:00:00. > :00:00.Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News.
:00:00. > :00:17.Now for the latest financial news and World Business Report.
:00:18. > :00:19.Shell shocked - shareholders will seal a 49 billion
:00:20. > :00:26.But does it still make any financial sense?
:00:27. > :00:31.Has the market turmoil put plans for higher US interest rates
:00:32. > :00:51.I'm Sally Bundock, also in the programme -
:00:52. > :00:53.powering ahead - Facebook notched another record profit with sales
:00:54. > :01:01.We start with a mega merger in the oil industry - and
:01:02. > :01:05.On Wednesday the shareholders of Royal Dutch Shell gave the
:01:06. > :01:14.go-ahead for the takeover of oil and gas exploration company BG Group.
:01:15. > :01:17.Later today it's the turn of the BG Group shareholders, they are
:01:18. > :01:21.At 49-billion dollars, the deal would be the biggest seen
:01:22. > :01:28.But some Shell shareholders have questioned the logic
:01:29. > :01:32.Oil had already fallen to 55-dollars a barrel
:01:33. > :01:35.when it was first announced in April - the plunge has continued of course
:01:36. > :01:40.One major investor said crude would need to be at 60 dollars
:01:41. > :01:56.If it goes ahead - the companies would merge on the 15th of February.
:01:57. > :02:01.Iain Reid is the Senior Oil Gas equity analyst
:02:02. > :02:04.at Macquarie, he joins us from their London trading floor.
:02:05. > :02:13.We mention the key shareholders raising red flags about this deal
:02:14. > :02:19.saying that it has to be around $60 a barrel for this to make any sense.
:02:20. > :02:25.What is your thought? You do need recovery in the price for this
:02:26. > :02:30.merger to make money for Shell. If it does not recover, there are a lot
:02:31. > :02:36.of other investments that will not make sense either. They've taken a
:02:37. > :02:40.long-term decision in the best interests of the Shell shareholders
:02:41. > :02:43.and eventually it will make sense. You need a recovery in the oil price
:02:44. > :02:50.and we're thinking it is coming towards the end of this year. It'll
:02:51. > :03:00.seem to be a good deal retrospectively. Do think that made
:03:01. > :03:08.the right decision then? -- do you. They are not stupid. They have
:03:09. > :03:11.recovered to all priced above 100 when it went down previously. I'm
:03:12. > :03:21.not saying it is going to those levels. $60 is not ridiculous at
:03:22. > :03:27.all. In the meantime, they also said yesterday that they will go ahead
:03:28. > :03:31.with the deal, what short-term changes for this company had to put
:03:32. > :03:38.in place to keep their head above water financially? Shell has already
:03:39. > :03:45.said they will dispose of a lot of assets, not only in BG Group assets
:03:46. > :03:48.but also their own. They will try to make Shell are much lower company
:03:49. > :03:53.that can survive and prosper at lower prices than it has in the past
:03:54. > :03:59.and to do that they have to get rid of some of the higher costs in the
:04:00. > :04:04.portfolio. We will see a swift move by Shell to try and dispose of those
:04:05. > :04:12.kinds of assets and slim the company down a little bit. Thank you for
:04:13. > :04:16.your time very early in the morning. Thank you. We will update you hear
:04:17. > :04:18.more on that story later. We are also
:04:19. > :04:20.in Washington DC where the world's most powerful central bank has been
:04:21. > :04:23.holding its monthly meeting. But the US Federal Reserve has done
:04:24. > :04:25.little to calm nerves The Fed expressed its concern
:04:26. > :04:29.about the economic outlook and market turmoil - but left investors
:04:30. > :04:32.guessing about how it will react. As expected the Fed left interest
:04:33. > :04:34.rates unchanged - after raising them last month
:04:35. > :04:37.for the first time in a decade. Let's take a look at the details In
:04:38. > :04:41.language that echoed the European Central Bank last week -
:04:42. > :04:44.the Fed said it's "closely monitoring" global economic
:04:45. > :04:49.and financial developments. At the end of last year investors
:04:50. > :04:51.were betting that another interest rate rise in March was more likely
:04:52. > :04:56.than not - ie more than 50/50. Those bets have now all
:04:57. > :05:01.but collapsed to about one in five. But the Fed also repeated its
:05:02. > :05:04.promise that rate increases would be 'gradual' - suggesting its plans
:05:05. > :05:07.are not out of the window yet. From New York here's
:05:08. > :05:21.Michelle Fleury. America's Central bank is keeping
:05:22. > :05:26.its options open even as growth in the world 's biggest economy had
:05:27. > :05:29.slowed. Six-week after raising the rates it left them are unchanged on
:05:30. > :05:33.Wednesday. They said they wanted more time to study the impact of
:05:34. > :05:39.increased weakness in the global economy. In a statement published
:05:40. > :05:44.after a two-day policy meeting, they said it is closely monitoring global
:05:45. > :05:52.economies and markets. They now expect three quarters rate increases
:05:53. > :05:57.this year. We are still thinking they will increase rates three times
:05:58. > :06:01.this year. Our baseline forecast is that it will go again until June and
:06:02. > :06:04.they will need some time to assess the economic conditions and need
:06:05. > :06:08.some time for that markets to stabilise and have a little bit more
:06:09. > :06:13.clarity as to what is happening in the global markets as well. Our
:06:14. > :06:18.baseline view is that we have steady growth, continued expansion of the
:06:19. > :06:21.legal market, some signs of inflationary pressures building
:06:22. > :06:27.following by two more hikes at the end of the year. But no one can be
:06:28. > :06:32.sure. Despite the gloomy outlook, they did not commit to slowing their
:06:33. > :06:38.rate increases. That would explain why it fell on the news. They're
:06:39. > :06:39.hoping for a clear signal that they would move more slowly this year
:06:40. > :06:49.were left disappointed. Also in business today, Facebook
:06:50. > :06:52.has been winning even more friends - Shares in
:06:53. > :06:56.the social media giant jumped almost 12% in after-hours trading after it
:06:57. > :06:58.said quarterly profits doubled. Revenue was up strongly, as were the
:06:59. > :07:00.number As Nada Tawfik
:07:01. > :07:04.in New York explains - Facebook's advertising strategy is getting
:07:05. > :07:18.the big thumbs up with investors. They were very quick to get in on
:07:19. > :07:23.mobile ads and video ad. That has really been helping Facebook. They
:07:24. > :07:26.have been having a strong growing user base but some investors are
:07:27. > :07:30.concerned that that will slow down. But that is why they have had
:07:31. > :07:34.advertising spending with them taking on that TV revenue and having
:07:35. > :07:40.advertisers put it into mobile video. They have also made some
:07:41. > :07:44.smart investments into some of their other apps. These are the key moves
:07:45. > :07:53.that Facebook has made in the last few years that has left shareholders
:07:54. > :07:57.optimistic. They are planning to keep investing in different products
:07:58. > :07:58.and for now, at least, they can keep that momentum up.
:07:59. > :08:01.Let's go to Asia now where Samsung has been adding to fears
:08:02. > :08:03.of technology investors about the smartphone market.
:08:04. > :08:05.It has been warning of weaker sales, just a day
:08:06. > :08:11.after arch rival Apple forecast its first drop in sales in 13 years.
:08:12. > :08:15.Rico Hizon is following the story for us in Singapore.
:08:16. > :08:27.Nice to see you. Samsun is struggling still? It is being
:08:28. > :08:30.squeezed into the smart phone market and 2016 is not looking bright for
:08:31. > :08:38.the smart phone manufacturers. After years of record profits which we
:08:39. > :08:44.have been reporting for a while, it seems to be slowing down. Profits
:08:45. > :08:48.are falling by about 40% to two points 7 billion US dollars. This
:08:49. > :08:56.was in the three months leading from September. That was significantly
:08:57. > :09:01.below expectations. Getting some guidance as to what is looking like
:09:02. > :09:04.going forward, they cannot you to softer sales because of gadgets of
:09:05. > :09:12.smart phones, a trend that is also herding their rival Apple --
:09:13. > :09:20.hurting. They are basically undercutting sales of trunks rating
:09:21. > :09:29.from televisions to personal computers. Not such a good day for
:09:30. > :09:37.eBay either. Their shares fell sharply after they forecast lower
:09:38. > :09:39.earnings than expected. They are struggling from the competition from
:09:40. > :09:48.rival retailers, Amazon. Steep falls too
:09:49. > :09:51.for Boeing shares after the US aircraft giant braced its investors
:09:52. > :09:53.for a rough ride in 2016. Boeing says it will be delivering
:09:54. > :09:56.fewer planes and making less profit than expected as it re-jigs its
:09:57. > :09:59.production lines for new models. Analysts had expected it to maintain
:10:00. > :10:02.production levels rather than risk Boeing still says it sees
:10:03. > :10:05.a strong market for new aircraft despite slowing
:10:06. > :10:11.global growth and low oil prices. The markets are all high in the
:10:12. > :10:15.Asian markets. The fact that the rate rises are further away our
:10:16. > :10:20.music to their ears. You can see the price of oil going down as well.
:10:21. > :10:24.Apple 's shares up pulling down the NASDAQ quite significantly. I will
:10:25. > :10:32.see you soon. A report looking at care for elderly
:10:33. > :10:36.people in England and Wales says