01/08/2017 World Business Report

Time to join Sally for World Business Report.

Can BP profit in a world awash with cheap oil?

The fossil fuel giant releases it's latest results in the coming hours.

And downgraded: Toshiba is removed from Tokyo's main stock board

Is the Japanese giant's future now in doubt?

Hello and a very warm come. This is World Business Report. I am Sally

Bundock. The University of California

is using wi-fi enabled drones to create a system of 3D imaging

which could potentially allow them We will have more on that in a

moment. In the next few hours, BP,

one of the worlds biggest oil producers will release

its latest set of results. The numbers will be a strong

indicator of how the industry is doing in a world where a $50 oil

price has become the new normal. Analysts are estimating the company

will report a profit in excess of $600 million

for the second quarter of the year. That would be a big leap

on from the losses it made in the

same period in 2016. However it's still a long

way behind rival Shell, which made $3.6 billion

over the period. One of the reasons for not

being closer to Shell is an expected $750 million write down -

that's a loss to you and me - and that's for a gas project

in Angola it deemed to no longer Well the price of oil is at around

half the $100-plus That's squeezed balance sheets

and forced the likes of BP to spend money only

where it can deliver big returns. Nick Coleman focuses on the energy

sector at S Global Platts. Good morning. Thank you for coming

in. So it is true to say BP is more financially vulnerable than, say,

Shell. But we had to mention the Gulf of Mexico disaster. It is

paying out for the. -- it is still paying out for that. They are paid

$60 billion in that time. That is partly because the payments are

phased and are going to continue for more than a decade to come. But even

in the first quarter of this year, they paid out over $2 billion.

Compared with Shell, that shows how it is not really performing in the

same way as some of its main rivals. It is promising some news tomorrow.

What is a promising for its shareholders? It is promising to

increase its cash flow from the second half of this year and in the

years up to 2020, it will add new capacity. So about 1 million barrels

of oil a day in places like the Gulf of Mexico, sorry, in the North Sea.

And these companies are all increasing their production. So they

get the benefit of the doubt from investors, to some extent. Can BP

cover its investment costs and also pay out its dividend, which it is

committed to, if the price stays at $50? Shell is saying they all ready

can. They are saying they can get fit for the 40s. BP is still

struggling one. It cannot cover investment to replace the business,

keep new production coming, and pay the dividend. It can't really do

that, or it has been unable to do that at $50, quite yet. We will see

what they have to say about that. That is key, isn't it? For BP, is

comfortably in everybody's pension fund. It has been for a long time.

BP or Shell, you would have one of the other. If BP is not seen as a

company they can deliver, it is a concern, is that it? These companies

wanted of Brayden Sier themselves from, for instance, the Shell

drilling. -- these companies want to differentiate themselves from. These

can be sound like sound investors prolong time. Last year, BP said it

you would average hourly for 40 years. That should bring BP almost

200,000 barrels a day in a 40 year period. That is the sort of thing

investors like. OK. Thank you for coming in so early to provide your

analysis. We will have the news on BP in one hour and 20 minutes. More

analysis then, too. Now, let's talk about

the University of California. They're using wi-fi enabled drones

to create a system of 3D imaging which could potentially allow them

to "see through" walls. We will have more

on that in a moment. BBC Click spoke to the woman behind

the project to see how it works. True drones fly outside the area of

interest. One sends a signal and the other analysis it. Each object in

Drax with the transmission, according to its material property,

location, and geometry. So we can say that in a sense each object

leaves a mark on the transmission. Any technology can be used for good

purposes and can also be misused. And this technology is also no

exception. But the hope is that as a society we always push for

technologies to be used for the good of the society.

To negation signal such as Wi-Fi signals are everywhere, these days,

so it is important to understand fundamentally how much they can

sense and learn about the environment. -- transmission

signals. This is important so that we can ensure that they are used in

a proper way. That's stay with technology and look

at the ongoing trouble surrounding Japan's ailing electronics giant

Toshiba. Its shares were demoted

to the second tier of the Tokyo Stock Exchange this

morning due to its liabilities exceeding its assets

in the last financial year. Joining me now from our

Asia Business Hub in Singapore Sharanjit Leyl, this is going from

bad to worse, isn't it? It does seem to be that way, Sally. Unusually, in

spite of the demotion from that prestigious first section of the

Tokyo stock exchange, shares are rising today. They are up about 6%.

That is due to the fact that there are a lot of retail investors

picking it up, trying to make a quick dollar. But as you say, the

demotion from the main section of the board, that is a comedown from

the -- for the conglomerate. It has been described as a washed up top

Gear Atley, it is seemingly tearing it up in second division. We know it

has been struggling to restructure since huge losses in its nuclear is

this in the US. What happens with Japanese businesses, if they get

demoted when they make these recordings. They get delisted

entirely when they have had two consecutive years of negative

shareholder equity. And as you say, Toshiba has flagged that it is

labour that is exceeded its assets by just over $5 billion this

financial year. What they are trained to do now is a lock their

prized assets, which are the memory chip division, trying to avoid a

second year of brutal losses, essentially brought on by those cost

overruns. Thank you for joining us Sharanjit Leyl with the latest on

Toshiba. In other news, Qatar has

filed a formal complaint with the World Trade Organisation

against the economic embargo imposed on it in June by

neighbouring Arab states. Qatar's minister of economy

and commerce said the trade boycott, led by Saudi Arabia,

was a clear violation A split in the Bitcoin community

is set to create a new incompatible version of the crypto-currency

today. A group of insiders is unhappy

with existing plans to speed They plan to offer existing

investors a matching amount of a new virtual asset,

called Bitcoin Cash, which could put pressure

on the value of original bitcoins. That's quickly look at the markets.

We talked about oil. We are waiting for the BP results. Oilers in focus

because the price keeps going up and up. You can see Brent crude about

$52 a barrel. Nymex is about $50 a barrel for the first time since May.

Oil stocks are doing well, energy doing well, and earnings coming

through stronger than expected for many companies listed around the

world. That is boosting general competence. I will see you