telstra ceo.n the great to have you on for us. you managed expectations that this year will be a difficult one. how bad are you bracing for its to get? >> thank you for the opportunity. there is no doubt the telecommunications market in australia and globally is going through a challenging time. australiaerbated in nbn and in the seat of .hat has tailwinds for telstra against that background, i am pleased with a strong customer and i am very2018 optimistic. is what you can control and can't, right? you can't control what happens with the mbm, so what are you focusing on the things you can control? andy: that is absolutely right. control oure can the quality of our products and service, and that ultimately manifests its self -- itself by our customer growth. we at around 350,000 new mobile subscribers in the fourth quarter. in the handheld market, which is the premium market, which around 70% of net ads in the market. on the fixed side, we added another 88,000 customers and grew market share to 51%. in terms of customer acquisition

as for telstra, its stock is rising by 2.5%.al, tpg says it will spin off the singapore mobile business, separating it from the new merged company. it seems like this deal will materialise by 2019. thank you and nice to see you, ricoh. —— rico. now let's brief you on some other business stories: chinese made batteries failing to meet performance aims. tim cook, the boss of apple, has collected $650 million in apple stocks since becoming chief executive and has led the company to be worth over $1 trillion. remember when he got that job, many were so concerned of how we could feel the shoes of steve jobs but many would argue he has delivered. where we are seeing wea kness delivered. where we are seeing weakness in the markets today is in hong kong and china. they are falling because of concern over the trade war between the us and china. the us are making the news. the snp 500, for trading days in a row of record rises. it is boosting other markets in asia. an upgrade on the second—quarter numbers the growth in the us and that is

telstra and optus.d or born in australia. vodafone's australian operations and tpg telecom will create this brand—new mobile fixed line and broadband provider. $11 billion, the mergers we re provider. $11 billion, the mergers were that much. effectively it will be big enough according to analysts to match the scale of their rivals in the country. telstra and optus. the new entity which will be called tpg is already being given a thumbs—up by investors. shares from both the companies stored in australia. an analyst saying that consumers in theory should get better service and hopefully lower prices, too. broadband service in australia is one of the biggest complaints for people over there. many have said that it is far too slow and the quality is just not good enough. the move comes of course as australia's telco sector has been facing uncertainty because of the roll—out from the government —— a government owned broadband wholesale which has impacted if done that internet profitability. and from china. c

my telstra much. vietnam war plane which broke on generation watch the book war every day. those where do you remember the midst of the first time i had a feeling of being part of something. the seeds of civil rights. peace movement. plan. to sixty eight. good. start to the first double. this is deja vu news live from berlin italy's populist government issues a new demand over migrants rome says the e.u. must change the rules on sea rescues or europe's mediterranean mission is at risk of collapse also coming out of the east german city of chemist's braces for more demonstrations as far right nationalists gear up for another protest.

elon musk has said, he is not stoned when he tweeted about the telstra deal, what do you think? he came up with the price. it seemed a lot like better karma. that is the way to come up with these things, isn't it? that's the way i like to look at things. your're watching business live. our top story — a committee of british mps says the authorities should adopt a more positive view of e—cigarettes and give them economic incentives to help smokers give up tobacco. 0pinion remains divided about health concerns. it's friday and that means it's time to wrap up some of the biggest stories of the week — and there have been quite a few for the normally sluggish month of august. the us was at the centre of trade spats, with both china and turkey, and we of course had that shock tweet from tesla boss elon musk stating his intention to take the company private. kamal ahmed, our economics editor, is here. it has been a busy week? it has, it is looking at how the risks are around the world. this week it has been about turkey, whether it might need to go to the international monetary fund fo

before we go, we asked you earlier in the programme, will telstra is think about madonna.ld you believe it, we wa nted turns 60, could you believe it, we wanted to know what your favourite madonna song was and whether or not you think she is still the queen of p0p- you think she is still the queen of pop. if you go to the bbc website you can talk about this article talking about her career in pictures. teachers from the 80s and today and to be honest i cannot see much of a difference. we have had loads of tweets, people talking about their favourite songs. like a prayer, like the virgin, quite hard to replace as the queen of pop. lyn humphreys has lived to tell, i hated it when it was out but as i have aged her earlier material gained more important. elvis presley, not the real one, says like a virgin, of course. 20 favourite madonna songs there. my favourite is get into the groove. coming up next is the business briefing. stay with us on bbc world news, plenty more to come. our weather pattern looks quite u nsettled our weather pattern looks quite unsettled the next few d

effectively it will be big enough, according to analysts, to match the scale of the rivals in the country, telstrawhich is called tpg, has already been given a thumbs up, as shares soar across australia. analysts say that it should result in better service and lower prices. it is one of the biggest complaints over there, broadband, many it is one of the biggest complaints overthere, broadband, many say it is one of the biggest complaints over there, broadband, many say it is too slow and equality is not good enough. the move comes as australia's telco sector faces uncertainty because of a from the government of a government owned broadband wholesaler which has impacted internet profitable as you. thank you very much for that update. now it is time to check the global financial markets. a mixed picture in asia, despite the nikkei surging again. the tech heavy nasdaq extended gains, closing at a record for a fourth session. the dowjones was also up. let's look at the situation in europe. as you can see, they have opened lower, the major industries. there is still concern about the growing trade talk

breaking news with telstra coming in with earn oogs coming in at 3.5 billion aussie dollars. he senate there was 3 clnts 41 billion. that means it's beat its highest estimate. the share price today down 24 percent. beebe reis coming in at -- tesla also saying that june 20th hasn't changed. lso, it's fiscal cash free flow. looking also at the 12-month price targettle with see that analysts have been fairly bearish on this stock since 2016 with that falling from about 5 nts 50 so clnts 50 so where it stand thousands -- now, just about the $3 mark. let's get to one of our big top stories of the day, of the week, of the month, really, and that's turkey's financial crisis. in the latest u.s. tegs, tech also took a stoll on stocks. kevin, it's been really busy today with a lot crosswinds. he -- we have turkey on one side. tech on another side. tech tensions here. the s&p down as its most if the past several weeks. what's really guiding the markets right now? >> over the last year and a half or so we have good earnings. have s&p up with 10%, re-knews up to 15%. as you said, we're se

hutchison australia said it will merge with tpg telecom in an attempt to better challenge market leader telstraim. strom. $3 billion is being resent from the deal and bill -- will be there and t by the two offshore giants. that is your bloomberg business flash. businessralia investment dropped, despite the economy showing stronger growth. the kiwi dollar is also taking something of a beating. confidence in new zealand extended its decline with sentiment about the general economy sinking to its lowest level in a decade. froms finnerty joins us singapore. on disappointing data but the kiwi looks to be the real source of pain here. >> definitely, no two ways about it. they both had disappointing data but the kiwi, the business confidence outweighed the data. -- they willing cut rates. one of the criteria [inaudible] so we had this negative trend for nearly a year, business confidence and today was a fresh low. the market is sinking and a rate cut, it may not be imminent but if this trend continues there will be more pressure to cut. particularly if inflation does not pick up. ont: we have the rba

has said it will merge with a local broadband provider in attempt to better challenge market leader telstraome $3.5 billion u.s. of net the will begin teed by offshore giants. samsonite international says the trade war between the u.s. and -- saying they play into slower sales group and its second-biggest market in another sign of the fallout from the tit-for-tat care of. seconda move into the half, think we will be in the high single-digit range for china. i do see consumers feeling some of the impacts. tonk it has some impact consumer confidence and sentiment. and that is your bloomberg business flash. manus: juliette, thank you very much. when it comes to brexit, the u.k. government has told the e.u. it has to compromise or risk ending up with a no deal. the pound rallied to the highest level in three weeks yesterday despite minimal evidence of any progress on the divorce negotiations. -- saying a no deal brexit is one part of the e.u.'s plan that we must be prepared for any and all options on brexit. peter chadwell has been listening to these comments. anderday was about possibly a pres

in june, telstra announced a make or break plan to cut 8000 jobs, sell assets, and potentially sign offcture business. ramy: asx will pay a final dividend of $1.09 australian on full-year net profit of $322 million u.s. they flag increase volunteers -- volatility in the year with growth of 9%. qb insurance boosted operating ratio targets following a jump in profit. first off the earnings of $358 million u.s., around 4% from a year earlier. ramy: treasury sees earnings growth for the fiscal year of around 25%. it says delays importing australian wine into china appear to have abated. full-year earnings come in at $387 million with asia growing 37% on year. next, nearly half of all of china's unicorns have been backed by two of the country's biggest tech companies. we measure the real extent of tencent and alibaba's reach, next. this is bloomberg. ♪ xfinity mobile is a new wireless network designed to save you money. whether you use your phone to get fit. to find meaningful, thoughtful, slightly-weird gifts. or just to know which way you're facing right now. however you use it, your wirel