some harsh words for noble. aree are reports that they --."ry bad company took of the jakarta session will be in focus. but here is a look at what is going on elsewhere. reporter: markets looking mixed, but stocks are getting a lift from a strong performance in the u.s. overnight with the s&p 500 closing at a record index. hanseng now up .4%. there are reports that banks are being told not to offer higher deposit rates. that could be playing in.

the korean market giving up early gains, down .4% after the bank of korea data rates at a record 7.5%. -- in singapore, stocks looking fairly flat. ganseng downloper 6.5%. japanese stocks reversing losses, now up .5%. some of the stocks we are gensug an eye on, announcing four years profit rose 20%. one of the biggest recliners, theirdown 20%, slashing three-year profit target.

getting more on the sharp decline as well. posted its third annual loss in four years. $1.9 billion. grace joins us from tokyo. we were discussing this earlier. this is far from good. this is a very bad earning for sharp. as you said, it is the third loss in four years. they have already accumulated loss for more than $8 billion. that is a huge amount. that is almost what microsoft paid for skype. a big loss for sharp. the worst this is situations if they were near bankruptcy in 2012. their share price has dropped significant way, more than 10%.

comparableis almost of 2012. the end agreed to continue their support for the company, buying preferred shares for ¥200 billion. fund from the two main banks will also put ¥500 million worth of preferred shares. sharp will cut jobs. it will be the largest cut in their history, 10% of global employees. that is about 5000 employees according to their current employee numbers. it is very bad.

the reaction in the markets was not good. ubs have cut their ¥240 -- toe from 170 ¥40. outysts say time has run for sharp. there is doubt in the market. rishaad: thank you, grace. we will take a look at what is going on in china with the people's bank of china. it is said to be instructing other banks not to offer high deposit rates even though it raised the ceiling. that seems to be the latest sign policymakers are struggling to stimulate what has been described as a altering economy. stephen engle's looking at this. people--stephen:

familiar with the situation says we may have to take this with a grain of salt because of the slowing economy. this is what we know. thef monday, the pboc for third time since november, cut the key lending rate and the deposit rate but raised the ceiling, allowing banks to raise rates to attract savers and give them a better rate on deposits. but we are learning from people close to the central bank that pboc is instructing banks to hold off on setting their own deposit rates. we know the pboc in the past, including the governor, has said that deposit rate reform and removing the cap altogether is one of the riskiest forms of rate liberalization in china. he did say that could happen in the next couple of years.

this is the next step as we face a steeper slowing of the chinese economy. how far to the reforms go at this time? banks have some risk right now, the slowest profit growth in a decade and that interest margins being squeezed. the central bank wants to see those funds in the real economy, working. does that mean raising the cap? does not make that meaningless? that is the big question. rishaad: he will have a more detailed look later in the program. we want your opinion. tweet us your thoughts with the #trendingbusiness. it is a busy friday. here is a roundup. reporter: you are talking about two of the world's largest announcingvelopers, they are working together in a joint partnership.

it may lead to a $16 billion worth of projects. peoplethe chairman said have forgotten about the importance of cooperation when there was a supply shortage. we see a housing market where demand is waning, depressed prices, and for the first four months of the year, investment in property developments rising at the slowest pace since 2012. will leveragewo on their respective strengths. vanke, residential. wanda developing in smaller cities. boost growth margins on investment properties. they can raise margins by 20 percentage points from the current average of 26%. analysts say progress will be slow.

first, it was alibaba. dow taiwan is said to have turned insights on a subsidiary. the online retailer has been given six months truly because issues.tment it is controlled by mainland shareholders, and anyone with more than 30% of funds coming from chinese investors require special approval by taiwan. alibaba was told to leave taiwan by this august. it employs 100 people in taiwan. it has 100,000 registered users. jack ma has said taiwan is an important market and followed laws when they enter the market. dong, it is a hoax:. call for a got a

multibillion-dollar takeover in shares. millions ofrned dollars of avon stock in 25 minutes. it turned out to be too good to be true. the offer, three times what avon was trading the day before, $8.2 billion, the largest levered -- leveraged buyout. the announcement was filled with typos. calls to the company went straight to voicemail. the address on the filing was a london one. stock markets quickly gave way to a lot of questions. how could this happen? stocks still close up 6%. the search for a buyer goes on for avon, posting three straight years of declining sales. someone walked away with a big pot of cash. we will send it back to you. rishaad: india and china

celebrating warmer relations. they say their combined prospects are good. he will head there later to get reaction. we are talking with the chief iag.tive of ♪

rishaad: the chinese economy may that has notut stopped intercontinental from launching a new brand. is aimed atain increasingly sophisticated chinese tourists with plans to take the grand national. the ceo joins us from shanghai. thank you for joining us. you have this new brand. how is it panning out for you? >> really well, actually.

we announced it a few years ago. we just opened the first one a few months ago. squarely at a group of consumers we identified in china through research, global targeted on people in china that want consistent high-quality. we see a lot of opportunity. it is performing extremely well. rishaad: a few questions as to whether you take this brand of broad? england, france even? opportunity.ot of

one of the big pieces of china is outbound travel. maybe 200 million by 2030. see an opportunity to put the brand in other markets where the chinese go, new york, paris, london, and attract visitors there and western people attracted by chinese hospitality. rishaad: what is different about versus otherity types of hospitality? >> we have been very successful in china. we were the first international hotel company 30 years ago. we have nearly 200 in the pipeline. that was tailoring western brands for the local market. this was designed by a chinese aroundr chinese guests the way chinese hospitality is. the design of the hotel, the

restaurant is very different in terms of private meeting spaces. ratherchinese tea room than a bar. the way you deal with vip's. it is quite clearly targeted. early signs have been very strong. you have all these different brands. you have nine or 10 of them. intercontinental, holiday. how do you differentiate yourself? indigo, a boutique hotel, you have that too. >> we do. and we just acquired another in america. there are a lot of hotel brands out there, without question.

our approach is somewhat different in that we have done extensive customer work to understand different needs, different occasions, who the customers really are. each of our brands is tailored. you have huge back office scale advantages by having a bigger business. we have nearly 5000 hotels now. you can target brands towards individuals and make brands sufficiently different. what we have really focused on is making them different. ualuxe identified a gap in the market, something they could not get. time ashed at the same a brand in america focusing around wellness. if you target a brand, some people will not like it, but the people who do will be very loyal, regular visitors and pay more. richard, i just want to

get to some of your finances. revenue holding up in a different segment? >> we do not give future forecasts. but if you look at our 2014 results, we have seen strong growth around the world. the u.s. is our biggest market. china, growth is lower, but we all -- opened new rooms. is that the sign of a slowdown, in your view? if you strip out the new rooms. >> a bit of a slowdown. for us last year, revenue grew 9.5%. with new supply, the number will be lower.

gdp growth is still higher in china than a lot of other markets. we remain very positive about china. , across thehard harbor from our office, we had intercontinental hong kong. is up for sale for $1 billion. what makes you think you will get that kind of cash? is that the number you are looking for? talked aboutver whether the hotel is for sale or worth $1 billion. that is speculation. we have a strategy of selling down major real estate. that is clearly a big piece of it. it will be worth what it is worth. but it is a fantastic asset and great location. that brings me to the industry being consolidated.

you just made a purchase of a california hotel chain. talk of starwood being up for grabs or you and starwood merging? what is your view on that? >> we never comment on market rumors, as you know. what is interesting about the industry is that we have 5% of the world's hotel rooms, 13% of the future pipeline. he had an enormous amount of growth in the business. we continue to open more hotels than we ever have. there is lot of opportunities as an independent business. rishaad: richard solomon, thank you for joining us. chief executive of intercontinental hotels group. india havehina and praised warming ties during a meeting. it was a rare occasion of

hosting a foreign leader outside beijing. china sees india as a market for a range of products. aim is toster modi's attract investment. malaysia has turned away a second boat of a silent seeker's. -- asylum seekers. adriftds are feared left , denied entry by malaysia and indonesia. capitaln new zealand's are being warned there is more bad weather on the way. died when his car was emerged in rising waters. highways were closed, and train service was shut down. further north, a mini tornado ripped through several homes.

rishaad: we are headed to a break, but on the other side of donkey -- doggy dial-in. . ♪

rishaad: this is "trending

business." a look at what is trending on social media. dogs, certainly. reporter: let's talk about the world bank president. he has officially joined twitter and doing quite well. 3000 plus followers overnight. it is sort of keeping with social media trends we have seen. throwback thursday picture. christine lagarde tweeted him saying, welcome. he responded with a picture saying, thank you so much. great to see you last month. a lot of personality from the president of the world bank. let's make the discussions productive.

some of those discussions already starting. he is talking about, we have to end poverty. ceo'se seen a lot of big and world leaders join social media this week. >> nice way to talk to the people interested in hearing what you are saying. depp arrived in australia to film the latest installment of "pirates of the caribbean." dogs hejet were two loved very much. ha.s caused a great hoo- groomer,hem to a dog which posted pictures on social media. the department of agriculture was not pleased. they say he will have to take his dogs back to california or

they will have to euthanize them. amount -- did not matter if johnny depp has been awarded sexiest man alive twice. have signed an online petition to save the dogs and not put them down. that they are heading back to the u.s. this afternoon on a private jet. reporter: just-in-time. next, plunging in singapore. asia's casino will have to get new -- used to a new norm. ♪

emily: he is tech's biggest outlaw, under house arrest after a raid by new zealand. kim dotcom is known for his outrageous personality and has traveled the globe. now the target of the biggest copyright case in history, accused of trafficking pirated movies and tv shows as he awaits an extradition hearing to decide his fate. joining me on this special edition of "studio 1.0" from auckland, new zealand, megaupload founder and self-proclaimed ruler of the