:00:00. > :00:07.This is Business Live from BBC News with Rachel Horne and Sally Bundock.
:00:08. > :00:14.The oil giant made $2.6 billion last year, that's less than half
:00:15. > :00:35.Live from London, that's our top story on Tuesday 7th February.
:00:36. > :00:38.With oil prices on their way up and a cut in supply,
:00:39. > :00:40.does the future look better for the companies that
:00:41. > :00:45.Also in the programme, cashing in its chips.
:00:46. > :00:48.Crisis-hit Toshiba takes offers for its memory business as it
:00:49. > :00:51.looks to cover the cost of its nuclear problems.
:00:52. > :00:54.And we'll be getting the inside track on how you track
:00:55. > :00:56.news across the internet and around the world to work out
:00:57. > :01:17.The co-founder of this company will be giving us the inside track. What
:01:18. > :01:22.we are sharing, what we are liking and how valuable that data is.
:01:23. > :01:26.And, the red telephone box is 90 years old, so it is overdue for a
:01:27. > :01:33.makeover. It is all about getting a new age to look. When did you last
:01:34. > :01:39.use a phone box? Use the phone -- use the hashtag.
:01:40. > :01:44.One of the world's biggest energy companies BP has seen another sharp
:01:45. > :01:49.It's of particular interest this time as oil prices have been
:01:50. > :01:53.recovering thanks to the agreement reached at the end of last year
:01:54. > :01:57.between the oil cartel Opec and non-members to cut
:01:58. > :02:01.The company's preferred measure is underlying
:02:02. > :02:10.That came in at $400 million in the last three months of 2016.
:02:11. > :02:14.That means that for the year as a whole BP made $2.6 billion,
:02:15. > :02:22.But chief executive Bob Dudley said that the year had seen "significant
:02:23. > :02:26.strides in creating a stronger platform for growth".
:02:27. > :02:28.Looking back to the beginning of last year, you can see
:02:29. > :02:31.the shift in the price of oil on global markets.
:02:32. > :02:38.It bottomed out at $27.88 a barrel in January 2016.
:02:39. > :02:41.And on Monday it was trading at just over $56.
:02:42. > :02:48.BP's competitors are also struggling after two years of low oil prices.
:02:49. > :02:51.Last week, US giant Exxon Mobil reported a 51% fall in full-year
:02:52. > :02:57.profits and Royal Dutch Shell a 44% dip.
:02:58. > :02:59.There are wider challenges for BP and others in the industry,
:03:00. > :03:01.including funding investment in new oil projects,
:03:02. > :03:04.the rise of renewable-energy sources and for some a concern
:03:05. > :03:10.about their ability pay to shareholder dividends.
:03:11. > :03:16.Our Business Editor Simon Jack is with me.
:03:17. > :03:26.Give us your take. On paper they do not look brilliant. The replacement
:03:27. > :03:29.cost profit, which adjusts for the fluctuating price of oil, is half of
:03:30. > :03:39.what it was last year, looking pretty bad. But BP has legacy
:03:40. > :03:43.issues. In 2010 we were reporting on the Deepwater Horizon explosion,
:03:44. > :03:48.they had to put $63 billion into cleaning that up and compensating
:03:49. > :03:52.people, and 7 billion claim in the last year. So although the headline
:03:53. > :03:57.numbers look worse, this was a year when they started turning the
:03:58. > :04:03.corner. We have to remember that, because that was an enormous event,
:04:04. > :04:06.massive cost, and many analysts say Bob Dudley has steered the ship
:04:07. > :04:11.extremely well, given the challenges. This will be the
:04:12. > :04:16.argument that comes up when we start talking about his pay. There was a
:04:17. > :04:24.massive shareholder vote last year, he got paid ?40 million in a year
:04:25. > :04:27.when BP lost $6.5 billion. If they are making more money this year,
:04:28. > :04:33.goodness knows what they will pay him. Or did he do a better job this
:04:34. > :04:39.year than last? He adjusted to the massive crush in price, the clean up
:04:40. > :04:44.the Gulf of Mexico, some people think, given the hand he was dealt,
:04:45. > :04:47.he did not do a bad job. They say they are keeping the dividend in
:04:48. > :04:52.place, which is important for these companies are. And for pensioners
:04:53. > :04:58.and anybody who has savings. What now for BP? They have streamlined
:04:59. > :05:03.the business, it is a shadow of the business it was before the explosion
:05:04. > :05:07.in the Gulf of Mexico. They have scaled back in the North Sea as
:05:08. > :05:14.well, they have mothballed their drilling off the southern coast of
:05:15. > :05:18.Australia, but they are hanging on. They have discovered more oil than
:05:19. > :05:23.they sold last, so that gives you an idea they are expecting to be able
:05:24. > :05:33.to balance their books at 16 dollars a barrel. -- $60. The dividend yield
:05:34. > :05:37.is 6%. When it gets that high, a lot of investors think it cannot last,
:05:38. > :05:42.but they are convinced it is OK for the time being. Because of the
:05:43. > :05:51.disaster in the Mexico golf, it is not where it was. It used to be
:05:52. > :05:56.slightly ahead of Shell. It is very much an American company as well,
:05:57. > :06:00.when the American operations got hit, it knocked the stuffing out of
:06:01. > :06:06.BP. You could argue that slimming down the company at a moment when
:06:07. > :06:09.oil prices collapsed was not a bad thing. It imposed a bit of
:06:10. > :06:13.discipline. They are not the same company they were. They are in
:06:14. > :06:18.better shape than a couple of years ago.
:06:19. > :06:21.As we have already mentioned, their shares are down today by 2% on the
:06:22. > :06:23.FTSE 100. 30 more US technology firms have
:06:24. > :06:26.signed a brief opposing President Trump's immigration ban,
:06:27. > :06:28.bringing the total The new signatories include Tesla,
:06:29. > :06:32.Adobe, HP and Evernote. A US federal appeals court will hear
:06:33. > :06:35.arguments this Tuesday over whether to restore President Trump's
:06:36. > :06:39.travel ban on people from seven The President of the European
:06:40. > :06:45.Central Bank Mario Draghi has rejected claims that Germany
:06:46. > :06:47.is manipulating It follows comments made
:06:48. > :06:52.in a document published by the US Treasury, which accuses Germany
:06:53. > :06:54.of undervaluing Europe's currency A South Korean company wants
:06:55. > :07:15.to buy part of Toshiba's This is all about sheep are needed
:07:16. > :07:21.to raise some funds pretty quickly? It is. It is not just any old chip
:07:22. > :07:27.maker that is looking to buy the stake, it is the world like second
:07:28. > :07:33.largest chip-maker after some song. It is all according to sources in
:07:34. > :07:35.local media and elsewhere, that they have submitted an initial bid,
:07:36. > :07:41.although the size of the stake has although the size of the stake has
:07:42. > :07:45.not been decided. Toshiba needs to raise funds to offset a
:07:46. > :07:49.multi-million dollar write-down it has had on its American nuclear
:07:50. > :07:53.power business. Both spokespeople from both companies have not
:07:54. > :07:59.commented on the specifics of the process, but analysts say that Hynix
:08:00. > :08:04.would benefit from Toshiba's technological know-how. Their
:08:05. > :08:13.products are used in long-term data storage. Demand for these chips has
:08:14. > :08:16.risen sharply, mainly due to the growing need for quicker processing
:08:17. > :08:22.of smartphones and other mobile devices. At the same time, Toshiba
:08:23. > :08:23.is planning to stop building nuclear power plants, after incurring liens
:08:24. > :08:31.of dollars of losses. Overnight, the US and Asian
:08:32. > :08:34.markets were down. The Dow was pulled down
:08:35. > :08:37.by a fall in oil price, while markets also continue to wait
:08:38. > :08:40.for detail on Donald Trump's And that uncertainty over Trump
:08:41. > :08:45.was also one of the factors causing the Asian markets to fall,
:08:46. > :08:50.yen and gold rising as investors There are also concerns
:08:51. > :08:55.about the upcoming European elections, so let's see how
:08:56. > :09:05.the European markets are doing. They have been open for four minutes
:09:06. > :09:10.-- 40 minutes. And Samira Hussain has
:09:11. > :09:22.the details about what's ahead Company earnings continue today. The
:09:23. > :09:27.largest American auto-maker General Motors will report. America's auto
:09:28. > :09:31.industry has received a lot of attention from the president. He
:09:32. > :09:36.wants to see more jobs created here in the US. We can't be sure that
:09:37. > :09:41.their earnings, which are expected to cap a record year, could get some
:09:42. > :09:46.attention from the commander-in-chief. Walt Disney will
:09:47. > :09:49.also report earnings, it seems the success of its latest animation
:09:50. > :09:53.movie will help revenues for the quarter. But the last few months
:09:54. > :09:59.have not been too kind to them, it has not had that many put dusters.
:10:00. > :10:02.Investors will be paying attention to the sports network ESPN, which is
:10:03. > :10:20.the real cash cow for them. And Rachel was sinking Let It Go!
:10:21. > :10:23.Can you do a rendition? Nobody needs to hear that!
:10:24. > :10:25.Joining us is Jeremy Cook, who is chief economist
:10:26. > :10:37.I have not seen the letter macro frozen! I have three boys, but I
:10:38. > :10:44.managed to get one of them to watch it!
:10:45. > :10:47.Something we must not avoid, how China is propping up its currency.
:10:48. > :10:59.It is burning through its currency reserves. It has three Delian
:11:00. > :11:02.dollars of reserves. -- $3 billion. -- $3 trillion. The Chinese currency
:11:03. > :11:09.has weakened a fairly dramatically. A lot of fears are bound the Donald
:11:10. > :11:14.Trump presidency, whether he calls China a currency minute later, as he
:11:15. > :11:18.threatened during the campaign. With increased outflows, people moving
:11:19. > :11:21.money out, we have seen the people. I could China stepping in and
:11:22. > :11:26.burning through money that they may have in reserves to make sure the
:11:27. > :11:36.currency stays stable. It is subject to keep an eye on as far as
:11:37. > :11:41.international trade businesses go. They need to make sure they are
:11:42. > :11:45.protected against that. We mentioned on the market is the French market
:11:46. > :11:49.is down slightly. The markets have been burned by politics repeatedly
:11:50. > :11:56.in the last year. French elections coming up, the markets feeling
:11:57. > :12:01.pretty wobbly. We had a big speech from Emmanuel macron last night.
:12:02. > :12:07.From toffee the has issues around nepotism and his wife taking a job
:12:08. > :12:11.from him. Marine Le Pen is still in the lead as far as the first-round
:12:12. > :12:17.poling goes. We have seen in Asia in the recent weeks concerns around
:12:18. > :12:22.what happens with this election, whether we start to see further
:12:23. > :12:26.pressures on the euro. There is political risk, because we have
:12:27. > :12:30.France, the Netherlands and Germany, and Germany, their industry or
:12:31. > :12:36.production numbers are quite bad for January. They were down about 3%,
:12:37. > :12:42.the worst number for a fair while, and also a recent poll suggests
:12:43. > :12:46.Angela Merkel's party are now second in the polls. It will be an
:12:47. > :12:52.interesting year for Germany. A lot for markets to keep their heads
:12:53. > :12:54.around. Jeremy, you will tell us when you were last in a telephone
:12:55. > :12:56.box later! Still to come, we'll speak
:12:57. > :12:59.to the man turning social media into popular media as we get
:13:00. > :13:02.the inside track on how news stories You're with Business
:13:03. > :13:05.Live from BBC News. The Government will be setting out
:13:06. > :13:08.plans later today to tackle what they're calling England
:13:09. > :13:10.and Wales' broken housing market. The Government says 250,000
:13:11. > :13:16.new homes are needed each year and have admitted
:13:17. > :13:21.they are lagging behind schedule. Ben Thompson is at a house
:13:22. > :13:40.factory in Alfreton. Sorry, this is then earlier, who
:13:41. > :13:45.shared some news on that story. Our prefab homes the answer to our
:13:46. > :13:49.housing crisis? They say so. They build these things in less than
:13:50. > :13:56.eight weeks, from start to finish. What do they look like? On the left,
:13:57. > :14:01.the toilet, the stairs, this is one of the bedrooms, and here you get
:14:02. > :14:06.the kitchen. What is different is that everything is done right here
:14:07. > :14:09.in the factory. The fridge is already installed, there is a
:14:10. > :14:14.dishwasher with all of the plumbing, the oven and the hob are in. This
:14:15. > :14:19.house is good to go as soon as it leaves the factory, it just needs to
:14:20. > :14:24.be plugged in. Is it enough to solve the housing crisis? The Government
:14:25. > :14:28.set a target of a million new homes by 2020, building a 300,000 every
:14:29. > :14:31.year. At the moment we are building less than half of that. Today the
:14:32. > :14:37.Government is unveiling a housing White Paper, with rules and
:14:38. > :14:40.regulations that will encourage the house-builders to get more homes
:14:41. > :14:46.built. Will it be enough to help drink down prices that have meant
:14:47. > :14:50.many people cannot get on the ladder at all? We will find out if and when
:14:51. > :14:55.the house-builders start building more homes.
:14:56. > :15:01.I thought we were going to talk to Ben live, I am a bit disappointed!
:15:02. > :15:05.We are missing Ben. Good news from Hornby. They have had
:15:06. > :15:12.a rough time for some time. Their turnaround plan is on track.
:15:13. > :15:16.Again! Picking up steam! For your revenues will still go down
:15:17. > :15:21.slightly, but they have sold their site in Margate for ?2.25 million,
:15:22. > :15:26.and they think things will get better for them. They have been
:15:27. > :15:31.struggling, because the demand is going down, but also the weakness of
:15:32. > :15:35.the sterling has hit the company hard, they have been battling with
:15:36. > :15:37.the weakness of sterling since the decision in June last year to exit
:15:38. > :15:45.the EU. You're watching Business Live.
:15:46. > :15:47.Our top story: The oil giant BP
:15:48. > :15:49.has seen another sharp It made $2.6 billion in 2016
:15:50. > :15:55.which is less than half of what it made the year before as it continues
:15:56. > :15:59.to struggle with low oil prices. A quick look at how
:16:00. > :16:11.markets are faring. BP is a big factor for the FTSE 100.
:16:12. > :16:15.At the open of trade BP fell down around 2%. The FTSE is the one
:16:16. > :16:20.market with its head above water. Germany and France down slightly.
:16:21. > :16:24.How can you tell if a story is going to go viral?
:16:25. > :16:27.It's not all about the entertainment value - increasingly companies
:16:28. > :16:29.want to track what consumers are saying so they can identify
:16:30. > :16:31.the content that's most effective for their business.
:16:32. > :16:33.For those in the know it's called "social velocity",
:16:34. > :16:36.a formula of the tweets, shares, likes, comments and other
:16:37. > :16:42.One firm harnessing that technology is Dublin-based NewsWhip.
:16:43. > :16:44.It's analytics software processes millions of news stories every day,
:16:45. > :16:47.from videos to social media posts in more than 60 countries,
:16:48. > :16:49.predicting which will grab those eyeballs -
:16:50. > :16:58.NewsWhip now has more than 320 clients globally.
:16:59. > :17:03.Customers include media firms,
:17:04. > :17:06.such as Associated Press - us here at the BBC -
:17:07. > :17:08.Buzzfeed and the Guardian to big corporate brands including Reebok,
:17:09. > :17:12.Well, we are joined by the companies co-founder
:17:13. > :17:18.and Chief Technical Officer, Andrew Mullaney.
:17:19. > :17:27.Good to have you on the programme. Thank you for having me. I know here
:17:28. > :17:30.at the BBC we're obsessed with what NewsWatchers are looking online and
:17:31. > :17:35.what digital video they're downloading and why and how many
:17:36. > :17:40.shares, how many likes, that information is what you provide?
:17:41. > :17:44.Absolutely, yeah. For the first time we can really measure what people
:17:45. > :17:49.care about in real-time. So, that's what all our customers use it for is
:17:50. > :17:54.to understand what type of content engages people on social media. This
:17:55. > :17:57.is something you were providing this information to consumers, but you
:17:58. > :18:02.flipped to provaid a service to businesses. Was that purely based on
:18:03. > :18:07.financials? Not really. We noticed that the journalists and the media
:18:08. > :18:14.creators were using the free service way more and that they wanted much
:18:15. > :18:17.deeper features. So we decided to concentrate on providing for these
:18:18. > :18:22.people and of course, there was a financial benefit as they can pay
:18:23. > :18:26.whereas most newsreaders are free. So what caused you and your
:18:27. > :18:30.co-founder to start this? Why did you think of this business in the
:18:31. > :18:36.first place and it is dependant on your technology, isn't it?
:18:37. > :18:41.Absolutely, yes. Paul started out creating normal news and noticed the
:18:42. > :18:44.difficulty in trying to make money online so we were both involved in
:18:45. > :18:48.start-ups at the time and we were discussing ideas and I said well,
:18:49. > :18:51.maybe consider trying to figure out the good stuff. There was so much
:18:52. > :18:55.stuff out there and he noticed the journalists were obsessed with the
:18:56. > :18:59.social numbers of their content and that's where the idea came. He said
:19:00. > :19:02.why not try and get the social numbers for all content out there
:19:03. > :19:07.and see what happens and that's where it started. Now, you cover 60
:19:08. > :19:10.countries. I'm interested to know how do you work out what people are
:19:11. > :19:17.going to be more interested in because you also try to predict it.
:19:18. > :19:22.So is there a story that has global appeal or do you find certain
:19:23. > :19:27.countries are more into sports stories or human stories? We're
:19:28. > :19:31.measuring these huge amount of data signals, but it is all about human
:19:32. > :19:34.engagement and there is a human being behind all of these
:19:35. > :19:40.engagements. So the types of content that can do well for example are one
:19:41. > :19:43.we saw the other day which was this kid that got lost in Canada in the
:19:44. > :19:47.freezing cold and fell approach sleep in the snow and his dog came
:19:48. > :19:52.out and lay on top of him to keep him warm and kept him alive. This
:19:53. > :19:54.did very well in this local area and got grabbed by the bigger media
:19:55. > :19:58.agencies because it is a beautiful story.
:19:59. > :20:01.The bigger media agencies, people like the BBC who pay for your
:20:02. > :20:05.services, what is it that they're getting out of it? You're telling
:20:06. > :20:09.them well this story was really important, are you expecting those
:20:10. > :20:12.companies to make decisions about where to put stories on their
:20:13. > :20:16.website in order to get more online users? Absolutely, yeah. To
:20:17. > :20:19.understand everything from, you know, what type of headlines you
:20:20. > :20:24.use, what length of video, what type of words do you use, you know, which
:20:25. > :20:28.stories are of interest and also maybe where to concentrate their
:20:29. > :20:32.journalists because now they can tell in real-time where the
:20:33. > :20:36.engagement is. So what's going to be next on your radar as it were? I
:20:37. > :20:40.would imagine when you started out, when did you start this company? We
:20:41. > :20:44.started five years ago. I imagine there were not many other companies
:20:45. > :20:48.like yours with this technology, but they are all catching up fast. So
:20:49. > :20:53.how are you going to diversify? For us, it is to continue growth. We
:20:54. > :20:58.have 50 staff. 15 of which are in New York and we launched our new
:20:59. > :21:01.analytics product. We're excited about that and we're just going to
:21:02. > :21:06.continue serving up the best content to the story tellers of the world.
:21:07. > :21:09.Andrew, we appreciate your time. Fascinating, especially from our
:21:10. > :21:14.point of view. Thank you very much. Cheers.
:21:15. > :21:16.Today marks the 25th anniversary of the signing
:21:17. > :21:18.of the Maastricht Treaty, officially known as the Treaty
:21:19. > :21:21.Back then there was a feeling of optimism and hope
:21:22. > :21:24.about what the EU could achieve for the prosperity
:21:25. > :21:26.Few would have predicted the financial and political
:21:27. > :21:29.challenges the Union would come up against a quarter
:21:30. > :21:38.Andrew Walker's been taking a look back in time.
:21:39. > :21:43.Maastricht 1992 and a blueprint is agreed for a new and deeper
:21:44. > :21:47.programme of European integration. It was here that the euro was
:21:48. > :21:50.conceived. This was a moment of hope and optimism at least for European
:21:51. > :21:55.political leaders. A quarter of a century on, the EU is
:21:56. > :22:01.blue and yellow's flag looks tattered. We've had arguably still
:22:02. > :22:05.have, the eurozone financial crisis, one important member state, Britain,
:22:06. > :22:08.deciding to leave and the rise of anti-EU political groups in several
:22:09. > :22:13.countries and perhaps a chance that they will take power this year in
:22:14. > :22:16.countries that were founder members of the European project, France and
:22:17. > :22:20.the Netherlands. And now the election of Donald Trump to the US
:22:21. > :22:23.presidency creates new and unpredictable challenges for
:22:24. > :22:29.uranium. He doesn't seem to think much of the EU. He said the British
:22:30. > :22:35.decision to leave was so smart. He has certainly rattled Brussels. The
:22:36. > :22:40.President of the European Council Donald Tusk wrote to members saying
:22:41. > :22:46.the changes put the EU in a difficult position. Maastricht was
:22:47. > :22:48.intended to create a congealial environment for business with less
:22:49. > :22:56.uncertainty. It feels like a long time ago.
:22:57. > :23:15.The iconic red telephone box gets a redesign. It is 90 years old, the
:23:16. > :23:18.old phone box? So, instead of people using it just for calling someone,
:23:19. > :23:24.you can use it for maps. You can use it browse the internet. It is now a
:23:25. > :23:29.wi-fi hotspot. Well Will that cause a resurge in the use of the phone
:23:30. > :23:34.boxes? I would imagine they are hardly ever used. Most are
:23:35. > :23:38.vandalised? I would use them to get out of the rain or hide from someone
:23:39. > :23:43.on the street! We have had quite a few tweets. Some
:23:44. > :23:49.people saying, "I can't find one." Ian said, "It is 20 years since I
:23:50. > :23:54.used a phone box." Ian said he used one in 2007 when his Nokia died. The
:23:55. > :23:57.question is will there be a resurgence in the use of the phone
:23:58. > :24:01.boxes? I don't know if there would? If your mobile phone doing
:24:02. > :24:06.everything from your banking to travel, to your whole schedule, I
:24:07. > :24:12.doubt people will want to tie themselves down to a phone box. The
:24:13. > :24:18.only thing I see is people having selfies, they want that photo of the
:24:19. > :24:23.red phone box. Let's move on. Other stories in the press today. We've
:24:24. > :24:28.got a flying car. I love this one. What do you reckon. Would you get in
:24:29. > :24:36.one? I would get in one, I don't think I will see one in my lifetime.
:24:37. > :24:42.I think it is Jettison stuff. If they could work on the cars at the
:24:43. > :24:49.moment. They have got a Nasa engineer? It seems like another way
:24:50. > :24:52.of Uber to burn through investors cash. I love the idea, but I'm
:24:53. > :24:58.scared of heights! An interesting story in the Guardian
:24:59. > :25:03.about Bermuda which has been sort of slated as a tax haven in president
:25:04. > :25:07.press. Bermuda saying that the UK is a tax haven because people aren't
:25:08. > :25:11.here for the weather? No, we're not. I'm certainly not. Are you here for
:25:12. > :25:16.the tax haven? I'm here for the quality of life let's put it that
:25:17. > :25:20.way. The UK has the most billionaires living in it especially
:25:21. > :25:24.London as a city and the ability for non-doms and we haven't really
:25:25. > :25:28.talked about non-doms in the UK for many, many years, non-doms to not
:25:29. > :25:32.pay tax in the UK has made sure it is a beneficial regime for them to
:25:33. > :25:38.live under. The non-dom rules are changing in April? They are set to
:25:39. > :25:41.change, but I think this is Bermuda firing back to say obviously don't
:25:42. > :25:48.slate us when you have your own beneficial rules and I think there
:25:49. > :25:51.is a bit of post Brexit anger there given the impact on the
:25:52. > :25:54.Commonwealth. Thank you, Jeremy. Thank you too for your company. We
:25:55. > :25:58.will see you tomorrow. That's it from Business Live. There will be
:25:59. > :25:59.more business news on the web page and on World Business Report.
:26:00. > :26:11.Bye-bye. Hello there. Cloud and rain that
:26:12. > :26:16.affected most areas overnight has now cleared away for the vast
:26:17. > :26:17.majority leaving a mixture of sunshine and showers through the
:26:18. > :26:19.rest of today.