:00:05. > :00:15.family. Women's groups have said they are concerned by the findings.
:00:15. > :00:17.
:00:17. > :00:21.Now it is time for Sally and World Business Report. Hello and welcome
:00:21. > :00:25.to World Business Report. The headlines: What do you do with $100
:00:25. > :00:30.billion? Later today the electronics giant Apple will tell
:00:30. > :00:38.us what it intends to do with its fast-growing up cash mountain.
:00:38. > :00:42.Nominations for the next president of the World Bank end on Friday. We
:00:42. > :00:46.speak to one unconventional candidate. The head of the IMF
:00:46. > :00:56.tells Chinese business officials that the global economy is
:00:56. > :01:04.stabilising but issues a stern warning. Good to have you with us.
:01:04. > :01:09.Some say it has more cash -- the electronics giant Apple, currently
:01:09. > :01:14.the world's most valuable company by market cap, will announce today
:01:14. > :01:19.what it intends to do with its cash mountain. Apple's hoard has grown
:01:19. > :01:24.rapidly in recent years, reaching $97 billion by the end of 2011. It
:01:24. > :01:30.is now predicted to be above $100 billion. Analysts expect Apple to
:01:30. > :01:34.give a dividend to its shareholders or possibly announce a share buy-
:01:34. > :01:38.back and some have even hinted at a large acquisition but there is a
:01:38. > :01:43.small problem - a lot of that cash is held at side of the US and
:01:43. > :01:46.bringing it back would require Apple to pay tax on it. I am joined
:01:46. > :01:51.by Lawrence Gosling -- Lawrence Gosling, editor in chief of
:01:51. > :01:56.Investment Week. What you think they will do with that money? They
:01:56. > :02:05.could bail out a European country that is struggling at the moment!
:02:05. > :02:12.They are more likely to give this dividend. Why have they not done
:02:12. > :02:17.that already? So many companies do that. Why have they not already
:02:18. > :02:23.done that? Apple's argument to date was that they were carrying it back
:02:23. > :02:28.into the business to develop new products. When you are sitting on
:02:28. > :02:33.$100 billion of cash, investors, particularly in its --
:02:33. > :02:43.institutional investors will say, "Do something more productive with
:02:43. > :02:43.
:02:43. > :02:53.it," that is,"Give it back to us as a dividend." We talk a lot about
:02:53. > :03:17.
:03:17. > :03:27.chopping the dividend and raising the dividend - it is... A new wave
:03:27. > :03:28.
:03:28. > :03:32.of shareholders will be looking for dividends from a stock market
:03:32. > :03:37.investment and specifically at Apple for that. In terms of the
:03:37. > :03:42.share price, it has done incredibly well. It is very much dependent on
:03:42. > :03:46.its product's, isn't it? That is an issue. If you are going to be
:03:46. > :03:56.judged when you launch a new product you are at the mercy of
:03:56. > :04:03.
:04:03. > :04:07.your own creativity. Going forward, If you fancy the job of running the
:04:07. > :04:13.World Bank, you have until Friday to get your application in. Robert
:04:14. > :04:17.Zoellick, the current president, is standing down on 13th June. -- on
:04:17. > :04:21.30th June. Since its creation the top job has always been handed out
:04:21. > :04:24.by the US President and usually to an American but there is that some
:04:24. > :04:28.who want to see this cosy arrangement shaken up, including
:04:28. > :04:32.the influential head of the Earth Institute, Professor Jeffrey Sachs.
:04:32. > :04:37.Two supporters, it has lifted millions of people out of poverty.
:04:37. > :04:40.To detractors, it is a tool for US foreign -- US foreign policy. The
:04:40. > :04:45.World Bank is looking for a new president to replace Robert
:04:45. > :04:50.Zoellick. Unusually, one man is making a public bid for the job,
:04:50. > :04:54.poverty campaigner and economist Jeffrey Sachs. The fact of the
:04:54. > :04:59.matter is that, ironically, this position has never gone to a
:04:59. > :05:04.specialist for development before. That, I think, has been one of the
:05:04. > :05:08.up until now. Despite the growing sale of developing nations, the
:05:08. > :05:13.head of the bank has already been hand-picked by the US president and
:05:13. > :05:17.this time is no difference. Rumoured candidates include US
:05:18. > :05:23.ambassador Susan Rice and ex- Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.
:05:23. > :05:27.Similar players to past presidents, bankers, defence officials and
:05:27. > :05:31.politicians. One former insider acknowledges the bank could do
:05:31. > :05:35.better. It is an institution that could be run better and it will be
:05:35. > :05:45.run better if the person who is at the top of the institution is
:05:45. > :05:45.
:05:45. > :05:49.selected Saltley on the basis of merit. -- solely. Critics argue
:05:49. > :05:52.there needs to be greater transparency and better results in
:05:53. > :05:57.terms of sustainable agriculture, healthcare and environmentally
:05:57. > :06:03.aware energy projects. Though Professor Sachs is an outsider for
:06:03. > :06:08.the job, he denies this is a stunt. For 27 years, day-in, day-out, I
:06:08. > :06:14.have fought against poverty, hunger and disease. I spend my life doing
:06:14. > :06:18.that. I walked through the villages of the world and lead a major
:06:19. > :06:24.academic and scientific institute committed to that. That is my life,
:06:24. > :06:31.my profession - there is no stunt here. I believe the World Bank, if
:06:31. > :06:38.allowed to continue to drift, would be aged huge loss for the world. --
:06:38. > :06:41.would be. The head of the IMF is in China End is on her way to India
:06:41. > :06:46.but she has given her latest prognosis of the global economy
:06:46. > :06:53.while in China. Rico Hizon is in Singapore. Nice to see you. What
:06:54. > :06:57.did Christine Lagarde have to say? She said, basically, that there are
:06:57. > :07:01.signs the global economy is recovering but she also stressed
:07:01. > :07:06.that there were risks, such as high debt levels in developed markets
:07:06. > :07:10.and rising oil prices. In her speech to Chinese politicians and
:07:10. > :07:13.business leaders in Beijing, she praised the mainland's efforts to
:07:13. > :07:17.rebalance the economy but urged more effort to keep the world's
:07:17. > :07:22.biggest growth engine running and play it smart in economic recovery.
:07:22. > :07:27.We think it is important China can continue to support growth and, on
:07:27. > :07:31.this score, China is in the enviable position of having the
:07:31. > :07:35.space to provide modest fiscal support for its economy, as
:07:35. > :07:40.outlined at the recent National People's Congress. Second, to
:07:40. > :07:44.continues shifting the drivers of economic growth away from
:07:44. > :07:48.investment and exports and to awards in -- towards domestic
:07:48. > :07:53.consumption, tyre would do a great service to its economy and people.
:07:53. > :07:58.-- China would do. Ms Lagarde will be in India Today and tomorrow when
:07:58. > :08:08.she will participate on a conference surrounding China and
:08:08. > :08:09.
:08:09. > :08:14.India sustaining growth in new Delhi. -- New Delhi. It is reported
:08:14. > :08:18.that Total has reached an agreement with China Sinopec on a joint
:08:18. > :08:23.venture to search for and produce shale gas. The Wall Street Journal
:08:23. > :08:27.says the French energy giant reached a packed with Sinopec on a
:08:27. > :08:36.potentially lucrative market tapping natural gas trapped in rock
:08:36. > :08:39.formations. -- a pact. Pension funds and private investors could
:08:39. > :08:43.take control of Britain's main roads under plans to be announced
:08:43. > :08:45.by David Cameron in his pre-Budget speech later today. Road tolls
:08:45. > :08:53.could also be introduced to help fund new roads as the government
:08:53. > :08:56.seeks to repair infrastructure. UBS has reached an agreement to buy TNT
:08:56. > :09:03.Express, Europe's second largest express delivery company, according
:09:03. > :09:07.to media reports. The price tag is reportedly $6.9 million, giving
:09:07. > :09:13.Atalanta-based GPS about the same European footprint as DHL, the
:09:13. > :09:17.market leader in Europe. The Hang Seng is up a little bit. One of the
:09:17. > :09:24.interesting stories, Chinese stocks are dropping in Shanghai after the
:09:24. > :09:34.report of the nation's home prices. The new homes are shown to be, in
:09:34. > :09:38.
:09:38. > :09:42.27 of 60 cities, falling in price. The conference call at Apple is a