:00:00. > :00:00.President Bashar al`Assad is expected to win. Now for the latest
:00:07. > :00:18.financial news and World Business Report.
:00:19. > :00:21.Streaming profits, after a strong earnings report from the world's
:00:22. > :00:27.biggest internet video service, Netflix says it plans to hike
:00:28. > :00:29.prices. And Russia stares at recession as the Ukraine crisis
:00:30. > :00:45.scars the economy. Welcome to World Business Report.
:00:46. > :00:47.I'm Sally Bundock, also in the programme Rico Hizon will join us
:00:48. > :00:54.from Singapore with more on the impact the hike in sales tax has had
:00:55. > :00:58.on Japan.... But first are you sitting comfortably watching the TV?
:00:59. > :01:01.Because I will tell you the story of the hugely successful Netflix. The
:01:02. > :01:04.internet video streaming firm has just reported record profits of $53
:01:05. > :01:07.million dollars during the first quarter of this year and revealed
:01:08. > :01:11.its plans to push harder for more business in Europe and increase
:01:12. > :01:16.prices. Good news for shareholders not quite so good for subscribers.
:01:17. > :01:19.The internet video streaming firm said it added two point 25 million
:01:20. > :01:29.new customers during the first three months of 2014, bringing its total
:01:30. > :01:32.global membership to 48 million. Netflix also announced a potential
:01:33. > :01:39."one or two dollar increase" in monthly rates for new members later
:01:40. > :01:43.this year. Which was music to the ears of shareholders with the firm's
:01:44. > :01:54.shares soaring more than 6% in after hours trading on Wall Street. From
:01:55. > :01:58.New York here's Samira Hussain. Netflix has been an industry
:01:59. > :02:04.disruptor altering the way that people watch television and movies.
:02:05. > :02:10.More recently, some of their original programming have been real
:02:11. > :02:16.game changers for the company. For the first time they have surpassed
:02:17. > :02:24.YouTube as the place where people go to watch online videos. It's now has
:02:25. > :02:30.48 millions of drivers, they made gains both here in the United States
:02:31. > :02:34.and internationally. New subscribers have pushed the company's revenue
:02:35. > :02:39.and earnings up higher for this last quarter. For those who have yet to
:02:40. > :02:45.sign on, they can expect to pay a little bit more. They will be
:02:46. > :02:49.charging new subscribers a dollar or two more in the upcoming months and
:02:50. > :02:55.looking forward in the next year or so, they are planning a big push in
:02:56. > :03:03.Europe to increase international subscriptions. Are you a Netflix
:03:04. > :03:15.member? What do you think about this decision? Do send us your thoughts
:03:16. > :03:23.on twitter. Let us know what you are thinking about this move as some
:03:24. > :03:31.analysts are arguing that this may prove to be a poor decision on the
:03:32. > :03:38.part of Netflix. How will it stay ahead of the game? Is it really
:03:39. > :03:49.about the content? Is that why it has been such a success? Let us know
:03:50. > :03:51.what your thoughts are. There's been a warning Russia could tip into
:03:52. > :03:54.recession after the economy contracted by around half a percent
:03:55. > :03:57.in the first three months of this year. Russia's already seen heavy
:03:58. > :04:00.capital flight since the start of the Ukraine crisis, as worried
:04:01. > :04:03.investors pull their money out of the country and that is taking its
:04:04. > :04:06.toll on the economy. If sanctions from the West get tougher, Russia's
:04:07. > :04:13.Finance Minister is warning the economy may not see any growth in
:04:14. > :04:18.2014. Jeannie Joye reports. The government of Russia may now be
:04:19. > :04:22.regretting the money they spent on the Sochi Olympics. When it was
:04:23. > :04:31.being planned, money seemed no object. The economy was forecast to
:04:32. > :04:34.grow at 2.5% this year. Now it is increasingly likely that it will
:04:35. > :04:39.enter recession instead. The government revealed that the economy
:04:40. > :04:46.shrank in the first quarter of 2014 by half a percent and that the
:04:47. > :04:53.billions of dollars of funds are now flooding out of Russia. The most
:04:54. > :04:58.worrying thing is capital flight. It was $50 billion according to our
:04:59. > :05:04.data it was actually more than that at 63 billion. A number of Russian
:05:05. > :05:09.firms have raised money in London but because of the political crisis
:05:10. > :05:14.in Ukraine many investors have been scared off and loans are hard to
:05:15. > :05:19.come by. The Russian government spent more than a decade making
:05:20. > :05:24.Russia an attractive investment destination and it only took three
:05:25. > :05:30.months to lose this. It will take years of effort to convince
:05:31. > :05:36.investors that they are a safe investment destination. Further
:05:37. > :05:42.evidence of a deteriorating economy has emerged in their car market.
:05:43. > :05:53.This month, for it cut many jobs in St. Petersburg `` Ford. The
:05:54. > :06:03.president's annexation of Crimea have pushed his approval ratings to
:06:04. > :06:07.80% but economists now say that Russia faces its hardest time since
:06:08. > :06:12.the financial crisis of 2008. Without foreign investment to stoke
:06:13. > :06:23.the economy there is little chance of it recovering quickly. To Asia
:06:24. > :06:27.now and the Japanese market, where for the year, the benchmark Nikkei
:06:28. > :06:30.index is down by more than 10%. It's hurt by concerns over the country's
:06:31. > :06:35.consumption tax which jumped to 8% from 5% at the start of April. We're
:06:36. > :06:38.just at the start of the earnings season for corporate Japan, and
:06:39. > :06:56.investors will be looking at how exporters are faring. Rico Hizon is
:06:57. > :07:05.in Singapore for us. Tell us more about this trend in Japan. They had
:07:06. > :07:12.such a stellar year in 2013. Absolutely. We are looking at the
:07:13. > :07:17.earnings report for the full year which ended on the 31st of March and
:07:18. > :07:28.according to analysts it could be a decent earnings season. It was
:07:29. > :07:32.strong consumer demand ahead of the implication of a sales tax hike
:07:33. > :07:40.which was implemented on the 1st of April. It started on a disappointing
:07:41. > :07:45.note, and that is the first Japanese firm to report earnings has reported
:07:46. > :07:50.an 80% drop in its net income for the year. One analyst I spoke with
:07:51. > :07:56.told me that he is optimistic about the earnings season, saying that is
:07:57. > :08:06.one poor results will not set the tone for the earnings season. There
:08:07. > :08:12.are strong sales in other sectors and although some are more
:08:13. > :08:15.cautious, and the disappointment regarding the ink of Japan not
:08:16. > :08:27.offering fresh stimulus, it would still recover. Thank you very much
:08:28. > :08:30.indeed. It's being reported that American car giant Ford will name
:08:31. > :08:33.chief operating office Mark Fields as successor to its chief executive
:08:34. > :08:38.Alan Mulally. That's been the buzz in the auto industry overnight,
:08:39. > :08:42.according to sources. The auto maker has declined to comment. Mr Mulally
:08:43. > :08:46.is said to be stepping down at the end of this year. He has been
:08:47. > :08:54.credited with reviving Ford's fortunes since taking the helm in
:08:55. > :08:57.2006. India's Supreme Court has ruled that iron ore mining can
:08:58. > :09:00.resume in the state of Goa, ending a previous ban imposed to stop
:09:01. > :09:05.environmental damage. But there are conditions attached. The country's
:09:06. > :09:09.highest court said a maximum of 20 million tonnes can now be mined
:09:10. > :09:12.every year. Goa, a scenic coastal state, is a top tourist destination.
:09:13. > :09:15.India was once the world's third biggest exporter of iron one,
:09:16. > :09:19.shipping around 100 million tonnes of the raw material annually. Thai
:09:20. > :09:22.Airways has warned it will post a net loss for the first quarter, as
:09:23. > :09:25.fewer travellers headed to Thailand due to a prolonged political unrest
:09:26. > :09:28.in the country. The carrier said passenger numbers in March alone
:09:29. > :09:32.dropped by more than 20% from the same period one year ago. In
:09:33. > :09:35.addition to the political unrest, the airline also cited fierce
:09:36. > :09:38.competition from low`cost carriers. The airline is scheduled to announce
:09:39. > :09:51.its first quarter results next month. Markets today, nearly all of
:09:52. > :09:56.them are open today although some were closed over the long weekend.
:09:57. > :10:00.The pan as you can see, it is up slightly. This is how the US ended
:10:01. > :10:21.their day. The dollar is gaining ground versus many currencies. I
:10:22. > :10:27.will see you soon. Advertisements have appeared in some of the day's
:10:28. > :10:34.papers regarding how to apply for compensation if one was sexually
:10:35. > :10:35.assaulted by Jimmy Savile. Amounts are