Welcome to countdown. Anna is off today. Bloomberg reporters are standing by across the world ready to deliver the stories that will drive your day. John has more on what we can expect from the ecb. John dawson has the highlights from hong kong. , set toe hathaway report record profits tomorrow. Latest. Hyde has the later, the uks thirdbiggest insurer. Julian roberts will join us after the earnings break at 7 00. Hollywood make it all of the attention when it comes to movie making, but what about nigerias Film Industry . We will hear from the man behind the socalled nigerian netflix. That is later. Chair janetrve yellen said the central bank is likely to keep trimming asset or justice. Policymakers asset purchases. What we need to do and will be doing in the weeks ahead is to try to get a firmer handle on exactly how much of that set of soft data can be explained by weather. Is not mostly weather, would you consider changing the rate of tapering . Have said in our statement, asset purchases are not on a preset course. If there is a significant change in the outlook, we would be open to reconsidering. I would not want to jump to conclusions. Here to discuss her testimony and you look at the eurozone unemployment numbers, the fed will continue to taper at the same pace. Given this was two weeks after her last testimony, we were expect in a couple of little adjustments. T was about the weather there is a clear bias here. On the data is bad, people blame the weather. When it is good, they consider that an outlier. When the fed meets again, we give revisions to the projections, the outlook for growth. The outlook for Interest Rates will be your key indicator. Lets talk about the eurozone. Mario draghi has spoken once again about deflation. The ecb ready to act. Where does that leave us . Today is very important. I put together his stated dialin the. Dilemma. They will be looking at things like gdp. The first time we have seen italy, spain, france, engineering france and germany generate growth. Pmi is not telling a clear story right now. Germany is still full steam ahead. Whether it is common ground, a broad based issue is low inflation. Some of those regional figures out of germany showing inflation at one percent. What will the ecb do about it . In 2016see inflation well below two percent, people will be asking the credibility question. Ghi keeps saying he does not believe there is deflation yet. Mary oh. To mario. The eurozone is not japan. Standard bank takes a very interesting line. The tcp will deny inflation the ecb will deny inflation. It is worth considering, there is a risk for very low inflation. Just as harmful. How are they going to address it . Something. O do a big day next thursday. 10 00 u. K. Time. Matching theion highest level in more than a year or so. The goal is to drive core inflation to two percent. Lets bring in john dawson. They are in the process of exiting deflation. Inflation is the highest in more than five years, since 2008, 1. 2 . This before this crucial april tax increase. That is the plan so far. The inflation is the highest level in five years. Retail sales, the biggest increase in january since april of 2010. Further evidence people are spending he for the april tax increase before the april tax increase kicks into action. What else do that for you today . Production,l machinery orders coming in, that was an enormous figure. It grew the most since 2011. Four percent was the actual figure and estimates for 2. 8 . High demand for cars. Governor,f japan everything to make it happen. So far, so good. Friday, i know you love your films. Who will win best picture this weekend at the oscars . I think it will probably be 12 years a slave. That will win. I hope. Or gravity. I think you are right, john. Lets turn to ukraine. Aidan is developing, the interim government has been sworn in the Ukrainian Parliament has just voted in a new government. The job be to prepare the country for snap elections in may. A billion dollars in loan guarantees. The imf will send a delegation here next week. Those loan issues are big 1, 13 billion dollars is what this country owes. A lot of that money is due in june. I spoke to the countries new Prime Minister. We will do everything not to default. If we get the Financial Support from the united states, the European Union, the imf, we will do it. He will be this country least popular Prime Minister ever. Those loans will come with conditions that will not go down well in ukraine. Think of this as greece 2. 0. Kiev, going on outside of south of the country. Gunmen have raised the russian flag. The former president is in russia and he has said he will hold a press conference there this friday. Lets get the latest out of ukraine. Does the National Unity government truly stand for the nation, ryan . You mentioned the parliament storming that happened yesterday. What is the view within the country . Ukraine, theren is a constituency of tens of thousands of people that had been standing on independence square. That is what they would say to you. There has been plenty of tension , Something Like 65 of the population there is russia. They are concerned about their interest that this new government does not have their interest in the russian language and their culture. At the forefront of their minds. They are not really satisfied perhaps. A, the this chaos in crime parliamentary seizure yesterday. Those gunmen are still in that building. At the airport this morning, we have reports of more gunmen, a separate group of gunmen, spotted at the airport. Identification on their uniforms, not clear where they come from. No evidence that they are from russia. Speculation, of course, to that effect and it is one of the big stories this morning. There is another group of armed men surfacing. What is the view on russia within ukraine . Various views from various politicians. Are russias actions friendly or hostile . Something like 20 of the entire ukrainian population are ethnic russians. Generally speaking, they look at russia quite favorably. There are concerns about the military exercises that russia is currently conduct inc. On its side of the border conducting on its side of the border. The situation in crimea is aggregating aggravating things. About a month ago, russia said they would revive 15 billion. Provide 15 billion. President Vladimir Putin has been quiet on the matter. He calls the shots. He has not said anything one way or the other. Nowformer president , who is under russian production, he is in russia and he is not very well liked, you even among the russians in ukraine. Go down well in terms of ukrainians perceptions of russia. In general, it is not at the forefront of peoples minds. Thank you. Coming up, we will look ahead to next weeks ecb meeting, the crucial question, what is it take for mario draghi to do something drastic . Time for todays company news. New chiefas named a economic advisor. The wall street journal reported this week that he classed with cofounder bill gross before he left. Google is calling an email privacy lawsuit too big. It argues that should not have to face a single suit. The company is currently fighting claims it is illegally scanning private email messages. The Company Controlled by asias richest man is expanding in europe and north america will looking to sell assets in china. Welcome back. Anna is off today. Lets start by focusing on todays inflation and unemployment data out of the eurozone. Joining us now is simon smith. Should the ecb be doing something about inflation . Less, given the german numbers we had yesterday. A strong need to act. Look what happened in november. Market rates have moved higher. Think the need is there, what can they do . It is difficult a cousin they talk about it is difficult because they talk about it is all they have. Cut the deposit rate, yes. But the refinancing rate,. 25 already. It is not going to make that much of the difference. It means putting more liquidity in the system in a different way. But at a type of qe from the bank of england. It is not going to be the same in terms of the impact from the other central banks. The ecb cannot get money flowing from banks to businesses . Eurozone, we are much more reliant on the Banking Sector versus the capital markets. Banks have been prepaying months back. That is a challenge, but it is pretty weak in terms of achieving not. It is the easiest of the three. The comfort is there. Ing the refinancing rate it does not get money publicly in the system. Talk about japan. Cpi, 1. 3 . Things are looking good on the headline figure. Funny one, isnt it . It has been rising. It could only be the challenges next year in keeping that cpi going towards two percent. The sales tax will increase it. We will see a lot of distortions on the cpi numbers. The challenge is reading through that data. We are going to have a real difficult read of the japan data. Huge expectations, everyone goes out and buys their the ticket items. Simon, back to you in a second. Janet yellen testified before the senate yesterday. Details on what is happening in ukraine. Simon smith stays with us. Welcome back. This is countdown. Simon smith is here. Event in ukraine spending sending the swiss franc higher against the euro. The euro falling across the board this week. Do we expect further flight to quality because of what is happening in the you crying . It is been interesting what we have seen in the markets this week. Well. Ve china as splitting the difference between how that is impacting markets, what is the impact of what is going on in china or says what we are seeing a new crane. What we are seeing in ukraine. This,g through all of this has been not an easy job in terms of knowing extent to which ukraine is impacted. Its worstn is set for month in 20 years. Is this tactical ahead of the broadening of the trading band . We saw a one percent move today. You have to go way back to see that sort of volatility. Yes, i think they are preparing markets for great volatility, but with china, it feels like the fed 25 years ago. You have to read the tea leaves. It it isd today, probably easier to read what they are trying to do. Janet yellen was pretty clear yesterday. We will keep tapering at a steady rate. It was interesting. It comes back the next month and very little difference. It will take a lot for them to deviate from this path. To go off that path, it would viewers in terms of the uncertainty it could be worse in terms of the uncertainty. Is on the right path in terms of not eating the notet speculating on getting the markets speculating on will they or wont they. Phaseyou expect the next of for guidance to look, simon . It to a few other nebulous concepts. It is always a risk with a central bank when youre trying to stake it on one single indicator like that. Currencies. The best work Commodity Currencies in february. Will that continue . February has been a very funny month. Especially the last two weeks, we have seen what is going on in the emerging markets. We would like to see a bit more dominance. Thank you. Simon smith. The aig ceo, will he make profit . Find out. John kerry has urged russia to respect the sovereignty of ukraine. Give the newia to government breathing space. Russia fighter jets have been moved to patrol the border. Russia on thee to choices that they make in the next few days. Mario draghi says that he is committed to defend the you the euro against deflation. That theyre expecting us to break at 10 a. M. London time. The best film, 12 years a been nominated. Charlie rose has been speaking to the director. It wasnt referenced, it was not there for me. And findto investigate out about that. Rose atan watch charlie 10 p. M. London time. Hello, welcome to countdown. The Parent Company of British Airways and iberia reports for your results within the hour. He has his work cut out for structuring the troubled spanish subsidiary. Be a prophet, isnt there . There should be a prophet. They have been trending towards profitability. It should be well and profit. What are some of the big nearterm risks. The biggest is really execution risk on either area. There is some work to be done. They have an agreement with pilots and crab in crew for productivity enhancements which are key to the longterm profitability. The agreement still have to be ratified. Foreign investors, one of the risks is a lot of the good news is being priced in. Gives you a bit less margin. Are they on track then . It looks like that. If you look back, you had to turn around British Airways. Mindoming he has set his to iberia. It seems to be going pretty well. Would you say it is ahead of track compared to the other big bluechip airlines . Going through a real organization. Onre do you think they stand who is further down the road . Lets all three of them have big restructuring plans. Iag is probably best positioned. They have made the most progress and probably have the least execution risks left. We will see you after those are released in about 27 minutes. Angela merkel began her speech to the British Parliament by telling the audience that she has come to disappoint them. Should not weigh in on the debate over u. K. And the eu membership, she said the country shared responsibility to make europe stronger and more competitive. Were the comments well received by lawmakers . Certainly those under expecting Angela Merkel to arrive in london with a list of concessions that she was ready to give to the u. K. They would certainly have been disappointed. She did have one message that. Hey couldve agreed with we need a strong United Kingdom with a strong voice inside of the European Union. We have that, we will be able to make the necessary changes for the benefit of all. Her sameere you have something which is actually on the platform of all three Major Political parties. That the European Union could do with some changes just to get a bit stronger. As the german chancellor, i see britain as an important ally in this endeavor. The European Union must become stronger, it must become more stable, more competitive. It must rally around and focus on the challenges of our time. Strong european institutions. The European Union which is more competitive, it goes for a much with what David Cameron has been talking about. One thing they are not talking about and that is treaty change. Shes not going down that road. Thanks, david. Berkshire hathaway is set to report for last year on saturday. It is encore to post a record profit. Hes doing what he does best. His longterm track record is one of the best in investing. He made one of his first early investors incredibly wealthy. Theyre expecting 22 gain in profit. That comes up tomorrow. Is all about the u. S. Economy. They have such a diverse range of energy, infrastructure. It, they tend to have done well. One area that they have not done, one of the companies he has owned, one of the most famed companies that he holds. It has not borne fruit in 2013. It is got a lot of international exposure. U. S. And the growing economy. He holds many records. One longstanding record might come to an end this year. A 44 year record. It could be the first time he ever misses his target to increase the net worth more rapidly than the s p 500. He doesnt care about the share price . He doesnt. You look at the book value of Berkshire Hathaway. Since he took over it has outperformed the s p 500. You look at five years, each five years always outperformed the s p 500. This time it might not. 2013 was such a stellar year. The s p 500 returned 128 since the end of 2008. That is a phenomenal performance but it is not living quite up to his usual target. 65, thet Forget Society book thought he was 19. Year on year, compounded, generally youre getting 20 from Berkshire Hathaway. That heinz might be one of the big winners. They pay big dividends. He did. Doing very well. 280 billion dollars is how big Berkshire Hathaway. My next question would be half an hour. Tell me every one of the 60 investments. Ok, i will quietly go away. Only joking. The next generation of mobile phones could look decidedly more feminine. That is if danny choo has his way. He is ready to launch a robot doll. There is a serious issue of people that dont go outdoors or stay outside. They might ensure that they stay indoors and are not lonely. A character that i invented in 2007. She was very recently, just illustration. I wanted something more physical that i could carry around with me. In theorn and raised u. K. And i discovered Japanese Culture when i was in the u. K. And i decided that i wanted to live and work in japan. Would like to share my daily japanese life online and that slowly attracted audience worldwide. I used to make shoes. I knew it would be difficult to achieve my dreams. I was quite surprised that i created this. He has won at home. We ended up working on the doll. Several versions of the stall. There is the automated version which is robotic and is powered by electricity. Then there is a manual version which is nonrobotic that is powered by your imagination. Functions. At the moment, she is powered by an android device. So, she can pair up with various apis. Depending what you tell it to do, she will let you know. Eventually, i want her to replace your mobile phone. The mobile version will be ready in march. She will be able to do everything that your mobile phone can do. I think it is perfect for the Lonely People that dont need to be lonely anymore. Next, well go inside the Third Largest Film Industry in the world you probably never heard of. Time for todays company news. John Thompson Says the challenge facing the company out to direct its resources. Iny sat down with bloomberg this list of interview. This is about focus. One of the reasons why we chose our new ceo is that he has a Strong Technology background and whatderstands exactly needs to happen to move microsoft forward. As thompson led the recent surge for the new chief executive that resulted in the appointment. They posted fourthquarter profit that exceeded analyst estimates. Profit fell 13 . The chief executive to open says that their considering selling a stake in the world of the story a. They might even sell the whole hotel. Will come down to countdown. In the moviemaking business, hollywood gets all the attention. It has a lesserknown african cousin. And edwards took a look at the thirdbiggest Film Industry ahead of the nigerian netflix. She began by asking what makes makes the films unique. It has a broader appeal. There is always some kind of aspect of religion. Christianity has a big part of the story. At the same time, you have extended family. A lot of the western world has gone quite nuclear in terms of family interactions whereas we are quite extended. That story helps people. Tell me about how the films are to the rest of africa. Appeal, do they cross borders . Absolutely. They will have some kind of viewing going on. The fact that you can actually sell the stuff, that is on the streets of like nairobi or johannesburg. It is anenglish, african english which is like an americanized english as well. It is something that does travel very very far. The stories are largely of africa its. Hollywood or bali wood has done this with the audiences. Tell. Ives a stories to in terms of where people watch, is not actually mostly in nigeria. It is in places with slightly better connections. Thehis is the bigs of moment which is the fragile ecosystem or infrastructure on the ground in africa. Were example, our largest markets in the u. S. , canada, the u. K. We have more people in london watching than in the whole of nigeria. Has 100 70 million people. We are looking for tens of millions of users, they will be coming from subsaharan africa. Issues, are they corruption, piracy given the business youre in, or getting a Decent Energy supply . What are the biggest headaches that you face . The biggest headaches are the daytoday issues. We have 100,000 worth of generators. 10,000 a month powering our offices. We dont really see corruption. This is really expensive. For our business, it is signing holding us back. I will have tens of millions of people viewing my service but at the moment im waiting for that to catch up. It is as if the Telecom Development story has missed generation, isnt it . It is straight from having no telephone connections to having mobile. That becomes where is that. That is about 30 million tvs. Millione a hundred 20 subscribers. The vast majorities are not smart phones. They will be smart phones. This was not great. It was increasingly getting better. All of the big isps are employing billions of dollars trying to catch up with the infrastructure. The future ofis telco, the future of telecommunication is digital. Aggressively invested. You must rub shoulders with a lot of other entrepreneurs who are doing things in the nigerian tech startup scene. In terms of you other opportunities . For the first time were young people in nigeria. It was like an average age of 19. There was a disconnect with the graduates and the jobs being created. The next big creation would be Like Technology and something which is a Young Persons game. If you look at all of the Global Technology companies, they are typically run by young guys. That is great, that is inspiring. We can contribute massively. What is your favorite film . One of my biggest movies and last year was a movie called mr. Somebody. It was a zeal to get married. The story follows her as she aggressively pursues the and goal which is married. People enjoy that. Of the Academy Awards are almost here. Which film where the favorite . We will go over the predictions coming up next. Bucs welcome back. Welcome back. Peek at the newspapers. Caroline hite is our european editor. To looknow that i like at the build. I have been talking about Angela Merkel. I want to draw your attention to this photograph, not this photograph over here. This is a picture of Angela Merkel who is dominating the front of her of europes biggest selling newspaper. There she is meeting the queen. Doing find is that shes an awkward curtsy that looks strange and black pants. What have you got . This is from the times. You are perhaps watching programs where brands have been superimposed after the show has been recorded. Deal or no deal, they actually managed to add after the show had been recorded. The neighbors will put on a taxi door and advertise and also according postproduction. Interestingly, we are talking about the show earlier. They managed to change an entire car. It was originally of bentley and then it got shown in brazil and mitsubishi. Ed to a this is happening more and more. It is. They listed some rules and regulations. Many are feeling that if youre going to start putting it on old shows like friends which is legislation could be reimposed. Very quickly, the oscars. Who will win best picture, best actor, best director . I think that 12 years a slave will win. Blanchett for blue jazzmen and Jennifer Lawrence for american hustle. Draghi saysario policymakers are committed to protect the euro area w from deflation. Back to business, ukraines new Prime Minister get straight to work on securing a bailout worth as much as 15 million. Tensions flare in the Southern Region. Welcome to countdown. Anna is off today. We are getting earnings any second from iag, the Parent Company of British Airways. We are expecting a profit, and operating profit. Of Company Reported a loss 23 Million Pounds last year. Nothing as of yet. I smoke i spoke too soon. 113 Million Euros. , it ise company is doing cutting jobs, 3000 of them, and it is cutting the worst utes as well. Ot it also took control of the spanish discount carrier last year. That is what the company is doing and the company has announced an operating profit after a loss the prior year. The operating profit 770 Million Euros. In line with estimates. We are waiting to see whether it has raised its goal for a profit in 2015. As soon as that crossice, i will tell you about that. As soon as that crossice, i will tell you about that. The measures taken by the ceo seems to be bearing fruit. That is the Parent Company of British Airways. Lets talk about old mutual as well, the uks thirdbiggest insurer. It is africas largest insurer. Operating profit, 1. 6 billion pounds. Funds under management 294 billion pounds. Equity, 13 point six percent. A projectiond of 5. 9. The dividend has come in ahead of our forecast here at bloomberg. Talk about those numbers, the chief executive of old mutual, Julian Roberts joins us question mark great to see you in the flesh. Ipo, at u. S. Asset management business. I do not know how many times i have said to you, when are you ipoing . We thought it was about time he got on with it. The performance has improved steadily over the last three years. Now the best kept secret in the world, we are going to ipo. How much will you sell . Sec rules say i am not allowed to say. It will be in 2014 . It will be in 2014. The first half for the second half . Looks more likely to be the second half of 2014. Quite a lot left to do. It is subject to market conditions. What it will do is it will allow it to access another source of capital in order to grow. The one thing about old mutual is that we are in growth mode. You certainly are in growth mode. In africa. You put aside 500 million to expand in africa. Which are your key african markets . Whichs an overview of market is growing the best and why. Are three key markets we are targeting, ghana, nigeria, and kenya. We areose areas still relatively small, but we have had good growth from the acquisitions we have made. We are putting a lot of initiative, building our skill set, rolling out new products. E anticipate a good growth what are the new products to customers are wanting . You cannot generalize. That is the problem. Each market will want different things. More the funeral type plans that come through in south africa. In kenya and east africa, it is more investment products. We bought a microlender there which is growing very fast at the bottom end of the consumer market. Nigeria, the big news within the country has been the suspension of the central bank governor. Will that have any impact on the economy . Will there be any spillover effects . Not a big deal . It is not a big deal. What is interesting is our expansion is totally supported by the regulators and the governments of each of those three countries. Nigeria, i want the insurance sector to grow. We havethe grid to the curtain backdrop as we expand. Are you in uganda . I willare not in uganda, not waste time. 70 of your business comes from life insurance. Question,sk you this are you happy with net bank . Net bank is performing extremely well. Quite the opposite, we are collaborating more and more across our insurance and banking businesses and our strategy is for them to be even more coordinated. Talk to me about south africa. What is happening there . Pound versus rant in the last 12 months down by 35 . It has hit as hard when youre reporting actual earnings, but are earnings usually strip out that. Weeks,e last couple of the currency has stabilized. It has strengthened a bit. It is election year, but i have every confidence in the National Treasury and the finance minister. ,here was a budget this week government expenditure is being ranked back. Reined back. Are seeing good growth, massmarket Insurance Business grew by 14 . That is an economy expanding. Gdp forecast just under three percent. Sometimes i think the likes of south africans, some other emerging markets get ready bad press. It did cause jitters. With the emerging markets, you will always get volatility. Many of these countries are growing way faster than the developed world and theyre going to continue to do so. Are we still in a low Interest Rate environment despite the fact the fed is tapering . Is that your assessment . I am quite sure well will be in a low Interest Rate environment. Confidence,more , westing more into equities brought in Richard Buxton and his team and he has ready well his ability and pounds his ability and pounds over the last six months. Were seeing people invest more. End of the day, you do not get much return if youve got cash or fixed interest. Looks what can you do to counter that what can you do to counter that when yields remain low . What are you doing to counter that. We look at our customers and look at their risk tolerances and we decide designed to portfolios to meet those risks. If youre willing to take a bit more risks, theyre our alternative products. We believe advice is really important for people. We are buying the Largest Network of restricted an independent Financial Advisers because we think our proposition is good for solutions. We believe we can expand our offering in the u. K. How much money do you have to spend on deals . That particular one in the u. K. Is around the same amount fromney that we received our polish business last year. It is not significant. Themutual has gone through reconstruction phase and we are looking to expand. Clear expansion target in the u. K. And in the rest of africa. We are not going to the face of taking opportunities with our very Strong Capital base and good cash flow. University,stirling which leads me to the obvious question. Scottish independence, yes or no . The u. K. Ipe think the u. K. Is better off with scotland as a part of it. I would like them to stay in the u. K. What made you go up to Stirling University . You met your wife . At theve a daughter university. There is a bit of a scottish connection. I think the u. K. Is better with scotland as part of it. I hope your wife agrees. Julian roberts, chief executive officer of old mutual. The interim government tries to secure a nine on that bailout. We will have more on the former president reappearance. Time for todays company news. Llianz has named a new chief executive advisor. The wall street journal reported this week that he clashed with cofounder bill gross he for he left. Google is calling a lawsuit too big. The tech giant argued that it should not have to face a single suit. The company is currently fighting claims it illegally scanned private email messages. Hutchison says fouryear profit jumped by 20 . It is expanding in europe and north america. While looking to sell assets in hong kong and china. Welcome back. On take of thes impact of cold weather on weak u. S. Data, back in europe, indicators have been mixed. Unemployment figures will provide any clarity . It is going to be interesting. Higher. Lar pushes this is the data dilemma for mary r draghi mario draghi. Expansion territory for the likes of germany. When you look at gdp, growth has been pretty pathetic. Finally, france, spain, and italy delivering gross for the First Time Since 2011. Whether it is a broadbased issue, it is on inflation. Inflation has been very low. Round one percent estimates for cbi today at 10 00. Simon smith said they will not cut the key Interest Rate. He actually said, there is not much they can do. Key is the outlook. Every time you hear mario draghi speak, he says, the eurozone is not japan. It to go towards that two percent target. Whether theyre going to act will depend on 2016 forecast. Two years out, we see inflation well below two percent and then people will question their credibility. Are the ecb inflation deniers . You are putting me on the spot. I would say there is perception to target the inflation target from above and not from below. Are they deflation deniers . The ecb will deny deflation to avoid triggering it. Thank you. As the interim government pursues International Funding to avoid a default. In kiev. Cote is lets talk about the former president. Is he capable of stirring up trouble from where he is right now . That is a tricky one. He has very little support in ukraine. Pocket, hethe odd swears his allegiance to him. Pictures of his palace, i think that really turn them off. He is under russian protection and presumably they would be sanctioning what he says. All,are ignoring it yesterday the Prime Minister the the parliament that government had stolen 70 billion what they were in power. Ukrainese amount of entire debt load. In switzerland, we learned that prosecutors have constructed with the banks to seize any assets they might find. See. ll have to give us an idea of what is happening in the south of ukraine. Very interesting. We have some sketches reports from the airport where a group of gunmen have been cited. And 100 mentween 50 with weapons, several military trucks, no identification. Where they are going, what their intentions are, where they are from, none of that is clear. There is speculation in this country that they have something to do with russia, but there is no evidence whatsoever of that. With the Russian Military exercises going on over the border, things are getting confusing. You. Od to chat to Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway said to record a record profit tomorrow. We will look at some of the billionaires best acquisitions over the years. Welcome back to countdown. Berkshire hathaway said to bring report results tomorrow. Here with more is are caroline hynde. More records. More records for the 83yearold oracle of omaha. We could see 22 increase in profit, at least. Earnings come out tomorrow it 8 00. Tomorrow at this man just keeps on giving. He could make so many of his early backers very wealthy indeed. He owns more than 80 businesses. Because of their diverse city, they really have benefited in 2013. Energy, infrastructure, furniture, insurance. Holdingss most famous did not bear fruit in 2013. Exposure, their image abroad. In emerging markets, a little bit of a downturn towards the end of the year. Generally, everyone else has been reaping rewards. It is a very benign atmosphere, 2013, very few payouts. This is a big record of providing well and beating the s p 500, if you include dividends. It hasoutperform been 1965 since he took the helm at Berkshire Hathaway. For the first time in 44 years, he might not. The 2013 was stellar. 28 he has returned 80 . I am mark barton in london. Secretary of state john kerry has urged russia to respect the sovereignty of ukraine. He wants russia to give the new interim government breathing space. Russian fighter jets have been moved to patrol its porter. We will look to russia for the choices it makes in the next two days for their confirmation of these statements. Statements are statements. Words are words. Mario draghi says he is committed to defend the euro area against deflation. He said he stands ready to act. Investors are waiting for the euro zone inflation number to break at 10 00 a. M. London time. 12 years a slave is one of the front runners of this sundays Academy Awards. It has nine oscar nominations. Charlie rose has been speaking to the director, steve mcqueen. Was a hole in the canon of cinema about this subject. That and investigate find about that. You can watch charlie rose 10 00 p. M. London time. Welcome back to countdown. Anna is off today. As ukraines interim government starts at second day, tensions continue in the Southern Region of crimea. Joining us is the great grand daughter of khrushchev. She joins us now. Good morning, nina. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you for inviting me. Ifyou would not be surprised there is Russian Military intervention in ukraine. Why is that . I would not be surprised. We have evidence that it is a. Reat possibility frederick from rhetoric from Vladimir Putin and members of his cabinet about the illegitimate government or the illegitimate protest that took over the legitimate government. I do not think he wants to attack ukraine or takeover crimea. I would not be surprised if he is pushed to the corner. He will take that direction. Why has he stayed quiet on the subject . For two weeks, we were enthralled with the sochi olympics. Want that toow be muddled in the ukrainian crisis. Showing how great russia is during sochi. That gave ukraine two weeks of a breather to really decide its own affairs without much interference. They have been increasingly loud in the last week. Putin himself stay away. He did not know exactly what to do. Disappeared he did not know how he was going to play that card. Crimeaconcentrated on and how important it is for the rushes, with 60 of the hislation that was concentration because he was not sure how to play. In the russian media, he was completely maligned. He betrayed his people and armed forces. Vladimir putin decided he was going to play that card. Intervene withd its military, what would be the spillover effect internationally . It is impossible to imagine. I am terrified to imagine. Weve already had this kind of affair. That seemed inconceivable. It does seem the russian government today tries to play out a very similar scenario. A big war with ukraine would be a nightmare scenario for all sides. Maybe try to take over crimea or to the seaports and argue that they would claim the russian territory that was lost in 1954 when khrushchev gave ukraine. The key to khrushchev is your greatgreat father great grandfather. It is rare i speak to someone who is linked to a russian premier. What is the perception of khrushchev within russia now . What is the modern perception of your greatgreat grandfather. Not her son a personals he is not non gratis. Together parts not that it is in any way a direct comparison, but he sees himself more in the stalin mode. Khrushchev is already formers reformers. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having khrushchev as a surname . People are curious and interested. I do live in new york and new york is such a great mixture of everything and i pronounce my name differently so many people do not understand that i am related. Anonymity. My i teach at the new school. Courses on propaganda, hollywood, and international media. I am quite anonymous when im in the united states. The lostook is called khrushchev. Give us an idea of what the former soviet premier was like. He was your adoptive grandfather. What was he like on a oneonone basis . Ask i was very young i was very young. He was very grandfatherly, very kind to us. I never experienced he was an important man because he was already ousted. He was ousted in 1964. It has been good to chat with you. Maybe when the book comes out, you can come back and checked. Chat. Daughter of the soviet premier khrushchev leader from 19531964. As best film of the year, our middle east editor reports, it is putting israeli genre films on the map. Big bad wolves may not be for you. Cruelty itoded brims with blood and cruelty. A film about this militaristic society in which inryone of us was a soldier his past. If something bad happens to them, he does not know what to do. Israels film establishment looks beyond. They applauded for the directors previous film. Scary cinema seems to come naturally to israeli filmmakers. Israel specialty has always been tearjerking family dramas and films about conflict. Abroad, much more interesting, this kind of filmmaking. They would like to see something new. I will twist the story. Having it in a different language in a different locale, it is something different. Is the directors have it their way, they will soon be treated to israels first western. Westerns. Ti i hope that is the future of filmmaking in israel. I hope we see more foreign films. Up next, we will focus on two telecommunications companies. Welcome back. We 15 minutes away from the start of european equities session. I am filling in for francine. Japan inflation was released earlier. Spain inflation out at the top of the hour. We will get euro flowing euro zone inflation. John will be here exploring ecb president s mario draghi data dilemma. To franciscoaking raines, the ceo which manages toll roads and telecom infrastructure. We will discuss his companys results, strategy, European Business sentiment. Do not go anywhere. Our European Business correspondent Caroline Hyde is here. Italia, the largest concernders a lot of that the bigger shareholders have too much say about who is on the board. He will ask to cut him out of people on the board and give smaller stakeholders more power. Directors are backing this proposal. They will be going to the board in april, the stock could move on the fact that we will see more stakeholders becoming more independent. Belgian company, a bit of a rough ride. The cheated the chief executive was made to leave, fired by the Government Back in november. Many thought he was going to be a good pair of hands. Fourthquarter sales not living up to expectations. Neither did earnings. They will be cutting their dividend sometime in the next three years. John is here. It is all about inflation and unemployment. Less so about unemployment. Ecb is not acting on that. Inflation, of course, is the big focus. The estimate comes out at 10 00. Germanay, we had the numbers and german inflation is weak. This is not a spanish italian story. It. Likes this eurodollar story is so stubborn, people are crying for this to get weaker. Europe has to trade has a trade surplus. Strong investor flow. 11. 3 billion in outflows from u. S. Investing in emerging markets. Guess how much has gone into direct . 5 billion. 5 billion already this year. Is europe warning the least ugly contest . You are seeing record low yields, the lowest since 2006 in the likes of italy. This flow can go the other way just as quick. We will have a roundup of all todays earnings and all of the stocks to watch. Welcome back. This is countdown. Lets chat about todays market. Lets talk about iag, Parent Company of British Airways. It has released a profit from it it is pretty much in line with estimates. It has had a good run on a share price basis. What do we think . Ofin 2012, it posted a loss 23 Million Euros and the sheer a profit of 770 Million Euros. Byhas seen fuel cost drop 2. 5 and he has managed to broker an agreement with the spanish cabin crew. That has moved in the right direction. Qatar airlines joined this one World Alliance last year. They are bringing in some new strategies. Not just profit sharing, but loss sharing as well. As far as the shares are concerned, theyre up about 138 . Pretty well favored by the markets. Does rising house prices translate into more profit for the company . The share look at price, up 82 . But since january 2014, down four percent. As far as the website is concerned, they have seen an increase in traffic, up 27 . January mortgage lending was up 38 are sent year on year. 38 are sent year on year. The cost of the speculative seller has increased. You have to put some money down towards assessing the houses green aspects and energy saving. They are short of properties on the website. There is a lot of speculation that that will come to the market. It is very similar product. There would be a lot of interest in a lot of talk about it and Consumer Awareness would increase and Consumer Awareness would increase their market share would increase. One company that is coming to the market next month you have had quite a bit of interest. It has been pretty quiet for a while, but we have seen a real drive. Prior to that, the Market Expectations we have seen that price being driven up in the last 48 hours. Still shy of the billion pounds and still relatively small, but there seems to be a pool of people out there who think it is undervalued. Books are there a pool of people who thinks the ftse is undervalued . Last night, the s p 500 looking very strong. Maybe Janet Yellens comments were bleak enough to give confidence, this bad news is good news. Curtail the speed with which the qe tapering happens. Bullisht the outrageous mentality that we previously had. Next. The move is we are watching iag. We have a treat for you today. Just seconds away from the start of european trading. Covered fromhing companies to currencies. Here with me our European Business correspondence Caroline Hyde and jonathan ferro. Lets kick off things with jon. N its about the outlook. Next up, eurozone. Were getting there in exactly two hours. What are we expecting . More pressure on the ecb. Caroline is here, watching iag. Look at the run on the shares in the past year. 2013 was the best performance of the ftse 100. It very narrowly missed estimates. 70 one Million Euros. More guidance for next year. They will he they want to be there estimates for next year. We didnt get any upgrades or any real clarity. Spanish Consumer Prices ahead of the eurozone cpi data