russia's biggest gathering kicks off in st. petersburg. it's as much about who isn't attending as who is. the economy minister joins for the first interview of the day. >> equity markets inching higher as continued stimulus will not spark jump in inflation rate. chinese manufacturing climbs to a five-month high. >> the largest chinese internet company listing in new york so far. than $1.7 billion in its ipo.

>> will come to "countdown." >> which just gone 6:00 a.m. in gone 6:00it's just a.m. in london. ready to deliver the stories that will drive your day. ryan chilcote is live that the st. petersburg foreign. mia saini is in hong kong with details of the ipo. >> jonathan ferro is in the studio to walk us through the latest fed minutes and elliott theine is in tel aviv as purchase of an israeli food company is going to be announced. >> this hour, a bloomberg first interview with the russian deputy economy minister. that is at 6:30 a.m. london time. will be here to discuss

those earnings. and "on the move," hearing from the national bank of abu dhabi. >> it's the biggest gathering of business leaders and this year the most controversial. ryan chilcote joins us from st. petersburg international economic forum. you've been covering this summit for 20 years, pressure for two decades in the big top line on this is who has decided not to attend. is that a fair way to deliver? i think so. who's not here and why. everything from lisa, goldman and goldman sachs declined to come after the white house said it would be best if they stayed away. it is not just u.s. ceos but

european ceos are largely staying away. bankmf, the ifc, the world , they have all declined to come. it's pretty clear there's a message here, a signaled president putin that if he will continue with operations in ukraine that there will be a price, isolation and this is what it looks like. that's not to say that nobody is here. we have some pretty serious involvement. the boss of bp is here. they own 1/5 of their largest oil company. clearly, the attendance is not what the russians would like to have seen. it will be an interesting forum without a doubt. we will look at how companies are navigating this geopolitical crisis and how russia itself is trying to get through it. as you mentioned, the economy minister coming up at the bottom of the hour and we will talk to him about russia will try to maintain growth as it is increasingly isolated. the big issues.

the geopolitics you mentioned, everyone trying to navigate, it's changing all the time. we have reports that there are some troop movements on the ukrainian border but we are waiting for confirmation. what's the latest word on the ground there in moscow? >> ukraine remains tense, obviously. president putin made some conciliatory comments the other day when he was in shanghai. his presence in shanghai and china speaks volumes. russia is trying to diversify away from the west to try and protect himself from threats. would that be enough? there are a few points there. the gas deals at the russians eu would somehow find a way to diversify away from supply but i don't think that's in the cards just yet.

that would still be an issue to the russians. the other issue is the ukrainian election coming up on sunday on the western community has said his the trigger for more sanctions. out of therly not magenta trying to find a way to navigate out of this crisis they are finding themselves in. >> ryan, we look forward to that interview later in the hour. the deputy economic minister with ryan chilcote. >> the chinese amazon raised $1.78 billion in its u.s. ipo pricing the shares above the market. let's go to mia saini in hong kong with more. >> this is a biggie. get ready for the biggest offering ever selling some $93.7 million american depository receipts for $19 each above the .ndicated range

at a time when tech companies are trading off of the march , they fit into a category of people who are essentially betting on the chinese growth story. think about it. going online to make purchases in china and two, growth in terms of a richer, wealthier chinese consumer. e-commerce will increase some 64% this year in china. it's only 12%. the offering price means is close to $11.5 million. let's also talk billionaires because a new one is getting minted following the pricing. the founder and chief executive officer becomes a billionaire with a net worth of more than $3 billion. >> let's talk about chinese

manufacturing. preliminary data out for china out today. give us the latest. a five-month high, i think is the headline. the five-month high for month of may. still in contraction mode. higher than the median forecast of 48 point three. this report is based on responses to surveys sent purchasing managers at over hundred 20 different companies. a final reading will be released june 3 and the official version will come out june 1. just so you know how to interpret this figure, china essentially is showing some signs of stabilization. that is how we are commenting on the number. this is a result of the program of the program policies implemented over the last month or so. downside risk still remained especially on the investment and property funds. >> mia saini reporting from hong kong. >> let's turn our attention to the federal reserve minutes from the fomc from the last meeting

at the end of april. jonathan ferro is here. what did you make of these minutes? are what the market is focused on for the moment. commencementthe speech at nyu yesterday from janet yellen and the big take away for me was that rates are going nowhere. no one is pushing for a rate hike right now so you will see them on hold for the rest of the year. inflation is still low. inflation is almost a pressure gauge at the federal reserve so there is no pressure for them to do anything against them a free pass to focus on the other side of the mandate, on and point it -- unemployment. don't be fooled. this is where the big debate at the federal reserve is right now. it's about unemployment and whether that's a reflection of an improving economy that is getting eaten up month by month by month. the take away for the consensus is that actually it's not.

the participation rate is so low that it flattens the unemployment rate and you have people in part-time work and it is evidence of slack. people aren't starting to push back at that view saying that the unemployment rate is an indication of spare capacity getting eaten up and that will drive policy not just for now but for the coming years as well. >> plenty of conversation about the fed exit. did we learn anything more about what that will look like and when it will come? conclusion. have a look at william dudley's speech the other day. that will give you a better indication of how they are looking to exit. perhaps it is symbolically significant that they are beginning to talk about it. it's time to pick up pace at the fed, bank of england, and elsewhere. if you listen to janet yellen, not necessarily from the minutes but it's very similar to the pledge coming out of the bank of england. rates will stay low, rates rises will be gradually unlimited.

it's a big, massive promise. there is a division on spare capacity then how can you make that pledge? if you get it wrong -- >> the only a problem is living through quite a number of rate cycles and having a lot of promises. anybody that has a crystal ball step forward now. there was a story where yellen is cautioning. togethere fed guys get and she's basically said to not worry too much about it because it will all change, the complexion of the fed. there will be big changes in the federal reserve. >> you will see stanley fischer, on board. leaving theoe is st. louis fed and coming from the philadelphia fed to cleveland, three new voters coming in the next two months and that will change. >> last time we saw a rate hike

from the fed was 2006. now already wolfed down but they are looking set to gobble them up in a deal valuing the israeli food group at about $2.6 billion. middle eastern editor elliott gotkine has more. this has been a long time coming, hasn't it? >> there's been months of wrangling over this deal over the possibility that there will initial public offering instead of the sale. they are known as strategic because they make longer but they are many, many times more strategic to israel supporting scores of farming communities. as the number one food producer and distributor in israel with seven of the top 10 food brands and israel. politicians were expressing potential opposition to this deal. the socialist farming commune who still have by minority stake in the company were concerned

that if they got sold to the chinese that they would not receive the kind of dividend have been receiving up until now. all of that said, the company is majority owned by london based aipac partners. to block a sale to the chinese would have just been discriminating against the chinese. they are agreeing to buy 56% of that could -- tnuva value them at up to $2.6 billion. for now, it looks like the sale is likely to go ahead. >> elliott, thank you. more from elliott in the program. >> china pmi rises to a five-month high but our next guest says china is less dynamic. we take a broader look at the economy. ♪

>> time for today's company news. hello kitty maker sanrio slumping after analysts including goldman sachs cutting targets for the company sharing as much as -- shares falling as much as 23%. asked users to change passwords after a cyber attack expose the database with login phone numbers.

no evidence of unauthorized activity resulting from the breach. this comes on the heels of a web knownty brought -- breach as heartbleed. this sale is part of a 3 billion euro capital increase to help europe's second-biggest carmaker finance a turnaround. they want to renew its push abroad. welcome back to "countdown." >> i'm manus cranny. china pmi rose to a five-month high sending asian stocks higher end optimism that the economy is stabilizing. here to discuss the issues is chief u.k. economist, rob. good to have you with us this morning. let's kick it off with china. the pmi still contracting that the export numbers are good. newport are numbers are good. should we be heartened by this?

>> they're slowing down. it will not be growing at 10% year on year, but what we're seeing is some stabilization around the rate of growth we have seen recently. that is both in the pmi but also the heart of data as well. we like to see that continuing and that is certainly our view. chinese authorities have plenty of economic levers that they can pull. >> do you see them doing that? is that part of the agenda, in your view? avoid it,uld like to but equally they want to avoid a hard landing. our view is that china will continue growing at seven percent. it's unlikely they will need to do anything germanic, but if they do need to, then they will. the minutesk about from the fed. you say the fed will not do anything to spoil the recovery. is that the overriding message

you took away from the minutes yesterday? >> the rate hike is not coming anytime imminently. we are looking for it in q2 next year. she key phase in the fed minute last night as they did not see any inflation risk from continuing to stimulate the economy and trying to get unemployment down and and put up . that will likely -- and input up. messagel likely be the for the next two months. they are going to look out how to normalize policy. >> william dudley talking about when a rate hike comes, they will be gradual. that was his message. >> absolutely. slowly and gradually getting to that rate where they will raise rates. >> we have a shift, haven't we? in 2006 a rate hike was

from the fed. here in the u.k., it seems to be a bit of a shift in the agenda. we are not talking about exit or discussing how and when rates will rise. the agenda has changed in federal bank speak. >> it is talking about the exit. it is changing. it is not a sudden seachange, but it is very gradually changing. i think that reflects the fact that the u.s. and the u.k. are growing. unemployment is falling. the u.k. has been growing for five quarters now, the u.s. for some time longer. we had weather distractions in q1 but i think this reflects a return to growth and a need that over time you're going to have to hike interest rates as the economy keeps growing. >> talking about rate hikes may be one of the themes they are talking about at the moment. the other theme that is coming through this week is about a

lack of volatility markets. a number of central bankers inc. that is an area for concern, not evidenced in the minutes, but is that worrying from here? the lack of volatility? >> worries me is the return to volatility. they increasingly talk about policy exit and this will be a big challenge for them over the next few years, this first rate hike that the fed will and bond buying later this year. we also think there will be a taper last year that was the caravan. volatility returning is of course a risk. banks will beal very careful in why they are talking about it early to try to prepare us for this. >> they seem to want a little bit of volatility but not too much. it's very hard to achieve. >> it may surprise you. don't want you to be really, really surprised. >> rob wood, thank you.

getting his thoughts on the u.k. economy when we come back. stay with us. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." >> time in london is 6:23 a.m. our attention to the whole of europe because we will get pmi numbers, the gauge of

manufacturing today. what are you expecting to see in these numbers? are contrasted with these confidence surveys that have improved through last year and into the first quarter. i think we will see a slight slip in the pmi. that's the risk here. we have ukraine, particularly worrying for germany which will be affected i offense in ukraine. i think we would get a slip in the pmi. isthe consensus forecast well above 53. decentyou marry that recovery rate, expansion, above 50, with talk of stimulus necessary to boost inflation? context that these are still much better numbers and point to decent growth, stronger than the first quarter. how do we marry it up?

the enormous crisis caused massive unemployment and falling inflation and that is what we're seeing now. >> there is a lag. >> it should push inflation up in the big judgment is how much will it drive up inflation? to step on theed accelerator more? >> that is going to be one of the bigger debate. the debate in the u.k. has changed gears completely. the arguments of the first rate hike since 2007. we talked about pace just before the break. what do you make of carney's comment about the gradual pace hikes?t -- rate >> he says he's not going to raise rates and he brings forward the expectations. honestly, i think interest rate rises will be gradual.

it will not be hiked really quickly. the risk is if they are hiking earlier than the dovish rhetoric . >> what will we learn from the gdp reading today? >> we are going to get a bit of a breakdown on the expenditure side. hopefully they would have recorded another decent quarter. we need that for the recovery to be more sustainable. the first releases of expenditure are very uncertain and will be revised heavily. >> thank you for joining us this morning. >> coming up, russia and china sign a $400 billion gas field. we bring you a bloomberg first interview with the russian economy minister alexi

ulyekayev. a special report coming up. ♪

>> welcome back. let's head to jonathan ferro for the fx check. >> let's look at the aussie dollar. have a check on when aussie dollar came out? it's possibly good for australian towns will. that reading had a five month time. let's get real about it. the rating is still in contraction territory but it looks on the bright side of life. signs of stabilization in china, signed the stimulus kicking in

and we have better to come out of the second largest economy. i will let manus cranny decide. >> these are the bloomberg top headlines this hour. several explosions tearing through an open our market in china. the area is home to millions of muslims who, according to overseas groups, suffer from discrimination and oppression. several recent attacks have been blamed on muslim separatists. fed officials believe there is no risk of inflation as the central bank continues its record stimulus. ds show the resid trade-off between lower unemployment and inflation, but with inflation rates and employment levels still below targets, officials believe that stimulus will improve both goals. says they now have 10 million paid subscribers 6 million lastom year. the ceo was recently called europe's greatest digital

influencer. he spoke to charlie rose about his passion for the music streaming giant. >> if you are in it for the money, it's not the right thing to be going into. for me, it was all passion about music, technology, and trying to marry both of them. fullu can watch the interview tonight on "charlie rose." >> it's russia's biggest gathering of business leaders and this year, it's also one of the most controversial. ryan chilcote joins us from st. petersburg international economic foreign with more. -- economic forum. >> i'm joined by the russian economy minister, alexi ulyukayev. thank you for being with us this morning. let's start with the elephant in the room. it seems to me that a lot of ceos, both american but not only american, european, have stayed away. is that how you see it? all right for

the participation of the businesses here. some of them especially from america -- >> goldman sachs. >> then it comes to europe, italy, spain, france. norway, finland, korea, china, japan, the participation is there. >> it feels like the international community is trying to send a message to russia. if you want isolation, this is what it looks like. i get the sense that you are onting slightly a brave face this year. moving on, if we see a

ratcheting up of sanctions, if we see economic sanctions or sectoral sanctions, how would russia respond? >> one more word about participation. we have sent a letter to each and any ceo of a company in position to be here and i said in there was some specific consideration. we would not in any way punished for that. .ou're welcome >> in a sense the white house told them to stay away. >> that is one point. i do not think they will introduce sect oriole sanctions. this kind of message, this kind of political message of sectoral

sanctions are much more. it can destroy and especially things like settlement limitations or like frozen assets. for the companies and banks, it destroys the normal situation and that is why the wto was upset about that. the fundamental rules of global trade and global development. that is the game with no result. even a minusybe result gain for everybody. it will suffer also especially

with income for europe that is pretty much dependent upon the energy supply for russia. and it isceful track better than war, anyway. seen soanctions we have far, the individual sanctions, how habit of active the russian economy? it affected the russian economy? >> let everyone standby in the opposition. it is like a nuclear weapons. it is still a good deterrent. they don't understand what it is all about. we're going to stand by and wait. we have something around 60

billion so far. also it is the transformation of the deposits. that is one of the reasons for some kind of investment break during the first quarter of the year. >> recession in the cards? >> for this corridor, it is around zero. -- for this quarter, it is around zero. for instance, the investor output and the acceleration of bonds in march and april. .e do not estimate gdp monthly in april.h output

>> some are talking about the risk of stagflation. do you see that? is 7.5% to now it the same day in a previous year because of the regulated , there is a supply for this year and it. in july. plus, the situation is not so bad. deliberationt and here of countries now finishing. we are still looking for the end of the year something around 6%. gdp, our focuso

is 0.5%. >> i want to ask you about china. president putin will be coming back before the forum here. you just sign this massive gas deal. how much of the chinese going to pay? $350? >> the managers of gazprom have said that. generally, it is something around that. >> if you do this pivot to the east, can china really replaced the west as a trade partner? >> i don't think so. i don't think they will replace. now, oursee, up until trade with china and other asia-pacific countries are much within a position to do so

europe. europe will have more than $400 billion. with the shared economy in china, japan, and korea, only $150 billion. course, we do not want to cut down on our trade with europe, but we are going to accelerate out trade with the asian countries to help this relationship to be in a more balanced way. him a thankukayev you for your time. russian economic minister talking about how russia will navigate this crisis saying he thinks the form is actually pretty well attended, all things considered. back to you. >> ryan, thank you for that great interview there. will not replace the west. a very frank statement. >> ceases the risk of stagflation still exists.

highons in ukraine remain but ukrainians are finding different ways to protest now. one of the latest is tech driven and could hurt russia economically. most people take to the streets to protest. are taking the fight to the high street. boycott the invaders, identifies whether a product is made in russia. >> there are companies that don't pay taxes and partially this is someone that is supporting the russian army. >> pro-russian supporters continue to occupy government buildings and east of the country and many are looking to cut ties with russia. this app has been downloaded over 100,000 times on the google android platform in less dan two months. the developer says it's essential to identify russian products. some are less obvious than others.

flex this bottle of beer looks like it is english. the barcodeyou scan using the app, you can see that it's not english. it's a russian product. >> it is not just apps, these two ukrainians left iraq you are russian social network for a newly launched ukrainian one. >> we were using the russian social network before, but after the russian intervention, we changed our minds and now we are starting to use this ukrainian social network instead. now havein april, they over 120,000 users. the boycotts like these risk inflaming the situation or is it just bad news for local business? remained with russia strained but local ukrainians are finding more ways to take a stance against aggression from their neighbors in the east. tom gibson, bloomberg.

>> solidarity the tech way. >> up next, the daily mail's earnings today could bring news of highly anticipated numbers. stay with "countdown." ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." >> time in london is 6:45 a.m. the uk's media company the daily mail could simultaneously announce the hotly anticipated ipo today along with its numbers. caroline hyde is with us now. the daily mail is a wide-ranging company. trust,y mail and general just focus on that for a minute. if you are business hunting, you have media outlets for this. if you are job hunting, business hunting, you have a groupon daily deals website. .aily mail online hunting, you have the

jobsite and the main thing, car hunting. just a look on the numbers we are expecting. this is a company that is not completely dependent on advertising alone. >> but it could have a beautiful day if it announces zoopla. >> they have more than 50% stake in the company and it could be orth one million pounds more. it's only 7 years old. you also have a sister website, prime location. looking at the stats of zoopla, 26% increase in the first half. the web traffic is going through the roof. now they have 40 million including myself. i'm constantly logging on with vm session with house prizes. my obsession with

with house prices. justt then some of us are curious, not intending to buy, or nosy. do we treat zoopla like a housing related company or a tech stock? they are both slightly concerning in a way. .e are talking bubbles u.s. has been obsessed about the tech bubble and you might have a few concerns about zoopla. we will be potentially looking more on the technology side of things. the ongoing trajectory of housing -- >> go ahead and use the word, carolina. they have warned about the housing market. >> the biggest threat about the u.k. ?lex is there value in this >> way back in september is when they first tied in credit suisse

and zoopla brought the men to talk about the future. then we learned that an ipo or share sale may be on the board. at that point, general trust and daily mail got involved. this is something that has long been debated. unsurprisingly, they are looking , at one point, earlier this year technology going through the roof and housing going through the roof, it seemed like the perfect time to be selling shares. now a little bit more caution. we will see if they announce that in 11 minutes time. a newe to pick parliament. voting starts in britain and holland today. the continue through europe in the eu residents head to the polls for the first time in five years. international correspondent hans nichols joins us now to talk about what's at stake. , at stake is control of parliament that sits in

strasburg and brussels but this time it's different. that's the official slogan of this because heads of state are supposed to be bound. it's unclear just how bound they will be but how they vote on selecting the next president of the eu commission which has more power. turnout is a concern. from 1979 it is down some 20 points. the 62% of voters guy came out -- of voters came out. thanmber states and more half a billion people are eligible to vote and it will probably come in at 400 million. as you mention, once every five years and this is the first election since the european debt , unemployment eu-wide still at 11.8 cent. -- 11.8%. >> eight the picture for us

about what the eu parliament actually does and where does that fit relative to the eu commission? is it a subordinate or on an equal stature to the commission? will i say subordinate i probably get in trouble so i will not use that even though it may accurate. the main role as they approve the budget for the eu commission. it also massages legislation but he cannot propose legislation on its own. it mostly just tweaks it. yes, subordinate may be the right word. will the parliament decide to be more assertive when it is seated later? just how assertive will it be? the eu nichols on what elections are all about. >> coming up, the buildup continues for the world cup. have you noticed it's coming? >> i did. >> a story related to that.

how the interpol team and what they are wearing to repair. the newspaper segment is next. ♪

." >> welcome back. >> i manus cranny. our away from the start of the trading day. time to the papers. caroline heiden emma two --

caroline heiden -- two beautiful ladies beside me. who wants to go first? sweatshop, forced to train an extra layers to prepare for /an amazonian jungle. england will play italy, the first game in the world cup. they're wearing extra layers to simulate the humidity that they will place. they are wearing three extra layers and portugal where they are playing. >> warmest weather. >> it can only get worse. >> you work out how much each individual sweats and you can give them the right recovery drinks with the right levels of electrolytes dependent upon -- >> will it help them win the world cup? >> apparently. i don't know how you measure it. >> there's controversy in the

hotel. the germans are in a resort the english are in somewhere less salubrious. >> this one just tickles me. it's in "the times." his mother's stolen. it was fitted with a gps tracking device. he was such a good driver but got him 10 out of 10 which sent to the insurance company and they will be accepting it as part of the driving tour to lower his insurance premium. thanks to them. >> are you a good driver? >> i'm a terrible driver. this is something, ladies, the focus on. sophia loren at cannes, 79. impressive and hustling the press. >> at the newspapers.

"countdown" continues and we will get earnings from the daily mail will there be an ipo from zoopla? see you in just a few minutes. ♪

>> russia's biggest gathering of business leaders kicks off in st. petersburg. where live at the forum it is not so much about who is addicted big as who is. who isn't attending as who is. europe is very much dependent on the energy supply from russia. this piece is better anyway. >> equity markets edged higher as the fed says continued stimulus will not spark to jump in the inflation rate.

is the largest chinese company listing in new york so far. a warm welcome back to countdown. some big interviews coming up for you this morning. mason will be here for an exclusive chat. on the move will be speaking to the ceo of the national bank of abu dhabi. we're just getting earnings from a number of businesses this morning. us get to those of their

business correspondent caroline hyde. >> let's look at the disposals they are making over all. it's not just the daily mail. it is selling the jobsite to step stone. it is going to be completed by the end of this year. that they are going to be selling's hoopla property -- selling zoopla property group. the main take away is the -- theon to float previously listing segment of we haven't actually got

complete details of what size they will be selling but they own 52% of zoopla that can be worth anywhere up to one billion pounds. so also just getting some numbers overall, adjusted pretax profit comes in at 151 million pounds for daily mail. >> we were just talking about if they would sell and they have announced that ipo. day for deals a today because you will is going ragu.l ragout -- it is expected to close by the end of june, subject to the regulatory approvals that are necessary. selling a couple of their brands their. us that theirling

earnings before interest came in just above then, ofra minute -- estimate $6.44 billion. the final dividend $.80 a share. trading conditions are broadly unchanged. they see operations being impacted by currency movements and they see revenue growth driven by selective rice increases. it is a sector that is undergoing a premium position. some businesses testing how much consumers will pay if they think they are getting something extra. trends we will look

at later on. thoseller coming in with numbers. a constant effect according to that business. shares of an ipo in 2013. that their full-year revenue is gaining two percent. and it has become more intense. universalrmine services. they are reiterating their margin expansion goals. and daily mail as well.

it's move on from all of that breaking news and talk about what is happening in st. petersburg. in this year, one of the most controversial. we are joined at the economic forum. you have been covering the summit for two decades. what is different this time around echo hikes many people are not coming and why they are not coming is also interesting. companies from visa to goldman sachs will not be here. many europeans will also not be coming. the ceo of siemens won't be here. multilateral organizations have pulled out.

this is what it looks like, giving russia a taste of what can come. a fifth ofbp owns russia's largest oil company is here. we will be looking at how the international companies are here . obviously a very touchy situation for all of them and how russia itself will manage the crisis. worse could get much for -- get much worse. >> the chinese online retailer raised $1.70 billion.

the biggest ipo of a chinese tech company in new york. >> it really doesn't get bigger than this. million above the indicated range that they provided. this comes at a time when companies are trading off of and investorsghs really fit into a category of people betting big on chinese growth. let me put that in perspective. going online to make purchases in china and a richer chinese consumer. they say the revenue will increase 64% this year in china compared to 12% growth in the u.s..

it means the market value is going to hit play $6 billion, 2.3 times last year's sale of $11.5 billion. >> looks as if we have a bit of a problem with her microphone. thank you for joining us in hong kong. thes turn our attention to atutes that they released the end of april. >> a couple of takeaways. interest rates are going nowhere this year. inflation rate is the accommodation that they need. there is no pressure on them. it is going much lower. we don't think this is a

reflection of improving economic fundamentals. it is flattened by the participation rate not seen since the 70's. they don't think inflation pressures are coming anytime soon. >> and the next month can be interesting because we get a forecast from the fed. >> if you remember the lead up to the last meeting, it was said to be the most boring federal reserve meeting in ages. could be very interesting. each policymaker plots were they think they will be over the year. they keep producing them and we will keep looking at them. stein steppingmy down so his thought might be quite high and disappear. you might get stanley fischer. they are not names.

and sandra will drop out from the cleveland fed and be replaced. we don't know how these people are going to vote. you can see the median projection shift somewhat. how much you should read into that i will let you decide. >> in the name on the dots. it will be compelling television. us at the latest -- for the latest on the fomc and the fed. ian mason will be here. this company sometimes called itself the amazon for engineers. the push to a business online after a short break. ♪

>> welcome back to countdown. the time in london is 14 minutes past seven, breaking news from you no lever -- unilever. and its north american businesses by the end of june. components reported sales and pretax profit.

in for an exclusive conversation, the boss of this business. here.son is is that a fair description? >> technical information and technical product. >> tell me how the business is doing. sales improving, pretax trough it. how are things? >> everything is in the right direction. the current rating has improved as well. >> can you tell us anything about the state of the global economy act go now you are in 80 countries? you must have quite a good. . -- you must have quite a good

pulse check. there is more confidence. it has been gradual. picking up and just generally getting better. it is much more global. japan is doing very well. asia, and europe is doing very well. we have, we are taking market share in the u.s. is strong. despite the fact we are seeing what many people described a sluggish recovery. that.e managing won the product and you've got to have it delivered.

to people like us with strong balance sheets. we can afford to give the customer that service. we are going very strongly in places like spain because we are taking market share. >> almost entirely supplying the that does supply 70% of sales now in the u.k.. all sorts of different ways of running a global business. >> we copy pasted the u.k. business around the world. that was the easy bit. getting the infrastructure to support them. so we run all of our e-commerce out of one side, one server in scotland. with all of these

countries in 14 different languages. we also have people on the ground that understand what the local engineer wants. a mix of global and local. warnings --set of earnings we looked at of your global revenues online. it is growing faster than the business is. we have gone to 60. it has been a big transformation in what we do. for us because it helps us serve the engineer better. it helps us serve them better.

>> it is not an entirely online business. of the day, it has to be a boxwood products in it so the engineer can do their job. >> talking about transitioning into mobile. is this something your business is thinking about? a lot of these electronic design engineers are the ones that leave this technology. what it is is multichannel. we still use a lot of catalogs. the core of this business is the web. it's what you wrap around it. some excitement around the most recent numbers. is that something you are seeing coming through?

>> we have been slightly disappointed with the top part of the u.k.. there is more work to be done. >> up next, set to buy a top israeli food company. the foreignnd companies when we come back. ♪

jd.com, the market value is $26 billion. the lost more than doubled in the first quarter as a microblogging service has spent more to attract users. it boosted daily customers by 37%. towards content on their smart phones and have a computers. vivendi plans to sell half of its remaining stake in activision blizzard. used to own a controlling stake in the company but sold

off most of it last year. welcome back to countdown. i'm an edwards. to bright food looks set gobble up and maneuver in a deal the value of $2.6 billion. this deal has been a long time >> would be sold by the shanghai government? with the israeli government blocked the sale on the ground ultimately, we seem to have an answer. divide a 56% stake in a deal that could value of to $2.6 billion.

the significance, it was established 80 years ago and is the semi-iconic farms across israel. they have minority shareholders. sale means that they would not get the dividend that they used to. some politicians suggesting it shouldn't go ahead. but it is the largest food producer and distributor in israel. by refusing to block it somehow to be sold of the chinese, it smacks of some racism against the chinese. >> as you have alluded, many of the products are household names

in israel. >> there was a social protest in israel. it was a cottage cheese social exorbitant cost of israel's favorite spread. , and it popular brands must say, it is quite yummy. it really became public enemy and soone at the time this iconic israeli food company that started with the cooperative model became the worst example of capitalism in israel. >> inside and analysis. beer is no longer is easy as it once was. trendl have more on the in the beer industry. ♪

>> let's head for the effect check. >> takes a dip below 137 yesterday. today, the focus is on the eurozone and restart with france. after that, terrible gdp reading when they delivered a big fat no percent growth. 30 minutes after that in about an hour's time, the german pmi.

>> these of the bloomberg top headlines this hour. several explosions have torn through an open air market. the area is home to millions of muslims that according to overseas groups suffer from discrimination and repression. fed officials believe there is no risk of inflation as the central bank continues its record stimulus. officials questioned if there was a trade-off between lower unemployment and inflation. officials believe the stimulus will improve both goals. is 10 milliont kids are scrubbers worldwide up from 6 million in march of last year. called europe's greatest digital influence. he spoke to charlie rose about his passion. if you are in it for the

money, it's not the right thing to be going into. it was small passionate about music and technology and about trying to marry both of them. >> us get back to the companies reporting today. the company said growth will continue to be driven by the developing markets and creating new packaging to attract more. an analyst for alcoholic drinks joins us now for a look at those numbers. thank you for joining us. the numbers in line with estimates but you were a bit disappointed by them. you set a tough target. >> the industry was expecting higher everything because they were expecting higher returns from the developing markets.

what had happened was that the currency, there was headwind that had reduced lots of net sales and revenue returns for the company. they end up facing up to smaller growth rates in terms of their net revenues within latin america and africa which are two of the key regions for that company. they managed to reduce the growth rate from what was originally estimated. something towards a lower single-digit growth rate. did the underlying >>wth raw specs look like? they pretty much have to rely on volumes. it is the key to driving those markets. of high get a lot margins in latin america and in africa. mostly because cost cutting is one of the key initiatives in those areas.

it is one of those companies .hat utilizes local resources a sorghum beer is sold locally in africa and it is actually created for low income consumers in africa and this is one of the things they try to apply on the rest of the brand. we're seeing in the industry is product premium is asian. when companies try to charge more for a product by giving the customer something different or something new. are they protesting how much they can charge? >> they do it in an interesting way. they take the ideas of the craft beer industry. they have their own brands. it is considered to be a premium

beer, a brand which they try to expand on globally. because of definitions, they can't qualify as a craft beer. it does have the look and the positioning that requires it or allows it to have a premium pricing to it. they can enter the superpremium side of the beer market. craft beer away from other beers? many have a history and the story. what defined something is craft? >> there isn't a strict definition but you are right. being small is one of the things. i think they set a limit of 6 million liters or 6 million barrels a year. there has to be a degree of independence. it must not be owned by a multinational company.

basically that issue but if you look at what is happening in the u.k., it is a different structure. >> it changes by country. where are people more experimental in their beer drinking habits? know flavored beers have been introduced in other parts of the world and eastern europe seems to be doing very well. we are seeing quite a big interest in what we call spirit which fixes that lets parents and so on. we are seeing the same thing happening in the u.s. in the miller and coors company. they are introducing higher alcohol drinks to cookie with the spirit market and the wine market. they have been either stagnant or declining in the last few years.

>> spirit and beers together, spear. >> when we say spirit beer, some people assumed there are spirits in it. how are they doing convincing women to drink more beer? releasing some of the flavors in south africa, kenya, south africa. doing something that has a lot of potential in africa. bringing in things like rattlers or beer mixes. loads of to deal with invasions coming in. theire seen them develop

bud lite brand as well which is not specifically female centric but it does compete against spirits and wines as i mentioned before. it does bring in a sweeter flavor. >> great to hear from you and the subject of spears. , we'll hear from the ceo of the national bank of abu dhabi. ♪

>> welcome back to cap down. let's talk about what coming up next. us anchor the program joins now with a preview. us go to you first. >> we have little snippets of how to look at the world. news from the bank of england, news from the fed. we will be joined by james mccormick from barclays. notes, oneough his

of the macro themes we will be talking about is the risk of deflation is not negligible. japanrly stage drivers of toss deflationary shock. james mccormick is going to be buddy up for the first 20 minutes of the show. we have the ceo of the national bank of abu dhabi, a very big presence in the local market. banksof the middle east and industrials are here in london, doing business. we will have a nice sit down to this west toat is east corridor or that he refers to. arent to know what they doing and do in london is and what heubai

believes or doesn't believe in the recovery of the property market. >> thank you very much. we will be back at the top of the hour with on the move. we have been talking about the fed this morning, and we have the eurozone and pmi coming out. everyone will be looking at the french pmi because we had a terrible growth figure of a big fat zero percent. we had a terrible number. food for thought. we're looking in futures and i think people are taking the optimistic view that the fed will do nothing for the rest of the year. still in contraction territory.

not everybody is on board with the amount of spare capacity in that economy. there is reason to be pessimistic as well. >> i have an optimistic hat on. >> i like to smile a lot. >> i don't. playu ever recovery at which is why you're talking about exit strategies. of course it is critically important. the united kingdom talking about higher rates. awe. and i higher interest rates typically when you have a stronger economy. raising rates ecb in the face of absolute catastrophic meltdown. >> you are taking us down many -- memory lane.

>> i can take you down many roads. >> let's talk about what else is coming up on covers throughout the day. carolina hide is here. >> the daily, three percent higher. it is not just exposed to the where we have seen it helping the business overall. this is a company playing around with its portfolio. you can also hunt for jobs. it is going to a german media company. hunting, can be house

owning a 52% stake in the second-biggest property website in the u.k.. news of thehe initial share sales. they will be listing shares by june of 2014. not just daily mail, but the foundry will be selling, alex chesterman, other investors at the venture fund. and five percent will be going free to float and the company could be up to one billion pounds. clicke 40 million of us or month. that means they can charge advertising. they also get about 2 million people inquiring after say they ared they looking to go to commercial property more and go overseas.

they run websites for a number of property companies. they are not just benefiting from us becoming vaguely if not completely excess -- obsessed with house prices in the u.k.. it's a bet on technology companies and how this company can expand. data centers of been springing up all over the united states and one small town in central oregon has the perfect environment for these energy intensive facilities. >> once the end of the line. has become a new spoken the information superhighway. everything related to facebook comes through a data center. they are stored on servers and vast buildings like this, known as data centers.

this is their most efficient data center to date. that is due in large part to the climate of central oregon. room. wer intake called the penthouse. whether it is hot or cold, it's very dry air. >> it is used to cool the servers directly. damp forced through giant membranes. requirement can be ignore mess in data centers like this. karen monitors and replaces any >> peoplec servers are surprised? >> i think it was definitely a shock. building a 338,000 square

foot facility just up the road. and another big incentive for facebook and apple. them 15 years of tax-free with the improvements that they put. they say to us, give it away. i say, we didn't. a taxable entity and we are not only paying taxes on the land but they will be paying taxes on a huge facility. >> on this tablet is still in need of a boost. they hope that this will help revitalize and serve as example that other small towns can follow. >> as the world cup approaches, a jobbetter to look for

that is sports pub. we will have analysis, next. ♪

>> eight minutes to go until we see equity trading. the next guest rings from travel to sports. we are joined from the office in london.

let's start with sports as the world cup is not far away. >> i think ultimately it has had good momentum behind it. it is down about 8.5%. get ado feel that as we little bit of world cup fever behind us, we can be it -- see a bit of a pop there. investing in and acquiring the stake in leeds. what is more attractive than a guy all kidding doubt? resealable bit more buying in those stores. to that is no answer but i do hear that they have been training to try to mimic the humidity conditions they will have to play in brazil.

this could be good for sports companies. have numbers out earlier today. think we might need a few drinks to wash it down with. dated a help to offset the problems here in europe. 209 from 200 to last year. nevertheless, i think it'd trade something like a premium and they are experiencing some headwinds and not really any real changes this year. if i have to choose between the two companies, i will pick the ipo. but they are still subject to those speculations that could very well support the price from here. you quite like some of the price movements we have seen?

>> there've been pretty decent. came off of what we saw in the last quarter. includeidn't really that from easter. the stock price has been punished a little bit too severely. we also see sterling clamber a little bit higher on that particular effects. expecting sales in 2015 around seven to 10% higher. and i do feel that that does provide a certain amount of bid action for the technical buyers. thank you for joining us from your office in london. thenterview with

international bank chief of abu dhabi. that will do it for countdown. on daily mail and we will see you again tomorrow. ♪ . .

>> welcome to "on the move." i am manus cranny at bloomberg's european headquarters in london. almonds to go before the start of the european trading today. our markets team has everything covered. here with me now, caroline hyde on markets. our europe editor david tweed joining us from berlin. it off withick you. markets are a little bit higher. >> you have got futures higher across all the european indices for a couple of reasons. a dovish fed and chinese pmi.

let's cross to st. petersburg. ryan, you are the man on the ground. what is on the agenda today? exclusivenished an interview with russia's icon us knee -- economy minister. he says it won't happen. later in the hour, i will talk to russia's direct investment fund. he has just come back from china. we will talk about the deal that president putin did with the chinese. >> it is a question of whether russia looks east or west. breaking news now before we go to david tweed. french purchasing managers index market estimate in contraction. the composite index at 49.2. h