05/08/2014

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:00:00. > :00:00.forces fighting Sunni militants in the north. Nouri Al`Maliki made the

:00:00. > :00:00.promise after the Islamic State group made strategic gains in

:00:00. > :00:08.northern Iraq. Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News.

:00:09. > :00:22.Now for the latest financial news and World Business Report.

:00:23. > :00:26.American companies hope to get a foothold into some of Africa's

:00:27. > :00:29.booming economies on day two of the US`Africa summit.

:00:30. > :00:31.Daily deals that fail to excite ` investors say Groupon is an

:00:32. > :00:46.over`hyped internet offering. Can the company change its image?

:00:47. > :00:48.Welcome to World Business Report. President Obama's first ever

:00:49. > :00:51.US`Africa summit is under way and today, American companies are hoping

:00:52. > :00:59.to clinch deals with the 45 African heads of state and government, who

:01:00. > :01:02.are gathered in Washington. With his eye fixed on his legacy, the first

:01:03. > :01:05.African`American president is keen to show his commitment to the

:01:06. > :01:13.continent but less than 1% of America's investment overseas

:01:14. > :01:20.currently goes to Africa. From Johannesburg, Adrienne Murray

:01:21. > :01:25.reports. Home to fast`growing economies and a

:01:26. > :01:30.rising consumer class, Africa's markets are an opportunity the

:01:31. > :01:43.company is hungry to invest, not least from the US. Over 14 years,

:01:44. > :01:52.African growth and opportunity has given `` over 14 years, US`Africa

:01:53. > :02:01.legislation has seen sub`Saharan African companies granted duty`free

:02:02. > :02:09.access to American markets. The agreement expires soon. Most of the

:02:10. > :02:13.trade has been in energy. In that regard, it is not really a success

:02:14. > :02:22.story because trade would have taken place anyway. Exporting clothing,

:02:23. > :02:25.however, has done better. Is China rather than America that has done

:02:26. > :02:29.the most to transform Africa over the past decade, building

:02:30. > :02:34.infrastructure projects like roads, rail and this new airport terminal

:02:35. > :02:39.in Nairobi. The White House says this week's summit is not a blatant

:02:40. > :02:45.response to growing Chinese influence on the African continent.

:02:46. > :02:49.Looking at the figures, while China leads when it comes to trade, the US

:02:50. > :02:55.is a hit in terms of foreign investment. In 2012, American

:02:56. > :03:03.companies invested $31 billion in sub`Saharan Africa. French companies

:03:04. > :03:10.also invested $31 billion. The UK invested $25 billion. China invested

:03:11. > :03:15.only $18 billion. The US has been in Africa for a long time. We are

:03:16. > :03:22.talking about Nigeria, Angola and South Africa. And in very few

:03:23. > :03:27.sectors, like oil. China is the new kid on the block, if I may say. Most

:03:28. > :03:34.of the growth in Africa comes from China. China is the largest

:03:35. > :03:38.bilateral trade partner. President Obama is expected to use the summit

:03:39. > :03:44.to voice American concerns on security, governance and human

:03:45. > :03:55.rights. But increasing trade ties will be at the heart of the talks.

:03:56. > :04:05.We are keeping an eye on that summit, updating you when those

:04:06. > :04:07.announcements are made. The daily deals service Groupon is releasing

:04:08. > :04:10.its second`quarter results. The stock has greatly underperformed

:04:11. > :04:13.over the past six months and some investors are sceptical of its

:04:14. > :04:24.turnaround story and are writing off Groupon as another over`hyped

:04:25. > :04:28.internet name. The market is competitive but Groupon is

:04:29. > :04:37.diversifying in an attempt to get ahead again. With me is Claudio

:04:38. > :04:42.Alvarez, director at GP Bullhound. What will they tell us today?

:04:43. > :04:51.Investors are probably looking for revenue to grow around 25%, 26%,

:04:52. > :04:55.which is around $760 million. In particular, they are looking for

:04:56. > :05:02.three things. First, an update on how North America is doing,

:05:03. > :05:05.Groupon's most competitive market. There will be results from Amazon,

:05:06. > :05:12.Google and local players. Second, what is happening to gross margins.

:05:13. > :05:18.As they transition from a push to all model, Groupon is having to

:05:19. > :05:27.resort to advertising to bring traffic. And third, how is growth in

:05:28. > :05:31.the international market happening. Investors will be looking to get an

:05:32. > :05:36.update on that, to see where growth is coming from. They have a lot of

:05:37. > :05:47.ground to make up. They floated at $20? Yes. As of yesterday, their

:05:48. > :05:55.market cap was around $4 billion. The shares were recently $5 each?

:05:56. > :06:00.That is a huge fall. Correct. And many people have said that if they

:06:01. > :06:11.had sold the business when they were offered $6 billion... You know,

:06:12. > :06:16.history is always... Will Groupon be around in five years? They have been

:06:17. > :06:22.buying up other companies to try to diversify. Will that be good enough?

:06:23. > :06:26.This is a difficult task for the management that they have ahead of

:06:27. > :06:30.them and it is still early days. They have only been there for 18

:06:31. > :06:35.months or so, reorganising the business away from local daily deals

:06:36. > :06:40.and more into commerce and business to business propositions. It is

:06:41. > :06:45.still early days but in the end, you have to believe that if they can

:06:46. > :06:49.show some profits, the over 50 million subscribers and at users

:06:50. > :06:55.will be of value for someone. Perhaps it will not be a stand`alone

:06:56. > :07:07.business but that user base will still be around. Thank you.

:07:08. > :07:10.Indonesia has been one of Asia's best` performing markets this year.

:07:11. > :07:15.Its stock market has risen 25% while its currency, the rupiah, has also

:07:16. > :07:18.strengthened by more than 5%. And now, it is set to deliver its

:07:19. > :07:28.second`quarter growth figures for the year. Rico Hizon is in

:07:29. > :07:39.Singapore. Rico, what are we expecting? The numbers just came out

:07:40. > :07:44.minutes ago. And a big disappointment indeed. Growth in the

:07:45. > :07:50.last three months to June has come in at 5.12% and it was the

:07:51. > :07:57.country's worst performance in more than five years. The forecast was

:07:58. > :08:00.for a 5.3% expansion. This increase in consumer spending linked to the

:08:01. > :08:05.country's presidential election has not helped at all. The economy

:08:06. > :08:10.continues to slow because of this ban on shipments of mineral ores and

:08:11. > :08:16.high interest rates. In the first three months of the year, growth was

:08:17. > :08:22.already at its slowest pace since 2009. If you look at Indonesia,

:08:23. > :08:30.South East Asia's largest economy, it has a population of 250 million

:08:31. > :08:33.people. With growth at 5% or more, we have the President`elect Joko

:08:34. > :08:39.Widodo, wanting to get the annual growth rate up to 7% in two years.

:08:40. > :08:48.He faces some major challenges. First, abolishing subsidies for

:08:49. > :08:51.fuel, as well as other issues like poor infrastructure, declining

:08:52. > :08:56.foreign investment and rampant corruption. A lot of

:08:57. > :09:04.responsibilities to deal with during his five`year term. Thank you.

:09:05. > :09:07.Shares in the world's biggest pork supplier, China's WH Group, made its

:09:08. > :09:10.trading debut in Hong Kong today. Shares are sitting at about $6.70 in

:09:11. > :09:14.early trade, up from the offer price of $6.20. The firm reportedly raised

:09:15. > :09:26.more than US$2 billion in one of the biggest public offerings in Asia so

:09:27. > :09:29.far this year. The World Bank has announced that it is allocating $200

:09:30. > :09:31.million in emergency assistance to help West African countries contain

:09:32. > :09:34.the Ebola outbreak. The money will be distributed to the governments of

:09:35. > :09:37.Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea as well as to the World Health

:09:38. > :09:49.Organisation. The number of people killed in the outbreak has reached

:09:50. > :09:54.887, according to the WHO. It has not been a week of that much

:09:55. > :10:02.excitement so far in the markets. Japan are down by 0.3%. This is how

:10:03. > :10:09.things finished off in the US. That's all from me for now. I will

:10:10. > :10:25.be back later to look at the papers.

:10:26. > :10:28.An investigation is under way after the parents of a murder victim heard

:10:29. > :10:31.a judge questioning the significance of personal statements given by

:10:32. > :10:33.bereaved families. Judge Graham White made the remarks after

:10:34. > :10:37.Geraldine and Peter McGinty had read their statement by video link at a

:10:38. > :10:39.hearing to decide whether one of their son's killers should be moved

:10:40. > :10:40.to an open