:00:00. > :00:00.monarchs. Coming up next, the money news with
:00:00. > :00:23.Sally. EU leaders try to agree on a common
:00:24. > :00:31.corporate tax regime to plug loopholes for big multinational
:00:32. > :00:34.companies. Samsung Electronics makes record profits, boosted by an
:00:35. > :00:45.upswing in its chips division, and strong mobile phone sales.
:00:46. > :00:54.This is World Business Report. Also, it is that time of year where in
:00:55. > :00:59.many countries clocks change. We will unravel the mysteries of
:01:00. > :01:04.daylight savings time. First of all, European leaders meet in Brussels
:01:05. > :01:07.for a second day, high on the agenda is the digital economy. In
:01:08. > :01:12.particular, the so`called Google tax. The French proposal is for a
:01:13. > :01:17.European wide tax on digital companies. In recent months, Google,
:01:18. > :01:21.Apple and Amazon have come under attack for using their web of
:01:22. > :01:25.international businesses to avoid paying tax on sales generated in
:01:26. > :01:28.high tax countries such as France. Currently, Google and Apple channel
:01:29. > :01:32.much of their income through low tax EU countries, like Ireland and
:01:33. > :01:38.Luxembourg, as well as traditional tax havens such as the Bahamas.
:01:39. > :01:43.France is key to convince fellow EU states that a common agenda is
:01:44. > :01:50.needed to make sure EU states do not miss out on much`needed tax revenue.
:01:51. > :01:55.Good morning George, thank you for being on the programme. Tell us more
:01:56. > :02:03.about the France proposal the France proposal is very simple. It is to
:02:04. > :02:11.target the top five to seven internet companies and levy an
:02:12. > :02:20.annual tax on what they do. These companies are thought to be making
:02:21. > :02:23.away with huge amounts of tax, and are two angles to this. It is a
:02:24. > :02:28.tricky position, no country would be able to tax its way to success. So
:02:29. > :02:33.the European wide agreement will really be necessary. It has to be
:02:34. > :02:38.all countries agreeing and signing on the dotted line. Because Ireland
:02:39. > :02:43.has already taken various steps, but if Ireland did that on its own it
:02:44. > :02:49.wouldn't achieve much, would it? No, Ireland made its announcement
:02:50. > :02:54.earlier, but they say it doesn't matter because that would come in
:02:55. > :02:59.until 2015. So big companies now have 14 months to restructure their
:03:00. > :03:06.tax affairs and find other loopholes. Interestingly, UK
:03:07. > :03:11.politicians, David Cameron cetera, have been very vocal this. It is a
:03:12. > :03:20.very political issue, and yet the UK is a very attractive place for
:03:21. > :03:26.international companies. The UK has a very delicate line to tread. We
:03:27. > :03:31.have said will have the main rate tax by 2015, which will mark us out
:03:32. > :03:42.as a bit of a tax haven. The other is the USA. Broadly, they have a
:03:43. > :03:47.policy that says that corporate profits are not taxed battle they
:03:48. > :03:53.are repatriated. Really, what we need is a global answer. Will we
:03:54. > :03:57.ever get that? I don't think we will get an EU answer from the French tax
:03:58. > :04:02.proposal. People this morning was smiling and saying, well, the latest
:04:03. > :04:09.tax issue has got the French football is on strike, will they use
:04:10. > :04:16.the intranet Google goes on strike. Thank you. We will keep you
:04:17. > :04:18.up`to`date on that story, and incidentally we are talking about
:04:19. > :04:24.the football tax story in France when we review the papers. But let's
:04:25. > :04:28.move on. This weekend, millions of people across Europe, the Middle
:04:29. > :04:32.East and Mexico will get an extra hour in bed as daylight saving time
:04:33. > :04:38.comes to an end. But is merit, spare a thought for the millions in
:04:39. > :04:45.Brazil, Chile, Australia who lost an hour this month when the clocks went
:04:46. > :04:53.forward. Half of the world does not adhere to this at all, and opinions
:04:54. > :04:59.remain divided on the merits. Here in Japan, they tried daylight
:05:00. > :05:02.saving for a little while in the 1940s, but people didn't like it so
:05:03. > :05:08.they scrapped it. Now there is talk so bring it back, mainly because of
:05:09. > :05:13.the Fukushima disaster and the need to save electricity. Experts say it
:05:14. > :05:18.would change about 1% of the electricity consumption. So a more
:05:19. > :05:25.compelling reason would be to boost the economy. People are still
:05:26. > :05:30.reluctant. Mainly because they think the extra long summer evenings won't
:05:31. > :05:33.be used for more leisure, but formal workforce here, the Greenwich
:05:34. > :05:39.Marillion line at the Royal Observatory was the yardstick from
:05:40. > :05:47.which all the world's time was measured. One study suggested it
:05:48. > :05:58.increased its takings in the EU's leisure industries by 3%. We have a
:05:59. > :06:01.Londoner for suggesting `` we have a Londoner to thank for suggesting the
:06:02. > :06:11.idea. Here in Russia, it is summertime all the time, and the man
:06:12. > :06:18.they have to think for that was an ex`president. He said that turning
:06:19. > :06:26.the clocks back upset people by rhythms and upset the towers. I
:06:27. > :06:30.haven't asked Russian cow is what they think about staying on
:06:31. > :06:34.summertime, but I do know that a lot of people here have been grumbling
:06:35. > :06:39.about it, and complaining it is far too dark when they wake up on winter
:06:40. > :06:42.mornings. In Brazil, daylight saving is not
:06:43. > :06:47.implemented across the whole country. But in the big cities it is
:06:48. > :06:51.enforced. During the hot summer months, there is a huge demand for
:06:52. > :06:59.electricity, and official figures suggest that about 400 million, or
:07:00. > :07:05.the equivalent of $200 million, could be saved by using daylight
:07:06. > :07:12.saving. Daylight saving is not used in Argentina, Colombia or Venezuela.
:07:13. > :07:19.I will relish my extra hour in bed this weekend. I have to grab every
:07:20. > :07:21.moment I can get. Now, Samsung has posted a record profit thanks to a
:07:22. > :07:32.recovery in its memory chip business, and is from mobile phone
:07:33. > :07:38.sales. The operating profits rose to 9.6 billion American dollars.
:07:39. > :07:47.Profits in the memory chip business rose to its highest in three years.
:07:48. > :07:54.Samsung doing very well indeed, which is a massive boost to the
:07:55. > :07:58.South Korean economy. It is a big player, and we did see some growth
:07:59. > :08:10.figures from the South Korean economy today, rising 1.1% in the
:08:11. > :08:15.last quarter. Samsung has posted a record operating profit, in six of
:08:16. > :08:19.the past seven quarters, mostly due to the growth of its smart phone
:08:20. > :08:23.division. What sets it apart from its bigger rivals like Apple, is
:08:24. > :08:27.Samsung has enjoyed lots of success in both the top end as well as the
:08:28. > :08:34.lower end of the smart phone market. Remember, Apple really only makes
:08:35. > :08:37.top end iPhones, but Samsung expects that smartphone sales will rise even
:08:38. > :08:41.further during the year and promotions over the holiday season
:08:42. > :08:48.as well, and there is a hugely improved line`up of mass`market
:08:49. > :08:50.phones there too. There are some concerns over whether Samsung can
:08:51. > :08:54.continue to grow at such a strong pace, with an onslaught of
:08:55. > :09:04.competition, saturation, some of the key market as well. Some `` the
:09:05. > :09:11.company needs to come up with some new products. The memory chip
:09:12. > :09:20.business or most double, to its highest in the most three years. ``
:09:21. > :09:22.the last three years. Samsung supplies lots of chips to lots of
:09:23. > :09:31.other smartphone makers, including the likes of Apple, so it is in good
:09:32. > :09:36.demand there. Thank you. The internet retail platform, Amazon.com
:09:37. > :09:44.has posted a smaller quarterly lost for its third quarter. It is also
:09:45. > :09:49.expanding aggressively. Most of the increase came from its US market,
:09:50. > :09:55.but retail is making big inroads overseas as well. There are a lot of
:09:56. > :10:00.corporate stories for the markets to digester day, we haven't got enough
:10:01. > :10:16.time to mention them all. `` digester today. In South Korea, we
:10:17. > :10:22.can't show you the market, but very disappointing. The yen is
:10:23. > :10:23.strengthening, which is possibly why Japan is having such a tough
:10:24. > :10:40.session. I will see you soon. Here in the UK, women prisoners will
:10:41. > :10:44.be kept as close to their homes as possible and the new plans being
:10:45. > :10:48.announced by the government today. It is hoped the change will allow
:10:49. > :10:56.female offenders to have better family relationships and find local
:10:57. > :10:58.employment when they are released. Styal Prison