you're watching bbc news at nine with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines... the family of a teenage girl who joined is say they'll fight this is business live from bbc the government's decision to take away her british passport. news with ben thompson but any appeal process and maryam moshiri. re—engerizing south africa. is likely to be lengthy. will the country's 2019 budget, due out in few hours, this is a complex issue and it could give the country's economy a much—needed boost? one for a very long time through the live from london, that's our top courts and i suspect the result is going to be she will stay where she story on wednesday 20th of february. is for maybe two years at least. a warning from the uk's competition watchdog, which says the proposed supermarket merger between sainsbury‘s and asda could push up prices. mpjoan ryan becomes the eighth to quit labour to join africa's second biggest the new independent economy has been rocked by recent power shortages, group in parliament. with the government under pressure ina to come up with a plan in a toughening of their response, to keep the lights on. labour say they also in the programme. a warning from the uk's competition watchdog, who say the mega supermarket merger between sainsbury and asda could push up prices.

european markets are looking like this. we'll look at what's moving those numbers and why. and we'll be getting the inside track on the lucrative hair industry. it's a highly competive market to break into, but we'll be speaking to a firm that's trying to weave its way into the industry. as a south korean firm launches a make—up range for 5—7—year—olds, we want to know — how young is too young? let us know — just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. welcome to the programme. we start in south africa, where in a few hours from now, the finance minister tito mboweni will announce the country's budget for 2019. many will be hoping the budget can help reverse the nation's economic fortunes. in recent years, its economy has been overtaken by nigeria, becoming africa's largest. and there are many challenges ahead.

the country's state utility firm eskom is currently $31 billion in debt and remains a major headache for the government. eskom is currently struggling to supply africa's most industrialized nation with enough power and says it may run out of funds by april. ratings agencies have a close eye on events there too. many analysts are predicting that moody's mayjoin fitch and s&p by downgrading south africa to "junk status" if the situation is not resolved soon. "junk status" means the cost of borrowing will be more expensive. however, debt is not the only issue for south africa. the country is also trying to tackle a high jobless rate. last month, the unemployment rate hit 27.1%, meaning 6 million potential workers were without a job. and the country's currency — the rand — has fallen 18% against the us dollar over the past year. this week alone it's down 6%, as international investors remain

concerned over the issues at eskom. annabel bishop is chief economist at investec and joins us from johannesburg. thank you forjoining us. this is a state—run company and produces 95% of the electricity in south africa. it can't be allowed to fail, can it? it's such a huge headache for the south african government. it's a key issue because the utility eskom has 440 billion rand worth of debt guaranteed by the south african government. causing the country to be at risk of a serious credit rating downgrade. with the utility battling to supply electricity, should its financial issues worsen, this will obviously cause the supply

to be even more intermittent and in turn negatively impact economic growth. and then of course making it less likely unemployment will start to make its way down. what tools do the south african government have to help eskom at this point?” the south african government have to help eskom at this point? i think there are quite a lot of tools available. 0bviously looking at operational and other issues, there are experts being brought in to improve the quality of supply at eskom to try and repair the damage. and then obviously looking to improve skills levels at eskom and dividing it into three separate culprits which could relieve pressure as well. looking at the finances themselves, the government is offering financial assistance to eskom. not enough to solve its debt problems and liquidity issues but to start doing that on a drip by drip basis to keep going until it can return to a profitable base and work

its own debt levels down. what other pressing issues need to be addressed in terms of the south african economy? i think certainly the last key credit rating agency moody's and needing to provide a substantial financial allocation to eskom, moody's has said if we increase expenditure levels this could see a credit rating negative result. that means we are likely to see our sta ble means we are likely to see our stable outlook turn into a negative outlook which ultimately means within 18 months we could see a credit rating downgrade. 0bviously, having a look at eskom itself it needs this financial assistance government will need to have a neutral effect by removing expenditure from other categories to pushit expenditure from other categories to push it into eskom thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. prosecutors have raided the offices

of hyundai motor in seoul as part of an investigation into how the car—maker and affiliate kia motors handled vehicle recalls over engine defects. in 2017, a civic group filed a complaint alleging hyundai had delayed fixing engine defects that prompted massive recalls in korea and the united states. hyundai and kia deny the allegations. cathay pacific shares soared more than 6% in hong kong trading after the carrier said it expected an annual profit of around $293 million. that's nearly double analyst estimates. the airline is pushing a turnaround plan that aims to cut costs and boost revenues. japan's exports fell 8.4% in january from the same time last year — that's the biggest fall in more than two years. economists see the drop as a sign of slowing external demand. that helped widen the trade deficit of the world's third biggest economy. and ford has announced it will close a factory in brazil after more than 50 years as it stops selling heavy commercial trucks in south america.

the us car—maker said it saw "no viable path to profitability" for the sao bernardo do campo plant, which employs about 2,800 people. we are bringing you up—to—date with the story breaking in the last hour. the regulator dealing a blow to the supermarket chain sainsbury in its attempt to merge with its rival asda. the regulator says a merger between the two could lead to higher prices and reduce choice for customers. sainsbury‘s shares are down 13% in the first of trade. nina warhurst is following this for us from our salford newsroom. sainsbury‘s were pretty confident the deal would get the go—ahead but the deal would get the go—ahead but the regulator are worried about certain things. they will be really disappointed and surprised because this plan between asda and sainsbury‘s, the merger would see

them create 2800 stores, coming together under one company and potentially knocking the mighty tesco off its perch. they've dominated for decades now. they want to do it because they say their market has been infiltrated by brands like lidl and aldi and they say that as a bigger company the economy of scale will drive down prices. the competition and markets authority telling us they don't agree with that, quite the opposite in fact. they are the regulator who makes your competition is fair in british markets. they had said if and when they merge, what will happen on a local scale is if you've only got an asda and sainsbury‘s and one other it would mean prices would be driven up and on a national scale they say that would lead to fewer products, higher prices and even higher prices at petrol pumps which would affect every family in the uk. sainsbury‘s and asda say they fundamentally misunderstood the savings they would bring and they

say that's a shame because it could directly hit customers' pockets at a time of economic uncertainty around brexit. thank you. shares in sainsbury‘s are down on the knees. across asia... tokyo stocks up for a third straight session, supported by a solid performance on wall street and hopes for progress in us—china trade talks. us president donald trump said the talks were "going very well" but were "very complex". but they suggested they could move that deadline of march the 1st back a bit. european stocks largely finished lower yesterday with a bit of profit—taking going on. dealers had no positive news to latch onto, and that was part of the reason equities edged lower. global trade remains a factor. the us president said the march deadline is not a "magical date" and traders reacted well

to the signs of flexibility. but at the same time, the eu made it clear they will hit back if president trump decides to start a trade war with the the union. he has talked about tariffs on car imports among other things. they say they will hit back if that happens. michelle fleury has the details of what's ahead on wall street today. this wednesday, america's central bank releases the minutes from its january policy meeting — the one where it surprised financial markets by putting rates on hold and indicating it might take a more flexible approach to its balance sheet. they are likely to show federal reserve officials are increasingly worried about downside risks to the us economy. turning to earnings and the pharmacy chain cvs is likely to report higher profits for the fourth quarter. cvs became the largest single health company in the united states after it completed a merger with health insurer aetna last november. and at an event in san francisco, samsung — the world's largest smartphone maker — is expected to unveil a phone with a foldable screen.

joining us is shaun port, chief investment officer at investment management company nutmeg. thank you forjoining us. let's talk gold. we've seen the price of gold rising, this rise in the price of gold started after we saw a few central banks giving off dovish signs. we are at the highest level since last april, bearing in mind speculators were heavily speculating against the gold price. central banks like russia where really buying gold and diversifying away from us dollars. this year, the central banks have been more dovish, the fed has pivoted away from keeping rates on hold, talking about reducing its bond programme. at the same time the european central bank has been coming markets. that is naturally good for gold. gold doesn't produce an income so it tends to be short—term and other commodity prices like platinum are rising as well. sterling got a bit

ofa rising as well. sterling got a bit of a beast yesterday, we saw earnings rising as well —— a bit of a boost. in theory we should have a bit more cash in our pocket. yes, good income after inflation. inflation has been falling and great is really good, employment is still quite strong. the backdrop for consumer spending should be quite good but of course consumer confidence in business confidence is still weak. a lot of economists are looking ahead after this agreement to when consumer spending should rebound with a bit more confidence in the uk economy. maybe! laughter you're coming back to be the papers, thank you forjoining us. still to come — untying the knots. we'll be speaking to the firm which is to trying to take on the big brands in the lucrative hair industry. you're with business live from bbc news.

intu — the owners of big shopping centres like lakeside in essex and metrocentre in gateshead — have reported full year results. they've seen 0.6% growth in rental incomes but property valuations have fallen 13.3%. suzy ross is a senior retail advisor at accenture has suffered a dramatic slump in its share price over the past year. good morning. explain this, right down in the value is quite a big one. yes, it reflects a couple of challenges for intu and shopping malls in general. the first is a challenge around retail in general where you are seeing people spending shift from buying goods and services into experiences. intu's shopping centres a re into experiences. intu's shopping centres are focused on fashion, 70% is fashion and needing to transition their tenant base over to a more

experiential base. they need deep pockets and access to capital which is obviously difficult given their current share price. there was quite a showdown with mark ashley the founder of sports direct, one of the buyers of house of fraser, a stake in debenhams, he had a showdown over rents and it illustrates that difficulty that landlords want to keep the value and how much money they make versus the tenants who say we are making less, we should be paying less. yes. it reflects a transition that the tenant base needs to change and that's going to ta ke needs to change and that's going to take time, it's going to involve a change in the how much tenants pay as they move into a more experiential, you know, like westfield where you have a lot more food and beverage and what we call

retailtainment. it's going to play out over the next five years. thank you. 0n the website, plenty more business news including this story. a report on the gender pay gap. we've had plenty of news today after bbc research showed four in ten private companies that have published their latest gender pay gap are reporting why did gaps than last year. we will be speaking to the chief executive of the equality and human rights commission telling them that equality in the workplace isn'tjust about tackling equal pay. you're watching business live — our top story. in the next few hours, south africa will announce its 2019 budget. the government is under pressure to revive the country's economy. much more for you online as we get details of that budget that is hoped

to restore and revive the fortunes for the ailing economy there. now, shampoo, conditioner, haircare — it's a multi—billion—dollar market with lots of competition. not an easy one to conquer. but it's lucrative for the firms that get it right. the latest figures show the global haircare market is expected to hit $211 billion by 2025. the majority of that market is for shampoo, which accounts to close to 35% of all hair products sold. at the same time, firms are cashing in on growing new trends, for natural or organic products, or ones with specific brand values. so, let's speak to david justin. he's the founder of mr smith. welcome to the programme. festival, explained to me how mr smith is different to the other products we see out there. one of our main differences are our is built around

luxury, exclusive and boutique product. that synergy also with we use small chain manufacturing, organic ingredients and clean ingredients to create premium products. that is our point of difference in the market. launched three years ago in australia with two products. yes, we had a balancing and conditioner. is a pretty tough market to get into. so much competition, so many different brands. how do you get from two products launched in australia three yea rs products launched in australia three years ago to hear where you are in nine different markets? we are in ten international markets around the world. i think we've been quite lucky with our staff but also our distributors and our salon network that have taken on the brand from a young standpoint. you sell three salons as opposed to being on

supermarket shelves? yes, we supply retail. how does australia differ from the uk or europe? for us, i feel there's a lot of similarities. there are slight differences obviously but i think around the world there is a big shift towards a gender neutral product. what does that mean? all our products are unisex. i was shampoo, conditioner can be used for male, female, a lot of us have very similar needs and requirements with our haircare products. they are completely adaptable. i have to say, you have lovely hair! laughter it's one of those days where you feel conscious of your hair. we talk about it being an international business and it really is for you. it's easy for us to put out as a throwaway comment. your mother, the creative director of the business, is based in

australia. i assume you travel a lot, how do you make that work?|j suppose lot, how do you make that work?” suppose just a lot of time on e—mails and looking at a screen. we spend a lot of time in our markets and dealing with our distributors. we are very fortunate with the team we have back in australia at our hq. what's it like working with mum? laughter you've got me on a good day! given that she's sitting over there! we are all right today! what advice would you give to people hoping to get into a saturated market? when you looked at the shampoo market you must have thought, there's so much going on. how do you make stand out?” thought, there's so much going on. how do you make stand out? i think with any new business, if you have a clea n with any new business, if you have a clean and simple brand and brand message, it's easy for a customer or your target customer to resonate with that and understand what message you are putting out in the market. whereas i think if your

convoluted, there's already so much noise in the market, especially the beauty industry. it does make it a bit harderfor them to beauty industry. it does make it a bit harder for them to resonate with your brand. what has been the ha rd est your brand. what has been the hardest thing? we ask this to eve ryo ne hardest thing? we ask this to everyone who comes in because there are so many challenges to setting up are so many challenges to setting up a business, clearly in the uk right now it's brexit and uncertainty.” suppose the biggest issue has been organic rate. get enquiries every day from new markets and while it would be easy to launch market after market, you really need to support and grow in the markets you are established in. before breaching out into new markets. the tendency is you've got the products, you could just sell them into a new market, why won't you do that? because i think for us we want to make sure that the salons and the retailers have taken on a brand we do support and the same without distributors. being such a young brand, everyone makes mistakes and we want to make we minimise any moving parts. as

simple and easy as we can make that. thank you. and thank you to your mum as well he was behind the camera! it's a secretive industry that impacts the lives of millions of people every day — but few of us ever consider where painkilling drugs come from. the australian island of tasmania is responsible for growing around half of the world's legal opium supply — but as hywel griffith has been finding out, it is an industry feeling pain of its own. it's one of australia's best kept secrets. a global drug supply that blossoms and blooms in the tasmanian hills. full farmer will big no, growing opium poppies has helped double the income of his business giving him money to invest in sheep

and crops. it's an intensive process. in a few months, the seed pods are processed into painkilling opiate drugs used around the world. ina opiate drugs used around the world. in a couple of decades, this has become a multi—million dollar business that has proved profitable for this little island. like any global trade, it's vulnerable to changes in the market on the other side of the world. america's opioid crisis has made international headlines. in the us painkilling drugs are linked to 140 overdose deaths every day. since 2013, prescription rates have been cut back year—on—year causing demand for the drug to drop. there are still plenty of farmers looking to find profit in poppies, hoping the pain their industry has been feeling will soon pass. what other business stories has the media been taking an interest in? shaun port from nutmeg

joins us again. let's talk about this story, in the washington post this morning. south korea's beauty industry now aiming for the super young. some astonishing photos of children as young as five wanting make up, they've got treatments, how young is too young? south korea is one of the biggest cosmetics manufacturers in asia, dominant in asia but going as low as four for asia, dominant in asia but going as low as fourfor children, asia, dominant in asia but going as low as four for children, trying to find a new market. south korea has one of the highest rates of cosmetic surgery in the world. targeting kids with cartoons to get them to buy make up. it's fascinating peek at some of them will be too young to read the packaging. they won't even know what's inside because they are so young they've not learned to read. absolutely. a lot of pressure for the parents from their kids.”

have a six, four and two—year—old and my six and four—year—olds have tried to put on lipstick. their lips have come up really red and sore and isaid, have come up really red and sore and i said, it's not meant for young skin, don't use it. they aren't allowed, i think it's too young. a lot of tweets about this. kevin says preteen is too young. philippa says that the child likes it and the pa rent that the child likes it and the parent consents, what does it matter? there are worse things to worry about. alice says i used to rate my mum's make box and ended up looking like a clown. nothing wrong with looking like a clown!” looking like a clown. nothing wrong with looking like a clown! i pay people and had to do it since. rebecca says teaching kids especially girls to value people on surface appearance not through strength and personality is hideous. you've got to teach your kids it's what's on the inside, which is why you are utterly gorgeous! laughter

this is an interesting story, this is in the guardian, further details on the swindon plant closure for a honda and the number ofjobs associated. honda have announced 3500 jobs they expect to be lost from the supply chain. that seems quite low. it doesn't reflect what happens in the local area for people spending less. we haven't heard anything from toyota yet, so interesting to see what happens next. thank you. there will be more business news throughout the day on the bbc live web page and on world business report. more reaction to that story about sainsbury‘s and asda. asda are owned by walmart and their shares are down 1596. by walmart and their shares are down 15%. much more on the website. and you might put some make—up on later and put it on twitter, he's over the age seven! bye—bye.

the day is shaping up to be another unseasonably mild one right across the british isles. it's notjust today, it's on into the weekend that we will see this flow all the way from north africa up towards the british isles that will keep it mild both by day and also night. to the extent that at some point over the next few days, somewhere in the british isles could be pushing towards 18 celsius. that's a long sea track, picking up a lot of moisture. hence a lot of cloud to be had. even into the afternoon, i think many northern and western parts of the british isles could be keeping enough cloud about proceedings for the odd bit and

piece of rain. parts of northern ireland and north—eastern scotland in central and eastern parts of england will be looking at a brighter prospect and the temperatures responding as a consequence. even where these guys stay clear for any length of time in the night to come, and that's going to be the case across the midlands and down towards the south and east, here the temperatures dribbling away to five, six, 7 degrees or so. northern ireland could be looking at a night minimum of 10—11. northern ireland could be looking at a night minimum of10—11.0n thursday, the high pressure over the continent just about keeping thursday, the high pressure over the continentjust about keeping frontal systems away from northern ireland and the western isles of scotland. another decent day in prospect, variable amounts of cloud and look at the temperatures, we are finding another degree also. the high pressure doing its stuff across the continent. a lot of fine, settled weather. the cold are confined to

parts of scandinavia and the eastern side of europe. as we move from thursday into friday, it's still that flow from the azores up towards the greater part of the british isles that will dominate. by this stage i think the system will have worked its way across parts of scotla nd worked its way across parts of scotland and into northern ireland. cloudy with bits and pieces of rain here. with that flow, if the sun p°p5 here. with that flow, if the sun pops out, perhaps the north of wales we could be looking at 17—18. we start the weekend, something a bit less mild on sunday.