13/11/2013

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:00:00. > :00:00.criticism that aid is not getting to victims. Much more on the BBC

:00:00. > :00:00.website. Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Now

:00:00. > :00:15.for the latest financial news with Sally and World Business Report.

:00:16. > :00:19.Struggling Italian airline Alitalia poised to announce massive job cuts

:00:20. > :00:26.in a bid to trim costs and make the flag carrier more profitable.

:00:27. > :00:29.Starbucks is forced to cough up nearly $3 billion to settle a

:00:30. > :00:40.dispute with Kraft over the distribution of its bags of coffee.

:00:41. > :00:46.Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the

:00:47. > :00:52.programme, we discuss the performance of China's largest

:00:53. > :00:54.internet company, Tencent. First, troubled Italian airline Alitalia

:00:55. > :01:00.has called a board meeting to discuss a revised industrial plan

:01:01. > :01:01.that could include heavy job losses. Recently, the loss`making carrier

:01:02. > :01:07.avoided bankruptcy after its shareholders agreed to raise fresh

:01:08. > :01:11.funds. But in exchange for its support, the government has demanded

:01:12. > :01:17.a radical new business plan. Alitalia has rarely made a profit in

:01:18. > :01:19.its 67 year history. The airline needs another significant cash

:01:20. > :01:24.injection from its shareholders to keep flying. So, the board agreed to

:01:25. > :01:26.a 500 million euro rescue package, in which shareholders will

:01:27. > :01:35.contribute 300 million euros, but the government said there would be a

:01:36. > :01:38.major overhaul of the business. It's estimated several thousand jobs

:01:39. > :01:45.could be cut as a result of this revised plan, but any proposal would

:01:46. > :01:48.need approval from trade unions. Shareholders now have until midnight

:01:49. > :01:51.on Thursday to decide whether to participate in Alitalia's cash call,

:01:52. > :02:03.with all eyes on top shareholder Air France`KLM, which has yet to decide

:02:04. > :02:15.whether to participate. Norman Gage from New Generation Consultancy

:02:16. > :02:21.joins me now. Give us your take on this new,

:02:22. > :02:25.revised plan for Alitalia. For years I have been talking about a radical

:02:26. > :02:28.overhaul of this company, that never seems to be getting back on its

:02:29. > :02:33.financial feet. I think you are quite right. We went through this

:02:34. > :02:37.about five years ago, when there was a major cash call, it eventually got

:02:38. > :02:44.stamped out by the government of the day. That's not always easy in this

:02:45. > :02:49.day and age, with regulations. It does seem to be a Cinderella

:02:50. > :02:53.airline. Stuck in Italy, where the major northern European airlines

:02:54. > :02:56.managed to work themselves a good local market and a good

:02:57. > :03:03.interconnecting market through their local hubs. Is there a reason to

:03:04. > :03:05.keep Alitalia going? The company that's not really been making

:03:06. > :03:10.profits for long time. Is it about national pride? Does it serve as

:03:11. > :03:20.areas of Italy that no other airline service? It as you said. It's about

:03:21. > :03:24.national pride. All airports in Italy could be easily serviced by

:03:25. > :03:35.other airlines. Quite a lot of it is already done by other airlines. It

:03:36. > :03:41.does come down to national pride. Every country gains its independence

:03:42. > :03:45.or national flag and one of their first things are to invent their own

:03:46. > :03:50.airline. Unemployment is very high in Italy. The economy is having a

:03:51. > :03:56.tough time. You believe there are unions involved. Yes. It is a

:03:57. > :04:00.difficult process, isn't it? It's a big decision for the government to

:04:01. > :04:06.take. It's a country that is struggling to get itself on its

:04:07. > :04:12.feet. They don't want to suddenly have a 14,000 workforce join in the

:04:13. > :04:16.dole queues. The airline can make a profit. The plane you talked about

:04:17. > :04:21.has been worked on now for a couple of months. This isn't just something

:04:22. > :04:25.they are presenting tomorrow as a rescue plan. Have been working hard

:04:26. > :04:29.behind the scenes to try to a plan that will position it for the

:04:30. > :04:35.future. All right. We will keep and I on it. Thank you. Norman Gage

:04:36. > :04:39.from New Generation Consultancy. We will keep you up`to`date on the news

:04:40. > :04:43.for Alitalia. It's a very critical few days. Other business stories,

:04:44. > :04:46.American coffee giant Starbucks has just been hit with a damages bill

:04:47. > :04:50.worth nearly $3 billion. The company is being forced to compensate Kraft

:04:51. > :04:53.Foods to settle a rift over a deal to distribute its coffee in grocery

:04:54. > :04:58.stores. Kraft blames Starbucks for ending the distribution agreement

:04:59. > :05:05.three years too early. The charge is equal to Starbucks entire net income

:05:06. > :05:08.since the start of 2012. Intercontinental Exchange Inc, or

:05:09. > :05:10.ICE, has completed its takeover of NYSE Euronext, and shares in the

:05:11. > :05:16.combined company will begin trading today. The group now has control of

:05:17. > :05:18.the New York Stock Exchange and Europe's second biggest derivatives

:05:19. > :05:22.market, Liffe, after striking a $10 billion deal last December. It's

:05:23. > :05:26.expected that ICE will announce over the next few days which parts of the

:05:27. > :05:38.NYSE it plans to keep, and which parts it will divest.

:05:39. > :05:42.First and foremost it's a humanitarian disaster. Let's turn

:05:43. > :05:45.out attention to the Philippines. But Typhoon Haiyan which has ravaged

:05:46. > :05:48.parts of the country will have huge economic consequences, so it's

:05:49. > :05:51.important to evaluate the long`term damage the disaster will do to the

:05:52. > :05:57.country's economy, in order to properly co`ordinate the aid effort

:05:58. > :06:04.now. People have lost their livelihoods and the effects of that

:06:05. > :06:07.will be felt for years to come. According to disaster modelling firm

:06:08. > :06:11.Kinetic, the total economic impact of the Typhoon could reach as high

:06:12. > :06:17.as $14 billion. But only a tiny fraction of this is expected to be

:06:18. > :06:21.insured. Joining me is Charles Watson, director of research and

:06:22. > :06:27.development at Kinetic Analysis. Thanks for being on the programme.

:06:28. > :06:31.That figure is a big number and they always come out when these events

:06:32. > :06:35.take base. How do you measure the economic impact of a disaster of

:06:36. > :06:39.this magnitude? It's quite difficult and it involves computer modelling.

:06:40. > :06:45.Because we don't have good estimates from the area, in terms of damage

:06:46. > :06:52.surveys, there would be done for days. Humanitarian aid needs to get

:06:53. > :06:56.in. That first 72 hours, 3`5 days after, it is so critical to get

:06:57. > :07:01.particularly clean water and fresh food into the area. That's where the

:07:02. > :07:05.focus should be. But the economics matters and it matters quite a bit,

:07:06. > :07:13.Vidic Italy as we start to get into the weeks and months after the

:07:14. > :07:19.event. `` particularly as wheat. We use computer models and we have a

:07:20. > :07:24.world wide database of where all the infrastructure and population is

:07:25. > :07:27.around the world and we run computer models of typhoons, earthquakes,

:07:28. > :07:32.whatever disaster is in a particular area, to calculate the effects on

:07:33. > :07:39.structures and people. That's what's used as the basis for the estimates.

:07:40. > :07:43.Our correspondence in the worst hit areas are telling us that in many

:07:44. > :07:47.places very little aid is even writing yet, although we hear that

:07:48. > :07:50.some water systems are getting through to Tacloban, for example.

:07:51. > :07:55.But the co`ordination of all of this, obviously there are many

:07:56. > :07:59.non`government organisations involved, big organisations like the

:08:00. > :08:05.United Nations getting involved as well, is there a co`ordination of it

:08:06. > :08:09.all to make sure that what happens now benefits them in the weeks and

:08:10. > :08:17.months to come as well? That there is a long`term view on aid and

:08:18. > :08:20.relief? Unfortunately, most of the disasters that we have worked on

:08:21. > :08:23.show there isn't a long`term view. What happens is there is a rush of

:08:24. > :08:32.eight and it isn't well co`ordinated. `` aid. In the US, we

:08:33. > :08:35.have a national agency but we have these non`government organisations,

:08:36. > :08:39.which are often better at getting aid into areas faster than

:08:40. > :08:45.government and military organisations. But in the long`term,

:08:46. > :08:49.the aid tends to focus on the big projects, the big infrastructure.

:08:50. > :08:54.Rebuilding roads and hospitals and things like that, just cause are

:08:55. > :09:00.important. But in terms of getting aid to individuals, a lot of times

:09:01. > :09:04.it's a `` there is a bad gap in the system, Gillooly for people who are

:09:05. > :09:11.perhaps at the lower end of the economic spectrum, say farmers. ``

:09:12. > :09:15.particularly for people. They tend not to get aid at all in these kinds

:09:16. > :09:20.of events. We appreciate your perspective on the situation.

:09:21. > :09:27.Internet companies in China have been in the spotlight recently ahead

:09:28. > :09:35.of Ali Barber's upcoming flotation. Tencent is China's Egypt online

:09:36. > :09:45.firm. It has a market cap of $100 billion. Later today, it is tipped

:09:46. > :09:48.to have profit expectations. It is behind WeChat and is trying to

:09:49. > :09:55.expand into international market, I getting consumers to play on their

:09:56. > :10:00.mobile phones. Juliana Liu is in Hong Kong with more details. Some

:10:01. > :10:07.believe it could overtake Facebook? That's right. Some are saying that.

:10:08. > :10:12.Tencent is not very well`known outside China but here it is

:10:13. > :10:15.household name. It burst onto the scene about ten years ago with a

:10:16. > :10:20.popular instant messaging system, which replaced e`mail for many

:10:21. > :10:31.people. Now it is much better known for another app. At the end of

:10:32. > :10:35.August, it was estimated to have over 200 million users. That is of

:10:36. > :10:39.course more than the population of many countries. Of course that a

:10:40. > :10:43.free app but the company is now leveraging it to make money. It

:10:44. > :10:48.introducing a number of popular online games, through this out, and

:10:49. > :10:52.the way it makes money is by charging users to send gifts or

:10:53. > :10:58.other virtual items, as people generally don't like to pay for the

:10:59. > :11:01.software it sell. We will get a sense later today of exactly how

:11:02. > :11:07.well that service is doing. And of course it's on international

:11:08. > :11:15.campaigns. It has paid $200 million to the FC Barcelona player Lionel

:11:16. > :11:20.Messi to make its name outside of China. We will keep an eye on it.

:11:21. > :11:37.Thank you. That's World Business Report. See you for the papers soon.

:11:38. > :11:42.Urgent and emergency care must be transformed in England, it is to

:11:43. > :11:47.become sustainable, according to an NHS review. There will be a

:11:48. > :11:53.fundamental shift to many services outside of hospitals and outside the

:11:54. > :11:58.home. The AMD Department at this hospital

:11:59. > :12:06.is one of the busiest in the country. `` A Many patients are

:12:07. > :12:08.old and frail. Now, and it is England has acknowledged the

:12:09. > :12:12.departments are under enormous stress. They were set up in his

:12:13. > :12:13.current configuration