25/02/2013 World Business Report

Those are the latest headlines. Coming up right now, it is the

The pound is under pressure in the currency markets following the loss

of Britain's credit-rating. And will the next a big name and

smartphone speech Chinese? A special report from the mobile

phone industry's gathering in Barcelona. In this is World

Business Report. Also in the programme, we will

explain why it is a critical day for a b p as it heads to court in

New Orleans. -- for BP. But the pound has been falling in the

currency markets after Britain lost its top credit rating on Friday.

Moody's blamed Britain's weaker growth prospects for the downgrade.

At one stage in Asian trading, the Countess lowest level against the

dollar since July 2010. Some economists say it could fall to

parity against the euro and as low as 1.35 against the US dollar. It

is also a blow for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.

He celebrated Briton's credit rating as a sign the government's

policies were working. Pressure is rising for him to ease off on

austerity measures. Here is his reaction to the downgrade.

ratings agency has said that Britain has debt problems that have

built up over many years. We also have the problem of the eurozone on

our doorstep. Many of their exports go there. That is the economic

challenge. But they are very clear that if we we can now resolve

dealing with the debts, that would make it difficult situation more

difficult. This should redouble our efforts. We won't now speak to a

hedge fund manager. We have seen a degree of reaction already to the

pound weakening. Apart from that, much of the reaction? No. It had

been expected that there was a significant risk of this happening.

It was the timing that was variable. There is also good news. British

exports will become cheaper. We are looking for some way of growth at a

time of austerity. The government does not want to increase spending.

He exports is one way to go. A weak sterling is actually good news in

that regard. That is good news for the government. This is not a

problem with sterling. It is the fact that the euro is stronger

because of how pessimistic we were. A positive reaction generally to

people buying the row. Also, given the American growth story, this is

a positive story for the United States. The euro and the dollar are

more attractive than it is a story that the sterling is less

attractive. A what about the issue of where the pound will head in the

future? People are speculating at one poetry five of. That would be a

fall. -- 1.35. It is an exaggeration. While you mention

July 2010, if you move back another 12 months, we were �1 to $2 before

that. These things are volatile. I do not see a downward trend

continuing. I do not anticipate that. We might it 48 hours and some

reaction upwards. It is already in the markets. There is no extra news.

In ten minutes, he will return to talk with us through the newspapers.

But first, it is the biggest show in the mobile phone industry's

calendar. The Barcelona World Phone Congress is bigger than ever. Apple

and Samsung are far ahead of their rivals. Much of the focus is on the

battle for third place. Nokia and BlackBerry are trying to regain

lost ground. But a Chinese company is the surprise new contender.

It is the week when the mobile phone industry descends on

Barcelona. Here and around the world, smartphone sales have

increased, while less clever mobiles have gone out of fashion.

If you stop people and ask about their phones, two friends stand out.

Apple. Samsung. IPhone. Samsung. For iPhone. IPhone. Samsung.

Samsung. The race is beginning to increase. Apple and Samsung have

moved way ahead. Between them they control more than half of the

market. The rest are left looking for third place. Nokia and

BlackBerry believe it is theirs by right. They now face a serious

challenge from China. It is more than just a name. The first big

warned she saw a company still unknown to many. They claim they

have the world's fastest smartphone. It is a huge force in telecoms

equipment. It has built a mobile- phone business in the past few

months that became detoured biggest player in the smartphone market.

The Chinese company knows there is work to do go. A will have to spend

a lot of money on marketing and educating us that this brand,

although it does not of HTC or Samsung, is just as good.

This firm has a different challenge. The new BlackBerry phones look very

smart. The need to win back customers who lost faith in the

brand. Will this kind of message were? We have focused on making

sure we are bringing to the market a different value proposition.

Extremely focused on the experience for the end-user. They have a

coating that makes phones waterproof and virtual reality

glasses. All sorts of products are battling for attention. The

industry is getting more sophisticated. But making money is

becoming harder. There is a lot at stake for BP

today as it heads to court in New Orleans. The company is facing the

US justice department and five US states who accuse the company of

gross negligence in his response to the Gulf of Mexico will Mac spill

in 2010. BP has accepted criminal responsibility for the explosion

that killed 11 people. Daniel Jones explained why this case is so

important. The United States government is saying that BP was

grossly negligent. It is able to make that case and BP's exposure is

going to be roughly in the $16 billion range. BP is saying that

they were only guilty of negligence, not gross negligence. If they are

able to make that case successfully to the court, then the maximum

penalty drops down to roughly $4 billion. A lot of money at stake.

Turning attention to China now, where fuel prices are higher and

there are signs that factories are Talk us through some of the stories

today. They are saying that they are going to raise the retail price

ceiling for gasoline and diesel from Monday. That is today. This is

all in response to increases in global oil prices. Starting today,

gasoline prices will rise by $48 per tonne. Diesel just under that.

The increases are the first one that come as something of a

surprise for many speculating that the government would delay price

rises because there are current fuel demands that remain high.

Hundreds of millions of people continue to travel home after the

lunar new year. But these higher prices are effective of the rises

in the oil prices. We also heard about manufacturing grows. The HSBC

gauge of manufacturing showed a rise of 50.4 for February.

Having a look at the markets now. Any news out of China about their