:00:08. > :00:09.Welcome to World Business Report, I'm Sally Bundock.
:00:10. > :00:12.Also in the programme: A smart jacket, and we are talking
:00:13. > :00:24.The UK Parliament has approved legislation giving
:00:25. > :00:27.Prime Minister Theresa May the power to begin formal divorce talks
:00:28. > :00:42.However, she won't do that immediately, as some had thought,
:00:43. > :00:44.but it will happen before the end of March.
:00:45. > :00:47.The negotiations will bring a period of uncertainty for the UK economy.
:00:48. > :00:56.Britain recorded growth of 2% last year.
:00:57. > :01:08.But in 2017, the International Monetary Fund predicts this
:01:09. > :01:11.will slow to 1.5%, though this is actually up from their previous
:01:12. > :01:22.The story gets worse in 2018, where growth is expected to come
:01:23. > :01:30.The ongoing uncertainty has also taken its toll on the currency.
:01:31. > :01:33.Since the referendum last June, the value of the pound has fallen
:01:34. > :01:43.The weakness in sterling has made imports into
:01:44. > :01:54.In the three months ending in January, fish prices rose 8.8%,
:01:55. > :02:02.tea prices were up 6%, and butter prices rose some 15.8%.
:02:03. > :02:05.The negotiations will take place as eurosceptic political parties
:02:06. > :02:07.gain ground across much of the continent.
:02:08. > :02:09.The Netherlands is set to head to the polls tomorrow,
:02:10. > :02:12.with France and Germany both set to face national elections
:02:13. > :02:28.Carsten Nickel, managing director Europe, Teneo Intelligence
:02:29. > :02:41.We have heard a lot already in this programme about what people think
:02:42. > :02:46.about this in the United Kingdom. What is the view now in Europe,
:02:47. > :02:51.given the fact that Article 50 is likely to be triggered very soon?
:02:52. > :02:56.Well, I think the key point, the key word, is the one that you just
:02:57. > :02:59.mentioned. It is uncertainty. So I think the whole question of the
:03:00. > :03:02.Scottish independence push obviously adds an additional layer of
:03:03. > :03:08.uncertainty, just in a moment when we should have really gained
:03:09. > :03:12.slightly greater clarity from the UK side about the Brexit process that
:03:13. > :03:16.is about to start now. So I think it is still very much a wait and see a
:03:17. > :03:22.approach from the European side, and I think there is no expectation for
:03:23. > :03:25.greater clarity until the end of 2017, really. As you say, the news
:03:26. > :03:31.coming from Scotland, that it is looking for a new referendum on its
:03:32. > :03:34.position in the United Kingdom, it throws in a brand-new curveball,
:03:35. > :03:39.which makes things that much more complicated, given the fact that
:03:40. > :03:44.Europe as well has an extremely interesting year ahead with the
:03:45. > :03:47.various general elections I have mentioned. It means these
:03:48. > :03:53.negotiations will be extremely critical, doesn't it? Yes, and again
:03:54. > :03:56.I think what we are going to see in 2017 is a pretty high-level
:03:57. > :03:59.conversation about a couple of points. One that we have been
:04:00. > :04:05.frankly reading about in the media quite a bit over the last weeks and
:04:06. > :04:10.months, is the ?60 billion Brexit Bill, the question of residents
:04:11. > :04:16.writes for EU citizens and vice-versa. I think the really
:04:17. > :04:19.thorny issue for the UK and the EU relationship, free trade agreements,
:04:20. > :04:23.the future of Freedom of movement, these kinds of issues, they will not
:04:24. > :04:27.be discussed until 2018 because only European side the question is, you
:04:28. > :04:30.know, who is going to lead France, who is going to leave the
:04:31. > :04:34.Netherlands, what about the next German government? I think these are
:04:35. > :04:37.crucial questions on the Scottish question raises the question of
:04:38. > :04:42.separatism in other member states of the European Union. So that will
:04:43. > :04:52.further complicated the talks ahead in 2017 and 2018 -- further
:04:53. > :04:55.complicate. While politicians try and win the election and economists
:04:56. > :05:00.predict what will happen next, how our business is navigating this
:05:01. > :05:04.uncertainty from your point of view? Well, that is really difficult to
:05:05. > :05:08.say at this point. Again, it is a very much wait-and-see approach
:05:09. > :05:11.because I think there is a strong sense that a serious conversation
:05:12. > :05:18.about what is ahead in the future won't really began before 2018. In
:05:19. > :05:21.the way the political -- in a way, the political conversation in 2017
:05:22. > :05:25.will be backwards looking, looking at the legacy of UK membership in
:05:26. > :05:29.the EU. What will be ahead is not going to be discussed until early
:05:30. > :05:32.next year, so I think that really complicated makes it very difficult
:05:33. > :05:36.for businesses to take a really forward-looking view here. Very
:05:37. > :05:43.interesting. Thank you very much for your time. There is a lot more to
:05:44. > :05:47.discussed in this story, and we will touch on some of that in our
:05:48. > :05:48.newspaper review. It is all about the papers, worldwide.
:05:49. > :05:50.Shares of Japanese conglomerate Toshiba have fallen 8% in Tokyo.
:05:51. > :05:53.That is after the company announced it will extend the deadline
:05:54. > :05:58.for submitting its earnings report, for the second time.
:05:59. > :06:05.Sharanjit Leyl is in our Asia business hub in Singapore.
:06:06. > :06:13.As second delay, that does not bode well at all in terms of what it will
:06:14. > :06:16.tell us when it finally announces what is going on. That's right,
:06:17. > :06:23.doesn't bode well. But unusually, for its shares, you mentioned it had
:06:24. > :06:27.fallen as much as 8%. It has scaled back those steep losses after
:06:28. > :06:30.announcing that earnings delay. The firm essentially asked regulators to
:06:31. > :06:36.extend the March 14 deadline for official earnings to a little later.
:06:37. > :06:41.They will be holding a news conference about this later on to
:06:42. > :06:44.clarify things for investors. But essentially the first time they
:06:45. > :06:49.delayed their earnings was in February. Doing so again, there were
:06:50. > :06:54.disagreements with its auditors in fabric, when its chairman stepped
:06:55. > :06:57.down, and all this because they are expecting a $6 billion write-down.
:06:58. > :07:01.Some of its US nuclear assets not worth as much as previously
:07:02. > :07:05.estimated, the situation leading many analysts to warn that the
:07:06. > :07:09.country's future is at risk -- company's future is at risk. This
:07:10. > :07:14.extension will need regulatory approval and failure to attain that
:07:15. > :07:18.would mean it needed to submit earnings by the end of the month or
:07:19. > :07:21.face delisting from the stock exchange. Toshiba is often
:07:22. > :07:27.associated with its technology products but it is now a diverse
:07:28. > :07:30.conglomerate. Its nuclear service business brings in the third of its
:07:31. > :07:34.revenue and yet that side of the business has not been making a
:07:35. > :07:44.profit since 2013. Nuclear services worldwide are struggling since the
:07:45. > :07:49.Fukushima disaster of 2011. In December the said they faced a heavy
:07:50. > :07:53.1-off loss due to its nuclear subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric.
:07:54. > :07:57.Since that announcement in December, the shares have lost more than half
:07:58. > :08:00.of their value. Thank you for bringing us up to date.
:08:01. > :08:02.Thousands of tech leaders, policy makers and celebrities have
:08:03. > :08:05.flocked to Texas, and not just for its famous barbeque
:08:06. > :08:09.The annual South by Southwest conference and festival is in full
:08:10. > :08:11.swing, and our North America technology correspondent Dave Lee
:08:12. > :08:35.sent this report about the coolest thing he has spotted at the event.
:08:36. > :08:43.The goal for Google is to provide our customers access to their
:08:44. > :08:46.favourite services and information from everywhere and anywhere and at
:08:47. > :08:51.any time. Whenever they are biking or walking or hiking or their hands
:08:52. > :08:54.are busy, they should be able to access their favourite services,
:08:55. > :08:59.literally from the cuff of your sleeve. Tell us what exactly is on
:09:00. > :09:02.my cuff here, and how it works? What we have is a woven interface
:09:03. > :09:07.integrated into the cuff material and the threads which capture your
:09:08. > :09:11.gestures integrate together, and are transferred to this little tag that
:09:12. > :09:17.we just snap on. You can see it is now Bluetooth head. A simple brush
:09:18. > :09:24.brings you the time. It to 30 seven p.m.. Time the destination. Your ETA
:09:25. > :09:40.is six minutes. You can control the music. Bidders is 2:37 p.m.. -- it
:09:41. > :09:45.is 2:37 p.m.. That is quite expensive. It is a nice jacket, but
:09:46. > :09:50.it feels quite pricey. How much of that money is going on connectivity?
:09:51. > :09:53.So it is going to be about $150 without the additional technology
:09:54. > :09:56.and we think that this is a really useful piece of performance
:09:57. > :10:00.opportunity. This is what people need when they are on their bikes.
:10:01. > :10:04.$350 price point is kind of where we go when we have really advanced
:10:05. > :10:08.technology in our clothes. So what do you make of that? Send me your
:10:09. > :10:12.thoughts on Twitter. It brings a whole new meaning to that is a smart
:10:13. > :10:18.new jacket, doesn't it? I will see you soon.
:10:19. > :10:21.It is claimed the amount of exercise children do starts to decline
:10:22. > :10:26.Researchers at the University of Strathclyde tracked the activity
:10:27. > :10:30.levels of more than 400 girls and boys over an eight-year period,