:00:00. > :00:00.This is Business Live from BBC News with Sally Bundock and Rachel Horne.
:00:07. > :00:09.Trump's travel ban gets stuck in court.
:00:10. > :00:12.Another hearing brings further delay and confusion.
:00:13. > :00:32.Live from London, that's our top story on Wednesday, 8th February.
:00:33. > :00:37.Whilst judges grapple with the arguments for and against
:00:38. > :00:44.the Trump travel ban businesses move into damage limitation mode.
:00:45. > :00:49.We will talk you through what is at stake.
:00:50. > :00:50.Also in the programme, Softbank,the Japanese
:00:51. > :00:53.tech giant sees a big turnaround thanks to its investments
:00:54. > :00:55.in the political hotspots of the United States and Britain.
:00:56. > :00:57.Our team in the region will have the latest.
:00:58. > :01:01.And this is how markets are faring in Europe at the moment -
:01:02. > :01:02.several key companies have reported earnings.
:01:03. > :01:07.We'll talk you through the winners and losers.
:01:08. > :01:10.She has been described as the UK's most influential black person
:01:11. > :01:12.and is chair of the country's biggest media agency.
:01:13. > :01:16.But how tough was it for Karen Blackett to get to the top?
:01:17. > :01:29.And as Barack Obama's been spotted Kite Surfing
:01:30. > :01:32.in the Caribbean, we want to know - what would you do
:01:33. > :01:34.to unwind after eight years in a tough job?
:01:35. > :01:50.Is hanging out with Richard Branson on your bucket list?
:01:51. > :01:52.Thank you for your thoughts. Some of which we can't mention on the
:01:53. > :01:55.programme! We start with President Trump's
:01:56. > :01:57.travel ban which has Lawyers for the US Justice
:01:58. > :02:04.Department have been slogging it out with those for states of Washington
:02:05. > :02:06.and Minnesota who want The appeals court judges court
:02:07. > :02:12.in San Francisco are expected to give their decision later
:02:13. > :02:26.in this week. Let's recap. President Trump has
:02:27. > :02:30.been trying to temporarily ban people entering the US from seven
:02:31. > :02:35.countries. He says this is about terror and keeping our country safe.
:02:36. > :02:40.Whilst a stricter vetting system is put in place. But as you know, there
:02:41. > :02:46.has been widespread protest against this ban. 127 companies have signed,
:02:47. > :02:54.put forward their legal arguments and you can see some of the most
:02:55. > :03:00.influence companies on the list. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tesla,
:03:01. > :03:03.Levis. They have filed court submissions. In the documents they
:03:04. > :03:07.have argued multinational companies will have strong incentives to base
:03:08. > :03:12.their operations outside the United States. At the moment, many of the
:03:13. > :03:20.companies use a visa programme called H 1 B. This grants entry to
:03:21. > :03:24.85,000 skilled foreigners a year and the tech industry relies heavily on
:03:25. > :03:27.this visa programme. There are approximately three applications for
:03:28. > :03:29.every visa. That's granted. That's some of the background. Rack to
:03:30. > :03:44.Rachel. Moira Benigson is the Managing
:03:45. > :03:47.Partner Founder of MBS Group which is an executive recruitment
:03:48. > :03:56.agency based here in London. One of Trump's key campaign pillars
:03:57. > :04:01.was about bringing jobs back to America. Are your clients concerned
:04:02. > :04:08.about this? We're working for many of those companies because we have a
:04:09. > :04:12.very big tech and digital division and fashion. They will become
:04:13. > :04:20.concerned. Not right now because we're in a transition period. But if
:04:21. > :04:23.you look at digital and tech companies in particular, their top
:04:24. > :04:31.teams are very, very diverse and from all over the world. You can't
:04:32. > :04:36.hold back progress and these days particularly at the MBS Group all of
:04:37. > :04:41.our short lists are extremely balanced and come from all over the
:04:42. > :04:45.world. They're not particularly from one country, even though we are here
:04:46. > :04:50.in the UK. Now in terms of global recruitment, as you say, you can't
:04:51. > :04:54.hold back progress, it is a very different market, I imagine now than
:04:55. > :04:57.perhaps when you first started out when companies are drawing up their
:04:58. > :05:05.short lists, it is from more than one country, isn't it? Absolutely.
:05:06. > :05:09.So you know, in the, I would think ten years ago, if you were looking
:05:10. > :05:16.for a role in the UK, everybody would probably be from the UK. But
:05:17. > :05:20.we're all connected digitally, everybody is, socially, and in the
:05:21. > :05:29.workplace and therefore, people don't look at that anymore. And we
:05:30. > :05:35.find that in our fashion clients and in our tech and digital, CEOs are
:05:36. > :05:39.getting younger and younger and their world is completely different.
:05:40. > :05:46.They're not interested in borders. They want the right people in the
:05:47. > :05:50.right jobs, with the right teams. Moira, with this potential travel
:05:51. > :05:54.ban in the US, also with the issue of Brexit, what sort of concerns are
:05:55. > :05:58.CEOs are these executives that you recruit coming to you with or what
:05:59. > :06:03.decisions that wouldn't have shaped decisions that wouldn't have shaped
:06:04. > :06:09.their decisions a year ago? Well, I think until, I think Brexit kicked
:06:10. > :06:15.it off where the world was just becoming one place and is one place
:06:16. > :06:23.especially for very senior people and we recently were bringing over a
:06:24. > :06:27.CEO from France to the UK and he had signed his contract the day before
:06:28. > :06:34.Brexit. Brexit happened. He phoned me the next day it say, "Will I
:06:35. > :06:39.still be welcome in the UK?" It was a great shock for me and there I
:06:40. > :06:44.found myself as an immigrant telling him everything would be OK.
:06:45. > :06:53.And from the US have you any similar situations? Not yet, but recently
:06:54. > :06:57.for one of our fashion clients, in fact, just going back, it's
:06:58. > :07:04.generally been easier to get Europeans to go to the US than the
:07:05. > :07:12.other way round. Americans are quite loathe and many don't even have
:07:13. > :07:16.passports as we know, but in this particular instance the CEO said his
:07:17. > :07:22.wife did not want to raise her children for the next four years in
:07:23. > :07:26.America and they would be extremely happy to come to Europe. So I think
:07:27. > :07:32.you might see the reverse in America where they might get a brain drain.
:07:33. > :07:39.OK. Moira, thank you very much for your time this morning. A pleasure.
:07:40. > :07:47.In other news, the world's second biggest producer of iron ore,
:07:48. > :07:49.Rio Tinto, has returned to profit after a 12%
:07:50. > :07:53.The mining giant was given a boost by the recovery in commodity prices.
:07:54. > :07:56.Iron ore has nearly doubled in value over the last 12 months.
:07:57. > :07:58.Rio Tinto raised its dividend by more than expected
:07:59. > :08:01.Walt Disney's chief executive, Bob Iger, has warned that a trade
:08:02. > :08:04.war between the US and China would be bad for business.
:08:05. > :08:06.The entertainment company's boss told CNBC he was also critical
:08:07. > :08:09.of an executive order signed by Mr Trump barring
:08:10. > :08:13.migrants and refugees from several Muslim countries.
:08:14. > :08:16.The company reported a surprise drop in sales to just under $14.8 billion
:08:17. > :08:18.despite a strong performance from its theme parks and movie
:08:19. > :08:27.divisions which now includes the Star Wars franchise.
:08:28. > :08:35.Let's talk about Japan's Softbank. It snapped up Arm Holdings and it
:08:36. > :08:39.has been chummying up with the United States and President Trump in
:08:40. > :08:42.particular. It is doing well in terms of profits. 71% year-on-year
:08:43. > :09:08.rise. What's the reaction? Now, Softbank
:09:09. > :09:14.said it made $2.63 billion for the quarter after Sprint added more
:09:15. > :09:18.subscribers than expected. This was the first full quarter since
:09:19. > :09:22.Softbank coming pleated a $32 billion acquisition of Britain's
:09:23. > :09:28.most valuable technology company, ARM. We know the founder and CEO of
:09:29. > :09:33.Softbank has got big, pliing plans to make the company a company with
:09:34. > :09:39.technology investments, moving away from the telecoms business to
:09:40. > :09:54.becoming more diversified. It has got stakes in Alibaba.
:09:55. > :09:57.There is the $50 billion investment in the US that he pledged when he
:09:58. > :10:03.met with Donald Trump in December which would create 50,000 new jobs
:10:04. > :10:07.all of which will aim to transform Softbank into a technology firm with
:10:08. > :10:11.a difference. So much to take in there. Thank you very much.
:10:12. > :10:17.We have heard from Softbank. We've heard from the likes of Disney,
:10:18. > :10:21.General Motors, for the US yesterday alone, I think 80 companies reported
:10:22. > :10:27.earnings that are listed on the S and P 500. It is keeping traders
:10:28. > :10:30.extremely busy. This is how things went in general in Asia overnight
:10:31. > :10:34.and the night before on Wall Street. Let's look at Europe right now. So
:10:35. > :10:40.again, earnings are dominating. We've mentioned Rio Tinto and Rio's
:10:41. > :10:45.shares up 3% in London. You can see the markets fairly flat, but we've
:10:46. > :10:49.had Carlsberg out, brewing up a better profit as well.
:10:50. > :10:55.The Danish brewer Carlsberg has reported a rise in full-year profits
:10:56. > :10:58.The company says its expects a modest increase
:10:59. > :11:05.And Samira Hussain has the details about what's ahead
:11:06. > :11:16.Company earnings continue on Wednesday. We will be hearing from
:11:17. > :11:20.Time Warner. The company is being bought by AT, but the sale has
:11:21. > :11:23.been opposed by US President Donald Trump. During the election campaign.
:11:24. > :11:31.So investors will be looking for comments on that. Now US coal miner,
:11:32. > :11:36.Arch Coal will be reporting earnings. This comes at a time when
:11:37. > :11:42.the Donald Trump administration has been looking to undue regulations
:11:43. > :11:49.and support more mining. Investors and analysts will be watching for
:11:50. > :11:53.broader comments on deregulation. Finally, the grocery store chain
:11:54. > :11:58.Whole Foods Market will be reporting earnings. They are grappling with
:11:59. > :12:01.competition and they want to shed their nickname of whole pea cheque.
:12:02. > :12:04.It has been lowering prices and experimenting with its new value
:12:05. > :12:11.orientated grocery brand. Joining us is Richard Hunter,
:12:12. > :12:20.Head of Research at Wilson King We will talk about commodities,
:12:21. > :12:23.aren't we? We have seen a bounce back in commodity prices. Do you
:12:24. > :12:28.think it is sustainable? It could be. On the one hand you've got the
:12:29. > :12:31.demand from the likes of China and indeed India as you were mentioning.
:12:32. > :12:35.So demand is very possibly going to stay there, but the other thing that
:12:36. > :12:38.the commodities companies have had to do over the last couple of years
:12:39. > :12:44.is really start running themselves as a business. So they have been
:12:45. > :12:48.cutting costs sharply. They have been divesting assets that they
:12:49. > :12:53.don't consider core to what they're doing and in terms of the likes of
:12:54. > :12:57.Rio that's so diversified across so many metals, it could very much be
:12:58. > :13:01.sustainable now they've cleaned their books up a bit. It is
:13:02. > :13:04.interesting you say that. We've got Rio Tinto's results today which are
:13:05. > :13:08.better than expected and also they've boosted their dividend by
:13:09. > :13:12.quite a bit which is very welcome, isn't it, having had a rough couple
:13:13. > :13:15.of years? It is. Of course, particularly in the interest rate
:13:16. > :13:20.environment we find ourselves in at the moment. Any boost to dividend
:13:21. > :13:23.income is yet another attraction for shares as against other investments.
:13:24. > :13:27.That follows on from BP yesterday and some other mining companies and
:13:28. > :13:31.commodity companies. Are they back in favour now, do you think, these
:13:32. > :13:34.stocks for portfolio managers, the commodity companies? It is fair to
:13:35. > :13:39.say that they are a good hedge against inflation if we get to that
:13:40. > :13:44.point, inflation could be coming to us a bit later in the year because
:13:45. > :13:49.if we get inflation that will be UK-focussed, commodity companies do
:13:50. > :13:54.99. 9% of their business outside the UK. That's an interesting one. But
:13:55. > :14:00.whether investors, they still tend to be towards the higher end of the
:14:01. > :14:04.risk scale so your common investor may not go towards the mining
:14:05. > :14:09.stocks, but they're more popular than they were 18 months ago.
:14:10. > :14:13.Richard Hunter you will be back to discuss the papers. And what he
:14:14. > :14:19.would do after eight years in a tough job!
:14:20. > :14:25.We've got Mr Obama. Mark said you'd burn your suit! I'm with you there.
:14:26. > :14:31.I'd sell it. You'd put it on eBay. It depends how long you wore it for!
:14:32. > :14:34.Still to come, the inside track on diversity in the media
:14:35. > :14:37.from the chair of the UKs biggest media agency.
:14:38. > :14:45.You're with Business Live from BBC News.
:14:46. > :14:49.A day after the Government launched the Housing white paper,
:14:50. > :14:53.one UK house builder seems to be going from strength to strength.
:14:54. > :15:00.Redrow has just published it's half-year results showing revenue
:15:01. > :15:02.rising 23% to ?739 million and they completed
:15:03. > :15:04.nearly 2,500 homes in the last six months.
:15:05. > :15:07.Their CEO John Tutte joins us from the london Stock Exchange.
:15:08. > :15:13.John, thank you very much for your time this morning. As Sally said,
:15:14. > :15:16.yesterday we heard Government ministers calling the UK housing
:15:17. > :15:21.market broken. What's your reaction to that? Well, good morning
:15:22. > :15:25.everyone. I think perhaps it was an unfortunate title for the paper. I
:15:26. > :15:26.don't think it's broken. The industry has increased its output by
:15:27. > :16:02.50% in the last three years. What was your response to the white
:16:03. > :16:08.paper? There was mixed reaction. Most say they were quite
:16:09. > :16:13.disappointed. The one thing to put in context is it is a consultation
:16:14. > :16:19.document, and that consultation is open until the beginning of May. The
:16:20. > :16:23.important thing is how it moves on from here. There is a whole raft of
:16:24. > :16:29.measures proposed in there and that needs detail. It is good news that
:16:30. > :16:33.local authorities, there will be more pressure on them to allocate
:16:34. > :16:37.their housing and put their plans in place because 60% of local
:16:38. > :16:41.authorities have not got plans in place yet. To put them under
:16:42. > :16:43.pressure to do that will be good and to test the delivery of those plans
:16:44. > :16:57.will be good. The measures they are
:16:58. > :16:59.proposing on speeding up the planning system by putting more
:17:00. > :17:01.resources into planning departments, having fewer conditions on planning
:17:02. > :17:10.permission, is all good news and should help us bring outlets forward
:17:11. > :17:13.and assist our growth. L'Oreal is selling the body shop potentially.
:17:14. > :17:15.Their results are out on Thursday and they could be reviewing their
:17:16. > :17:20.ownership. Our top story: President Trump's
:17:21. > :17:35.travel ban has had its latest They are grappling with both sides
:17:36. > :17:37.of the argument. The conclusion will be batted to the Supreme Court
:17:38. > :17:41.Lawyers for the Justice Department told a hearing in San Francisco why
:17:42. > :17:44.it should be upheld whilst those for Washington state made
:17:45. > :17:50.A decision is expected later this week.
:17:51. > :17:57.It is a really busy time for earnings. Depending on whether you
:17:58. > :18:02.are Rio Tinto Allred row will depend on how you are doing today.
:18:03. > :18:11.In the advertising and media world, diversity remains a challenge.
:18:12. > :18:14.Karen Blackett's father told her as a black woman,
:18:15. > :18:16.she'd have to work twice as hard to get anywhere.
:18:17. > :18:18.She now heads up the UK's largest media agency.
:18:19. > :18:21.It manages more than ?1.2bn of advertising spend for firms
:18:22. > :18:24.Let's get the Inside Track with a media executive who's been
:18:25. > :18:26.voted the UK's most influential black person, overcoming
:18:27. > :18:29.hurdles to rise to the top of the advertising tree.
:18:30. > :18:31.Karen Blackett started her career in 1993 at CIA Media Network.
:18:32. > :18:35.She then joined The Media Business Group and was promoted to the Board
:18:36. > :18:37.of Directors in 1999 when the group merged with MediaCom.
:18:38. > :18:39.After climbing the ranks, Karen was promoted to Chairwoman
:18:40. > :18:45.The firm now employs more than 1,000 people in the UK.
:18:46. > :18:52.Karen is just a little bit older than me, so I feel a little bit
:18:53. > :18:57.inadequate listening to that. When we realised you were coming in, I
:18:58. > :19:01.said we would be talking to you about advertising, diversity and
:19:02. > :19:06.apprenticeships. You have knowledge on a huge agreement of subjects.
:19:07. > :19:11.What is the most important? I love my industry and I love what I do, so
:19:12. > :19:15.advertising is top of the tree, but part of being good at advertising is
:19:16. > :19:21.about having an inclusive workforces, and inclusive content
:19:22. > :19:26.that you create, so diversity and inclusion goes hand in hand with
:19:27. > :19:30.that. It is the buzzword in management school at the moment,
:19:31. > :19:36.diversity, how to feel diversity in an organisation. Why is it so
:19:37. > :19:39.important? There are so many studies that show when you have more
:19:40. > :19:45.inclusive workforces and cos it benefits both economic play and
:19:46. > :19:50.socially. Those companies which are more diverse tend to be those which
:19:51. > :19:56.are more financially stable and successful. It is a buzzword because
:19:57. > :20:00.it is common business sense. It is not for altruistic reasons, it is
:20:01. > :20:05.business sense. If you have to sell a brand to consumers in any country
:20:06. > :20:10.you need to reflect your consumers in the advertising content you
:20:11. > :20:15.create and in the workplace. Being called an influential black person,
:20:16. > :20:23.does it annoy you that that is still a label? It is not something that
:20:24. > :20:25.annoys me, it is something I find embarrassing but brilliant. But it
:20:26. > :20:31.is something that is important because I know when I was growing up
:20:32. > :20:35.in Reading I did not have many role models. My role models were
:20:36. > :20:39.immediate family and friends and in a business context I was not aware
:20:40. > :20:43.of roles I could go into because there were not people like me who
:20:44. > :20:49.worked in those companies, or so I thought. The powerless, the list
:20:50. > :20:52.that I topped, they are really important because it provides role
:20:53. > :20:58.model opportunities for people in the UK. Your dad did say you would
:20:59. > :21:05.have a tough time ahead getting on because you were black and a woman.
:21:06. > :21:10.Was that the case? It is true. My mum and dad came over from Barbados
:21:11. > :21:14.in the 60s and he was concerned because they came over to a country
:21:15. > :21:18.that they did not know and they had to try and navigate it and they had
:21:19. > :21:23.to make sure that we would have a happy and successful life, me and my
:21:24. > :21:30.sister. It was tough because people do discriminate and people hire in
:21:31. > :21:34.their own images. At that time the advertising world was quite close,
:21:35. > :21:37.nepotism did exist, and there were not many people like me who worked
:21:38. > :21:44.in the advertising industry. However, when you look at the black
:21:45. > :21:50.population in the UK and you look at the economic contribution of that
:21:51. > :21:55.population, we are worth around ?300 billion in terms of financial
:21:56. > :22:00.ability to spend. It is an incredibly important sector that we
:22:01. > :22:03.have to tap into, because people in the UK by brands and products.
:22:04. > :22:08.Unfortunately we have to leave it there. Thank you very much for
:22:09. > :22:16.joining us. You can hear more from Karen online, she is on Twitter. We
:22:17. > :22:21.are all having a Twitter chat. The rise of the robot is featuring again
:22:22. > :22:24.and the impact of automation is fast becoming one of the biggest
:22:25. > :22:31.challenges Bob governments around the world. The online retailer Ocado
:22:32. > :22:35.is increasingly turning to automation. Let's have a look at
:22:36. > :22:44.what is happening in their warehouses. This warehouse is
:22:45. > :22:47.stuffed full of algorithms and machines learning, controlling 8000
:22:48. > :23:39.of these boxes. Welcome back. This is from
:23:40. > :23:49.Bloomberg. Explain this to us. It is what is happening in Australia and
:23:50. > :23:52.it might ring bells here. How individuals are piling on debt,
:23:53. > :23:57.mainly in mortgages and they are getting mortgages up to the hilt, to
:23:58. > :24:03.quite high levels, which is OK at the moment, but interest rates might
:24:04. > :24:11.go up. Where are they in Australia? They are about 1.5% at the moment,
:24:12. > :24:14.but they could be on the way up. If you are highly indebted, each time
:24:15. > :24:22.interest rates go up, they could cause problems. They have got some
:24:23. > :24:27.bad debts and it is not crisis point yet, but keep an eye on it. Let's
:24:28. > :24:34.take a look at Barack Obama kite surfing. That is what he has been up
:24:35. > :24:37.to on a nice little two weeks away at Sir Richard Branson's Private
:24:38. > :24:43.Caribbean retreat. There he is in action. What would you do if you
:24:44. > :24:49.needed to take a break after a very demanding job? I am not sure I would
:24:50. > :24:57.get on the speed style to Richard Branson. We will put it out there.
:24:58. > :25:02.You never know. It could be water-based. I fancy the idea if you
:25:03. > :25:05.had nothing to do for a month, a long cruise going to different
:25:06. > :25:13.cities. That is not really kite surfing. What would you do, Sally? I
:25:14. > :25:19.have a long bucket list, I have got three little boys. The world would
:25:20. > :25:27.be my oyster. A little sleep. Sleep would be good. We have got a lot of
:25:28. > :25:30.tweets. Some of you said you would head to the Caribbean. If Richard
:25:31. > :25:38.Branson was offering, you would not say no. We have not got time to do
:25:39. > :25:46.the next story. Thank you to Richard.
:25:47. > :25:51.There will be more business news throughout the day on the BBC Live
:25:52. > :25:53.webpage and on World Business Report.
:25:54. > :26:08.It will not be asked tomorrow, we will be having our cat naps!
:26:09. > :26:15.Good morning. It has been a cold start this morning and temperatures
:26:16. > :26:20.will not rise a great deal today and it will get colder over the next few
:26:21. > :26:24.days. A lot of cloud on the way and temperatures will be lowering and it
:26:25. > :26:30.will feel cold as the easterly wind picks up. We saw at the beginning of
:26:31. > :26:34.the week a band of rain moving across from the West, but it has now
:26:35. > :26:41.got stuck on the east side of the UK. It is a very weak feature, but
:26:42. > :26:47.behind it there is cold air that will be coming in on an easterly
:26:48. > :26:50.wind. Some sunshine in western fringes of the UK, but for many
:26:51. > :26:56.central and eastern areas it is cloudy, grey and misty and there
:26:57. > :27:01.will be some showers around as well. The wind is not too strong just yet.
:27:02. > :27:09.Sunshine in Devon, Cornwall and West Wales as well with highs of eight or
:27:10. > :27:14.nine. But across the rest of Wales, the Midlands and southern England,
:27:15. > :27:19.cloudy skies and there could be some wintry showers in northern England.
:27:20. > :27:25.In Northern Ireland brightening up with some sunshine, sunshine in the
:27:26. > :27:29.North West and the western isles of Scotland. Snow in the showers over
:27:30. > :27:36.the Grampians. A few more wintry showers coming in on the breeze
:27:37. > :27:41.overnight. Frost almost anywhere. Even under the cloud it could be
:27:42. > :27:48.cold enough for temperatures close to freezing. There will be a fresh
:27:49. > :27:53.breeze as we head into Thursday and it will freshen many parts of the
:27:54. > :27:59.country, blowing in cloud. A hint of sunshine in sheltered western areas.
:28:00. > :28:04.A bit more sleet and snow, no great amounts of snow, most of it on the
:28:05. > :28:08.hills of eastern Scotland and the North East of England. But
:28:09. > :28:13.temperatures will be lower than today. Nothing is coming in from the
:28:14. > :28:20.Atlantic where it is milder. We have got a big block of cold air coming
:28:21. > :28:25.in from the east. The wind picks up on Friday and it will feel colder.
:28:26. > :28:27.Cloudy skies across the board and temperatures at three or four at the
:28:28. > :28:29.very best.