:00:00. > :00:24.As the deadline for bids on the Online giant looms, the owner of
:00:25. > :00:37.We'll analyse today's inflation figures with an expert.
:00:38. > :00:44.Also in the programmme: Australia tries to sell more than just
:00:45. > :00:50.commodities and beach holidays to the Chinese.
:00:51. > :00:55.The owner of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper is considering a bid
:00:56. > :00:57.for the struggling US internet company Yahoo.
:00:58. > :01:00.The Wall Street Journal says the Daily Mail and General Trust is
:01:01. > :01:02.in talks with private equity firms about an offer.
:01:03. > :01:05.Yahoo is under pressure from shareholders to turn itself
:01:06. > :01:08.around and just weeks ago invited interested parties to make an offer
:01:09. > :01:11.and first-round bids for the firm's main web assets are due today.
:01:12. > :01:14.So far Google and the US telecoms firm Verizon are said to be
:01:15. > :01:27.circling and now of course the Daily Mail is added to that list.
:01:28. > :01:30.For Yahoo's boss Marissa Mayer, it's an admission she is losing her
:01:31. > :01:33.battle to turn around the struggling tech giant.
:01:34. > :01:36.There were high hopes when she was hired as Chief Executive in 2012
:01:37. > :01:39.that she would revive Yahoo - that had just churned through several
:01:40. > :01:44.Mayer was viewed as one of the biggest power players in Silicon
:01:45. > :01:49.Valley having had a rapid rise to the top management at Google.
:01:50. > :01:51.But three years after her appointment and Yahoo was
:01:52. > :01:56.still marred by slowing growth and internal dissent.
:01:57. > :01:57.It's left it vulnerable to activist investors,
:01:58. > :01:59.like shareholder Starboard Value, demanding the board be completely
:02:00. > :02:17.With me is Simon Griffiths, partner at Irwin Mitchell.
:02:18. > :02:26.That morning. It is very interesting. Tell us your thoughts
:02:27. > :02:29.on the Daily Mail getting involved. It is great to have a British
:02:30. > :02:36.company interested in getting involved because Britain have no
:02:37. > :02:40.large global Internet businesses. However, I think with the Daily
:02:41. > :02:48.Mail's involvement, private equity houses will take Yahoo's core
:02:49. > :02:53.business and the Daily Mail will take the content and media. When we
:02:54. > :03:00.look at the market cap of the Daily Mail compared with Yahoo, we can see
:03:01. > :03:13.it would need a financial helping hand. Correct. The Daily Mail around
:03:14. > :03:18.?2.5 million, Yahoo's ?34 billion. However, core assets are worth
:03:19. > :03:24.around $6,000,000,000-$8,000,000,000. It is
:03:25. > :03:28.hard to tell because most of the value is the stake in Ali Baa-Baas,
:03:29. > :03:35.the Chinese Internet company and the stake in Yahoo Japan, only part of
:03:36. > :03:40.the value of Yahoo comes from its core assets -- $6 billion - $8
:03:41. > :03:44.billion. Talk us through Horizon and Google. It is all speculation. No
:03:45. > :03:52.formal offers at all. Your thoughts on those companies? Horizon is a
:03:53. > :03:57.large US telecoms business, whose CEO has a vision of becoming a
:03:58. > :04:03.global tech business. Acquiring Yahoo will help in his vision to get
:04:04. > :04:11.there. Google doesn't need Yahoo. It doesn't make much difference. Of
:04:12. > :04:15.course if companies are looking at Yahoo, Google has had a look, but it
:04:16. > :04:20.would be a headache for Google. It would be a lot of hassle with
:04:21. > :04:26.competition authorities might well refusing it. Marissa Mayer joined
:04:27. > :04:30.the company when she was young and six months pregnant. There was
:04:31. > :04:34.controversy when she started. However, she seemed extremely
:04:35. > :04:41.determined. A woman on a mission. She has not fulfilled that mission.
:04:42. > :04:44.Maybe. Let's hope she is still a determined business leader after
:04:45. > :04:51.this Yahoo period of life is over. It was once a glorious company with
:04:52. > :04:57.market capital over $150 billion, now $35 billion. It is not her
:04:58. > :05:01.fault. Thank you so much for coming in. We shall keep you up to date
:05:02. > :05:03.with every twist and turn as far as that story is concerned.
:05:04. > :05:06.It's the biggest trade delegation ever from Australia to China.
:05:07. > :05:08.For all of this week, 1,000 business representatives
:05:09. > :05:11.and the country's trade minister are touring China to boost ties
:05:12. > :05:17.Bilateral trade stood at just under 100 billion USD last year.
:05:18. > :05:19.And it's especially crucial for Australia because China is
:05:20. > :05:22.its biggest trading partner in both exports and imports.
:05:23. > :05:38.How to sell Australia to the Chinese? It looks like this at the
:05:39. > :05:45.moment, and hunky man holding shrimp. It works. Plenty of Chinese
:05:46. > :05:50.holiday in Australia, and plenty send children to be educated. This
:05:51. > :05:56.trade mission, it is a massive effort, is aimed at broadening that
:05:57. > :06:01.relationship. What they are trying to do is get Chinese to buy services
:06:02. > :06:05.from Australia. We have leaders from 1000 businesses coming in this
:06:06. > :06:09.delegation, senior politicians, going to eight Chinese cities in
:06:10. > :06:17.five days, selling tourism, education and agribusiness. What
:06:18. > :06:21.does it say about the relationship? It has changed a lot. The Chinese
:06:22. > :06:26.buying everything in the ground in Australia is over. This is about
:06:27. > :06:31.selling far more services to the people of China from Australia. It
:06:32. > :06:35.is very important. It is no underestimation to say the future of
:06:36. > :06:38.the Australian economy depends in part on its relationship in trade
:06:39. > :06:44.with China. How much will they raise? Last time in 2014 the
:06:45. > :06:50.Australian government said it led to the injection of $3.5 billion US.
:06:51. > :06:57.They want the same or more this time around. That was Robin Brant in
:06:58. > :07:02.Shanghai for us. Let's stay with China. Everyone wants to know how
:07:03. > :07:05.the Chinese economy is doing. This week we have loads of economic news.
:07:06. > :07:07.Today, it is inflation. Chinese inflation for appears to be
:07:08. > :07:10.holding steady, with the consumer price index again coming in
:07:11. > :07:13.at 2.3% compared with a year ago. Producer prices fell 4.3% in March
:07:14. > :07:16.also compared to a year earlier. That's slightly higher than
:07:17. > :07:29.for the previous month. What does all of it mean? We speak
:07:30. > :07:33.with an independent analyst who can make sense of it. Thank you for
:07:34. > :07:39.being on the programme. Talk us through these numbers today. Does it
:07:40. > :07:44.tell us that prices are rising or does it tell us that the fears
:07:45. > :07:51.around deflation have gone away? No, I think it tells us very little.
:07:52. > :07:59.What you have to remember is even at 2.3% below the central bank target
:08:00. > :08:03.of 3% CPI, this is the 49th month of falling producer prices. After all
:08:04. > :08:06.of the stimulus earlier in the year the Chinese economy is at best
:08:07. > :08:13.treading water. It is still effectively weakening. Is the
:08:14. > :08:16.deflation threat still there? I think it certainly is. This is not
:08:17. > :08:22.going away any time soon. The government is unable to bring about
:08:23. > :08:26.meaningful reform that will change the Chinese economy long-term.
:08:27. > :08:32.Measures instituted are relatively short-term. Papering over short-term
:08:33. > :08:37.problems. Do you think the central bank will move interest rates soon
:08:38. > :08:43.in your view? It has been cutting rates recently. This is the real
:08:44. > :08:48.problem. The central bank is in a horrible position, juggling many
:08:49. > :08:50.things, one being the inflation picture, the other being liquidity
:08:51. > :08:57.requirements in the system and managing the currency as well. The
:08:58. > :09:02.feeling is they are doing better than potentially forecast in terms
:09:03. > :09:05.of inflation numbers, so maybe they won't rush to cut rates as
:09:06. > :09:09.aggressively as people thought a couple of weeks ago. But the numbers
:09:10. > :09:15.are changing monthly and the outlook is still weak. If it is not direct
:09:16. > :09:19.rate cuts, it will be listening to cover over many debt problems. We
:09:20. > :09:23.have to leave it there but we appreciate your time. Thank you for
:09:24. > :09:27.your perspective on the Chinese economy. Let's squeeze in some other
:09:28. > :09:28.stories, starting with Japan. It has sought to
:09:29. > :09:31.reassure investors that it's willing to intervene
:09:32. > :09:32.in the currency markets. The move follows a recent pledge
:09:33. > :09:36.by the G20 nations to consult on foreign exchange markets and avoid
:09:37. > :09:38.competitive currency devaluations. The yen has gained more than 10%
:09:39. > :09:40.against dollar this year, which worries the government because
:09:41. > :09:43.it decreases export earnings and Tatar Steel is beginning the formal
:09:44. > :09:47.process of selling its loss-making UK plants, inviting interested
:09:48. > :09:49.bidders to submit their offers. So far,
:09:50. > :09:51.the only company to have publicly expressed an interest is Liberty
:09:52. > :09:59.Steel, owned by Sanjeev Gupta. Thousands of workers in England
:10:00. > :10:17.and Wales risk losing their jobs So, let's look at markets. Inflation
:10:18. > :10:22.data in China did not wobble markets much. As you can see, Japan is down
:10:23. > :10:29.a lot with the yen strengthening daily versus the US dollar, hitting
:10:30. > :10:33.sentiment. Hong Kong is up half a percent, as I mentioned. Chinese
:10:34. > :10:38.news did not really affect sentiment. I will see you soon.