>> from g-8 to g7, the group said it will hold its own summit and brussels. russian the top diplomats said they are not clinging to the g-8. >> london real estate expense a surge of spending from russian oligogs. a homeowner that is most likely to do it yourself, we will get earnings from kingfisher and will speak to the ceo first. this hour on bloomberg.

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am mark barton. >> i am anna edwards. it is 7:00 in london on tuesday morning. warmm wife and -- a welcome to the second hour. we'll go out to the hague where hundred nickel is standing by with the latest from the summit chols is hans ni standing by with a list from the summit. president obama is in town. its symbolism. g-8 has been canceled and they will have a separate meeting in brussels. it is a tool for the move. any talk of additional sanctions and there are talks, they are conditional. it is if russian moves choosing to the easter ukraine where they are mapping along the borders. it would be a separate set of

sanctions but no new heart sanctions have been discussed. u.s. officials are talking about the fed the current sanctions are having on the russian economy and the ruble. there's on was a bit of will boston. -- almost a bit of boasting. here is what an advisor said if russia makes additional action, if there are new station he said we will have increasingly significant impact on the russian economy if russia continues to escalate this situation. there's a big if and if there. escalation means something different that is was on the ground now which are russian troops occupying crimea. >> what happened the next? leave the summit with the threat of additional sanctions. looks like it. there are more meetings today. there's going to be at eu summit on wednesday. if russia take additional action or somehow respond in a way that

can agitate the eu leaders here, the group of seven, we could potentially have a new sanctions on wednesday. right now, we are in a wait and see pattern to see what russia does. they will be summoning energy ministers. there will be a g7 energy meaning because so much of what it is about his energy politics who is rely on the home either sectors targeting finance and energy and arms that would cripple the russian economy. this a giant if. there are apparently no consensus to do that as the situation stands right now. but thank you very much. we are getting the breaking numbers from kingfisher, the longest -- largest home improvement store in europe. it is above expectations. 0 million pounds stopped at the top of the range. the rate was 600 at the bottom

at the top. is that the top of the range that analyst had out there. too money would be returned shareholders and they are delivering. kingfisher will return about 200 million pounds. that's a start of a multiyear program to return capital they say. this goes along with the estimates we saw prior to the numbers there would be a return active 300 million million pounds to shareholders. they are saying they made good tough environment facing extremely challenging the first quarter. remainder of the year looks encouraging according to the measure except for, this is interesting, except for persistent weak backdrop in france. something we were discussing earlier. pmi numbersbetter out of france yesterday,

weakness and the french economy is being cited by kingfisher and it is a global story than just the u.k. and also, a chinese dimension. it will be looking for a strategic partner and china. >> 13 years they have invested quite heavily. it is a hot market. it so disparate. >> you wonder how much of the government, the chinese take away attempts to from investment and more toward consumer spending -- and played in favor of this kind of business. >> they have had an incredibly tough time. it looking ate of the trade side of it. plumbing and heating come the biggest disposer in the united states and pretax profits coming from0 million pounds frigid 31 million pounds. it is good in the usa -- 331 million pounds and it is good in

the usa. a good and central europe. eyes.vidend talk to my they'll talked about sustainable dividend is an important element for shareholders. it raised the dividend to 27.5. that is something forecasts had. d of last year. confidence. their the geography, they gave us a little bit of guidance. higher than last year. 25% higher. good news all around on the plumbing business. will sell the market takes it when it opens. 4%.nue growth around revenue growth would be consistent with the first half. margins, strong action and cost is needed. >> news from the biggest energy supplier in u.k. household, m&a

news crossing the bloomberg terminal. centrica has offered 1.1 billion euros to buy operations from aborted gas energy. digging -- board gas energy. it is an irish company. companye state owned and the trans action is expected to close in the first half of 2014. it is the big gas supplier to u.k. household here in the u.k.. m&a of 1.1 billion euros. >> back to our top story. the russianning economy. ryan chilcote chilcote is looking after the impact of the sanctions and the russian businesses. he joins us with another interview. >> no interview just yet. the effect oft

the sanctions. you look at what will cm polls, no big a consequence yet. however, the threat of sanctions appears to be undermining investor confidence a little. money is flowing out a russia life there is no tomorrow. they said a more has left this year than all of last year. a bad year.s capital stand at 65 billion. i was told to the head of russia's largest bank yesterday evening and he was telling me the economy was a less than stellar. if we see even a little bit more money leave the country, russia could be looking at a recession. -- not theit is not sanctions. this is demonstration. [indiscernible]

70 billion or 80 billion a year, i think it can get to be a recession. out thatworth pointing money was coming out a russia before the threat of sanctions surfaced. people looking at the fact that economy was growing at 1% saying they see opportunities elsewhere. be seen howains to much of the session are affecting russia. however, it is playing a little role. ofwhat are we going to make these assumptions from the white house said today are bringing down the ruble? >> it is interesting. if you look the year to date, the ruble is down. the second-worst performer among emerging markets after argentina. since march 16 when crime he is a voted to join russia, the ruble is up about voted to join

russia, the ruble's of about one .5%. the big losses we saw at the beginning of march have been a -- erased. i was talking to a senior banker and they made a important point it is and the russian interest to waylay some of the criticism they are getting from the economy here. it was already in pretty poor a to before russia got this crisis with the west. two button on the sanctions and hit it on the west. it is very much of the white house to say they are being down the ruble. marriage ofs a convenience between the two sides. every bite is had to say the sanctions are working pretty well. , thether thing is saying russian saying it was stop there. will not feel

compelled to bring out the big guns. >> thank you very much was out ryan chilcote from moscow. quit kingfisher -- >> kingfisher's ceo will join us. that is a first here on bloomberg. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am mark barton. >> i am anna edwards. europe's leading home improvement store, kingfisher, reported its earnings today. it is looking for a strategic partner in china. ceo and a now is the london. ian cheshire. the first quarter of this year, conditions have been extremely challenging but you see things getting better. paint the picture for us. >> we are very pleased to announce the 4% increase. we took our tax into account. it was key last year.

people may forget the last year we had slowing in europe. first a really good quarter. we had to recover the year so we are pleased to ended the year up up 3.3%.nd q4 we are seeing mark teixeira gains -- market share gains. .e could finish the year >> do not mention that snow because it makes me cold. let's talk about your german business. why are you selling that? you are returning some money to shareholders, how do the two stores link up? you raised money from it. is there a link? separate things. we are actively managing the portfolios in announcing two new entries in portugal and in germany.

so those are opportunities we will continue to grow. as far as the expose of minority interest, that is where we expanded into romania and germany and we cannot get a higher percentage involved. it seemed the right thing to do. the problem is it is a privately held company. particularly pleased managing to find and assess and raise 195 million in capital. the return we are announcing ,oday is much more structural not just up the disposal. it says we have a lot of things we can do with the bases and expansion opportunities but we are structurally now much stronger in terms of the balance sheet and cash generation. we think the time is right to start a program around 200 million this year. really reflecting the strength of our cash flows. we expected that to be the start

of a couple of years. let's talk about china. you said you are looking for a strategic partner in china. the chinese government is well known to take the economy a way from investments and consumer spending which sells the issue be good for you. why do the a part in china and why is this such a different market they the a partnership? >> we have a greater expense and another emerging market with turkey. 11 years where we were to develop the number one business in turkey. the reality is we need to have a chinese front. there are more chinese than there are to really succeed. the key.e really, we spent a couple of years and we are working and making the business stable. and helping to break even. we cannot go the partnership track until we stabilize business.

we see long-term growth and we see it best with a partner. >> left by europe. we had encouraging macro economic data. -- let's talk about europe. encouraging macro economic data and we had numbers suggesting things would get better. how does it differ from the improving economic data? you are downbeat on france. >> france is important for us. it was the only country last market wentthe backwards. the bank of france showed a decline in the market. we are seeing some signs of stability. 2% and theer yesterday's the data on france on pmi looks a more positive. we are seeing stability in france after a really difficult year last year. it is still very uncertain as a

key question is consumer confidence confronted with government policies which customers are generally are worried about the level of tax they may have to pay and unemployment. the hoping we are seeing beginning of stabilize in france but it is a bit early to call that. exit u.k. housing market and its highs and lows must be something you are fascinated by and follow very closely over the years. this in a number of booms and busts. what did you express at the moment at how we do benefit from the recovery in the housing market? doesn't look healthy? >> what we are seeing are two different phenomena. led structure that is unlike other boons with existing properties. from a very low house buying level. we see that coming through. it is had a fabulous year up.

the construction and of the market has taken on. we are beginning to see a more general move in existing home market which is much more of the wider market. it is mostly done for you. we are expecting to see the housing market continued to pick up. 40% below its precrisis peak. it is improving but not bad. providing supply is key. that is where we are focus. but we should not see scary housing bubble. but hopefully, a sustained recovery. the most important thing was the employment data especially participation. more people in work. maybe not seeing real wage increases but they are seeing more money in pockets and that is key for this year. >> as of the weather.

home just turning to home improvement. any suggestions on areas where we should not touch ourselves and leave for the professionals? nothing concerning a gas. people doing how many it. and a major electrical work is fairly dangerous. hopefully, you can, to us both in-store and our site and learn how to do more for the that is a plug for us today. >> i have a lot to learn today. .an cheshire, ceo of kingfisher >> in for company news. the maker of candy question will price its shares. they said they will sell more than 22 billion shares. king.com enshrined to

listen storage company on the new zealand stock exchange. he resigned as a director. a stake in the,. -- company. google is teaming with the maker of a ray-ban. they are collaborating the luxury eyewear company to help glasgow mainstream society a miss stepping up their efforts to show how glass can appeal to a wider audience. coming up on the program, doing your weekly grocery shopping at the pub. that is hotshots. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am mark barton. let's have a look at hotshots. the most compelling images of the day. or pet food ork toilet paper, head to the nearest vending machine. this giant invented machine up for daily needs a such as bread and bacon. close a decade ago. where can you find the machine? at the local pub. asia's youngest riders battle it

out. it is like this. part of the course of the free japanese riders dominated. the course was this and three japanese riders dominated. float style event. germany was one of the things at sochi but crashed. she wiped out some of that disappointment by winning here. welcome back to "countdown." i am mark barton. >> i am anna edwards. we'll take a short break. we will talk by how sanctions are hitting the russian equity market. ryan chilcote will be here. just a coming up in moment on countdown. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am mark barton. >> i am anna edwards. this, the see from dollar is bobbing along. this is the dollar index. you saw a little bit of money coming out of the dollar. we are looking at aussie/the dollar off of a three-month high. of 2014.st levels the question is, will the reserve bank of australia talk of the currency down? it is still overvalued and it's a challenge. a lot of talk about stimulus from china which is bolstering the aussie and it is still too

high. the euro, a significant day. mario draghi talking and in paris. look at a flat line. there it is. drop the speeds and biden speaks. is but to drop -- draghi speaks and biden speaks. -- it is about to drop. they are saying look for qe and the quarter. >> top headlines. u.s. lawmakers are said to reach phone to ended the nsa records program. a congressional aide said it will be presented today. it stops them from retaining data on a mass and istat require specific directive to retain data. healthpe -- world organization had doubled the airers of deaths caused by pollution. that's a airborne the tennis killed 7 million people in 27 -- in 2012.

low and middle income nations account for 70%. malaysian airliner said the company has done everything possible to reach 1000 family members of passengers on the missing flight mh370. malaysia determined it had went down in a remote owner of the indian ocean and australian defense minister said his country is doing every it can to search. aboutm not surprised anything and respect to this was that it is a mystery and until were you recover and identify a piece of debris, everything will be speculation. meeting and the hague and have pledged more measures against russia. they canceled the g8 summit scheduled for later this year and decided to meet and a brussels without russia. they expressed concern over troop buildup near the border of

eastern ukraine. was the united states target russian markets by threatening to further economic sanctions, ryan chilcote is look at the impact on russian business. >> i am joined by alexander afanasiev, head of the russian stock market well-positioned to talk about the russian stock market at a lease and the financial markets in general. first off, since the crisis kicked off at the beginning of the month of our people still jordan on the russian stock market? doubleas almost a compared to the previous period of time so will see tremendous activity. >> are they looking to make my off of volatility? are entering the market and some are using the volatility and some are sticking new opportunity. they think russia is --

3, thank you.2, come pair this to be lehman a moment. was it the lehman a moment? as in a lehman brothers? meltdown? >> no. we do not compare it. -- market was also >> basically everybody fled russia, it was a big deal. international customers and political tensions. 10%.ed the preferred investors haven't been changing according to our own opinions. because of the customers are quickly entering the hedge fund. focused on the local

customers. rather in ading longer-term view. it is because changes of reform and our russian infrastructure and measures to protect the important customers. improving and upgrading the level of trust. >> i wanted to ask about of ruble. presumably it is because it is current neutral. you can buy russian stocks in place like london and hong kong and new york and you do not have their ruble exposure in terms of the share price when you buy it. where you do here. the ruble has fallen quite a bit of this year almost 10% year-over-year. have you seen people trading russian stocks more in london or new york when they do not have to deal with the fickle neighbor -- nature of the ruble?

>> we do not think so. are --trading [indiscernible] not to the regional share. we see it as trading more in russia. and more regional shares. and france and other markets covered by the moscow exchange. inthe market, an increase march. up to 5%. alexander, the white house is saying to their sanctions and the road -- pressure they are putting all russia is hurting the russian financial markets was a is that the case? will only give a the sanctions. it is targeted. >> the stock market for the last week, it -- if it up or down? >> it is up and down. [indiscernible] some of them are buying.

>> where do we go from here? what did you see as the big risk? what are investors watching? >> they are watching more volatility. our target is about customers. we are working kind of safe. focusing on risk management and up until now, no problems with the risk management of our systems. the credibility of infrastructure. but what would lead to a major uptick on the russian stock market? to thes a question investors. i believe that we fulfill our most important targets. efforts trading care. do what we are doing. >> you know how to handle

volatility. that comes with the territory. >> that is the market. >> always a pleasure. the moscow exchange giving us pretty unique perspective on the russian market. >> thank you very much. ryan chilcote. >> what a great duck. very smooth business in there. picture of the, london property scene. the capitalists looking like an increasingly safe place to park of the ruble. let's go to caroline hyde. she is in a 9 million pounds luxury apartment. the holland park neighborhood. caroline? >> mark, i have moved upstairs. 9 million pounds. no expense spared. 3-d cinema. saunas.

tailored for the russians. security, it is second to none. video surveillance in every room. everything can be done with a touch of a button. check this out. we can move to the bathroom. behind me. specifications we are seeing throughout this particular apartment. many are faring when any of the money start to trust out of the property? russians are the second big as a buyer of luxury homes in the u.k. would they start to pull out if assets are frozen? not really because many are seeing more demand from russian. the turbulence mean they want a safe haven and that is here. luxury u.k. market property. it is here in london. 2-3 people have viewed this apartment.

it has only been on show for a month. >> what does that big gold chalice? what is it? >> [laughter] i was asking the very same thing. put my beads or glorious diamonds or chocolate truffles or caviar would fit in there. -- he bought 130 million pounds, the owner of chelsea was a -- the owner of chelsea. holland park. a five minute drive away. one hyde park. that is where it ukraine's richest man lives. 2011.ght recently in

north london is also a particularly ripe area. , head the richest man parked 50 million pounds in 2008 in hempstead. those areas, west london and a north london and the source of residences. 9 million pounds. with the turbulence, you might see more professionals stop not doctors and but the lawyers. they are putting money in here. the 1,000,000-2,000,000 pound range. it is coming and in the short term and what help with the boom we continue to see in london. >> thank you. it is like the olympic flame. >> it is like that. but a mini olympic flame. >> it is the place you put your champagne and caviar.

you do not drop it in the back. >> you do not bring in the bathroom. quentin the high end of the luxury market. high end luxury. the bloomberg billionaire team join us on an uncovered a billionaire. of a holding company. he has the name. it seems to make all of the difference. what difference does it make? he is part of the al-thani. >> it is very big. you have to keep in mind that the family is huge and -- in qat ar. >> it is 60,000. >> a lot of people do it me something but not an automatic ticket. but what distinguishes him from all of the other family members?

>> he is entrepreneurial. you do not hear about that name in business unless it is associated with the authority or sovereign. he started his own business himself at a time when qatar was a rural village. >> esn the transformation. after oil was discovered. he has seen it go from a tiny little backwater to a metropolis was about to host the world cup in a few years. >> and buying a number of hotels. >> and yes, he tested a page out of the qia. he has got a really unique opportunities. chicago, london. all over the place. he is injured in buying properties that will give a great return. >> i have a confession. qatar.a museum in

i went looking for it and i got a loss. i had to go back home. i was disappointed. he is a collection of cars. >> he has a fantastic collection for what i heard. i have not been. cars, boats. >> sharing his wealth. >> yes sharing it. >> thank you. >> 7:44 a.m. a look at it be data. german confidence. stay with us. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am mark barton. >> i am anna edwards. german services and outputs are expending slower than expected according to yesterday's urgency manager index. we'll get to the confidence survey. let's get to david tweed. the trouble in ukraine and russia, are they going to feed through into the survey? the surveys we do,

business confidence will be the first want to show up and concern of what is going on certainly with a russia given that russia's importance to the german economy. of all the european economies, germany is probably more exposed to russia than any other european economy. things to look out for would be three numbers. the business climate among current assessment which is expected be more or less unchanged and the expectation to look out for. signal thative us a german businesses are expected comingy to fall off in months. there's consensus already that the first quarter of this year will be fairly strong in the bank said it expects to see a slowdown in the second half of the year. the concern also is will the slowdown be exacerbated? whatea of the thoughts of is going on.

metro, one of the biggest retailers and germany has postponed the ipo of the cash and carry business of russia. it could be worth like 7 billion euros. to give you a taste. in morgan sold 287,000 cars russia. the links are very strong. >> thank you. as we learned royal will cut 100 3 net jobs. more on that next. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am mark barton. >> i am anna edwards. >> a look at the big, potential stock picks.he top he is live from his office. good morning. thank you for joining us. let's start with easyjet. they said their first half will be narrower than predicted. is a stock of their reached an all-time record in february. since then it is down by 8%. what is the read through of today's announcement? >> the announcement is very clear there are confidence at all angles. it is falling. this is a company that said the weather has been a steady the

share. usually people blame weather for a loss of earnings. and the cost of the seat will be lower and they are increasing their revenue per seat with allocated seating and people using them for slightly longer flights look. it is more viable. i think it has a long ways to go upwards from here. >> not such a great story coming out of royal mail. they are talking about job cuts. >> it is going to reach all of the headlines and will be on the national press tomorrow. i think it is probably good news. the markets is, it's flat. they need to transform itself and continue the transformation program and to shed jobs that were the fat brought, they were under government ownership. we will see headlines and talks about strikes which

will overhang the stock for a period of time and he needs to do this to survive in the long run. >> big exposure to the u.s. construction market. almost doubled in the first half. unchanged and 3%, a 12 months. is there a reason to buy this stock? >> a very, very good one and that 12 months before. market kickedng off. it is playing catch-up. u.s.the continued recovery, people beginning to set the interest rate. is the right thing to do. it would normalize the housing market. people are going to carry on spending in the u.s. they will continue to be strong. the housing market will power i had. more sustainable footing and that should allow wosley to grow.

is they u.k. housing market flying at the moment. that is an opportunity. , the housingmpany market is kingfisher. home improvement business. the ceo and he, said the housing market is not back at a frothy level but they are benefiting. >> yeah, they are. they are getting the best point. people are improving their homes and using. they are beginning to trade again. andle are trusting decorating their houses. they are in a good spot. they had a weak q1. and other the weather conditions. i think they should continue to grow. the housing market and in the u.k. is a dangerous. beforeerest rates rise

the end of the year, we will see a big derailment especially in london. people spending on credit because of rice is without >> what is dangerous is it me a tempting housing improvement. >> we are watching kingfisher. ♪ . .

>> welcome to "on the move". i am francine lacqua i bloomberg european headquarters in london. we are moments away from the start of european trading and our markets team has everything covered. here with me now is manus cranny. hans nichols is at the hague. caroline hyde is in london. ryan chilcote is in moscow. >> what we have is a symbolic in sochi.ncel the g-8

instead, there will be a g-7 in brussels. in terms of new sanctions, they are targeting energy, arms, and financials but only if there is additional action from russia. most of the officials we have been talking to say that means an incursion into the used in .kraine, but a new incursion that would trigger new sanctions. >> we will cross live to hans throughout the morning. let's go straight to moscow. ryan, you are covering the story from that end. >> we are going inside russian business to understand how the sanctions or the threat of sanctions is affecting things. we have the ceo of megaphone, the third-largest mobile operator in london -- in russia. we will talk to him in a few minutes. >> i am looking forward to the interview.