disney's cost cutting strategy pays off. the house of mouse announces the quarterly results and the biggest move in the gaming sector. plus is the world's second largest economy at risk of more deflation. we'll have the latest price data from china. hello and welcome to asia business report. we begin with disney because the media entertainment giant is reported earnings that beat estimates sharing its shares soaring in more than 6% in after—hours trading. it unveiled what is its biggest bent to date in the gaming industry. our north america business correspondent erin delmore has more from new york. disney says it's on pace to bring in more money this fiscal year and that it expects earnings at least 20% higher than last year and the company says it's on pace to cut costs. it expects to meet or surpass

its goal of cutting 7.5 billion by the end of this fiscal year. pressure mounts from an activist who has been critical of the company including its disappointing stats at the box office. the company also narrowed its losses specifically in streaming. disney plus increased prices this fall. the they lost subscribers over that. but because each subscriber is paying more for the service, the average revenue per user went up. disney plus is streaming offerings including espn+. the focus of a lot of attention this week. the company announced earlier this week it's partnering with fox and warner bros to launch a new sports streaming this year and ceo said wednesday that the company is taking a $1.5 billion stake in epic games as disney's big move in the game space yet. another focus of attention, disney and politics again after a very public multi—year spat with and law suit against florida governor

ron desantis who accused the company of being liberal and progressive. actor gina caramo is suing the company and alleging she was fired from the mandalorian for posting conservative points of view online including on the social media platform x. elon musk has said he'd throw his billions behind x users who claim discrimination at work due to their posts. he's backing caramo�*s law suit. and one more piece of disney news this week — it turns out that disney quietly had a hand in the launch of apple's vision pro—headset. customers who she“ pro—headset. customers who shell out $3500 for the head set can watch some of their favourite disney movies in 3d or a handful of universes disney creates. fix, or a handful of universes disney creates. a different -icture disney creates. a different picture at _ disney creates. a different picture at paypal. - disney creates. a different picture at paypal. the - disney creates. a different - picture at paypal. the payments are down more than 7% in extended trading. revenue in the quarter rose to $8 billion, a 9% increase. the forecast of flat growth in adjusted profit for the current year

overshadowed the market beating earnings report. shares in semi—conductor ship designer arm holdings is almost 20% higher. the british tech company forecast fiscal fourth quarter sales and adjusted profit above wall street expectations as customers aim to design new chips for artificial intelligence work. arm raised its guidance by roughly $100 million saying markets such as automotive and ai are going to be strong in the fiscal fourth quarter. now let's turn to china because the e—commerce giant alibaba as publish add disappointing quarterly results. the company posted sales of $36.7 billion, that's up 5% year on year. but below analyst expectations. alibaba's executives announced aliba ba's executives announced they'll alibaba's executives announced they'll increase the group's share buyback programme by $25 billion in a move they say demonstrates confidence in the company's outlook. alibaba is facing fierce competition from rivals such asjd.com,

rivals such as jd.com, pinduoduo rivals such asjd.com, pinduoduo and i doage. grew about 11% that's according to official est—matses but the company itself did not and really it's — the investor response is partly because the recovery has not been as great as some have expected. although to others it's been better. it's really because of the competition. so pinduoduo is one of the most aggressive competitors that it faces in its core business. of course, it's still less than half of alibaba's business, but it's been growing very quickly in thirty quarter it grew nearly 100% versus alibaba's 9%. and doin, leader in e—commerce, a business model that alibaba actually pioneered but now they

have overtaken as a leader and it is actually encroaching on pinduoduo gmv as well. e—commerce a very competitive space in china. and increasingly a part of the daily fabric as well. but it still way down by a slower economy, isn't it?- economy, isn't it? that's correct _ economy, isn't it? that's correct. although - economy, isn't it? that's correct. although i- economy, isn't it? that's correct. although i think| economy, isn't it? that's- correct. although i think that — despite the fact that — you know, economy relatively speaking is in a — has seen better days, if you look at the expectations for online retail over the next three years, this is a ginormous market. china is almost $3 trillion online e—commerce and expectations the next few years is still going to grow at 8% and for a market of that size, that's still significant. so by 2027, you know, professionals, experts, are expecting that it will be a $4 trillion market.— $4 trillion market. lots of room to _ $4 trillion market. lots of room to grow, _ $4 trillion market. lots of room to grow, perhaps. l $4 trillion market. lots of l room to grow, perhaps. but something that impacts e—commerce in china particularly recently would be regulations that the government has been forcing. how do you see that sort of playing out in

the year ahead? i see that sort of playing out in the year ahead?— the year ahead? i think those regulations — the year ahead? i think those regulations are _ the year ahead? i think those regulations are largely - regulations are largely positive for the market especially on the consumer side. so a lot of them were around antitrust and consumer data privacy protections. so overall see them as regulations that are pushing the sector towards better customer experience and more uniform legalfrom experience and more uniform legal from texts. we experience and more uniform legal from texts.— legal from texts. we 'ust received i legal from texts. we 'ust received the i legal from texts. we 'ust received the latest h legal from texts. we just received the latest price| legal from texts. we just - received the latest price data from china and consumer prices dropped to 0.8% injanuary year on year. it's a bigger fall than expected. our guest this morning asia specialist olivier d'assierjoins us to explain why china's continued economic weakness could be a concern. olivier, what do you make of the numbers that have just come in? i the numbers that have 'ust come in? ., f . the numbers that have 'ust come in? ~' j . ., , in? i think they're much worse than expected, _ in? i think they're much worse than expected, right. - in? i think they're much worse than expected, right. so - in? i think they're much worse l than expected, right. so almost twice as bad as expected and this probably explains why we had some trading restrictions put on the market three days ago. we had a situation already where sentiment has been weakening since about mid—january on the lack of

stimulus measures by the government. so after the last inflation numbers, so we could have an overreaction, but then again the trading restrictions being what they are right now it's very hard to play out these numbers especially with ten days of holidays coming up after tomorrow.— ten days of holidays coming up after tomorrow. yes, so what do ou after tomorrow. yes, so what do you think — after tomorrow. yes, so what do you think the — after tomorrow. yes, so what do you think the reaction _ after tomorrow. yes, so what do you think the reaction from - after tomorrow. yes, so what do you think the reaction from the i you think the reaction from the chinese government is going to be then to these numbers that are worse—than—expected? i think because of the holiday period, they may be buying themselves as few days to think about what to do. it's really the demand side issue for them as we saw with the alibaba earnings, peoplejust don't have the confidence right now to spend or to take on debt. so all of the measures we have seen so far have targeted the supply side, increasing loans, increasing liquidity. these are not enough. investors want to see somejob not enough. investors want to see some job creation type of investments, some reduction in some of the — maybe the

bureaucracy that prevents people from launching new business from innovating. all of this needs to come out. and a lot more spending. the spending is maybe a 10th of what people expected. they want to see a lot more fiscal spending. to see a lot more fiscal spending-— to see a lot more fiscal spending. to see a lot more fiscal sendina. ., , ., ., spending. to improve on the demand side, _ spending. to improve on the demand side, it _ spending. to improve on the demand side, it almost - spending. to improve on the i demand side, it almost comes down to a question of confidence and how people in china are confident about their livelihoods and their lives getting better. how do you think the government is going to be able to address those concerns?— concerns? these are very big concerns. — concerns? these are very big concerns, right, _ concerns? these are very big concerns, right, because - concerns? these are very big concerns, right, because in. concerns? these are very big l concerns, right, because in the past people have been able to generate wealth either through the stock market or through property speculation or by getting higher university degrees and none of these are working right now. the stock market is down for the fourth year now. property markets are down since 2021. and we have all these graduates who can't find job or have to settle for blue—colourjobs, and they go back home and staying with mum and dad. so mum and dad savings are again being used to pay for the children. so this is a very big problem and geopolitics is also a headwind for china right

now. so the government really needs to find ways to still domestic demand by investing in ways that will get people job and reboot confidence in the economy for the longer—term. and where do you see there being room for optimism going forward? , ., , , . forward? obviously the tech side of the _ forward? obviously the tech side of the industry - forward? obviously the tech side of the industry is - side of the industry is something that china must bet on. we're going — for technology answers for a lot of very big problems — climate change and other things like that. we need to really make an impact there. china has the brains and has the people and has the money to solve these problems from a technology angle but we just need to see more investments and less crackdowns. more investments and less crackdowns-_ more investments and less crackdowns. . . crackdowns. ok, thanks so much for speaking _ crackdowns. ok, thanks so much for speaking to — crackdowns. ok, thanks so much for speaking to us, _ crackdowns. ok, thanks so much for speaking to us, olivier. - for speaking to us, olivier. olivier d'assier there, asia specialist talking about the recent price cpi numbers coming out of china. now, before we go, let's take a quick look at the latest trade data from the world's largest

economy — quite in contrast to china's fortunes. imports into the united states fell last year relative to the growth in exports producing a smallest trade deficit for three years. the trade gap stood at $773 billion down on almost a fifth on 2022. american consumers bought fewerforeign on 2022. american consumers bought fewer foreign goods while us petroleum exports reach add record high in december. figures also show that the us imported more from mexico last year than from china for the first time in two decades. the favourable trade outlook comes as president biden seeks to promote economic competency ahead of november's presidential election. that brings us to a close here on asia business report. thanks as always for watching.

for 102, he's about to pilot a spitfire, a dream unrealised until now. jack was a squadron leader in the royal air force during the warand leader in the royal air force during the war and has long been an admirer of the aircraft. been an admirer of the aircraft-— been an admirer of the aircraft. ,, , ., ., aircraft. the spitfire, had not succeeded — aircraft. the spitfire, had not succeeded in _ aircraft. the spitfire, had not succeeded in over _ aircraft. the spitfire, had not succeeded in over coming, i aircraft. the spitfire, had not. succeeded in over coming, there had been an invasion and britain... had been an invasion and britain. . ._ britain... jack is still working _ britain... jack is still working hard - britain. .. jack is still working hard for- britain... jack is still working hard for the | britain... jack is still- working hard for the charity he loves. today's flight is all about raising awareness and vital funding. about raising awareness and vitalfunding. after about raising awareness and vital funding. after plenty of waiting the weather was right and it was time to take to the skies. after taking the controls for a time, jack then relaxes as the pilot performs victory rolls — not one... ..not two...

victory rolls — not one... ..nottwo... ..but victory rolls — not one... ..not two... ..but three. and when you have waited this long to fly in a spitfire, it would be rude not to make the most of it. for more stories from across the uk, head to the bbc news website. i'm with the capture. tonight taylor swift threatens to sue. loyal camps back out for 1972 and victory for luxury flats. first we start with everyone's favourite place — the dentist. the government is planning to try and decrease the waiting list for a dentist appointment in england with a cash incentive. dentists who set up practices in areas of england with poor access to nhs care will be offered a £20,000 bonus. the government has also announced higher payments for

nhs dentists who take on new patients and teeth—cleaning in schools as part of a plan to expand levels of dental care, but dental leaders and labour say the plans don't go far enough. some other stories now — taylor swift has threatened to sue a student who tracks her private jet. her lawyers sayjack jet. her lawyers say jack sweeney shouldn't jet. her lawyers sayjack sweeney shouldn't be jet. her lawyers say jack sweeney shouldn't be sharing her flight information online. jack uses publicly—available data to track the take—offs and landings of planes belonging to celebs and posts them online a day later. jack has responded and said, "no way do i intend for harm." what lengths would you go to see your pop stars? devoted fans are spending two nights camping outside the glasgow hydro in the freezing cold in the hope of being in the front row of the gig. one fan travelled all the way from australia. and time now to leave you with ten seconds of graffiti

covering luxury highrise flats in la. 27 floors of this highrise complex were covered in it. the site has actually been abandoned since 2019, just imagine, though, if you wanted to buy one or what if you already owned one, it might be already owned one, it might be a little bit tricky to live in it. you're all caught up now. see you later. what does i'm ona i'm on a mission to find out how opera is trying to attract new audiences an reinvent itself. i new audiences an reinvent itself. . new audiences an reinvent itself. , , . ., , itself. i believe music has the ower itself. i believe music has the power to _ itself. i believe music has the power to change _ itself. i believe music has the power to change the - itself. i believe music has the power to change the world. . itself. i believe music has the i power to change the world. take me to the _ power to change the world. take me to the opera _ power to change the world. take me to the opera - _ power to change the world. take me to the opera - watch - power to change the world. take me to the opera - watch on - me to the opera — watch on bbc iplayer.

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm jane dougall. huge celebrations as nigeria go through to the final of the africa cup of nations, where they'll play the hosts ivory coast. a wonder goalfrom enzo fernandez puts the icing on the cake for chelsea as they win away at villa in the fa cup. and it's heating up in the usa — with footballs�* showcase game, the superbowl just around the corner. welcome to the programme. it's been a battle for them, but nigeria are through to the final of the africa cup of nations, where they'll play the hosts, ivory coast.

nigeria's match was filled with drama, going to extra time