>> unicredit executive federico ghizzoni says he is ready to run the page after record losses. meets withbama ukrainian prime minister today in washington. is the latest demonstration of support for the new government. the tension with russia over crimea continues. >> we will get the latest earnings from prudential.

welcome to "countdown." i am mark barton. >> and i am anna edwards. we will start by telling you about some of the big interviews that are coming up on bloomberg television. george soros will be sitting down on "on the move." >> we will talk with tony fernandez. we are expecting to get earnings any moment from prudential, the u.k.'s biggest insurer by market value. nothing coming through at the moment but the numbers are coming. this is an asian-focused business. half of its revenues come from asian markets. they got a boost from the south east asia part of their business

so it will be interesting to see if any more comes through. as far as stock performing, year to date they are up 1.6%. in line with the overall european insurance market. not moving all that much. the impact of changing into a macro environment, all of that will be covered. we'll will wait for numbers when they materialize. >> later we will be talking to prudential's ceo. that is during "the pulse" a little later. >> the ukrainian prime minister meets with u.s. president obama in washington today. one of the topics will be financial assistance for ukraine. ryan chilcote has the details. >> the financial system is on the table. $1 billion worth of loan guarantees. they have already gone through the congress and the house of representatives and now will go through the senate. it is a tool from the middle

eastern toolkit. jack lew repeating something he has done before. the u.s.ssues bonds, guarantees them and you end up with a yield that is a lot less than what ukrainian bonds are paying right now. aboveare about 10% treasury yields, second they just gap between the yield on their bonds and the yield on treasury's in the world after venezuela. treasuries. u.s. has never defaulted on its debt so there will be more than treasuries. there is a guarantee but you are subject to risk in terms of ukraine's own ballot seat -- balance sheet. the risk is higher. but it has been done most recently in tunisia five months ago. the u.s. guaranteed their seven-year bonds. 60 basis points. that is the gap from treasury and what the yield on their bond and the year before last, it was done in jordan and the gap there

is 70. >> is a fascinating gift to be able to be able -- gift to be able to give a guarantee on bonds when ukraine and the government there as been calling for billions of pounds in international assistance. if you cannot quite get the cash -- >> pony it up any way you can. there is a little effect so you see yields on all kinds of bonds, including ones not guaranteed by the united states. yields generally do go down when you have these loan guarantees. you get an effect where everyone is more prepared to open up their wallets than it would be if you did not have one. >> the interim prime minister meets obama today. >> the ukrainians are very happy about that. >> is anything likely to come out of that on the sanction front? aboutthis point it is all discouraging the russians from annexing crimea and moving into eastern ukraine.

there's an active debate in the white house about how to punish russia. there is unanimity that the punishment needs to have them. when and how severe those sanctions come -- what looks clear, and the europeans are on board, is the banning of visas for russia's officials is set to widen. we can expect an expansion of that and we can expect the introduction of some of these asset freezes for some of mr. putin's colleagues. something we have not seen, even though president obama last week off the rise to that to happen. authorized that to happen. large sanctions, not everyone is on board. >> squeezed by the growth of for e.on areoth nln looking to emerging markets for growth. it has not been easy. italy's biggest

energy market. had a goodlike they 2013. they have forward guidance before. they're going to boost their dividends. is the exact opposite of the story we see with e.on which is going to reduce dividends. they came in on the lower side of estimates. it is a tale of two energy companies. both and a home market where con traction in higher cost is present. 40% of and l's revenues come outside of here. with e.on, it is just 6% outside of eastern europe -- western year. one of the reasons they will ine more difficult times 2014, they are seeing difficulties in russia. they will be making pushes into turkey and brazil. this is a story of companies trying to does or spite -- diversify out of the eurozone. -- clearrs are a crew

reflection. the strategy worked. e.on has bad numbers. nl looks positive throughout. we will be digging into it more a little bit where they see the growth in emerging markets if they get that specific. the earnings have just crossed and we will be getting into more later in the show. >> hans nichols there. >> we discussed washing machines in thet length earlier program. it is seven minutes past seven in london. we will take a short break on "countdown." plenty more to come. the search for the missing malaysian lane widens. ♪

finish energy company -- is drawing interest from bidders including a canadian pension investor. it may be value nomo $7 billion. the processes due to start in the second quarter. is exploring its

microbiology unit. the unit could fetch between 300 million and $600 million. chief executive joe kaiser took over in august. he is reviewing the portfolio ahead of the strategy update in may. siemens is you're a's biggest engineering company. toyota has a raise to raise base wages for the first time since 2008. this comes as toyota heads for record profits. workers will earn $26 more per month in base pay. that is the highest increase in six years. welcome to "countdown." protests have erupted across turkey great -- turkey. >> police have used tear gas and water cannons against thousands of protesters istanbul.

why are people protesting? the trigger of the protest with the death of a 15-year-old lloyd -- boy. for nineen in a coma months after being struck in the head by a tear gas canister during the park protest last summer. he was not taking part in the protest. he had left his home to get a loaf of bread for his family. protests are across 33 cities in turkey. police have used tear gas and water cannons. >> do we expect more protest today? >> yes, we definitely do. we funeral is later today so expect thousands of people to take to the streets once again across cities in turkey. his death is just fueling more

anger against the government. the government is embroiled in a probe that broke out in december were three ministers resigned due to the scandal and allegedly wire taped in day -- implicating the prime minister and members of his family. >> how is this affecting turkish financial markets? lira is down 10% since the scandal broke in december. it is one of the worst-performing currencies after argentina's peso and russia's ruble. they are near record lows. stock market hits and investors are in a wait-and-see mode because they have crucial elections coming up at the end of the march, and a few week's time. how is where we will see people feel against the prime

minister and his government. >> thank you. 13 minutes past 7 in london. four days after the malaysian flight 370 disappeared, the search is becoming more puzzling. let's see how companies handle crisis here. let's talk to a man who knows something about managing a crisis. ian burns joins us. airlines are well-prepared to deal with crises in relation to other businesses. >> if you look at the track record, if you look at 40 years ago where aviation unfortunately had a huge amount of fatalities, the safety record of the industry has improved. as a result, you have seen the medication that sits before the manufacturers themselves in evolved in developed in

conjunction with the media. they are at the forefront of being able to indicate quickly and effectively and have let other industries. through sad reasons in the past, they have been able to develop the way in which they communicate during a crisis situation. >> one of the things you want to avoid in a crisis as a business as you are trying to communicate is avoid a vacuum being created, and absence of news. devastating in this case. the aircraft has not been tampered there is a vacuum because there is as yet no evidence of where the aircraft has gone. is thatifficulty there we have the void. the void of information. both the airline and the -- no onee can't would expect them to speculate, but others will. there'll always third parties. there are experts all around the world. ant we would advise

organization is to ensure that -- when there is a void of information, be prepared. have information at your disposal about known facts which you can talk about. it may be historical facts and figures and details, but you try as best you can to try and fill that gap. >> the first 48 hours are the most ritual times after an event like this. is that right? >> what airlines would do and what we would advise is try to think traditionally has been called the golden hour. if you are prepared, if you are ready, that first hour is crucial. beingy ways it is organized internally. who is responsible for what? someone he has -- everyone has -- your supply chain,

ngos, regulators. who is responsible for what? try and ensure that everyone is in line and all agree what happened within that first hour. what we are seeing now with the advent of social media is that our is now condensed and compacted almost into 20 seconds. crisisdid you manage a when there are many focal points? you may have an airline, the aircraft manufacturer, the --port where the airline airplane left and is going to. you have three focuses of interest. how does management of a crisis take place? >> you prepare. you cannot do enough preparation and readiness. i think this is where many airlines around the globe are ready and are prepared and ensure they sit back and calm times and look at all the different constituents and make sure that everyone is joined up,

everyone is linked together, everyone knows who is what responsible for. on top of that, who is timing. who is going to say what and where? the absolute key for that is absolute preparedness. >> where have you seen crisis management go so badly? where have you seen the worst example of businesses being so ill-prepared for a crisis? >> you can look at a variety of sectors. out, andthat do stand i think the public -- and not just those in the crisis communication worlds -- it is always governed by the consumer. it is where people are too slow to respond. a clearly were not prepared. they don't seem to show any audience,wards the whether it is the media or their own customer base. as research has shown in the u.s., it can take three or four

years for organizations to rebuild on that corporate reputation. at the end of the day, that is what everyone, individuals, organizations, governments, countries, are judged by. >> how do leaders do with the pressure? i imagine the pressure within offense like this is something like this isevents something that very few have endured. go back towill preparedness and rehearse and they are tested and stress tested. >> airlines typically run drills about this once a year. >> at bare minimum. rudimentaryome very to my elementary, straightforward desktop torcises and ratchet up full-scale exercises. the industry has led the way in that type of preparedness and reversal -- rehearsal to

interpret the receipt you do that is to learn from it. every crisis, you step back, lessons learned, we implement that? how do we insure that next time we can do with that? >> thank you for joining us. iain burns joining us. up, we will see if ipo activity is a sign of confidence in the u.k. market. ♪

welcome back. >> 7:22 in london. jon ferro is here with details on the ipo. >> id of ipo activity. we have pets at home. pan lab is priced at the top of -- top of the range. pets at home also priced at the top of the range. one question that everyone had that we learned that pound lend was going to float was -- >> i knew you would go there. >> i am sorry to disappoint you

but i -- >> why is it not? why did they not -- i am no expert in corporate finance, but why did they not make more shares? it would have made a good story. >> this country -- company is a great story. recession beater. 1919, took that onto the high street. steve smith has done to read thickly well at this company. >> a bit of a frenzy in the you -- in the u.k.. term?you use that advisory? tampered -- it term.that term very -- great for the bankers. read is was was in the book before pound lend. the retail index is up 11.5%.

this is enthusiastic for the u.k. recovery >> you have to wonder how much is cyclical. how much weight -- how much may be structural? some businesses are may be feeling the need to come to the market more. u.s. investors have pointed to the differences across the atlantic between the u.s. were companies that rely more on raising money -- >> and there is another side. -- equitye exit he , they have looked for an opportunity for these investments for a long time. there is a huge pipeline of five equity firms looking to push out these ipo's. we have seen buoyant markets make these violations a little more attractive and give the opportunity for these private firms to make some money. at?hat is poundland playing

three pounds? >> get yourself a bargain. listed inre february. they're up by 88% since. some of these companies -- >> they're coming to market soon and that is an online clothing retailer. their blading -- they are blazing a trail on the a market. thank you very much. >> it is no smoking day. .t does not mean no vaping day we will be talking to the chief executive of a company that wants to stamp out cigarettes for good. ♪

>> unicredit chief executive federico ghizzoni spoke last hour. he said the ecb asset review is an opportunity to clean up the bank. posted a 15 billion euros fourth-quarter loss. they will have to cut 8500 jobs. importantit was very to improve the balance sheet to go for the provision of capitalism. it is our main target for the next two years. >> police used tear gas and

water cannons against thousands of demonstrators in his temple istanbul.stemple -- the malaysian air chores -- air force chief has denied remarks attributed to him that the missing flight was tried by military radar to malacca. this is far from the root. such reports in local media are untrue. the plane went missing on saturday after taking off with 239 people on board. i am mark barton. >> i am an edwards. it isim anna edwards. today is no smoking day in the u.k..

here the ceo one of the redingtons, claire smith. tell us about your business and how you started it. >> it is a small business and i started it because i became a vaper. i wanted to give up smoking. 12 and i when i was found that electronic cigarettes that i originally bought were fantastic and i succeeded and then i became aware that there were other products out there and i felt i wanted to be a part of that. >> are you when others in the market selling it as a tool to help people quit or is it being sold intentionally or unintentionally as a lifestyle choice? >> i think both. over the two years that i've been selling this product that there are people that come to me for different reasons. some people want to wean off cigarettes.

some people have accepted that they are smokers for life and it is part of their personality and they think that this is the healthier option. >> what you say to those people that say that e cigarettes are a smart tart youths to smoking? 60 million consumers found formaldehyde and other chemicals in various devices that they tested. how do you respond to those -- >> i can't speak for other products. i can only speak for my own. >> could it be tainted by such criticism? >> certainly there is always a suspicion with anything that is new that has come into the market. i think when there is bad press about other products it is likely to affect some of the like myself.cts

i can tell you what is in my product. there is no formaldehyde in there. there is no tariq, there is no carbon monoxide and there are no carcinogenic chemicals in my product. >> is that what we need? assurances from sellers like yourself about the purity, the quality of the product and the nicotine itself? >> in order to be sold in the u.k. it has to be tested. assurance,t is the that the testing body that determines with the labeling is and they say whether it is toxic or non-toxic. i think it is down to the general public to look at their label. >> there is more regulation coming in the u.k., isn't there? in 2016 things will get tighter. will be sold as a medicine, which means different levels of scrutiny and business opportunities. are think the governments

looking at it with cautious interest and i think that they are not entirely decided which way they will go. i know that in the eu they have started to cap the level of nicotine in the product and that is a form of regulation. i think it will be a good thing to have this product regular 80. i'm not sure about how that will the -- how well the business will do as a result, but i think that it is a good thing and something to look forward to. >> more companies like yourself have gotten ahead of the big tobacco companies. this is something we are focusing today. can you compete with the likes of imperial tobacco? they are late to the game in introducing each-cigarettes. big,ou compete with those established tobacco companies? i think that great innovations

come from having money. i think they great innovations come from being passionate about something. beennk those who have involved in the electronic cigarette business are three years ahead of tobacco industries. more is likely to be innovation from them than elsewhere. being passionate about a product ande have a patent pending my business and i am excited about that. i say bring it on. >> how big can the market get for you? >> i am looking for global domination. [laughter] are harder to enter because the likes of china , traditional cigarettes are -cigarettes. e how was i going to work for companies like yourself in entering the -- >> that was the case. the last time i spoke to my chinese suppliers that was the

case. in fact, the chinese government are looking very carefully at electronic cigarettes and i work that they may towards tipping the balance in their favor now. that will open up opportunities. >> what are the aftereffects of vaping? should one always say, i'm about to vape? what about vaping inside? i think a lot of vapers at the every tend to ask and not company realizes it is a harmless occupation. until that becomes more harmless knowledge, people would generally ask, would you mind if i vape? >> do you think will be banned from public places like traditional cigarettes? >> who knows? all kinds ofeds roles and relations that are not necessarily --

>> thank you. >> 7:37 in london. cards, theyaking compete in the formula one for itself. they're planning on selling a different type of machine. guy johnson reports. onthey're delivering fun four wheels with cars like this, the 620r. now it is the turn of those on two wheels to have fun. the bikeis going into business. two say it is an suv on wheels. if you are so inclined, you can convert it into a snowmobile and under four hours. it should be on the market this year but this looks outrageous, wait until you see what comes next. by ditching an engine for an

electric motor, the design team have come up with bikes that deliver a sleek, retro look or drawn the first formula one technology. continuesaid they will , so good, clean, green fun may be close to the margaret -- mark. ♪

>> it is time for hot shots, a look at some of the most compelling images of the day. apparently, even president obama knows that new york city is a great place to shop. the president visited and took a surprise shopping trip to the gap in they purchased ink sweaters for his daughters, adding that it never hurts to bring something home. eventually able to order your meals at most restaurants with a tablet.

the presto is a tablet specifically designed for restaurants. it allows customers to browse menus, pay bills, and all of it occurs without depending on a waiter. her majesty, the queen, accompanied by the royal family attended westminster abby yesterday. it is a day of celebration for the commonwealth nations and the unity they share despite their diversity. it fell on the same day as the queen's youngest son birthday. welcome back to "countdown." is 7:42.me in london 18 minutes until the start of trading.equity we are a little bit lower. dragnk minors are going to

on the ftse. copper trading is low. >> a four-month low. guest on a 10 pounds six. is it a forced seller rather than a natural drop on the back of the china data? the eurozone study two year high. the higher that currency goes, the more pressure there is on earnings. you have you turning -- utility earnings to cover and italian banks. >> we have had earnings from that sector. -- mark spoke to the ceo. they're saying that this is the low point in terms of non-performing loans. had lostank has numbers bigger than the estimated. roberto was going to talk us through, as well as the credit story.

calls as on the equity side of the periphery, saying that he thinks the perfectly new defensive i applaud an optimist. i really do. a number of ipos are taking place in london. what can you get for pound in london? >> have you ever been to p oundland and asked, how much is this? joke,t is a terrible manus. mark, back to you. i carolyn hired -- heroin and are talking about what it -- caroline and i are talking about what is luxury? >> they are not as luxurious as the likes of -- but they are deemed luxury.

not in favor today. 4% onks like it is up some of the calls because negative sales and earnings momentum is what we've got. margins and the measure of profitability on issues seems to be declining. sales are slowing a lot, particularly in italy where it is significantly expose. many are saying that it remains a prime acquisition target. we have seen a lot of consolidation in the luxury market. out smallerto buy companies. -- may fall in terms of share prices around 1%. we're talking proper luxury. 1000 pounds for high heels. four rain more than boots made out of pvc. that is a pretty luxurious boot. i could have done with some higher boots.

underwhelming is generally the consensus. earnings came in line but the dividend slightly miss. the first few months of 2014 are coiffed -- are often quite -- are off to quite a good start. it has been about asia weakness. it has been about weakness in the emerging markets as well. they will not be much when they convert them back into view does -- into euros. >> i was talking about it with mansu earlier. ipos in london will be one of the things. >> ipo day. she has some great lines on poundland. top of the range for pounp oundland. china and commodities seems to

be the theme of this week. something that has been building over the last few days or so. markets are in a perfect fall off today. not looking good for the minus. the minus has been hit on the ftse on the last few days. it remains to see what will happen. if you have the time, bloomberg -- news has written a great piece on made in china. if you look at the share of imports in the u.s., it has plateaued. in you out -- in europe, it has declined. china is showing fatigue and what does that mean for the consumption of a lot of these raw materials? >> some chief of manufacturing locations, aren't they? when labor costs have not been rising with -- >> they have what is called the low hanging fruit, the cheap later, the next leg of growth is

going to be difficult for china. we'll have a country that consumes 40% of global copper, you know that copper is going to get hit. earlier, someone said about how copper has fallen and it's raising question as whether this is being using collateral in china. are we seeing market fundamentals being reflected in the copper price or is there something more going on? >> on the other side, you have to look at the -- as well. not encouraging if you want the price to go higher. >> we have had earnings from prudential britain it is u.k.'s we will getrpret >> those. we will preview those numbers with our next guest. ♪

>> welcome back. >> it is 7:52 in london. eight minutes until we see equity trading kicking off for this wednesday in europe. we will get earnings from prudential. deutsche post is reporting and joining us now from our london office is brenda kelly. let's start with the earnings we have had and maybe get a word on ipo's. let's talk about deutsche post and prudential. which one takes your fancy? >> deutsche post have already

posted their earnings. it was all about the parcels business for them. clearly that is one area that has seen improvement. despite the fact that we have seen a stronger europe over the last number of months. it has been expectations. i think from that perspective it is a very competitive space with the lack of fedex and ups in there. it does seem to have a fairly up the outlook for the rest of the year. i would still be a little bit cautious about it. it is had a strong uptrend over the last year or so. we could see some profit taking at the begin of possession today. >> i want to get your thought on poundland. the pricing has been released, top and. john says you have some choice things to say about that. >> the best thing about them i feel is that we can stop with the joke on whether it should ipo out of pounds.

if we do see a selloff, i think we could probably see some strong technical support at that level. we are pricing a great market at the moment. we are expecting it above the sellnd to sell -- end to with a market cap of 1.1 billion. a bit of an increase on that. ndland is only open to institutional investors today. we have seen the 10 times over subscribed. at home, similarly so. we could see it rising higher than the top end of what expectations are. good expectations for growth for both of these companies, both hoping to expand. it is interesting to see them ipo in with proper fundamentals which you can get your teeth into. >> let's talk about prudential

in the industry -- in the insurance industry. we will hear from them in about 20 minutes. the top revenues come from asia so it is important to get their take on how resilient the asian market is for them right now. >> i think that is important. int claim -- came to light november. come down share price as far to 1200 pence. the shares were snatched up at that point. it will be off note as to whether the emerging markets lowdown is going to impact them. i think the high dividend that they offer and the fact that they are quite competitive, despite the fact that they are quite a traditional insurance online field has done exceptionally well. judging by the share performance over the last 25 months, 150%, it would take some doing to get 44 pence. i think we will see better than expected. >> thank you. >> 7:55.

five minutes away from "on the move." stay tuned for all the latest news. ♪ . .

>> welcome to on the move. i am it is created. -- i administrative. -- i am manus cranny. correspondentnal is standing by. let's kick it off with you. ipo in the u.k.. >> it is ipo day. pence per pound gives it a

market cap of 750 million pounds. the stocks are going to get moving. >> we will keep an eye out. >> you are looking at the italian fashion. >> a little bit more luxurious. ferragamo. indeed, slightly less luxurious. >> 200 pounds. >> i wish. it was underwhelming and we see italy spending in the luxury sector. it could fall one percent and earnings are in line for a dividend miss. it really remains negative and the sales, earnings,