:00:00. > :00:00.candidates. Those are the latest headlines from
:00:07. > :00:07.BBC World News. Now, time for the latest financial
:00:08. > :00:20.news with World Business Report. China's version of Twitter, Weibo,
:00:21. > :00:25.is set to make its US trading debut. But following a recent sell off in
:00:26. > :00:29.tech stocks, how will it fare? A big jump in first quarter profits
:00:30. > :00:30.is expected for ZTE, one of the world's largest technology
:00:31. > :00:47.companies. Welcome to World Business Report.
:00:48. > :00:50.In a minute we'll look at The Jockey Club, which stages some of British
:00:51. > :00:58.horse racing's most famous events and has just announced record
:00:59. > :01:00.financial results. But first, China's most`popular microblogging
:01:01. > :01:13.platform Weibo, China's twitter, is expected to start trading on the
:01:14. > :01:16.Nasdaq in New York . Weibo, which means microblog, is huge, about 100
:01:17. > :01:19.million messages are posted on Weibo each day. Twitter has about 240
:01:20. > :01:23.million. The platform said it had about 129 million monthly active
:01:24. > :01:26.users at the end of 2013. It filed to raise $500 million through an
:01:27. > :01:29.initial public offering last month, but tech markets have soured since
:01:30. > :01:33.the heady days when Twitter itself went public. Many of the tech firms
:01:34. > :01:42.have seen their share price dive. So has Weibo missed its moment? Samira
:01:43. > :01:47.Hussain reports from New York. Many tech companies trade here, on
:01:48. > :01:53.the NASDAQ. So, it's no surprise that Weibo, China's equivalent to
:01:54. > :01:57.Twitter, has chosen this exchange as its home. But it's doing so at a
:01:58. > :02:02.time when investor interest in tech companies is on the decline. There
:02:03. > :02:07.is also a more general worry that investors are losing interest in
:02:08. > :02:14.IPOs altogether. That is one reason why many will be watching Weibo's
:02:15. > :02:22.debut closely. Weibo says it has 130 million active users. Compare that
:02:23. > :02:27.to Twitter, which has recently surpassed 240 million users.
:02:28. > :02:32.Although, only about 5% of Weibo's users generate original content.
:02:33. > :02:36.Also putting pressure on Weibo, is the company's latest financial
:02:37. > :02:40.results, losing $48 million in the first quarter of this year. That is
:02:41. > :02:45.almost double the losses from the same period last year. Investors
:02:46. > :02:54.will also be looking for hints on how other Chinese companies Mayfair.
:02:55. > :02:58.Ali Pardo, the e`commerce giant, produces more net income and sales
:02:59. > :03:05.than both eBay and Amazon combined `` Alibaba. It will start trading
:03:06. > :03:09.here in New York in the coming months. Only two other Chinese
:03:10. > :03:13.companies have become publicly traded companies in this year and
:03:14. > :03:16.neither have had stellar starts. That means many investors are going
:03:17. > :03:20.to be looking very closely at how Weibo does.
:03:21. > :03:23.In China, a big jump in first quarter profits is expected for ZTE,
:03:24. > :03:25.one of the world's largest technology companies. The Hong
:03:26. > :03:27.Kong`listed maker of mobile phones and telecommunications equipment has
:03:28. > :03:40.recently changed its business strategy, after posting a big loss
:03:41. > :03:45.in 2012. Rico Hizon is there. What are we expecting?
:03:46. > :03:51.Taking a look at the guidance from ZTE, their fortunes have indeed
:03:52. > :03:59.change changed in a year. They expect a net profit increase of 100
:04:00. > :04:02.`200% in the January to March quarter, compared to year ago
:04:03. > :04:07.levels. One of the changes they made to return the profitability was to
:04:08. > :04:16.pass over investing in areas where returns won't likely to be high.
:04:17. > :04:20.They have focused on 4G technology, resulting in strong demand for their
:04:21. > :04:25.equipment. It is optimistic looking ahead that this domain could be
:04:26. > :04:28.sustained as their order books show accelerating 4G network deployments
:04:29. > :04:35.around the world and rising sales for their 4G devices. This forecast
:04:36. > :04:41.comes two weeks after ZTE reported 2013 results, showing slight profits
:04:42. > :04:52.after steep losses of more than $400 million in 2012. Indeed, a
:04:53. > :04:57.turnaround. Briefly, CandyCrush, lots of people like it it looks like
:04:58. > :05:03.lots of people in China will play at things to Tencent. It will be
:05:04. > :05:09.launched in mainland China, using UK`based creator, King digital
:05:10. > :05:13.entertainment, Piggott exposure `` bigger exposure to the market. The
:05:14. > :05:18.Chinese version of the Candy Crush game will be available through the
:05:19. > :05:22.middle of this year. It will help the mainland internet giant attract
:05:23. > :05:27.more users to its online and mobile users platform, which includes
:05:28. > :05:34.social media sites. Tencent is fighting for market share at home
:05:35. > :05:41.but its rival Alibaba will be launching in America this year.
:05:42. > :05:43.Britain's Jockey Club, which runs 15 racecourses across the UK and stages
:05:44. > :05:46.events including the Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National and the
:05:47. > :05:48.Derby, has announced record annual financial results. Maintaining
:05:49. > :05:52.Britain's appeal to race horse owners from the Middle East is an
:05:53. > :05:54.important part of the mix ` many of them are major overseas investors in
:05:55. > :05:58.British flat racing, both as sponsors of some of the biggest
:05:59. > :06:07.races and in terms of the hundreds of race horses they own, which train
:06:08. > :06:14.on Jockey Club grounds. With me is Simon Bazalgette, Group
:06:15. > :06:19.Chief Executive, The Jockey Club. Weight is written so important to
:06:20. > :06:23.racing worldwide? We have a fantastic heritage in jumps and flat
:06:24. > :06:28.racing `` Britain. Flat racing is international. We stayed seven of
:06:29. > :06:33.the top races in the world. We are the most competitive place for flat
:06:34. > :06:37.horses. That means people want to have the best horses and they want
:06:38. > :06:42.to test them against the best horses, which they need to do in the
:06:43. > :06:48.UK. That supports the breeding injury `` industry, which is crucial
:06:49. > :06:54.to this sport. You can only be the best horses in the world in the UK.
:06:55. > :06:58.Middle East investment is so important to the UK industry. What
:06:59. > :07:02.does that investment look like? We are lucky to have investment from
:07:03. > :07:08.around the world, Watt particular you from the Gulf states like Qatar,
:07:09. > :07:11.Saudi Arabia and others. They are investing in bloodstock and
:07:12. > :07:17.supporting the racing with horses and sponsorship and a range of
:07:18. > :07:20.activities. British racing has always attracted big investors from
:07:21. > :07:23.around the world who would like to get involved in it as a sport and as
:07:24. > :07:29.a business. Is that in the form of sponsorship? All, Horst reading?
:07:30. > :07:35.Mainly in the support of horses themselves. `` horsebreeding. It
:07:36. > :07:40.will help us generate commercial returns which we then reinvest in
:07:41. > :07:50.the sport, to keep it going. How important is that invest ``
:07:51. > :07:56.investment? Highly important. There are a range of people in flat and in
:07:57. > :08:08.jumps. Financial results have been tricky strong. What's behind the
:08:09. > :08:14.growth? `` pretty strong. It is a matter of continual improvement.
:08:15. > :08:18.Customer service and how we present ourselves in the media. 40% of the
:08:19. > :08:24.UK watch racing during some point in the year, whether on television or
:08:25. > :08:30.elsewhere. It is the second most popular sport and contributes 3.5
:08:31. > :08:34.billion to the UK economy. It comes down to customers having a good
:08:35. > :08:38.experience, whether on the racecourse, watching a race, or
:08:39. > :08:47.watching TV. Good to talk to you. Thank you.
:08:48. > :08:49.In other news: Google fell sharply in after`hours trading when their
:08:50. > :08:50.quarterly results disappointed investors. The Internet giant's
:08:51. > :08:53.first`quarter earnings growth faltered as it dealt with a
:08:54. > :08:56.persistent downturn in advertising prices while spending more money to
:08:57. > :09:04.hire employees and invest in daring ideas.
:09:05. > :09:07.Labour disputes pop up regularly in China, but one strike in the
:09:08. > :09:10.southern Chinese city of Dongguan is attracting attention because of its
:09:11. > :09:13.size. Earlier this week 40,000 workers walked off the job at seven
:09:14. > :09:16.Yu Yuan shoe factory locations across the city. A minority have
:09:17. > :09:29.also been involved in vocal protests over unpaid social security
:09:30. > :09:38.benefits. Time for a look at the markets. It is a busy day. They are
:09:39. > :09:40.law will looking positive. `` all looking positive. Investors have
:09:41. > :09:46.been looking profits in Asian markets, at that we have seen
:09:47. > :09:51.optimism in the US. Janet Yellen talked about the bank providing more
:09:52. > :09:52.stimulus for the economy. That is helping Asian markets. That's it for
:09:53. > :10:12.me. Goodbye. Many thanks. We will look at the
:10:13. > :10:15.papers in a moment. But first, Lamb takeaways will be tested as a
:10:16. > :10:19.priority from next month after a study found that around forty
:10:20. > :10:20.percent had been contaminated with cheaper meats, and some contained no