hello, everybody. this is business live from bbc news with aaron heslehurst and sally bundock. shareholders don'tjust like, they love the latest numbers from facebook. the world's biggest social network and now one of the biggest advertising businesses on the planet. live from london, that's our top story on thursday february the second. well on the way to two billion friends. facebook gets more popular, more profitable and more powerful than ever before. but for how long? also in the programme: what does president trump make of this news? china and mexico teaming up to make cars south of the wall. mexican billionaire carlos slim is the wheeler and dealer. and as always, we'll tell you what's driving the markets. at the moment it's a case of trump on, trump off. and there's been a lot of change

at formula one recently. and a little later in the programme we'll be speaking live to the boss of one of the big teams in the sport — mcclaren. zach brown also has lots of other roles. so today we want to know, what would you like to ask him? let us know. just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. 0k, everybody is going, what does trump on, trump of mean? i would explain why we get to the markets! welcome to the programme. we start with facebook, because despite predictions of a slowdown, the world's biggest social network keeps getting more popular, more profitable and more powerful. late on wednesday it reported quarterly numbers that were much better than expected. they round off another year of rapid growth that has seen it become one of the biggest advertising businesses on the planet. its massive reach has also raised

concerns about the amount of influence it can have, and the reliability of information that's shared on it. so we put a little something together for you. just how big is facebook now? by the end of last year over 1.86 billion people around the world were logging on at least once a month — so—called monthly active users. that's an annual rise of 17%. 1.25 billion of those log on every single day, and the vast majority via smartphones. advertisers love it. last year they spent almost $29 billion placing ads on facebook — a jump of 57% on 2015. that made facebook profits of well over $10 billion, a huge jump of 177%. can't wait to talk to rory about it!

these are staggering numbers. however, facebook is warning it's reaching saturation point for the amount of advertising it can show people on their newsfeeds. reports suggest it's looking into video ads, as seen on youtube. thank you very much indeed, aaron. with me is our technology correspondent rory cellanjones. the numbers do seem witty staggering, yet they keep trying to warn us staggering, yet they keep trying to warn us that it won't be as staggering next time. what is the outlook? the interesting thing about facebook is it is becoming more and more like google and apple. like google it has one huge very successful product, which is advertising, and in particular mobile advertising. the vast majority of the profits are coming from advertising on your mobile which didn't exist a few years ago. and when facebook floated, it said it was a worry, and it has dealt with that and is becoming a dominant force. if you want to advertise to

mobile users, which is where most people are, facebook or google are the only places to go. and it is becoming like apple in that it is managing expectations from the market very cleverly. for years, apple used to say, things are not going to be quite so good next quarter, and then it would outperform. last time, facebook said, things could be more difficult ahead, then it outperforms the market and investors are impressed. the other bit of news that came out was this decision by a jury about its oculus rift part of the business, company bought a few years ago, the virtual reality business, and there are questions about who owns the technology, and it would seem facebook is the bad guy, according to thisjury. it lost that case, an important intellectual property case, and it was ordered to pay $500 million. facebook can

afford to shrug that off, and we forget, it is basically huge advertising business, but it is sticking lots of money into other areas, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, things that may not pay off for many years, and it is like google betting on things like d riverless like google betting on things like driverless cars, all of those new technologies, facebook betting on virtual reality. mark zuckerberg admitted last night it may be many yea rs before admitted last night it may be many years before that pays off, but it has got the weight behind it to be able to waste money in some areas. and you and i have been around, we are older, i remember sitting here many years ago with you... speaks yourself! we would talk about the critics saying facebook has got to learn how to monetise adverts on mobile armour and they have done it, they have cracked it and moved on. this is a company that defies the critics and is here to stay. mark zuckerberg right from the early

yea rs has zuckerberg right from the early years has defied people who said you should get in a responsible adult to run the company, he shouldn't take it down that route, he should go to advertising faster. he went advertising faster. he went advertising when he wanted to do it, and has managed it very well. everyday i see people on facebook saying, i have never clicked on an ad,i saying, i have never clicked on an ad, i don't know how it works, but thatis ad, i don't know how it works, but that is the secret. the secret sources they give advertisers clever ways to reach people without people being aware of it. you are back tomorrow, apparently. you're not! i am here, and you are and we will talk about everything! apple, you name it. the viewers love it. rory, we will see you tomorrow. i willjoin you in my living room! you won't be awake at that time! iam you won't be awake at that time! i am loyal like that. let's talk about some of the other news out there. the chief executive of germany's leading stock exchange is being investigated by prosecutors

over the purchase of shares in the company — just weeks before it began merger talks with the london stock exchange. deutsche boerse says carsten kengeter‘s shares were part of an incentive scheme and they are cooperating with the authorities. the share price rose significantly shortly after he acquired the shares. germany's biggest lender deutsche bank has posted a loss for 2016 of $1.5bn. it's an improvement from the year before but reflects the high cost of legal cases and fines the bank has incurred including the $7.2bn penalty it paid in the us over mis—selling linked to the 2008 financial crisis. the bank has more money set aside for such costs and has also recdued it's operating costs. the bank's boss said it showed resilience in a particularly tough year. look at this, this is a story up your alley. it is about airports. heathrow‘s third runway will mean

more domestic airport legs, but when? 2030 ? more domestic airport legs, but when? 2030 7 it more domestic airport legs, but when? 2030? it will take forever! that is more on heathrow expanded sometime, not soon. they have been hammered. and profit outlook, the ghostbusters movie didn't do it for sony, there was a billion—dollar write down. but is a problem for them. 0k. them. ok. i love this story. a chinese car company has announced a deal with a mexican car plant to build up to 10,000 suvs in the country. sarah toms is in singapore. it's almost like tom what you get when you put a chinese car company with a mexican car company, you get two fingers up at trump! that has a lot of uncertainty over the future of trade between mexico and the us, and the question is, could ageing rea p and the question is, could ageing reap the rewards? jac motors certainly hope so, and the chinese

manufacturer and ex—ago's giant motors are investing millions of dollars at the mexican central state of hidalgo. the first cars will roll off the assembly lines later this year. up to 10,000 vehicles could be produced at the plant within four yea rs, produced at the plant within four years, and the deal is expected to create more than 5000 jobs, and the ca i’s create more than 5000 jobs, and the cars will be sold in mexico, central america and south america. very ago! talk to you soon. let's stay with asia and show you some of the numbers. shares in the region touched a four month high. the dollar sagged a bit after the us fed reserve stuck to its mildly upbeat economic view but here's the thing — the bank gave no hint of accelerating rate hikes. europe is expected to open slightly lower today. in a nutshell, what's going

on with the markets at the moment — is that they've gone from hooray for those trump economic policies, tax cuts, big spending, etc. they've gone from that to — we're not to sure about some of your other policies. we're a bit on edge. think of it like this — trump on, trump off. let's go and find out what'll be making the news over there. the other side of the pond. here she is — here's samira. the federal reserve decided not to raise interest rates at the end of this first meeting since president donald trump took office. policymakers kept interest rates unchanged. in making this decision, america's central bank said that the us job market is getting stronger and inflation is gradually rising, but it said it wants more time to monitor the economy. this is pretty much what everyone expected. the fed hasjust increased interest rates in december, and crucially, the trump administration's

economic plans still haven't been spelled out. the fed needs to have a real, clear idea of what the fiscal policy of this government will be in order to effectively steer monetary policy. joining us is alix stewart, fixed income fund manager at schroders. samirwas samir was talking about janet yellen, no decision as the case may be, but it was all completely expected. what is going to happen next, and when will they make the next, and when will they make the next move? that is whatever but it was looking for, trying to get a change in thinking with trump coming m, change in thinking with trump coming in, but we got none of that, really. so it is still, let's wait and see. no big market reaction either way, no disappointment or spike or anything, it was like a nonevent. no disappointment or spike or anything, it was like a noneventm was a bit, which is unusualfrom the

central bank! the event will be when we hear something from trump about janet yellen, because there will be a concern if these two boghead is. yes, we could get a big change in the head of the fed going forward, which could be a big change in policy. talking of central bank action, today is super thursday in the uk, mark carney will be in focus at the bank of england. dust explain what super thursday is about, because several things go on at once. we get updated growth and inflation forecasts, and the economy has been stronger. stronger than everybody thought. stronger than anybody thought, all of the pessimists have been wrong. the bank of england took pre—emptive action immediately after the vote, so everybody will be looking to see what are they going to do now. after the referendum, you are talking about? yes, so the question is now when things are stronger and inflation is picking up stronger than expected, what are they going to do? they have cut interest rates,

they have been buying bonds, so what will they do? normally interest rate is the tool for the central bank, but mark carney, the canadian bloke, the big boss of the bank of england, he has said they could ride inflation even above the target of 296 inflation even above the target of 2% for a little bit before triggering any interest rate rise. given that inflation is driven predominantly by the drop in the pound, then yes, he has said they will look through it to some extent, but he has also said there is a limit to how much they will look through it, so everybody will be looking to see, are they caught in a difficult position with prices picking up? in the meantime, this is extremely busy, because you have the central banks but also so many earning stories coming in, and we will hear from the shall boss later, astrazeneca, facebook, there are many, but what has caught your attention? deutsche bank, the loss

wasn't quite as bad as perhaps it has been previously, and everybody has been previously, and everybody has been previously, and everybody has been focusing on the fines and everything they have had, they are trying to draw a line under that. the question now is how the banks will make money in this low interest rate environment going forward. alix, thank you for coming on. was that your first time? that was painless! even with this man in the chair! it wasn't that bad, was it? still to come, we will be talking to the big ca i’s come, we will be talking to the big ca rs of come, we will be talking to the big cars of formula 1, mclaren. keep your questions coming for what is happening in that arena. you are with business live from bbc news. mobile giant vodafone have released their trading update — and it shows a fall in group revenues of nearly 4%. the uk business was badly hit — down nearly 4%.

theo leggett has been going through the figures. what are they looking like? they are not looking too bad. yes, in the third quarter, group revenues were down by about 4%, £13.7 billion. but their outlook for the year as a whole is pretty much unchanged. vodafone says pre—tax earnings at the end of the year will come in at the end of the year will come in at the lower end of its earnings guidance which was for growth of between 3% and 6%. so it's not as bad as it looks on the surface. if you delve into the figures, throughout europe, which is a big market for vodafone, it's actually doing well. growth in italy, spain and germany, but there is the problem in the uk, due to a lot of competition here. it is also down to lower revenues from roaming because of increased eu regulation. and it is also not selling as much air time to so—called virtual operators. so thatis to so—called virtual operators. so that is one potential problem for

the company. but there is another issue, which is death it has suffered from currency effects. this isa suffered from currency effects. this is a huge company operating in a lot of currencies, and that has taken its toll on the bottom line as well. earlier this week, we had the news from them which is saying they are kind of pulling out of india. they are having problems in india. they have a huge market that, more than 200 million subscribers, but there isa 200 million subscribers, but there is a new entrant into the market, ‘s reliance, and they have stirred things up because they have offered heavily discounted deals, and that is having a big effect on vodafone's revenues. so now they are talking about a merger with another indian provider, indian cellular, to ta ke indian provider, indian cellular, to take on the new threat, but these things take time to get into action. at the moment, reliance has really shaken things up and that has hurt vodafone. thanks, theo. another one we have mentioned this shell. ——

shell. we are going to hear from their boss. he is saying with the pound dropping because of the brexit vote, our petrol prices are going up. the big boss of mclaren and shell will be here shortly. you're watching business live. a reminder of our top story. facebook‘s latest results are better than expected, making it one of the biggest advertising businesses on the planet. a quick look at how markets are faring. they have been on edge a bit since the trump travel ban. they have been

using the same expression trump on, trump off. fourth quarter earnings for shell fell 44% to $1bn — full year earnings were 8% down on 2015. the chief executive ben van buerdon spoke to ben thompson and told him why they are selling a lot of their north sea 0il assets. that's part of the programme. there are a number of levers we have to pull in an environment like this, and selling is an important aspect as well. it helps us, but it's not the only lever. indeed, we have been about $5 billion behind this in terms of deals. we announced over the last few days another $5 billion of divestments, and we are close to announcing another $5 billion. so that is $15 billion of progress of what we said would be a $30 billion divestment programme. another big geopolitical issue is the presidency of donald trump. he has confirmed his commitment to fossil fuels,

to oil, coal and gas. that is great news for you, is it not? it's a bit early to see how that will play out. i think president trump, being the businessman he is, is going to have a lot of focus on a business—friendly agenda. i think president trump has also said he believes that every aspect of the energy system has a role to play, oil and gas being part of it as well as renewables, iwould imagine. and i think that is a welcome development. of course, we believe that the energy transition that we are witnessing is unstoppable. we want to be part of that energy transition. we want to have a portfolio that is resilient in the world with hopefully less than 2 degrees c in terms of warming up. and we think we can thrive in that world as well. motorsport is big business.

they slide into each other, petrol and cars. the most high profile event is formula 1 and just last week, its $8bn takeover by america's liberty media was completed. but there are many other events with different types of cars and bikes being raced all over the world. our next guest runs the biggest digital media group in the world for car enthusiasts. motorsport network connects hundreds of millions of people around the world who love motorsport and cars. it operates in 60 markets around the world and has been expanding to reach even bigger audiences. and of course, languages are important in doing that, which is why it provides its various media in 17 different languages. those services include tv and digital content, live events, merchandising and of course social networking. zak brown is chair of motorsport network and executive director

of mclaren technology group — and joins me now. great to have you on the programme. i want to start with the big story of last week. it's like the changing landscape of formula 1. bernie ecclestone, who pretty much created the whole thing, run it all by himself for a long time. he has kind of been pushed. liberty media has come in. how is it going to change things? i think we have great times ahead of us. bernie obviously did a greatjob getting formula 1 to where it is today. i can't think of another sport where an individual had such an impact. he was a second car salesman. exactly, and he loves formula 1. that said, we are in a new era. things are happening that are different from the past. i think liberty media and the whole team are going to drive formula 1 forward.

such a great sport, so much technology, so many different ways to engage with the fan. that is where we have fallen behind and where we have fallen behind and where we have fallen behind and where we need to catch up. to give our viewers a sense of where you fit m, our viewers a sense of where you fit in, you took over this whole organisation only in december. but you are a racer. you said that was 70 lbs ago. you were talking about white! but let's talk about the issue of change in the industry. you say you are excited, but christian horner, say you are excited, but christian homer, the boss of red bull, told us homer, the boss of red bull, told us that he believes the thrills are out. the audiences are falling. it is not about man and machine any more in the same way it used to be yea rs more in the same way it used to be years ago, when it was really thrilling. it is now all about technology and the cars and how well they perform. the individual in the car is not so important. well, the drivers are the heroes. the cars have become too much of the heroes

and it is technology warfare, and formula 1 has always been about technology. but it has lost its va—va—voom. technology. but it has lost its va-va-voom. absolutely, so we need our heroes fighting again on the track. we have got some great racing. we also need to do a better job of telling the story. that is where the motorsport networks of the world, with the digital applications and the way we engage with fans, the product is great, but i don't think we have done a greatjob of showcasing the product and communicating with the fans. talking of the motorsport network, which you are the chairman of, formula e. i am fascinated by this. i have done some stories on it. when you bring up the sound... just expend what formula e is? it is electric car racing. if

you look at where the auto industry is going, they have timed it perfectly. the technologies they are using, mclaren is now providing the batteries in season five. so right now, you have to change cars in the middle of the race because battery technology will not take you all the way through. mclaren have developed a new battery wear in season five, you will be able to use a single car. that shows the rapid progress of battery technology. so i think formula e has a great place in motorsports. there are a lot of great different racing series. it is not to compete with formula 1. liberty happens to own them both. we should get some viewer questions on that. particle seeker says, when are we going to see a full—size electric mclaren? i don't know. can you give us mclaren? i don't know. can you give usa time mclaren? i don't know. can you give us a time frame? it is kind of like

mobile phones. remember when they we re mobile phones. remember when they were like a brick, and and now they are on your watch? so i think he was the battery technology progress at that type of pace. ian says, how close are mclaren to securing that much awaited title sponsor? we have a ways to go. i only started 45 days ago and! a ways to go. i only started 45 days ago and i appreciate that everyone thinks i have a magic wand. come on, deliver! we have to wrap this up, but when you came in and with what we are seeing with president trump, you said surrounding yourself with the right people was important. we are in the people business. we develop technology and we need the right people in the right places with the right resources. such a pleasure to have you on the show, zak. see you again tomorrow. we have a much windier spell of

weather than we have seen recently. some pretty unsettled conditions on the cards over the next few days. brisk winds and there will be rain at times. a lot of cloud, meaning not much sunshine. today, the strongest of the winds will be across western parts of the country. for the south—west of england, wales and northern ireland. further east, not as windy, but wet wherever you are. 0utbreaks not as windy, but wet wherever you are. outbreaks of rain will move from west to east. windy this afternoon for the south—west of england and wales. some drier spells, but we will see further rain working across the south—east of england, the midlands and east anglia. windy for much of northern england, with showers at times. a bit of brightness in northern ireland. still windy here and across scotland, with outbreaks of rain on and off. with low pressure in

charge, it stays windy through the evening and overnight. further showery rain working slowly west to east across many parts of the country. kira spells as well, but with all that wind, it will stay relatively mild and frost free. 0n friday, we see the next area of low pressure started to approach from the south—west. packed isobars, particularly around the southern flank of that area of low pressure, and that means strong winds, particularly across southern parts of the country. many of us start the day quite, but you will soon see this area of rain were keen to the south—west of england and wales. we will see the strongest winds around the south coast of england. you could see gusts of 50 to 60 mph or even stronger in the most exposed locations. further north across the country, it is much quieter and drier. anywhere around south wales and southern england will be most affected by the winds. around

exposed areas of the isle of wight, you could get 70 to 80 mph gusts, enough to cause damage and disruption to travel. either we can come under pressure is still not far away, bringing wind and rain to follow than areas through the course of saturday. quieter towards the north—west. hello. it's thursday, it's nine o'clock. i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to the programme. the government's strategy for brexit will be published today after mps back theresa may's right to trigger the process for leaving the eu. the ayes to the right, 498. the noes to the left, 114. cheering also this morning — the new property trap. we'll bring you an exclusive report on the misery of homeowners who are locked into high charges

and — in some cases — are having the ground sold from beneath their feet. i have asked the company for a breakdown of how the freeholders