:00:00. > :00:00.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Bland and Aaron Heslehurst.
:00:00. > :00:15.International investors go cold on South Africa,
:00:16. > :00:17.as one of the continent's biggest economies moves from political
:00:18. > :00:35.Live from London, that's our top story on 12th April.
:00:36. > :00:37.As South Africa's battered economy tries to recover
:00:38. > :00:42.from a double downgrade, protesters are heading
:00:43. > :00:45.We're live in Johannesburg for this developing story.
:00:46. > :00:48.Also in the programme, the BBC understands that the head
:00:49. > :00:52.of security at Barclays is now facing an internal disciplinary
:00:53. > :01:02.probe over his part in a whistle-blowing inquiry.
:01:03. > :01:05.We will get all the news from the markets.
:01:06. > :01:08.And we'll be getting the inside track on one start-up
:01:09. > :01:18.that is taking used batteries and giving them a second life.
:01:19. > :01:22.As the boss of United Airlines, we want to know when have you wished
:01:23. > :01:26.you'd apologised sooner? As South Africa's president
:01:27. > :01:41.Jacob Zuma celebrates his 75th birthday, the festivities may be
:01:42. > :01:44.rather more low key than usual. In less than a week,
:01:45. > :01:49.the country's members of parliament are scheduled to hold a vote of no
:01:50. > :01:52.confidence against the president. It comes after he ousted some
:01:53. > :01:57.of his key political opponents Today, members of the public
:01:58. > :02:01.are expected to take to the streets in protest at the move,
:02:02. > :02:05.but Mr Zuma's decision also has South Africa has been downgraded
:02:06. > :02:13.to "junk status" by two of the leading debt ratings
:02:14. > :02:16.agencies, Fitch and S They argue that the reshuffle
:02:17. > :02:19.will hamper the country's efforts The government's debt pile continues
:02:20. > :02:25.to grow and the loss of its "investment grade" status
:02:26. > :02:27.could have a significant impact on South Africa's ability to borrow
:02:28. > :02:30.money on international markets. It means that major institutions
:02:31. > :02:35.such as pension funds and hedge funds may be prevented from buying
:02:36. > :02:43.the country's debt. Viv Govender is in our
:02:44. > :02:44.Johannesburg studio. She's a senior Analyst
:02:45. > :02:58.for Rand Swiss. What is president Zuma up to with
:02:59. > :03:01.all of this? Why the moves? Is he to blame with what's going on at the
:03:02. > :03:06.moment? Yes. Look, if you had to go and
:03:07. > :03:13.basically do a prediction of why he's doing this, I think the general
:03:14. > :03:22.conspiracy theory is he is going to be out of power by December. He
:03:23. > :03:26.wants to put his ex-wife into his position, both at the ANC and in
:03:27. > :03:30.Government afterwards and those basically would be in order to
:03:31. > :03:33.protect him from any kind of criminal prosecution thereafter. In
:03:34. > :03:40.order to achieve that goal of actually bringing his wife into
:03:41. > :03:43.power, you may need to indulge in patronage for his supporters and
:03:44. > :03:48.that could not be done with a Finance Minister in place because he
:03:49. > :03:55.would prevent some of the irregular expenditure that would be required
:03:56. > :03:58.to basically convince the supporters for both him and his wife in the
:03:59. > :04:03.coming election. So he's prepared to do all of that at the threat of
:04:04. > :04:08.hammering the South Africa's economy. Unemployment is 25%. I mean
:04:09. > :04:13.that's a whooper at the moment. Could that go higher of the back of
:04:14. > :04:20.what we're seeing at the moment? And 25% by the way is just the official
:04:21. > :04:23.number. If had the people who were already employed, it is probably in
:04:24. > :04:28.excess of 40%. The problem that we have in South Africa is that some
:04:29. > :04:31.people have been unemployed for a long period of time that the number
:04:32. > :04:35.of discouraged workers is probably 15% and maybe 20% of the total
:04:36. > :04:39.workforce, people that are sitting at home for two or three years and
:04:40. > :04:43.have given up the search for a job. If you included them, it would be in
:04:44. > :04:49.excess of 40%. This would be a major impact on those workers. Over the
:04:50. > :04:52.last couple of years the only real source of long-term or formal sector
:04:53. > :04:56.employment in the country has been the public sector. If you look at
:04:57. > :05:00.the public sector pay rolls they have been increasing over time.
:05:01. > :05:04.Things such as social work and other things come out as one of the top
:05:05. > :05:08.categories when we look at the employment numbers coming out. The
:05:09. > :05:11.private sector hasn't been as strong especially the mining sector has
:05:12. > :05:14.been under a great deal of pressure losing hundreds of thousands of
:05:15. > :05:18.workers over the last couple of decades. If you had the Government
:05:19. > :05:22.unable to borrow money, firstly they couldn't spend as much as they would
:05:23. > :05:24.have to reduce the amount of workers in the public sector which would be
:05:25. > :05:28.quite difficult and the private sector as well is not out there
:05:29. > :05:33.really looking at employment opportunities. They are looking at
:05:34. > :05:34.cutting down on the number they have because of the regulations around
:05:35. > :05:39.labour, etcetera. Viv, we appreciate labour, etcetera. Viv, we appreciate
:05:40. > :05:41.your time. Thank you for joining us. And no doubt we will talk to you
:05:42. > :05:43.soon. The BBC understands that Barclays's
:05:44. > :05:48.head of security is to face an internal investigation
:05:49. > :05:50.over his part in a Troels Oerting allegedly assisted
:05:51. > :05:56.the bank's boss, Jes Staley, in his attempts to unmask the author
:05:57. > :05:59.of an anonymous letter, which questioned the past conduct
:06:00. > :06:01.of a senior recruit. UK financial regulators
:06:02. > :06:04.are investigating the scandal and we will be getting more on this
:06:05. > :06:07.from our markets guest, Toshiba shares are down by nearly 2%
:06:08. > :06:24.in Tokyo trade this morning. The Japanese conglomerate could face
:06:25. > :06:26.delisting after it finally But it was done without
:06:27. > :06:36.the endorsement of its auditor. Toshiba is trying to sell
:06:37. > :06:40.its its crown jewel, the chip business, to offset huge
:06:41. > :06:45.losses from its US nuclear The head of United Airlines has
:06:46. > :06:51.apologised for what he now describes as "the truly horrific removal"
:06:52. > :06:53.of a passenger from CEO Oscar Munoz at first told
:06:54. > :06:56.staff he stood by them, but with United's stock market
:06:57. > :07:04.valuation plummeting, he issued another statement saying
:07:05. > :07:21.he was disturbed by the incident. We are looking at the Business Live
:07:22. > :07:25.page. Check it out. We will talk about Tesco later on. There is more
:07:26. > :07:31.on the Barclays story. There is a full write up by Simon Jack
:07:32. > :07:39.explaining this line that the bank's head of security now faces
:07:40. > :07:50.investigation over this trying to unmask a whistle-blower. I want to
:07:51. > :07:56.do paint. I bought five meters of paint, ?96 of that's about $140 for
:07:57. > :08:08.five litres! It says tensions are rising between
:08:09. > :08:11.the owner of Delux and Elliott Advisors.
:08:12. > :08:14.Changes to a stamp duty loophole in Hong Kong have sent
:08:15. > :08:28.Well, as you said Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Government slapped a 15%
:08:29. > :08:33.tax on first time homeowners who are purchasing more than one flat at a
:08:34. > :08:37.time. So, what was happening was investors were coming in, snapping
:08:38. > :08:42.up multiple units in one go to qualify for lower tax rates. These
:08:43. > :08:48.buyers were using one legal contract and they only had to pay 4% tax duty
:08:49. > :08:54.so now they are being charged the same 15% as someone buying a second
:08:55. > :08:58.property. There has been a lot of Chinese capital snapping up some of
:08:59. > :09:01.the Hong Kong's best plots of land and at record-breaking prices and it
:09:02. > :09:05.has pushed home ownership out of the reach of many people who live there
:09:06. > :09:08.and the Government hopes that closing this loophole will help the
:09:09. > :09:13.average buyer, but of course, Hong Kong is one of the most expensive
:09:14. > :09:22.real estate markets in the world. Sarah, thank you very much indeed.
:09:23. > :09:27.Investors ducked for cover on Wednesday as a drumbeat
:09:28. > :09:29.of alarming geo-political news sent the safe-haven yen and gold
:09:30. > :09:32.to five-month highs and yields on top-rated sovereign bonds
:09:33. > :09:37.Gold climbed as far as $1,280.30 at one stage, its highest
:09:38. > :09:50.The unease has tarnished an otherwise brightening outlook
:09:51. > :09:52.for global economic growth and has kept equities restrained.
:09:53. > :09:55.Japan's Nikkei feeling the pressure as a rising yen weighed
:09:56. > :10:12.Shares are down in Tesco and WH Smith.
:10:13. > :10:16.That's despite Tesco reporting profits better than analyst expected
:10:17. > :10:20.and WH Smith reporting a rise in profits as well. Barclays shares
:10:21. > :10:24.recovering after their slight fall on Tuesday. That's all to do with
:10:25. > :10:28.the news that the investigation involving the Chief Executive and
:10:29. > :10:33.how he handled a whistle-blowing situation. The BBC now understanding
:10:34. > :10:36.that the head of security at Barclays faces an internal
:10:37. > :10:39.disciplinary probe over his part in that inquiry.
:10:40. > :10:43.Here's what's ahead on Wall Street Today.
:10:44. > :10:45.United Airlines has been getting a lot of attention recently,
:10:46. > :10:49.but it will be another carrier that will be in the spotlight
:10:50. > :10:54.Delta Airlines will be reporting earnings, but don't expect them
:10:55. > :10:59.The number two US airline by passenger
:11:00. > :11:01.traffic for the second time in less than a month has
:11:02. > :11:03.lowered its forecast for passenger revenue.
:11:04. > :11:06.Now Venezuela is due to make a $3 billion payment on its debt
:11:07. > :11:09.by Wednesday and this would be yet another test for the country to stay
:11:10. > :11:12.solvent in the face of political unrest and low oil prices.
:11:13. > :11:15.And finally, the New York Auto Show kicks off with a media
:11:16. > :11:18.This comes as car sales in the US have gone flat
:11:19. > :11:35.after two consecutive years of record-breaking vehicle sales.
:11:36. > :11:39.Maike Currie is investment director at Fidelity International.
:11:40. > :11:51.Great timing. You're South African. We want to ask you about this - junk
:11:52. > :11:57.status by Fich and Standard and Poors. That's what they have issued
:11:58. > :12:02.to South Africa. Junk status, just to explain, junk will make it
:12:03. > :12:07.awfully expensive for South Africa to service its debt and to borrow
:12:08. > :12:10.more money? Absolutely. What investors demand they want a higher
:12:11. > :12:14.return to actually lend to a country. Now, what has been
:12:15. > :12:18.interesting from an investment point of view is that despite the junk
:12:19. > :12:22.status investors have been piling into South African bonds so that's
:12:23. > :12:26.pushed up the price, the yields and the income return has fallen. Now
:12:27. > :12:30.the question is whether this is about the political reactions in
:12:31. > :12:35.South Africa or whether this wb short-lived which I doubt. I think
:12:36. > :12:37.it is more symbolic of a broader optimism around emerging markets. So
:12:38. > :12:41.what would be interesting if you look at the performance of emerging
:12:42. > :12:46.markets since the beginning of the year, they're up over 10%. They've
:12:47. > :12:53.performed twice as well as the US and Wall Street which has performed
:12:54. > :12:56.twice as well as London and the general consensus was a Trump
:12:57. > :13:00.presidency would be bad news for emerging markets and the tightening
:13:01. > :13:08.by the Fed would be bad. So it is interesting times. Yes, indeed. I
:13:09. > :13:12.want to turn our attention to Barclays. The BBC understanding that
:13:13. > :13:16.the head of security is facing an internal probe. The shares have been
:13:17. > :13:20.on a roller-coaster. They seem to be recovering today? The interesting
:13:21. > :13:25.thing about the banks more generally is with inflation rising and the
:13:26. > :13:28.prospect of interest rates going up after years of record low interest
:13:29. > :13:32.rates, that's good news for a bank's business model. That will bode well.
:13:33. > :13:35.Of course, the whole whistle-blowing scandal is another cloud hanging
:13:36. > :13:43.over Barclays. Are you going to come back and take
:13:44. > :13:46.us through the papers? The United boss gets around to saying the S
:13:47. > :13:51.word. Charging into the future,
:13:52. > :13:55.we speak to the CEO of a company that's pioneering a way to make
:13:56. > :13:58.money by squeezing new life out You're with Business
:13:59. > :14:10.Live from BBC News. Food sales has helped push
:14:11. > :14:20.supermarket giant Tesco to record Like for like sales are up 0.9% -
:14:21. > :14:24.it's the first full year of growth since 2010 but profits
:14:25. > :14:27.are down after settling an accounting scandal
:14:28. > :14:29.with the Serious Fraud Office Maureen Hinton is from
:14:30. > :14:43.retail analysts, Verdict. Hey, Maureen, do you think, it is a
:14:44. > :14:48.good number, but Ben and I were looking at the share price of Tesco,
:14:49. > :14:50.did you say 1.8% down? Down nearly 2% of the what's investors thinking
:14:51. > :14:54.here? I don't know to be quite honest. I
:14:55. > :14:58.think it is perhaps because the operating profit wasn't as high.
:14:59. > :15:03.They were hoping perhaps that it would go up to 1.3%, but the
:15:04. > :15:06.business is doing really well. It is improving. The customer experience
:15:07. > :15:12.has improved. It is winning customers back. Better availability.
:15:13. > :15:16.Availability. The operating margin is improving. It doesn't make sense.
:15:17. > :15:20.It might be because of the Booker acquisition, but I think there is a
:15:21. > :15:23.lot of growth opportunity with that because they're wholesalers and they
:15:24. > :15:30.can supply where all the growth is going at the moment which is through
:15:31. > :15:34.food service, through take-aways, we're changing our eating habits so
:15:35. > :15:37.they have got a good growth story there as well. It is the same
:15:38. > :15:43.actually. It tends to go down and go back up again the share price.
:15:44. > :15:51.It's facing some challenges, its reputation, it was dealing with that
:15:52. > :15:55.fine over the accounting scandal. It has potentially got a battle with
:15:56. > :16:00.suppliers over the increased costs being passed on because of the
:16:01. > :16:05.weaker pound. Yes, it had a couple of battles with Unilever and
:16:06. > :16:11.Heineken more recently. Because it has such big buying power, and
:16:12. > :16:15.perhaps because CEO Dave Lewis comes from a supplier background, it has
:16:16. > :16:19.good negotiating skills. Thank you very much indeed, Maureen from
:16:20. > :16:28.retail analyst Verdict. HSBC plans to become dementia
:16:29. > :16:32.friendly. I think this is a cracking story. They are outlining their
:16:33. > :16:37.plans today to becoming more dementia friendly bank. HSBC says it
:16:38. > :16:41.gets 3000 calls per month regarding power of attorney, which is a big
:16:42. > :16:47.issue for people suffering from dementia and their families.
:16:48. > :16:53.Our top story - South Africa's president Jacob Zuma is facing
:16:54. > :16:58.increasing political and financial turmoil as the country's economy
:16:59. > :17:04.It may be his 75th birthday today but that won t stop huge protests
:17:05. > :17:07.against his leadership that are expected to take place today.
:17:08. > :17:18.A quick look at how markets are faring.
:17:19. > :17:26.A firmer start to the trading day across Europe. The main indices all
:17:27. > :17:31.in positive territory. That follows on from a more cautious day of
:17:32. > :17:35.trading in Asia where investors responded to geopolitical moves with
:17:36. > :17:42.stuff going on around North Korea and tensions between America and
:17:43. > :17:47.Russia. The Korean peninsular. That's sent goals to higher levels
:17:48. > :17:52.and safe haven bonds as well. Currencies, the Japanese yen, going
:17:53. > :17:56.into the Swiss franc as well. Japanese exporters don't like that.
:17:57. > :17:59.And now let's get the inside track on the business of batteries.
:18:00. > :18:01.Nearly every one of us uses lithium ion batteries every day -
:18:02. > :18:05.they power our smartphones, gadgets, and now even some electric cars!
:18:06. > :18:07.In fact, one report says the market for lithium ion batteries
:18:08. > :18:13.is expected to exceed $33 billion by 2019.
:18:14. > :18:19.But what happens when you get rid of your old phone or gadget?
:18:20. > :18:22.One start-up firm, called Aceleron, takes these
:18:23. > :18:24.end-of-life batteries, and turns them into
:18:25. > :18:29.second-life battery packs for other applications.
:18:30. > :18:32.Aceleron says its technology helps to reduce waste
:18:33. > :18:35.by re-using these batteries, and produces low cost energy
:18:36. > :18:47.Let's find out more, Carlton Cummings is co-founder of Aceleron.
:18:48. > :18:55.I love this idea, great to have you here. For us dummies, like me! How
:18:56. > :19:00.does this work? Do you take a laptop and electric batteries? That's
:19:01. > :19:03.right. We take batteries from consumer electronics, laptops and
:19:04. > :19:08.stuff like that. We can also manage batteries all the way up to the
:19:09. > :19:15.electric vehicle. Most of the time the batteries, even though the size
:19:16. > :19:18.or scale might be large, that chemistry is the same, so that's why
:19:19. > :19:24.we can work on small scale with laptop batteries and batteries all
:19:25. > :19:27.the way up to the electric vehicle. We identify the good ones, repackage
:19:28. > :19:33.them into batteries for other things, devices you would put your
:19:34. > :19:38.phone or tablet into, all the way up to a battery that plugs into your
:19:39. > :19:42.home. Using examples, I found this fascinating when we spoke before
:19:43. > :19:49.coming on air, these batteries still have charge in them. Explain that. A
:19:50. > :19:55.great example is the battery in your remote control. When it doesn't work
:19:56. > :20:00.for the remote control, you can put it in a clock and it works just
:20:01. > :20:04.fine. Batteries don't die, they degrade. We need to know where they
:20:05. > :20:08.are in their cycle and what they can be used for. The tragedy where we
:20:09. > :20:11.are right now, we take batteries when they are not good for their
:20:12. > :20:15.first application and we throw them away. The worst part is we don't
:20:16. > :20:21.have the recycling capacity to do that, so we have to export it, and
:20:22. > :20:24.it's very expensive. Why would you export something that still has
:20:25. > :20:29.value, and that's where Aceleron comes in the. If you have batteries
:20:30. > :20:32.that still have charge in them, why haven't manufacturers done something
:20:33. > :20:37.about this to make sure you can use the battery right up until when it
:20:38. > :20:43.is completely empty? Typically that's when you get into the science
:20:44. > :20:49.of battery. You don't want to use the lithium battery all the way down
:20:50. > :20:52.to empty for its application. You could liberated from a laptop when
:20:53. > :20:57.it's done there and put it into a power bank and its fine. But we are
:20:58. > :21:01.stepping down the ladder. That's why a battery from a car would be at
:21:02. > :21:05.home power in your house. Mobility is one of the hardest things to do
:21:06. > :21:09.with a battery, so you could free up the battery. We have developed the
:21:10. > :21:13.technology to test it quickly and find what it can be used for. That's
:21:14. > :21:17.one of the reasons the industry hasn't done it, identifying the way
:21:18. > :21:24.to do it quickly. We developed the technology to do that. So that's
:21:25. > :21:37.what you've done? I like the phrase, "Powered down to knackered" that
:21:38. > :21:43.must be a Barbadian quote! I have been inspired by a lot of things
:21:44. > :21:46.going on. I come from a background in engineering. I worked as an
:21:47. > :21:50.engineer for a motorcycle racing team. I also worked in renewable
:21:51. > :21:55.energy, coordinating solar installations. I had the insight
:21:56. > :21:59.from both worlds so I saw the opportunity with the electric car.
:22:00. > :22:02.When some of the cars are no longer useful, or when some of the
:22:03. > :22:06.batteries are no longer useful for the car, there is still energy in
:22:07. > :22:12.there to power a home. Why wouldn't we use that? You have been listed on
:22:13. > :22:18.the Forbes Magazine 30 under 30 list. It's a very high-profile
:22:19. > :22:23.thing. You also the Shell entrepreneur of the year. Have you
:22:24. > :22:27.had interest from investors? We had quite good interest. We always are
:22:28. > :22:30.happy to engage a couple of other persons and are happy to bring
:22:31. > :22:36.others into the team. The major thing is that a lot of these events
:22:37. > :22:45.and stuff have been able to get us the owners we need to do the job we
:22:46. > :22:50.want to do. -- the onus we need. This interview has now powered down
:22:51. > :22:53.to knackered! You are only a very early start-up, it's a pleasure to
:22:54. > :22:55.meet you. You registered in August last year, so great stuff and best
:22:56. > :22:57.of luck, Carlton Cummings. In a moment we'll take a look
:22:58. > :22:59.through the usiness pages, but first, here's a quick reminder
:23:00. > :23:07.of how to get in touch with us. The business live page is where you
:23:08. > :23:11.can stay ahead with all the day's breaking business news. We will keep
:23:12. > :23:15.you up-to-date with all the latest details with insight and analysis
:23:16. > :23:21.from the BBC pars team of editors right around the world. We want to
:23:22. > :23:33.hear from you. Get in touch on the BBC live web page. We also on
:23:34. > :23:38.Twitter and Facebook. On TV and online, wherever you need to know.
:23:39. > :23:48.Sorry seems to be the hardest word. The United airlines boss has finally
:23:49. > :23:55.said it. We can start with that one. It was a PR disaster. It was. It's a
:23:56. > :23:59.lesson in poor public relations and the power of social media. We had
:24:00. > :24:03.every man and his dog watching this video of the horrific incident. Then
:24:04. > :24:08.we saw the letter the chief executive sent to employees backing
:24:09. > :24:13.up the behaviour of the crew being circulated. In China there was a
:24:14. > :24:18.report distributed by millions of Chinese readers saying the man was
:24:19. > :24:24.targeted for being Chinese. All of this, the chief executive has only
:24:25. > :24:28.just come out now with a statement. It's a sorry piece of paper, when he
:24:29. > :24:33.should have been out there immediately with a genuine apology.
:24:34. > :24:37.This type of thing can destroy a big company's brand within seconds.
:24:38. > :24:40.Because of the power of social media. The chief executive needs to
:24:41. > :24:47.be out there with a bold and genuine apology across channels. I was
:24:48. > :24:51.hearing, apparently last year this Chief Executive was named
:24:52. > :24:56.communicator of the year. The irony couldn't get worse. It is quite
:24:57. > :25:07.ironic. We have a couple of tweets. We asked if he would regretted not
:25:08. > :25:10.apologising later. Barry says he will immediately apologise and he's
:25:11. > :25:15.afraid it doesn't come across as sincere as it is.
:25:16. > :25:23.I want to talk about another executive change at Uber. Yet
:25:24. > :25:27.another one. What's going on? It ties nicely into the issue of how
:25:28. > :25:32.damaging negative publicity can be to a company. Uber has struggled
:25:33. > :25:36.with a string of bad publicity disasters. Its top PR person, who
:25:37. > :25:44.they recruited from Google, has now left. What has happened at Uber is
:25:45. > :25:51.that it has struggled to attract employees because of its reputation.
:25:52. > :25:58.Only joined in 2015 as well. Thank you for coming in as always. Time to
:25:59. > :26:00.wrap it up. We are out of time. More business news throughout the day and
:26:01. > :26:03.on the website.