>> ukraine facing eu imposed sanctions following the deadliest day of protests. they are obama says outraged that the violence. global finance ministers gather in sydney for the g 20 meeting in the dispute between the u.s. and emerging markets over the winding down the federal reserve stimulus take center stage. , one saysspeakers trillions are needed in global infrastructure. earnings are breaking for the second largest insurer. we speak to their ceo.

hello. welcome to "countdown." i'm mark barton. bloomberg reporters are standing by across the world ready to deliver the stories that will drive your day. onberlin with the latest ukraine. paul allen from sydney ahead of the g 20 meeting. in the studio, jonathan ferro has the details on it or leave thousand job cuts rbs is planning and managed tranny will usmanus cranny will bring the earnings from gucci. helped by higher earnings in its property, and or

casualty divisions. those are the biggest. net income increasing to 4.48 billion euros. 4.74ngs have missed the billion euro analysts had expected in surveys. axa is also investing 6 billion euros in fast-growing nations like china, colombia as the sluggish economy ways on european insurer revenue. yes, profitability has risen at axa, the second-biggest insurer in europe. .evenue up by 2% it was exactly that, 81 euro

cents. we will be speaking to the man himself, the head of axa. don't miss that exclusive interview. a deadly week of violence since protests began three months ago. they reported that 75 protesters had died and over 300 hospitalized in the clashes that broke out on february 18. david joins us with more from berlin. >> we just want to look at some of the financial aspect of this because we have seen the downgrade coming through from s and p ratings company. at first sight, you think they are behind the curve on this but if you look closer at the note, they look as if they are ahead of the curve because they are looking beyond the government.

they are concerned that they could default unless there is a significant change in circumstances. wary that the aid will be linked to the president staying in power. thatare clearly concerned $15 billion will not be coming on the table. then they look at the eu-u.s.-imfof supported and the chances are that support would be linked to further fiscal consolidation exchange rates, flexibility, structural reform. the big question is who from the current opposition would be able to form a government that would be strong enough to actually push these reforms through? that is why they are concerned about default. we have seen rally is in the wekets on the hopes that

will see some sort of solution in the next few days. this note here just looking through wondering about what any new government might potentially look like. >> david, the action briefly turning to the european union in brussels last night. >> that's right. the commissioner in charge of has come outions and said the eu will impose sanctions including visa bans on some of the key players in the ukraine, those associated with the president. we are talking about asset freezes. we have not got a list of the names whose assets will be frozen. exportll also suspend licenses of wired. there's another eu plan and this is one --t has been put to yannick has been put to the president.

this is a plan that calls for constitutional change it under the elections. we are waiting for the response we might get on that plan. >> what has been the response of the russians towards all of this? saying thatans are the potential of eu sanctions are just goading of into taking more action. they're sending an envoy to talk to the opposition. once again, we wait for more news today. it will be breaking all morning. >> david, thank you. david tweed, european editor, live from berlin. sydney playing host to a gathering of central bankers and they are urging to use the meeting to developing strategies to help the economies. paul allen joins us now from sydney.

that between the u.s. and emerging markets going to be resolved at this g 20 gathering? morning, mark. pardon me for my cynicism but i'm trying to remember when any g" gatherings have solved anything. that said, it has been a huge theme in the buildup to this g 20 conference. the effect of tapering and the need for emerging markets to get their house in order. if you delegates have already said that leading up to it. jack lew, treasurer joe hockey has been talking about it. the secretary-general of the oecd. it sounds like the scene is being set for something of a showdown for all of these western economies talking about emerging markets needing to get their own houses in order rather

than complaining about the impact of tapering. looking forward to hearing from some of the financial ministers of those emerging markets once the g 20 really gets underway tomorrow. when you get the agreements like this, you tend to end up with a tepid statement about sharing broad constructive goals and how to get there. >> what else is on the agenda this weekend in sydney? >> growth pretty much. i feel like i've been hearing the same speech being delivered by the australian treasurer every day now for about two weeks. that is something they have been talking about today in the pre-events leading up to the g 20. when the secretary-general mentioned that they did also say they were running out of options. >> we have run out of room on the monetary policy side. we have almost run out of room on the fiscal policy side.

everyone is trying to reduce deficits and reduce their debt. what we have left is structural change. but there we are. the scene is set for the g 20 kicking off tomorrow morning here in sydney. >> paul allen there live in sydney. the royal bank of scotland is planning to cut 30,000 jobs according to the financial times. they come as rbs shuts down riskier investment banking businesses. pulling out of the u.s. and asian markets. jonathan ferro has the details. saying they could cut 25% of those 120,000 staffs. a spokesperson declined to comment but potentially huge, deep cuts to be overseen by the ceo. not a big surprise. we had an idea that they would be shrinking back the investment been an obvious

decision. ross mcewen spoke recently. >> can i just tell you my aspiration is not to run the world's largest bank. that is not my aspiration. my aspiration is to run the best bank in the u k. >> that the not sound like a man that's going to go on a hiring spree. the latest are not bank to scale back their investment business. >> they are not the first in the u.k. to do it either. they have spent time going back to the core business, wealth management, moving away from pure investment. for rbs, it's probably more socially palatable for wider society being that it is set to become a bank that is more focused on consumer lending. >> what does that mean for the stakeholder? >> that's the most fascinating part of the story.

you have the biggest bank bailout in this country's history am a 40 5 billion pounds, and you look at where we are at right now, 400 seven pence breakeven and we are just above three pounds 60 -- 407 pence breakeven. you think george osborne and david cameron want a stake in this bank? the returns for shareholders? what happens to the share price? will they be able to sell any stake ahead of the election? >> it's like selling lloyd's line.the we are getting earnings from gucci, coma, and others. >> weakest growth in four years. when you think of this group, you think of high-end luxury and sports. it's neither here and there.

>> coma is not doing too well -- puma is not doing too well? it's afamily of brands, big list. fourth-quarter sales rose by two temps of one percent and the market was looking for a 0.8% and it's the weakest growth since 2009, since the fourth quarter. they are spending money on the stores and taking the brand upscale. point is even more exclusive. >> where are we in the transitioning story? >> this is a year of further transition am a further store refers. i want to get this balance in. gucci is the balance but the brand, mostlyega women's leather but they do other leather products.

growth pacing ahead of analyst estimates. they were only looking for about 12% there. 42% and laurent up there has been a bit of a rebranding story. the market was looking for 19% so i think what we have here is a polio and a push. the drag i'm seeing is gucci it is almost 35% of the revenue, hence why it is so important. >> and pull, puma. what was the message yesterday? >> there are still a lot more to do. full-year earnings dropped by 34% and their fishing for space. pushing adidas, puma for space on the floor of department stores. they are doing 25% of the teams in the world cup. it's all about marketing.

>> see you later. next hour, don't miss the best in design this year from theitecture and design, previews for design of the year. the editor for digital arts will give us his picks on in the no. that's the next hour coming up. speaking with a snowboarder and all around adrenaline junkie who survived an avalanche. we show you the technology that saved her life. ♪ >

>> they are getting back to normal. are arguablychina on a sustainable growth path. they are slowing down, consolidating, moving forward. i expect europe to stagnate but it will get through the quality review and that's a huge share of the world economy when you add that up. even extending into sub-saharan africa, they are on a reasonable path. peterson institute for

national economic speaking to bloomberg at the pre-g 20 event in sydney. welcome back to "countdown." i mark barton. going down down under this weekend as sydney hosts the g 20 meeting. robert joins us today. can this solve the spot that has brewed between emerging markets? >> it will definitely be a focus of the g 20. they have been very vocal on that. of coordination on tapering monetary policy across the globe is unlikely to gain much traction, really. there will be a rather firmer bottle. >> lipservice.

pay liprry yellen even service at this g 20 gathering echo -- will char yellen even pay lip service? >> that train has left the station. it is a message to be conveyed and it is one that emerging markets and economies around the world need to be responsible for their own. said.george osborne he said it was only two years ago that emerging markets were asking for the opposite. they were moaning about excess qe and now they are moaning about the other side. >> you cannot have your cake and eat it. >> what is your take on how asset classes have fared this year? january was dominated by movement and emerging-market assets.

to the downside, we have seen some sort of pick up since then. where are we in this thinking on emerging markets right now as we approach the end of the second market of the-- quarter of the year? >> 2011 was the peak. reactionas much been a to the over exuberance from last year which is dealing with harshly the risk premium. in terms of emerging markets, they're struggling to cope with the new world order, if you like , which is developed markets with trade flows, much lower shipping rates and that does not suit the kind of export led world that emerging-market economies have become accustomed to. there is some adjustment required.

and it is to be expected he? >> that's right. if you think where emerging markets were, it's a very different story that the kind of adjustments required are far less and magnitude, the twin deficits of debt and foreign currency. that is not the feature this time around but they still need to rebalance and reshape their economy. china is the poster child for that. >> robert will be staying with .s from can accord genuity more on the u.s., u.k., eurozone, and japan with robert. stay with us. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." breaking news from the g 20. the draft communiqué says they will develop new measures to increase global growth. robert is with us from can accord genuity. yesterday was the deadliest day of protests and it kicked off at the end of november. we saw a slight move in asset imposedith the eu sanctions. there's a feeling we could be ander to an end game whatever that means. how are you reacting? downgrade we saw

overnight, they're citing the possibility of the default being quite realistic. it is perhaps unlikely. the aid from russia has been delayed and i think the rush -- the idea that russia can go on supporting the country in that way whilst there have been sanctions from the u.s., the eu, to the current incumbent, it is unlikely to be able to continue. it is a real and present danger, as you say. interest rates have spiked and the currency is down. >> does this have ramifications beyond the borders of ukraine or is it isolated? is more difficult. i'm not a political strategist but i worry. : geographically is in a similar position between russia and the eu. is not a good backdrop for

emerging markets and for the contraction of risk premiums to have this kind of a crisis. >> it does paint a cloudy picture. busy week for u.s. data. make some sense of what is and is not weather related. [laughter] >> good luck with that. we will figure that out in the second quarter. the data has been mixed at best and i think for a time we have just been looking at the best of the bad bunch in the developing market recoveries. it seems to be getting closer towards trend growth. the idea in the fed minutes that they're going to reconsider forward guidance to come down towards the thresholds i mean, the 6.5% level could be reached in the second quarter and that is required because of the headline number there. it is kind of overstating the strengthen the u.s. economy.

if you look at these measures which discourage workers to work part-time for economic reasons -- >> we have to leave it there. "countdown" will continue. ♪

>> i mark barton in london and these are the top headlines. they have reported 75 protesters have been killed and more than 300 hospitalized since the violence began that you where he 18th. the eu government has imposed sanctions on ukrainian officials. yesterday, key of was the most violent days since the breakup of the soviet union a quarter century ago. charlie rose spoke to the u.s. jimmy carter's national security adviser. >> it goes beyond ukraine to the heart of the issue. what will russia be, rudy next decade or so he?

now, is embarking rush on some kind of nostalgic, i --irrationaltional russian union that would really be a restoration of the soviet union minus some of the european portions and of course the russian empire. >> you can watch the full interview on charlie rose airs at 10:00 p.m. u.k. time tonight. world finance ministers meeting in sydney this weekend. emerging markets must take center stage. >> it's happening in a more orderly way. many of these problems are happening in emerging economies and they may be marginally related to interest rates going up. also, i think we should take a hard look at around problems emerging and developing countries.

welcome to "countdown." i am mark barton. a lot of people are talking about the $19 billion price tag on the facebook deal. will it be worth it? others are gaining ground. is joining us from hong kong to let us know who those are. good morning, david. not call them asian rivals. they are global rivals who just happen to come from this part of the world. at this. take a look they are owned by the second largest internet company and its hugely popular here in hong kong. this is the one endorsed just to give you really an indication of how global they want to get. do messaging,ly

voice, it has a walkie-talkie feature. all you have to do is essentially clicked on something, record your voice, and send it out. in japan, there is one called is listed in south korea. they say they have about 300 million registered users. you can do group chats up to 100 people. not sure how that accomplishes anything but that's available. and you also have the one in south korea hugely popular that has cornered the marker there. of users are already overseas. at this point, they have surpassed 130 million registered users as of last year. i'm mentioning these because these are very fast-growing. keep in mind what makes a lot of these messaging apps popular is that you have a strong foundation ran a lot of people use them and they are very well entrenched, highly populated

markets here in asia. back to you. >> david inglis in hong kong. times for today's olympic hotshots. canadian women's hockey has their own gold beading team usa and over time giving canada a fourth successive women's ice hockey title. the russian teenager upsetting defending olympic champion in women's figure skating. the 17-year-old was ninth in the 2013 world championship. the most expensive olympic games ever are in their final day. i have cost russia 44 billion dollars in my next guest says there could be more costs to come. at thessociate fellow business school at university of oxford am joins us now. thanks for joining us today. why are olympic games so costly relative to other megaprojects ?

have more significant cost overruns and we see that as compared to other megaprojects. is 170 nine percent and this is extreme compared to any other type of megaproject and we think the reason is the bidding process for the games is very different what you would get from other megaprojects. >> on this measures the cost of the time of bidding from the costs that are reported at the end. >> correct. >> what have you discovered? >> the significant cost overrun, they have always been 100%. >> every single games from rome until 2012. >> exactly. of the some of the projects tend to come in on budget but in the games that's just not the case. was the most costly

olympics ever. how does that figure? people keep telling us that sochi cost $50 billion. it's a different thing but it cost him the cost overall. our report was looking specifically at sports related for like transportation, logistics, sports equipment. and the cost of actually building the sporting venues. when you include infrastructure, roads, railroads, airport he can differ from city to city and it has a significant impact. >> besides that, london the most costly ever. why? [laughter] >> good question. been decliningd in recent olympics. london bridge a trend. broke that trend. montréal,nor goes to

800% cost overrun. >> there was a positive trend to the fading cost overruns. montréal 1976. beijing was cheap relatively? you startng on when with. london is a big city and had a significant amount of costs in terms of actually just building within the confines of the city that was actually there. beijing had more luxury to have more space around the actual site they had chosen for the games. cities take this data more into account when they bid for games and when they cost? >> we would expect it. one thing we are trying to achieve is greater transparency is how large the cost overrun is likely to be. the citizens of any country

should consider the fact that on average they are three times what the original bid cost is. when you are actually voting, a lot of the cities have actual votes before they submit the bids to go to the olympic committee, if you are a citizen of that country it's in your best interest to really reflect on what the impact is going to be at the cost overrun does come into being. we have seen it consistently the 1960'sgame since . >> it begs the question why anyone would want to host the olympics. >> it's a great way to really get all of your infrastructure connect it. it's a great way to get all of the political parties connected and all moving in the same direction and have a negative story coordinated system of upgrades. other cities that don't necessarily have an event like this, it can make 20-30 years to make that impact and with the

games you can make the impact and seven. it has a severe impact. >> do we have any figures on sochi or is it? too early >> we really don't have any details. we have the detail released last february from the russian deputy prime minister who said it would be about $51 billion which would be a significant cost overrun. unless you have the breakdown to compare how much of it actually goes towards the games am a sports infrastructure, general infrastructure and that part of get that levele of granularity we cannot know with the actual cost overrun is. >> allison stewart, thank you business school from oxford. champions league match, a big one. join us for the sports segment match he is man of the

before it's even begun. ♪

>> time for today's company news. rbs is planning to shrink the riskier investment banking service according to "the financial times." torbs spokesperson declined comment on the report. they are the largest government-owned lender. citigroup chief executive receiving a 25% pay rise last year bringing his earnings to .ore than $14 million last year, citigroup reported an 84% jump in profit as he boosted revenue and cut costs. selling its australian refine vitol. they are paying about $2.6 billion as shall accelerates sales. to "countdown." i am mark barton. chelsea meeting the turkish team in the champions

league. gba is looking to be the striker of the game. ben littleton joins us now for some pre-strike analysis. galatasaray versus chelsea, a game with a lot of history. a usedst the cause drogb to play for chelsea and now he plays for galatasaray. there's a bit of scandal. >> the former manager from an intermilan. 8 eight years at chelsea, nikon, a hero,-- an icon, a hero, a legend. the players coming in since he left have not done that well. goals per 90 minutes.

not much better. he was the main guy and he has come back from injury and is probably not going to start. another african hero. >> he does well in the big games but maybe not outside of them. >> he did score the hat trick. he will probably start. what this says, really, is that even though chelsea has not had a top line they've done really well. >> once they get a decent striker. >> in the summer they will pay top dollar for a striker and then it will be scary because they will be so much better. they are in premier league contention without a top center forward. sex video fancy chelsea in this or not -- >> will you fancy chelsea? >> yes. >> in europe, the big knock on is he won the premier

league with manchester but europe teams never do as well and this is the record. he's been eliminated three times and they never got out of their groups. twice in the round of 16 and both times with an term allowing -- with inter milan. they were just flopping. mourinho, three times he's been a semifinalist, twice a winner. the crucial time was 2008-2010 when he replaced mancini and he won the champions league. >> did not do so well at real madrid. won on penalties, losing one to barcelona. it's not a disaster. not? that true or >> different players and different tactics. >> do you think chelsea, because

of the style of play, is probably the best prospect of beating the likes of bayern munich and barcelona? .> certainly among the english chelsea is the team that could really stifle bayern munich and frustrate them. >> we will talk about the english team efforts in champions league. let's talk about manchester united. but thereknow why must be some reason. better in theen champions league some would say. could they have gotten some respite. the douglas performances this season have been in the champs league. 5-1 and 4-2. maybe there's less pressure and europe. i think opponents still think

whereas inthis aura, the premier league everyone thinks they can win. and hass gone to fulham not played yet but he was the top scorer in the group stages. he has gone on as well. they will not be as good attacking wise. be the it will quarterfinals and it just depends who you draw. >> it does. between the top four sides and the rest, especially where united is concerned -- >> a are very much in the rest. ben is staying with us for the newspapers. addition on latest the slopes. the issue of safety has become more important. means more danger from avalanches. here's a kit you should not

leave the chalet without. >> you can survive under an avalanche 15 minutes. you can be completely broken and you are dead already. suddenly, everything cracked around me. i understood that i was on top of a huge window list -- wind lift. i just kept falling and the huge avalanche. it was so much powder. you just sweep all over. most of the time, it is more dangerous. it differs on the time of the year. south facing after midday is really dangerous. you have to ride in the environment you know. at the beginning, it was really big and heavy. now it is really small.

the most important thing is it keeps you floating and then you don't really need to swim even if you are unconscious, you're out of the avalanche. it is the airbag. >> the brits make the market so cheap and we will dive into the numbers after the break. ♪

>> the time in london is 6:52 a.m. and an hour away from the start of today's equity session. let's talk about the newspapers. ben is here. hans might join us. this is the front of "the daily sports section. for those that have not been following so cheap, this is the laity of the moment when it comes to great written. --great britain. medalcured the british and she was devastated after losing to canada on wednesday. this is the best ever winter 1936.cs since we have equaled the best haul since 1924.

we could actually win more medals, more than four. disqualified in speed skating twice going into the 1000 final in the four men bobsled is still am to metal. -- medal. sport in most exciting the winter olympics. it's been quite a week. as we touched on, english champions league. it's the gap between us and the best widening? >> england's best playing like underdogs and it says even though we lost both games, arsenal losing to bayern munich losing to barcelona, we could see progress. we were quite good in the first 15 minutes against byron munich.

man city kept up with barcelona until they were reduced to 10 men. they contained them. barcelona, yes, had a lot of possessions. the gap is increasing little. >> on the subject of missing penalties, you've written a book about that. i gather it will be published in the next month or so. is it an awful penalty? >> it was pretty awful. he was already at a disadvantage because he knew the goalkeeper very well. if the goalkeeper has the , the small thing. these guys grew up together. he liked tonew how take penalties. he knew he liked to wait for the goalkeeper to move. he waited and adjusted not work. when wehink about

always fail at, is penalty record against other english goalkeepers is much worse than against other goalkeepers. he thinks that they think that they know -- >> lots of psychology going on. when you publish, i would love to talk more about it. hans is in berlin. what do you have for us today? >> the top vacations where germans fly to. it's a little chart. the number one place, spain. 22.8 million germans went to spain in 2013. i just thought it was you and other english that invaded the coast every summer but apparently you have some competition. we will not make comments about who is wearing worst outfits and the battle of the fanny pack. >> i am very much a stay-cation man. i stay within the confines of the british isles.

thanks. see you later. "countdown" continues with more on the deadliest week of violence in the ukraine including sanctions and the s and p latest downgrade. ♪ . .

>> live in kiev, independence square, the ukraine faces eu impose sanctions following the deadliest day of protests. resident obama says america is outraged at the violence. --bal finance meetings global finance ministers gather for the g-20 meetings. speakers, they say that trillions are needed for global infrastructure. and rbs retreats. they will shrink their investment banking unit and 40,000 jobs will go in the coming years.

hello, welcome to "bloomberg west." , mark barton. -- i am mark barton. we will speak with the ceo in under 10 minutes time. later, don't miss our inside look at the best of design in 2014, from architecture to apps, we will preview the top nominees for design of the year. digital art magazine will give his picks on "in the know." it has been the deadliest week of violence in the ukraine since protests began three months ago. ukrainian authorities have five protesters died, over 300 people have been hospitalized in the clashes that broke out february 18.

david tweed joins us now from berlin. david, there are reports there may be in accord today? right, this is something that has now been confirmed on the presidential website in the ukraine, they are saying there could be in accord that could bring the crisis to an end. the accord signing will take place in kiev at 12:00 noon, which is 10:00 gmt. any more details about what that accord could look like. we have also heard from negotiators because the german foreign minister and the polish foreign minister have been negotiating all night long between the president and the opposition leaders, the shadow diplomacy going on between the two of them. we heard a little while ago that the polish foreign minister just atounced the talks ended 7:20 a.m. tf time, about 90

minutes ago. and that the talks would resume after a short rake. we will keep you updated about what we're hearing about the potential about the accord. mark? >> standard & poor's has spoken. is the country moving towards default? are.tentially they it is interesting that report comes out now. standard & poor's is already looking beyond the present administration in the ukraine, looking to what my potentially replace it. is ifparticular concern the money coming from the russians, 15 billion, promised by the russians, if that does not come through, there will have to be some sort of different they'll out, -- they'll have to be some different kind of bailout that would come from du and the imf, the probably tied to conditionality.

standard & poor's is particularly concerned that any government that takes the place in the form of an opposition will have a lot of difficulty going through the sorts of conditions that will be demanded by those players, so that is why they see a potential, growing potential of a default from the ukraine. >> david, last night the attention briefly turning towards the eu in brussels. what was achieved their? re? >> they promised sanctions that probably gave negotiators a little bit of leverage, aimed at members -- we assume they are family, the president's his supporters, and those who have perpetrated violence, although those sanctions and asset freezes have not yet announced. that is something we'll have to watch for. i will have more updates later. >> that is our european editor, david tweed.

according to worry report in the financial times, rbs will cut jobs, shutting down some of its risk year banking businesses. jonathan ferro is here. of theirould be 25% global staff. at this point, rbs has declined comment. the strategic review is next week. that is when we could get details, but potentially huge, deep cuts. this morning, the number might be surprising, but the move is not much of a surprise at all. we always knew that rbs would be a smaller bank. listening to ross mcewing speak the past couple weeks, check it out. to runnspiration is not the world's largest bank. it is not my aspiration. my aspiration is to run the best bank in the u.k. >> that is not a man on a hiring spree. >> it is not the only bank to

shed part of its investment in, is it? >> barclays has scaled back as well. are scaling back to some extent, but for rbs you have to look at the assumption of assets. is it more palatable to have a government owned bank or is it looking at the more simple, consumer business. for thedigestible public. what does it mean for the stakeholders, the government? >> whenever we talk about the rbs, it is about the politics of rbs and everything that goes with it. as was the biggest bank bailout in the history of this country, 45.5 billion pounds. next year, guess what, we have a bit of an election. i think that mr. osborne and mr. cameron would like to get this bank off the books. at this point, they are probably

not going to be able to. what they want to see now is progress. >> there is progress with lloyds banking group, potentially being sold? >> it is trading above the asset price for the government, which is a bigger success story than rbs. asked weeks earnings will be interesting. >> -- next week's article be interesting. manus is here to break down the numbers gor gucci. is a brand in transition. they are changing their canvas bags and logos. it is still a brand in transition. , which constitute 66% of their revenue, and the numbers have been bang in line. it is the other gucci brands that have been disappointing. bottega abnnd ysl.

growthhave the weakest in four years as a group. the reason we talk so much about uji is because it is over half of their luxury business. i did not drill into the dirty details, but bloomberg industries did, and they have come up with a fascinating insight. when you talk about growth within the gucci brand, it seems to have underwhelmed, the weakest growth since 2009. the question, as we go towards the market, how will investors react to this? >> they are going through this transition, gucci, for how long? >> the market thinks that it will take another year before they deliver the numbers, but nicevitton had a transformation.

higher product, higher value, higher premium, higher margin. get there as quickly, can they expedite their strategy as quickly as louis vuitton? the weakest growth in four years, those are the headlines, but look at the others. puma is not doing them any favors. it is 30% of their revenue, and it is not doing as much. we saw full-year earnings dropped by over 30% come even though they are spending like hack on the world cup the sheer. >> manus, thank you. just ahead, europe's second-biggest insurer, weighing in on their recent earnings report. do not miss our exclusive interview, next. ♪

>> time for today's company news. disposed its 45% stake in verizon wireless. they will pay out nearly $83 billion to investors and consolidated shares. that comes as the market capitalization is cut in half,

about 60 billion pounds. free social messaging applications cost phone providers around the world billion dollars in texting fees last year. as according to research. that figure is projected to reach $54 billion by 2016. could offer shares and its ipo in the range of two dollars 85 pence. the price range could be announced today. they announced earlier this month they would list on the london stock exchange. welcome to "countdown." europe's second-biggest insurer profits jumped 10%. former on that, let's welcome their chief executive, who joins us live from paris for this exclusive interview. good morning, sir, thank you for joining us. >> good morning. >> net income rose 10% last

year. are you on track to reach your 2015 target? >> yes, we think so. 2013 has been a strong year for us. and the have grown earnings have progressed, so we are confident we will be able to reach the midterm target we set a few years ago. >> what you are doing at axa is pushing it a higher growth markets, aiming to double revenue by 20 15 in emerging markets. is there any evidence at all these markets are actually slowing, in particular after what we have witnessed in recent months? >> there are of course some signs that the markets are slowing down, but we take a long-term perspective. the share of the emerging market in our business has tripled

within the last 5, 6 years. the growth last year of revenue in these markets has been around 15%. an area of the world where we enjoyed a strong growth and good margins, and even if there is some volatility around the trend, we don't think the long-term trends are going to be affected by what we have seen the last quarter. we remain confident. mature markets, your ambitions lie in emerging markets, but you are obviously a big investor in europe, big in the united states. how are you doing in your big segments with property and casualty within the key mature markets? well are doing pretty because earnings have gone very solid -- have grown very solidly in these markets.

we have seen strong u.s. earnings because the u.s. economy is improving because interest rates are going up, which is good for us. enjoyed operations have a strong year, but in europe, but we are starting to see the benefits of the recovery. we are enjoying strong margins in europe. the question is how far we can accelerate revenue growth, and we are going to do it by bringing new products to the market, by making our existing distribution channels more efficient, and it's starting to work and we hope it will continue to work when the recovery is going to accelerate from the micro standpoint. talk aboutn financial oppression when discussing the federal reserve, what i have done, pushing interest rates low, pushing the yield low. are we at the time now because of the tapering of u.s. bonds

where this arrow of financial oppression is coming to an end, and will we see the yield steadily creep higher? >> well, i think at least we have seen a turning point. world economyhe seems to be more stable, even if there are elements of fragility bodes well i think for the future. what we as insurers, as ,ong-term investors expect because we are providers of stability, is to see a gradual increase in interest rates, long-term interest rates, and if the u.s. economy continues to show signs of strength, which we think it will do, then our expectation is to see long-term rates gradually increase. so we are gradually going to move from what i used to call financial regression to at least probably more benign environment

for us. >> can you give an idea of where you have been investing in europe? to hear youred thoughts on the perforate bond markets. auction,yesterday at their bartering costs are almost at a decade low. -- they're borrowing costs are almost at a decade low, which is incredible when you consider the economic fundamentals of economies like spain. low to how low the yield can go in some of these referral nations in europe? of course there is a limit, but i could take the positive side of the story. i think the markets are rewarding the economies of the world that are being courageous and putting in place a structural reform which are -- helpo help the mocha the open market be more flexible

and enabling future conditions for more growth and better employment. this is what is behind the improvement in the rate. as we are concerned, as you know, our investments are driven by the nature of our liabilities. we are not investors in bonds, but we are also investing in .nfrastructure, credit as far as bonds are concerned, we have been investing lesson sovereign bonds in the last year, and diversifying towards sovereign. among sovereign bonds, we have started to reinvest in peripherals in italy and spain a little more than a year ago because we were confident these on the paceuld move of reforms, and we have been rewarded for that. castries, thank you for your time. the is the chief executive of europe's second-biggest

insurer, profit up 10%. coming up, the tech world. our next guest says there is only one thing that really matters, and that is apps. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." kicksbile world congress off next week in barcelona. the big question will be where

the money is in mobile. the answer according to my next guest is in apps. jack, thank you for joining us today. what is driving growth? is it all about apps when it comes to spending on global digital content? partners,r with our the digital industry in 2013 worth about $57 billion with games, mobile, and apps. apps is by far the fastest growing category. people are spending much more on smartphone and tablet apps than ever before. >> splitting up the categories, movies, games, within movies you have growth of 21%. >> that is fairly healthy growth. as the u.k. and the u.s. markets. they're also doing well with online subscription services. apps drive the way that you can

access movies on tablets. it really helps you get wherever you want it. >> so they are driving overall spending. is that happening within the music business as well? thatere are some apps charge for music subscription services, but also they take a share of revenue. they're still charging customers services. games is what is really driving that growth. --es spending is up one over is up over 100% last year. spender is the biggest on mobile, isn't it? >> yes, japan has always been interested in mobile. they have been very mobile-centric, even since the isly 2000's, and that shifting. it is now shifting over to apps, and that is accelerating. >> and when will that overtake digital games?

in japan it has happened, but they are the exception to the rule. when you think that apps spending will overtake digital spending. >> it depends on the market. it is not something we are expecting to overtake. grow in they will both tandem. with the new generation of consoles with the xbox 1 and the ps four, the focus is on growth. >> has it really shifted from the pc? >> it depends of the market again. there are very strong pc countries like china and south korea and mobile is growing, but it is only part of the picture. with the music, there are some fantastic stats within this report. one of the interesting things we have been talking about here on "countdown" is sites like yes, they provided good service, but when will they be profitable? can you foresee a time when the

likes of spotify will make money? >> profitability in the music industry is a big challenge. they suffer from piracy. right now it is still about the growth of revenue. profitability is not the focus, it is just getting users and getting them to spend money on digital music, then getting the big audience, and in the profit comes further down the line. >> how successful our content creation tools within the digital world within music? >> we look at what people spend money in terms of the music category of apps and we found people are spending money on subscription music services and creating their own music. things like recording services, instruments, things like that on mobile, smartphones, and tablets. be as healthy as 2013, the growth of digital content? >> we expected to grow. whether kobe as same as the rapid ace of 2013 as more people

get tablets, it may slow down slightly but it will be a growth industry. >> thank you very much, jack kent. coming up, what do getting a toaster and lying on train tracks have in common? there is an app for that. ♪

>> these are the top headlines 75live pictures from kiev, protesters have been killed, more than 300 hospitalized since violence began on february 18. european union governments have imposed sanctions on ukrainian officials. at the mostiev violent day since the breakup of the soviet union and quarter century ago. charlie rose spoke with jimmy carter's national security adviser. >> the issue goes beyond the ukraine. it goes to the heart of the issue, what will russia become over the next decade or so?

vladimir putin is embarking rush on some sort of rational -- think a i think a rational, imperial russian revolution. it is a restoration of the soviet union, minus some european portions, and the russian empire. >> watch the full interview on "charlie rose" at 10 p.m. u.k. time. tell0 finance ministers bloomberg that emerging markets must take center stage. >> it's happening in a more orderly way. many of the problems are happening in emerging economies, may be marginally related to the fact interest rates will go up, but i also think we should take a hard look at our own problems in emerging and developing countries.

>> welcome back to "countdown." from drones to virtual reality headsets, the nominees for design of the year are out. more than 75 designs are in the running for the award from the design museum of london. some of the front runners with neil bennett, who joins us now for "in the know." thank you for joining us. it's look at some of your favorites of the 75 nominees. will nothat i like, we get to just yet, let's start with air and sea, a search-and-rescue drone for mountain rescue. >> what is different about this product is it is aiming to bring the public together in the same way that you see these missing persons on facebook and twitter, asking people to keep an i out for people. this is asking people to look at

drone, andn by a the purpose behind it is they will spend time searching for people, they will find them, they will then contact search-and-rescue, but bringing all these people together by crowd-sourcing all of this information will in fact help people be found a lot easier than if you just have one or two people sitting at a facility looking at a drone. >> more manpower is better. building stories, a story in a posters?d from books, what is the lure? >> this is almost the future of the printed book. this is the wonderful thing. it is entirely indulgent. which there is no digital experience that can replicate getting a box that you open up and explore and see the

beautiful imagery inside. it is something i think we will see more of as books become more like peoplere, display lp covers from the 1970's as artwork. >> those saying the death of the book is upon us may not be true. >> this is very popular. >> and it is not just in london. in the u.k., it is only in london, paris, new york. this brings together information from different sources. in london,ansport taxi information. altogether it is one application. you tell it where you want to go, it works out the best routes, but it is also like a that gives youet so many options that you then go through and go, actually, i see an expensive one, i see a quick one, i guess it has live data. the status of the tubes

and it can help you work around that and get to, like this interview. >> i imagine it would be popular, in particular in london. the one that you say is the probable winner is one called dumb ways to die. in your notes it says this is super catchy. i thought there is no way. i watched the whole thing and i was humming it for the next hour. it is incredibly catchy. tell the viewers. created for a new zealand transport company, a train service trying to prevent accidents. it is a viral video from an australian amortizing agency. what they wanted to do is just try to get children to watch this video, enjoy it, but learn something from it. at thepurely targeted new zealand market, but it went viral. my stepdaughter is 14, she mentioned it.

she has seen it, her friends have seen it. this is something which is astronomically taken off. >> it goes beyond just safety on trains. something thatn is brilliant, it can go far beyond your target market and just to whet their -- and just go out there. they can have a measurable impact. in new zealand, they have had a near 30% drop in fatal misses, which is brilliant, but if you think of how people this has helped people in this country in america be safer, it's amazing. >> isn't that what it is about? what is the ultimate reason for this? i guess a lot of these designs do not necessarily become mainstream. >> some do, some don't. if you look at last year's winner, it is something that people use millions of times a month. where is something like the

virtual reality headset is still a prototype. it is about looking at products and seeing what is the potential impact of them. thinkou see products and these are billion ideas, and some of them don't come through for a shin. we are still waiting for the nonstick ketchup bottle, one of the most popular things from last year's list. >> and the olympic torch from a couple years ago has no actual use, but it's a symbol. ,> it comes down to usability effectiveness, but also the experience and the aesthetics. purpose no practical for the olympic torch, but as a symbol it is just beautiful. towas also a brave decision award it that your because that was the spring of 2012, when we were not sure if the olympics in britain were going to be a success. the people were saying it was going to be a problem. it was brave to say this is a beautiful piece. >> a lot of guests have been

telling us wearable technology is the big thing this year, within the design, technology space. no evidence? onopinions are divided wearable technology. we don't go if it will be a screaming success like the mobile phone or this year's bluetooth headset. we are not quite sure how it will work. i think the judges think that what it has to offer is not that much different from the smartphone, and therefore it is not really as exciting as some of the things that are on there. if you asked me what i think is missing from there, there is a kind of invisible bike helmet out of sweden which is essentially sitting around your .eck like a collar if it detects you have fallen off your bike, been knocked off, it blows up like an airbag.

when you are riding normally, there is no helmet, which is kind of what messes up your hair, but you are protected by something wrapped around your head. that would be my pick for something that is missing from the list. watch, dumb ways to die. so many dumb ways to die. it, you canu google find it and watch it today. >> you will be humming at the rest of the day. >> show it to your children, they may learn something as well. >> thank you very much for joining us, neil bennett, editor of the online magazine "digital art." coming up, we will dig into the latest earnings. ♪

>> a look at some of the most compelling images of the day today. on a visit to saudi arabia, prince charles goes to a ceremony.

he joins hundreds of people for the festival. prince charles is on a short four-day trip to the middle east. a long-standing chimney was demolished today in a controlled explosion south of sydney. the landmark served as a proper chimney until 2003. some local residents were sad to see it go, but many cheered as the dynamite toppled the chimney . and at the national zoo, meerkats are landing there -- are lending their paws to this fundraising effort, sue kuyper's utilizing their artistic talent allowing them to stop around and paint. the zoo is mentioning off -- is auctioning off the proceeds and

using the proceeds for conservation projects and charities in southeast asia. welcome back. turnaround's strategy for hewlett-packard is showing some encouraging signs, profit beating estimates, but the pc maker has plenty of challenges. hans nichols is in berlin. what is the best number in their latest earnings? >> sales only declined by one percent. analysts were expecting four percent, and it could be a sign that corporate i.t. departments are starting to spend again. a rebound hp needs, of the pc industry, but they need companies to upgrade their systems. on their personal systems, sales were up 3.6%, including pc's. elsewhere, on the enterprise side, they were down a little bit. here is what meg whitman had to

say. this means the doubling down on the hardware may be paying off. here is what she says, "this is a big ship to turn and we need to move faster." the markets liked what happened yesterday, shares up 31%. in the past 12 months, the stock is up 81%. they still have challenges, we have talked about that a lot on this program and others. they have a challenge in the pc industry, with the autonomy write-down, the purchase of the billionpany for $8.8 write-down. when you look at some pc shipments, it has been the seventh straight quarter of decline. almost sevendown percent quarter on quarter. you need companies to buy pc's, individuals to buy them, but there are some signs here that market seem to like. >> hans, where are we on that altogether not successful purchase of autonomy? >> not successful, that is a

good way to put it. are facingthe board a shareholder lawsuit. at they did not do their due diligence. the accounting problems were obvious and they should have seen this company was worth less. what you may have is a settlement between the board and shareholders. those start -- those talks are starting. clearly, some of the legal challenges they face, then they can focus the other challenges. >> thanks, hans. international correspondent hans nichols. the tailoring house from naples founded in the 1960's is to suit designer for the world's well-dressed elite. they take selected taylor's 60 hours to produce and there are no more than 50 suits made each year and can cost up to $100,000. bloomberg took an exclusive look. >> my name is antonio.

i have been working your 27 years. i started with my uncle, who was the founder of this company. k-50 is a special model that we make for a special customer. there are only five tailors in our company who can make this model. each taylor can produce 50 jackets per year. instead of the 25 hours that we spend on a normal jacket, these take 200 hours to make. it's a different price. tocan go from $10,000 $100,000. all the features that you see inside of the jacket, they are made in the way that the chest of the jacket will fit around your body. they are very flexible. our jackets can do everything. you can use it like a pillow,

you can do everything. the customer that does not want to show up at a wedding, they are waiting for the pleasure for something that is really made for them. >> right. earnings dropped due to the weakest growth in years at gucci brand. manus breaks down the numbers. >> lackluster and disappointing take.sales, one analyst's this is a company interest permission, a basket of luxury brands. gucci is the underwhelming part of the fourth quarter. growth .2%.ed the market was looking for .8%.

they are bolstering what is atng on at gucci, rebounding stores, rebounding products. there is a change in what is going on, which is taking time. i think with the market might -- louiswe vuitton vuitton turned around sharply. >> and what is the answer? >> it looks like it will take through 2014. these things take time. this is the weakest growth in four years. now, something in terms of consideration, it 8 a.m. when louisock opens, when vuitton did it come it did it with overall luxury. luxury is 66% of this group. they get the pop on the open and rewarded as well for the products. >> the other side of the coin, they have puma. >> where do you go with puma?

how much more time you give them? >> they have been trying to turn it around since -- >> 2009, and that is a heck of a transformation. ceo came in. earnings are down 34% last year. on 84% of its business, they are going to spend a bucket load. they have done a huge deal. >> they are focusing on the sports side rather than the leisure side, like nike are doing. >> it's a real fight for floor space in department stores. tight fitfocus on the technical jerseys, that is what they are going for. it is the technical side of the product. >> if you had all the money in the world, would you spend $100,000 on a suit? >> if i had all the money in the $100,000, i would give

to charity, i would have a price limit on a suit. >> which is? nearly got him. you don't have to tell me, thanks, manus. central bank governors meet in sydney. it looks like the withdrawal of monetary stimulus might be at the top of the g 20 agenda. ♪

>> welcome back.

about seven minutes away from the start of today's european equity session. the big event this weekend is taking place rather far away, in sydney. >> g-20, and it looks like it is all about monetary policy. if you look at the draft statement from them, the g-20 backs withdrawal of accommodative monetary stimulus. this is what is making the noise right now. emerging markets, federal reserve stimulus, you could almost insert emerging-market official several years ago. now it is stop tapering, the currency is to week. it is been very volatile, impacting the currency, taking an absolute beating. they want the fed to listen. the fed is listening. mandate, andtheir that is why the market -- >> and the u.k. chancellor says

you have to put your own house in order. that was the basic message. i think itforms, and is quite telling that five years later we are still talking about monetary policy, when actually these governments need to go at reforms come get their house in order. that is the message coming from a lot of officials. i think the noise from the emerging markets and federal reserve, behind the scenes, they will be asking questions about the united states. how strong is the recovery. that is the big concern for officials in the eurozone, in the u.s., and in china. is more to say that important than what is going on in south africa, unfortunately. in terms of emerging markets. what happens in china, europe, and the u.s. is more important. sydney this weekend.

"on the move" is next. monitoring the violence in the ukraine, the tension. move" is next. francine is here. i will see you later. ♪ . .

>> welcome to "on the move." i am francine lacqua at bloomberg's european headquarters in london. we are just moments away from the start of european trading and our markets team has everything covered from companies to currencies. he with me now, jonathan ferro and manus cranny. david tweed is also standing by. let's kick off things with you. what are you watching? >> rbs, pretty simple. they have put out a story saying they are going to cut 25% of their 100,000 strong staff. -- we get thehink

strategic review in this week. it is not exactly a bank saying they're going to go on a hiring spree. we knew this would happen. >> this hasn't been confirmed yet. they have 120,000 people in the investment bank. over the next four years, they would cut. >> it looks like they would only caught global staff by 25%. it has not been confirmed but we get the strategic review along with earnings next week. the earnings are not going to set the world on fire either. >> thank you so much, we will keep an eye on rbs when it opens. watching,ock we are rbs gaining some 1% on the back of that is. luxuryhave the stable of which topline comes in and line but that you go into the brand -- ug has under delivered. sales rose in the fourth quarter but it is the first