francine: nigel wilson, thank you so much. nk you. ♪ comcast business built the nation's largest gig-speed network. then went beyond. beyond chasing down network problems. to knowing when and where there's an issue. beyond network complexity. to a zero-touch, one-box world. optimizing performance and budget. beyond having questions. to getting answers. "activecore, how's my network?" "all sites are green." all of which helps you do more than your customers thought possible. comcast business. beyond fast. yousef: you are watching "the best of bloomberg daybreak: middle east." the major stories driven the markets this week. could divine offer a better investment opportunity. the president of algeria defies protests and says that he will run for elections again. chain sores.t food we speak to the cofounder and -- fast food chain soars. we speak to the cofounder and chief operating office. ♪

nigel wilson, thank you for speaking to bloomberg. and being here on "leaders

coming up, we speak to nigel wilson, the ceo after the insurer's full-year results. this is bloomberg. ♪ anna: welcome back to the european open. we are 18 minutes from the start of equity trading in london. legaland general group -- and general has reported profits of of analyst estimates. the challenge will be how it squares growth ambition with dividends, which it has raised for the ninth straight year. and general. legal we are joined by the ceo nigel wilson. great to have you on bloomberg tv once again. let me ask about your earnings, when he reported. it looks slightly better than anticipated. what are the positive drivers behind these numbers? nigel: we had an amazing year in terms of pension and annuity business which did 10 billion in volumes last year, more than double long-term historic trends. we see that as a big growth opportunity forward -- going forward. it became the one trillion -- first one trillion pound asset manager in the u.k. operatingpy the division is up 12%, group operating profit, 10%. 22% return on equity and dividends and earnings grew 7

nigel wilson, thank you for speaking to bloomberg. and being here on "leaders." diverse business.

nigel wilson, thank you for speaking to bloomberg. legal &

earlier this morning ceo nigel wilson told cnbc that investors are too focused on short-term results. >> we've taken the view that we will invest for growth i think too many people still focus on short-term earnings, particularly quarterly earnings. we're trying to discourage companies from doing that. you know, we would like if we dropped quarterly earnings reporting for all companies, both here and in the united states, because it will just make everybody think much more about the longer term and as long-term investors we want companies to manage their business for the long-term rather than, you know, maximizing their leverage ratio and buying back shares >> the office group iwg says it will close and refurbish a number of its locations after the company posted lower profits in 2018. full year operating profit fell 5.6% year-on-year to just over 154 million pounds that was in line with guidance the ceo mark dixon told cnbc earlier today that the closures constituted a normal event in that industry. >> if you would have looked at 2017, we closed the same number of sites when you have

the legal general ceo nigel wilson tells bloomberg there are opportunities to be found. , itotally relaxed and democracy are actually bigger issues for the economy. the u.k. economy has grown at the same rate as europe and the .mployment at an all-time low investment opportunities are at the all-time high, and somehow, we have to create an environment allows people to step up and invest more and copy what we have been doing. anna: today, mckinsey releases a new report focusing on the moves companies can make regardless of the political turmoil in the house behind. we are joined by the lead author of the report. joining us now from paris, thank you very much for joining us today. we were listening to legal and general's ceo, talking about using rise it as an opportunity to change domestic regulation, invest in infrastructure, and regional development. do you see opportunities for u.k. companies? >> what we are saying in the report is that there is life beyond brexit and it is time to stop for the uncertainties to clear. to actually look at the global megatrends of play. u.k. businesses can

wilson,g spoke to nigel legal and general counsel ceo.o say about his timeline for brexit. nigel: we always had the view that we were neither levers nor stayers. we determined not to be either. we may well have another four years of uncertainty. alix: four years? megan: we could get more uncertainty. sterling assets are cheap, but nobody wants to get involved. we are waiting to see what the path out of this might be, and i think we will have to wait a while to figure that out. lisa: thank you. coming up, surge pricing for one of the biggest public listings this year. lyft raises its target price to as much as $202 billion. we've got more on that next in today's bottom line. this is bloomberg. ♪ alix: time now for bottom line. we look at three comedies words watching -- three companies worth watching. deutsche bank potentially mulling raising up to 10 billion .uros lisa: it is interesting to see how deutsche bank and commerzbank come in either of them really want the deal done. they don't want to be married, and neither does the german gov

coming up with more perspective on business and brexit, and and 2025,look to 2020 nigel wilson. bloomberg "surveillance tom: francine lacqua in london, tom keene in new york. china with his affiliation over many decades of the communist party, let us listen. >> world economic growth has remained in positive territory but is being weighed down by factors like sluggish international trade and investment and rising protectionism. global economy is losing momentum,'s uncertainties desh uncertainties are on the rise. and james bevan with us simon french. i remember when he first dropped on the international scene, made a big appearance and splash. what is the message he and president xi are trying to send about stage three or four of a silk road experiment? james: they are sending two sets of message. the first message is polity -- policy stimulus is effectively a repeat of what they pulled off in 2015, is starting to work again, and they are trying to frame market expectations to expect to pick up throughout the year. in terms of the broader strategic goals, i think they continue --

as forthe dup, ithink, i mean, there has been some notes of defiance from people like sammy wilson but nigelwe know which of those options has met the bar? i think the bar is probably to be the best performing loser, for a variety offen reasons there are different factions a and that i want different thing, over the next couple of days the ones that do worse also have to exit and goi that do worse also have to exit and go i wanted a second vote but i am clear, i wanted norway 2.0 but i am not going to get that. the number to beat is going to be whatever number the meaningful, theresa may's deal can get. if she can get 290 votes and nothing else can, she is in a good position. if she gets 290 and a customs union gets 295 she is in a difficult position. i asked someone elsewhere you feel if —— whether you feel if revoking article 50 referendum two, if they are at the bottom of pile, does it make it much more difficult for the people's vote team? it does for now, if there is a long extension in which parliament orders the government to go back to the negotiating table and unpick things or redo

wilson joins us now from the central lobby. thanks forjoining us. when you spokein thanks forjoining us. when you spoke in the commons earlier, when nigelwho we re not sound like parliamentarians who were in any way ready to back the prime minister's course at this stage. is that the correct rating? yes, because the prime minister has not made any changes to the water all agreements, which, of course, not made any changes to the water allagreements, which, of course, is the source of our discontent. and the source of our discontent. and the source of discontent notjust for us, of course, but a substantial section of her own party. it's particularly significant that, in a day when the irish government have been making it quite clear that in the event of a no deal, they have no plans that they will not be putting in any infrastructure along the border between northern ireland and the irish republic, and yet they withdrawal agreement is predicated on the view that that was unavoidable. so now we know that the withdrawal agreement and the premise of the withdrawal agreement was totally false. the eu's bluff has been called on this, and why

nigel dodds, sammy wilson, saying the backstop is the problem, they are not shifting.hat in that single vote. if most of the european research group come on board, is missing made within touching distance of getting this through? i haven‘t done the numbers, but i know a number of my colleagues have decided that balance of political risk is such that the choice is very stark for them, either they support this and try to get us out, or they go to the 12th of april and we get a two year extension. that is moving people across because they don‘t wa nt to people across because they don‘t want to say, we said we would need, but we haven‘t and we won‘t for at least two more years. what usain to the dup? many saying you will not abandon the dup. they feel this deal threatens the union. they are legitimate in saying the deal itself, if unchanged, if we do not have a strong government with a strong leader, fighting the course to get the withdrawal agreement sorted, they are right, it could be damaging to them. but the conservative party is best placed to get itself a new leader