.October asking brands not to stock trump brands because of his
:25:34. > :25:36.rhetoric... But Nordstrom has said this is based only on performance?
:25:37. > :25:42.They have to say that, they don't want to be seen to be giving in to
:25:43. > :25:43.the politics. Michael, always a pleasure, have a great weekend and
:25:44. > :25:46.thank you for joining us. There will be more business news
:25:47. > :25:51.throughout the day on the BBC live webpage and on World Business
:25:52. > :26:12.Report. And unsettled spell of weather
:26:13. > :26:16.continues with some strong wind and heavy rain in the forecast today.
:26:17. > :26:21.Yesterday was a blustery, windy day, this was the scene around the Irish
:26:22. > :26:23.Sea coast, taken by one of our Weather Watchers,