:00:00. > :00:10.This is Business Live from BBC News with Rachel Horne and Sally Bundock.
:00:11. > :00:16.The plane-maker's profits slump by more than 60%.
:00:17. > :00:33.Live from London, that's our top story on Wednesday, 22nd February.
:00:34. > :00:38.The big drag on Airbus profits was the company's A400M
:00:39. > :00:43.We'll find out where the project stands now.
:00:44. > :00:46.Also in the programme, Hong Kong's former leader, Donald Tsang
:00:47. > :00:58.We'll get the latest from our correspondent in Hong Kong.
:00:59. > :01:00.And check out the markets, Lloyds Banking Group has
:01:01. > :01:03.posted its best profits for ten years - their share price
:01:04. > :01:08.We continue our Disability Works series by meeting the boss
:01:09. > :01:10.of the tech company where all the consultants are
:01:11. > :01:25.And what's the most selfish thing that you've ever done?
:01:26. > :01:27.A new report on the toughest job interview questions is out
:01:28. > :01:30.and we want to know what's the most surprising thing you've ever been
:01:31. > :01:48.Now, profits have slumped at aerospace group Airbus during 2016.
:01:49. > :01:50.The aircraft manufacturer has reported a 63% fall in net income
:01:51. > :01:57.But that was after a one billion euro charge over its A400M
:01:58. > :02:04.It has been a tumultuous year for the company.
:02:05. > :02:06.It has been forced to accelerate last minute
:02:07. > :02:09.plane deliveries in order to meet key targets.
:02:10. > :02:12.There has also been a slowdown in demand for jets.
:02:13. > :02:20.It has been forced to cut production of the prestige A380 superjumbo.
:02:21. > :02:23.And the A400M military transport plane has also proved a major drag
:02:24. > :02:29.the project has been plagued by delays and technical problems.
:02:30. > :02:31.Robert Wall is senior aerospace and aviation editor,
:02:32. > :02:38.What do you make of the numbers? The Europe joins us now.
:02:39. > :02:46.What do you make of the numbers? The numbers are mixed. On the xhefrtion
:02:47. > :02:52.side, things are fine, it is overshadowed by A400 M where the 1.2
:02:53. > :02:56.billion charge on top of the 1 billion earlier in the year takes
:02:57. > :03:01.the shine off what would have been a decent year, but that programme is
:03:02. > :03:04.just something Airbus is unable to get its arms around and really get
:03:05. > :03:10.fixed. It seems to be failing to take off at the moment. When will
:03:11. > :03:16.they see that A400M project reaping some rewards for them? Well, that's
:03:17. > :03:21.a good question. Will it ever really reap rewards for them is another
:03:22. > :03:26.question? Right now they're worried about stopping the financial
:03:27. > :03:30.bleeding. The CEO spoke to some of us reporters this morning and said
:03:31. > :03:34.they're going back to the governments to ask for relief so
:03:35. > :03:38.some of the forced penalties that are being forced for delayed planes
:03:39. > :03:42.are being eased. They want the governments to co-operate more to
:03:43. > :03:45.get the plane into the field, that's been very difficult, that's a
:03:46. > :03:50.complicated programme structure. So, lots of reasons for these problems
:03:51. > :03:53.and no clear solutions and certainly no easy solutions. At the same time,
:03:54. > :04:00.the company though has restrict tured. It's the first set of
:04:01. > :04:06.results, isn't it, as Airbus Group, as posed to EADS, what's the outlook
:04:07. > :04:11.for the company as a whole, despite the A400M difficulties? You have to
:04:12. > :04:15.always think about the fact that A400M, it is an important programme
:04:16. > :04:18.for them, but Airbus is all about the commercial airliner delivery
:04:19. > :04:24.market. They delivered strongly last year. Aircraft deliveries, airliner
:04:25. > :04:28.deliveries this should be more than 700. They seem to be executing on
:04:29. > :04:32.their programmes reasonably well. This is another challenging year for
:04:33. > :04:38.them as they will admit. The outlook is good for them on that side, but
:04:39. > :04:42.you know, if you keep having to pay, have the big charges on one or two
:04:43. > :04:45.programmes that's obviously not something that management can really
:04:46. > :04:49.stomach. No, tricky. Tricky times, thank you. Robert Wall from the Wall
:04:50. > :04:54.Street Journal. Interesting.
:04:55. > :05:00.Yahoo has agreed to cut $350 million off its original asking price
:05:01. > :05:02.in the sale of its internet business to US telecoms giant, Verizon.
:05:03. > :05:06.The new deal comes after two huge cyber attacks at Yahoo ending months
:05:07. > :05:12.The world's largest retailer has seen a boost in sales.
:05:13. > :05:14.Wal-Mart has reported profits rising 1.8%, higher
:05:15. > :05:21.An increase in online sales and higher number of customers
:05:22. > :05:23.going in to their stores lifted profits, leading to
:05:24. > :05:32.the tenth straight quarter of comparable sales growth.
:05:33. > :05:41.That's pretty impressive. Lloyds reports its highest profits
:05:42. > :05:45.for a decade. We'll talk more about that in a moment. But also when
:05:46. > :05:50.you're talking about people walking into shops, not the case for the UK
:05:51. > :05:55.high street. Slow progress here in the UK. In terms of access for
:05:56. > :05:58.disabled people, that's part of our disability works week. There is lots
:05:59. > :06:05.of other stories as well on our website. Of course, Lloyds shares
:06:06. > :06:10.going up some 4% on the markets. But all sorts of other stories as well.
:06:11. > :06:17.Just trying to find them here. Lots about Lloyds on the Business Live
:06:18. > :06:21.page. But also Hayes UK, its profits have been stymied somewhat by the
:06:22. > :06:26.decision last June, the UK, to exit the European Union. So an EU
:06:27. > :06:32.referendum took the wind out of the UK interim results for the UK
:06:33. > :06:36.that operating profits in the UK and that operating profits in the UK and
:06:37. > :06:41.Ireland fell by 29% from the six months to the end of December. Also
:06:42. > :06:50.we've got metro Bank, this is another good news story for banking.
:06:51. > :06:56.Metro bank's boss has been a guest on Business Live. The founder is a
:06:57. > :07:00.proud man. Metro Bank coming out with positive results. The markets
:07:01. > :07:12.are buoyant and enjoying the figures. Metro Bank is one of the
:07:13. > :07:18.banks that we're familiar with in the UK. Metro Bank is focussing on
:07:19. > :07:21.bringing customers in and maintaining that customer cashier
:07:22. > :07:26.we heard earlier in the week, we heard earlier in the week,
:07:27. > :07:34.opening three cashierless branches in the States. You just go in. Look
:07:35. > :07:39.at headline, "Boring is beautiful." Lloyds is back to being a boring
:07:40. > :07:43.bank and boring is good! News about lOulds. It was bailed out by the UK
:07:44. > :07:48.taxpayer following the 2008 financial crisis. The Government
:07:49. > :07:52.saying now that the Lloyds will be returned fully to private ownership.
:07:53. > :07:57.There is a 5% stake left which is owned by the UK or UK taxpayers as
:07:58. > :08:01.it were and the plan is for it to be returned fully to private ownership.
:08:02. > :08:07.So lots of stories on our website as ever. Rachel over to you.
:08:08. > :08:13.Sally, that was a thorough and comprehensive coverage of our news
:08:14. > :08:20.stories. Asian stocks up overnight. Despite
:08:21. > :08:24.the yen strengthened. Markets were boosted by strong
:08:25. > :08:30.reports from retailers including Wal-Mart. Let's look at the European
:08:31. > :08:34.markets. We mentioned Lloyds. Their shares are up by almost 5% this
:08:35. > :08:38.morning. They posted their best profits or ten years, also impacting
:08:39. > :08:42.the European markets we will have revised UK GDP figures out for the
:08:43. > :08:46.fourth quarter in under an hour's time. The first reading for the last
:08:47. > :08:51.three months of the year was 0.6%. This report out at 9.30am UK time is
:08:52. > :08:57.an update with more detail of investment. Economists expecting it
:08:58. > :09:02.to stick at 0.6%, something that could be revised up to 0.7%.
:09:03. > :09:04.And Michelle Fleury has the details about what's ahead
:09:05. > :09:12.Wall Street is the US Central Bank, not Donald Trump's economic policies
:09:13. > :09:16.that will be in the spotlight. The US Federal Reserve releases the
:09:17. > :09:19.minutes from its last policy meeting setting and investors will be
:09:20. > :09:23.pouring over it for clues about the timing of any future rate hike. Now,
:09:24. > :09:29.there has been a lot of speculation as to whether or not the Federal
:09:30. > :09:35.Reserve may increase rates, may lift rates, in March at their next
:09:36. > :09:38.meeting. Janet Yelland, the yet of the Central Bank was testifying on
:09:39. > :09:42.Capitol Hill and was suggesting that the economy was improving and there
:09:43. > :09:46.were dangers of waiting too long to move. Now, given that we're talking
:09:47. > :09:49.about an environment in which interest rates are going up, there
:09:50. > :09:53.has been concerns about what the knock-on effect will be on borrowing
:09:54. > :10:00.costs, specifically mortgages. We should get another clue as to how
:10:01. > :10:02.the housing sector is performing when the National Association of
:10:03. > :10:05.Realitiors releases home sales for January and Wall Street will be
:10:06. > :10:08.looking at that for any clues as to whether or not there is a slowdown
:10:09. > :10:10.in the housing sector which after all has been one of the bright spots
:10:11. > :10:16.for the US economy. Jane Foley is Senior
:10:17. > :10:24.Currency Strategist Nice to see you. So much going on
:10:25. > :10:26.and Michelle touching on the Fed minutes which are out today. Daopk
:10:27. > :10:30.there will be a lot of anticipation as to what might be in there in
:10:31. > :10:33.terms of clues about the next rate rise? There really is. We have had
:10:34. > :10:36.the statement for the meeting already. This was a couple of weeks
:10:37. > :10:40.ago. We get the full report and the market is looking for clues a to
:10:41. > :10:43.whether or not the Fed is of the mind to hike interest rates in March
:10:44. > :10:49.June. The Fed said it could hike three times this year. The markets
:10:50. > :10:51.are a little bit dubious or has been dubious, but there are seven more
:10:52. > :10:57.meetings this year, if it is going to do three hikes, it has got to get
:10:58. > :11:00.a move on. Several officials have been hawkish meaning that they are
:11:01. > :11:07.more likely perhaps to raise rates than not, but there is still lots of
:11:08. > :11:11.unsirenities in the US economy particularly related to Trump and
:11:12. > :11:16.what he could do with spending. This is the second rev of figures. Just
:11:17. > :11:19.explain that to us. We get the first GDP, only 40% of the information
:11:20. > :11:25.they need, is that right and then they get more and they go, "Yeah, we
:11:26. > :11:30.were right." Or, "No, we were wrong." They get more data coming in
:11:31. > :11:33.and they are able to fine tune the data and we will get more of the
:11:34. > :11:36.breakdown, we will see how investment was in the final quarter
:11:37. > :11:39.of last year and the services sector. The services sector is the
:11:40. > :11:43.biggest part of the UK economy and how that fared as well. What do you
:11:44. > :11:47.make of Lloyds? Shares up strongly. The numbers on the face of it look
:11:48. > :11:52.quite spectacular, don't they? They really do. This is a huge increase
:11:53. > :11:58.in profits relative to the previous quarter, but of course, there are a
:11:59. > :12:03.little bit of warning signs and provisions for bad loans up 14% and
:12:04. > :12:07.total income below last year. Lloyds said their outlook depends on that
:12:08. > :12:10.of the UK economy and there are warnings and uncertainty about the
:12:11. > :12:13.UK economy related to how the consumer will fair because of Brexit
:12:14. > :12:18.uncertainty. All right, thank you very much, Jane. Jane will be back.
:12:19. > :12:22.Jane have a think about what the trickiest interview question you've
:12:23. > :12:26.been asked. Or that you have asked! Oh yes. Confessions of an
:12:27. > :12:31.interviewer on Business Live! Still to come, we'll get the latest
:12:32. > :12:34.in our Disability Works series. The boss of a leading tech firm
:12:35. > :12:37.explains why his firm only employs You're with Business
:12:38. > :12:44.Live from BBC News. Lloyds Banking Group,
:12:45. > :12:48.which also owns Halifax and the Bank of Scotland,
:12:49. > :12:51.has reported its full It's annual pre-tax profits rose
:12:52. > :12:54.to ?4.2 billion from ?1.6 billion You might remember Lloyds was bailed
:12:55. > :12:59.out at the height of the financial crisis when the Government
:13:00. > :13:01.spent ?20.3 billion to But in recent months, the Government
:13:02. > :13:08.has been quietly selling off its remaining shares so it's now
:13:09. > :13:11.under 5% owned by the taxpayer. Our Business Correspondent Theo
:13:12. > :13:20.Leggett joins us now Give us a bit more detail on Lloyds.
:13:21. > :13:26.Look at that chart behind you. That talks about the reaction today.
:13:27. > :13:30.Well, you always know I like a big spike on one of my graphs. I've got
:13:31. > :13:34.one this morning. Is how the markets reacted from the results from
:13:35. > :13:40.Lloyds. Up 3.6%. A certainlying of optimism. On the face of it, the
:13:41. > :13:44.results look very good, but just as HSBC's results yesterday looked bad,
:13:45. > :13:47.but weren't as bad beneath the surface, these aren't as good
:13:48. > :13:51.beneath the surface. We are seeing a big increase in profits over last
:13:52. > :13:55.year when you account for things like PPI insurance payments. Now,
:13:56. > :14:00.last year, Lloyds had to set aside about ?4 billion for compensation
:14:01. > :14:03.for pment PI mis-selling, payment protection insurance, this year it
:14:04. > :14:08.is just ?1 billion and that elevates the profits. If you look at
:14:09. > :14:12.underlying profits, it is slightly worse than last year. So although we
:14:13. > :14:17.have had the enthusiastic response from the markets, underneath it all,
:14:18. > :14:22.you know, the bank is still trueing along reasonably well, but not in a
:14:23. > :14:25.spectacular fashion just as HSBC yesterday when you stripped out the
:14:26. > :14:28.one off items, the writing off the value of businesses that haven't
:14:29. > :14:33.performed well, underneath it all, it was doing pretty much the same as
:14:34. > :14:37.it had been the year. So reasons to be optimistic, but it depends really
:14:38. > :14:40.for Lloyds, it is a boring bank and the investors seem to like boring
:14:41. > :14:45.banks today, it is a bread and butter bank, it is a retail bank
:14:46. > :14:48.focussed on the UK, but that means its performance depends on what
:14:49. > :14:50.happens with the UK economy and we have a lot of uncertainty over the
:14:51. > :14:53.Brexit negotiations and that's going to affect Lloyds. They say the
:14:54. > :14:57.outlook is reasonable, but who can tell?
:14:58. > :15:01.Thank you, Theo, we will see you again soon.
:15:02. > :15:08.Have you ever been delayed on a flight? Yes. Shocking. Five airlines
:15:09. > :15:12.that fly into Europe have been told they must pay compensation to
:15:13. > :15:15.passengers for delays if they are at their final destination more three
:15:16. > :15:17.hours late. You're watching Business Live -
:15:18. > :15:19.our top story, European aircraft maker Airbus sees its profits plunge
:15:20. > :15:25.by more than sixty per cent. Its A400M military transport plane
:15:26. > :15:30.has been plagued by delays and technical problems,
:15:31. > :15:33.and has put a big dent in earnings. A quick look at how
:15:34. > :15:46.markets are faring.... Lloyds is the star of the week.
:15:47. > :15:55.Metro bank shares also other percent. -- up 1%.
:15:56. > :15:57.It's thought that around 70 million people around
:15:58. > :15:59.the world are somewhere on the autistic spectrum.
:16:00. > :16:01.Yet perceptions about autistic people and their abilities can
:16:02. > :16:05.We continue our week long Disability Works series by focusing
:16:06. > :16:24.It was founded by Dirk Muller-Remus in Berlin in November 2011.
:16:25. > :16:26.Auticon taps into the cognitive abilities of Autistic adults,
:16:27. > :16:28.skills such as logic, pattern recognition,
:16:29. > :16:30.precision and ability to intuitively spot errors -
:16:31. > :16:32.and gets them into mainstream employment as consultants.
:16:33. > :16:34.The enterprise employs 140 staff, 80% which are
:16:35. > :16:37.Its clients range from big corporate names like Siemens,
:16:38. > :16:40.Allianz and UniCredit to smaller start ups.
:16:41. > :16:47.Kurt Schoeffer is the CEO of Auticon.
:16:48. > :16:59.Thank you for coming in. How did the company come about? The founder is
:17:00. > :17:04.autistic himself, he could find ways strengths and deficits were. His
:17:05. > :17:08.thinking was, if he was helped with the deficits, should he not be
:17:09. > :17:15.people. The company was started, people. The company was started,
:17:16. > :17:19.presumably it was quite difficult to get going? Very specific company,
:17:20. > :17:26.looking for very specific individuals. How do you get the ball
:17:27. > :17:29.rolling? First of all, we were lucky to find quite fast and very good
:17:30. > :17:39.colleagues, we are very interesting CV 's. Particularly strong in the IT
:17:40. > :17:44.field. The issue was to find customers at the beginning. We were
:17:45. > :17:51.a tiny company, did not have a big track record, so one. The theme
:17:52. > :17:54.itself helped us, many people understand, if you bring autistic
:17:55. > :17:59.people into the right areas, they are good at working, mental
:18:00. > :18:06.recognition, finding mistakes without needing to look for it. We
:18:07. > :18:11.tried it out, fortunately we got big support from shareholders, we were
:18:12. > :18:19.able to step into companies like Siemens, and our colleagues did a
:18:20. > :18:27.tremendous job. Immediately the orders were elongated. We rolled out
:18:28. > :18:32.to Germany, then the UK and France. Happy to replicate this as often as
:18:33. > :18:37.possible. You get a consultant, you employ them, they work for you,
:18:38. > :18:41.somebody on the autistic spectrum. The pair them up with a buddy and a
:18:42. > :18:45.life coach, they go with them to the client, to help them with the things
:18:46. > :18:53.they are not so good at, the social skills. Exactly, besides the
:18:54. > :18:59.fantastic consultants, the most important role we have in the
:19:00. > :19:02.company is our job coaches. Their task, in a four month period,
:19:03. > :19:07.preparing the consultants before sending them out to customers, they
:19:08. > :19:12.need to understand what works, and what does not work. We are very open
:19:13. > :19:18.with that. We tell the customer exactly what he can expect. We tell
:19:19. > :19:22.the consultants what you can expect. We have a fantastic track record
:19:23. > :19:29.than we did not need to stop any project. Tell us some of the people
:19:30. > :19:33.you have taken on board. Quite incredible stories, trying over and
:19:34. > :19:41.over again to get employment, and failing. 10-15% of autistic people
:19:42. > :19:44.are on the first level market. How many of them having jobs suiting
:19:45. > :19:53.their special knowledge or special interest? The number is single
:19:54. > :19:58.unemployed, people who have not unemployed, people who have not
:19:59. > :20:07.survived the trial period in other companies five or six times. It is a
:20:08. > :20:12.whole range, the 20-year-old guy programming since he was eight years
:20:13. > :20:19.old, up to doctors and professors with 30 years professional
:20:20. > :20:23.experience. You have to provide a parental role as the boss of the
:20:24. > :20:27.company? You have to look after them completely. Not just about their
:20:28. > :20:33.role. Providing a service for the clients. The important thing is we
:20:34. > :20:37.do not want to offer jobs, we want to offer careers for the guys. They
:20:38. > :20:42.can develop nicely if you support them in the right area. At the end
:20:43. > :20:47.of the day, we feel very responsible for what we're doing, for the
:20:48. > :20:54.consultants, the employees. It is a fantastic thing to do. Our customers
:20:55. > :20:57.also feel quite strongly in the teams where the consultants are,
:20:58. > :21:01.they make a big difference, from a working point of view, they also
:21:02. > :21:09.change the perception. People who are different. That is what we can
:21:10. > :21:12.do in the end, we can help people to understand how good it is to have
:21:13. > :21:17.diverse teams, how beneficial it is for everybody. You are speaking in
:21:18. > :21:22.the green room from the attraction for a lot of clients is your
:21:23. > :21:29.consultants can solve the unsolvable. What sort of information
:21:30. > :21:38.do you need to give the clients. There may be brutal honesty? Do not
:21:39. > :21:43.force a handshake? First of all we call forces a different operating
:21:44. > :21:50.system. This can lead to results you would not expect. Typically as we
:21:51. > :21:53.know our consultants in and out, we have to give a few tips to help
:21:54. > :22:00.partners. Do not force them to shake hands. Do not be surprised about
:22:01. > :22:05.honesty, all those kind of things. Literally two, three things for
:22:06. > :22:11.consultant. If you see the feedback of our customers, you can see on one
:22:12. > :22:15.hand, great results, on the other side much easier than they thought
:22:16. > :22:20.to bring people. Thanks so much for coming in. Good to talk to you and
:22:21. > :22:21.hear about your company. So many more stories like this on our
:22:22. > :22:22.website. You can find more on our special
:22:23. > :22:25.coverage of this issue... and how businesses
:22:26. > :22:27.are dealing with it, And on Twitter at hashtag -
:22:28. > :22:39.disability works. The former leader of Hong Kong has
:22:40. > :22:44.been sentenced to 20 months in prison for the misconduct in office.
:22:45. > :22:50.He was found guilty of hiding dealings with Hong Kong tycoon when
:22:51. > :22:58.applying for broadcasting licences. We have more details from Hong Kong.
:22:59. > :23:03.Giuliana, this sounds quite shocking, the man in charge of the
:23:04. > :23:10.city stayed behind bars. Extremely shocking. The judge said never
:23:11. > :23:15.before in his entire judicial career had he seen someone falls so
:23:16. > :23:20.quickly. He was sentenced today. The jury found him guilty last week, one
:23:21. > :23:25.charge of misconduct in public office. They essentially believe he
:23:26. > :23:30.concealed his business relationship with a Hong Kong businessman, at the
:23:31. > :23:40.time that the businessman was trying to get his licences past three. --
:23:41. > :23:44.passing through. Guilty on one count, not guilty on the other.
:23:45. > :23:48.Looks like the prosecution will want to press for very real
:23:49. > :23:55.Jane Foley is Senior Currency Strategist at Rabobank -
:23:56. > :24:09.The 20 toughest interview questions. Some interesting questions? Some of
:24:10. > :24:13.them, I have been asking the make-up ladies some of them, asking about
:24:14. > :24:18.sexuality, whether they were planning to have a family. I was
:24:19. > :24:23.asked, what does your husband do? Trying to work out whether I was
:24:24. > :24:30.thinking of taking maternity leave. Not very nice questions. We had a
:24:31. > :24:37.tweet from one viewer, saying have you ever attempted to overthrow the
:24:38. > :24:45.government, or the state of Texas? What about the one, what am I
:24:46. > :24:54.thinking? You are thinking, you should hire me. Is that the right
:24:55. > :25:01.response? Some of the other stories. In the Telegraph, the Bank of
:25:02. > :25:05.England, our economic forecasts will always be wrong. That is the
:25:06. > :25:16.headline, but not actually what they said. It is referring to the
:25:17. > :25:21.forecast before breakfast. The doom and gloom of the leave out. The
:25:22. > :25:25.chief economist said it was a Michael Fish moment. One of the
:25:26. > :25:30.reasons they got it wrong, and many forecasters got it wrong, the bank
:25:31. > :25:35.anticipated that consumers would be so anxious they would stop spending
:25:36. > :25:36.and save more, they did not, in fact they borrowed more, or
:25:37. > :25:41.wheels of the economy. The most wheels of the economy. The most
:25:42. > :25:45.recent lending data, there has been a calming down, retail sales in
:25:46. > :25:54.December rising. For our international viewers,
:25:55. > :25:56.Michael Fish was a weather forecaster who got a very wrong. See
:25:57. > :26:18.you soon. -- got it very wrong. Hello. Some really nasty weather on
:26:19. > :26:20.the way tomorrow, in the guise of Storm Doris. Likely to cause some
:26:21. > :26:22.disruptive