Hello, welcome to countdown. Reports Goods Company quarterly results. Caroline is here to tell us all about it. This is firsthalf numbers. Rbp is the pharmaceutical unit it might be spinning off. They are continuing to perform in challenging markets. What are those challenges . They are rather sluggish. With russiancerns where they have got exposure as well. Quarter was growth of four percent, meeting analyst estimates. Profit alsolf net in line with estimates. Might be in line with sales. Sales in line. Both under stress with the british pound as well. That is not your cash exposure. When you are bringing your money back from your sales in russia and north america, its going to be under stress when you have the pound being so strong. We are going to look at what happens to the pharmaceutical unit. They spin it off . Will they sell shares . Are pursuing the market. Will they spin it off and potentially sell shares later . Pursue with ato separate listing. Since october of last year they said they are going to be analyzing. That helps you wean yourself off heroine. And other opiates. They have got serious share in america. Affecte seeing them those with opiate addiction. Under stress. N they have been falling by 11 in the last quarter because of this competition. Overall it is worth 11 billion pounds. They are going to be spinning this often selling shares. They expect this to take place over the last 12 months. The narrow fan. Neurofen. What a great economic indicator. Direct. If sales go up they are presumably more negative on the economy. This could be a whole new index. You would love to be able to just look at it and see what is going on. People feel very competent of confident about the future they feel more confident about having children. Not meaning to show any expertise, but there is competition. Pretend to use that is any way of deeming an index. I think the key focus is it is going to be spinning off. We also want to know about other emerging markets. They are looking at africa. I am looking at the middle east and africa. If you include currencies down 17 . Currency, for example russia. One thing we talked about this trying to focus on africa. See opportunity, specifically nigeria selling consumer hygiene. They are doing these Public Service announcements about improving public health. This is one thing the co was talking about. The average Life Expectancy of a male in nigeria s 52 years old. They think there is room for their products and that is something they can help improve. The United NationsSecurity Council have called for an immediate ceasefire in gaza. More than 1000 palestinians and 45 israelis have been killed in almost three weeks of fighting. Elliott kotkin is live in tel aviv. Are the you ins words the uns words continuing to be heated . We may be inching towards a ceasefire. The senior officer is quoted as idea is to stop firing at targets in gaza. It exploded in an open field, causing no damages or injuries. The Israeli Army Says it retaliated at the specific point where the rocket was fired. Beyond that it doesnt seem to be a lot happening in terms of strikes. Gettingsible we may be a de facto truce or ceasefire on the ground now. That is what they want to allow humanitarian aid to go into gaza. They want all parties to engage in efforts to achieve a durable, fully respected ceasefire. We could be getting there. We have got no official confirmation on that, but other sources suggest the israeli army a kinds saying there is of truce in effect now. Israel wants to continue to destroy these tunnels militants have been using to try to get in from the gaza strip. It is Rate Decision day today. Is there any sense the conflict may prompt a rate cut . Its possible. Polledof 20 economists by bloomberg say it wont happen. Theeconomist predicted first rate cut says we could because of the potential impact on the israeli economy, particularly the impact on consumption and risk them. I was speaking to one investor, and he was telling me much more damaging for Israeli Companies is the strength of the israeli shekel as it is close to a threeyear high against the u. S. Dollar. Its close to a 12 year high against the euro. The mosteally causing pain, calling for the Israeli Central Bank to go buy more dollars in a bid to try to. Eaken the shekel elliott, thanks. From one geopolitical hotspot to another, i am looking at russia. We have a lot of russian lot to talkd a about. We have the google of russia reporting. The second largest steel producer in russia. Is an Entertainment Company that focuses mostly on westernstyle sitcoms. Their ceo has been talking about on the back of the trouble in ukraine russians are becoming increasingly patriotic and want russian conflict. It is u. S. Listed. One of the owners is a russian tolionaire with close ties president putin. Something to watch. We also want to take a look at some of the western partners. Bp has a 20 stake. Total has a 17 stake in a Company Called nova tech. They were sanctioned by the u. S. Already. Thats obviously something we are going to be talking about through the week. All the talk over the weekend was this mounting surge in the eu we know Angela Merkel is trying to bring together the nations in can roundether they them up, who will be on certain blacklist. Where are we . Is much higherit today. One of the reasons is the u. S. Came out with satellite images showing Russian Artillery units and ukrainian units on their side of the border. It looks as if it is showing these russian units are actually ukraine. Firing into the u. S. Had not provided any evidence. They upped their game in an effort to nudge europeans into action. The europeans are meeting tomorrow in brussels. Theyre going to look at the sanctions which may involve restrictions. There are calls to stop russia from hosting the 2018 world cup. Will those be heated . So far they say no chance. Aey say the games are wonderful opportunity to enact positive change in good for diplomacy, what the calls are getting louder. We have to watch that. Its obviously not where things are. We have a long time. If we look for months ago no one thought we would be where we are. Up next, strong results. We will talk to the cfo Howard Miller next. Welcome back. Lets have a look at company news. Is said to beon selling its medical unit. A were looking to sell for about rebillion euros. They have also held talks with nestle. Mcdonalds in china says it will menu afterited evidence of expired meat. They said they hope to resume a full menu it in early august. They have expanded the recall to include all products sold to Global Brands such as mcdonalds and kfc. The movie starring Scarlett Johansson took the top spot at the box office. It led u. S. And canadian ticket sales while viacom pulled in 29 million. Welcome back to countdown. Ryan is here to talk about things. Europes Biggest Discount carrier ryanair looking to be europes friendliest by targeting more primary airports. They hope to draw more business travelers. Company results were released about an hour ago. You have raised your profit forecast, but it makes sense. You have said it has relied on secondhalf yield, of which there is no visibility. Its too early. Q1, but wery strong dont have a huge amount of bookings at this level. Its very difficult. We know we had a difficult halfyear last year. We are cautious. We had a lot of new capacity coming on. We are just eating cautious. Are you being traditionally conservative . Our style. Its probably below their range. Year we had two warnings. We had a difficult time. This is the airline business. You cannot read it with certainty, so you must be cautious. Hit quiteasyjet was hard, shares were down eight percent, you are saying the capacity is expanding. Should they be worried ryanair could come up with Something Like that as well, or do you feel you are able to navigate your capacity increases slightly differently . I think the difference is we have a radically different price fair. When you have that kind of head itsand leading edge, difficult to see. Presumably that is going to change. You are aiming to be the friendliest airline. We are always friendly. We are very friendly. Really aiming to be the friendliest . We had someone lost our way. We have changed a lot radically. I think its probably appropriate. What are the changes . The businessclass class area. Presumably that would bring it up. Givesg and 80 had room it a lot. It is not cheaper than ofyjet . It is 80 easyjet. Our average is 46 euros. I look forward to that. Its on average, so not everything. We can thought about the cheap fares, but the average is 46. What we want to offer is a really Good Business product. Very good schedules. Extra legroom. Us one taste of what you are going to do. I know you are not going to and not until september. , we are to give premium seats fast tracked security where available. At a lot of the primary airports it significantly improved. Think that is very unattractive. It will be a lot cheaper than our competitors. When you look through the last three months what is your single biggest concern . Unless something untoward happens over the summer months like the lays in lastminute closing bookings, which tend to be very attractive in terms of ofcing, thats the kind thing, something geopolitical. There are plenty of politics. Peoples travel plans are pretty much decided. Is going on in ukraine, with russia, what we have going on in israel. How does that feed into the threat . Thats i think in the more i think weuture, hedge the oil. Deliver 70going to Million Euros worth of savings. Am i right . That is because we have more capacity. There will be less savings. Oil is a key issue. Cost. If things were untoward and we had a geopolitical situation that could be adverse. Part of theificant business i think we should keep a close eye on. Wasoday the ceo of emirates saying they are not going to be flying over a rat. How has this made you reassess your flightpath. Emirates says they will now discuss their own views and share information far more easily because of these concerns. But it doesnt really apply because we are not really a long haul operator. Its really more for longhaul carriers. There were three fatal crashes last week. It was a bleak week for the airline industry. Do you have to reassure your passengers more . Does it affect passenger numbers . Obviously people are reflecting these things. We have the highest Safety Standards in the world. The european carriers have very tight security. We have an way ahead of where the u. S. Was after the lockerbie disaster. America is only catching up on that. People travel in the European Union are very comfortable with what we offer. Safety is our highest rarity. The news that came up last quarter. You are stepping down as executive. This is my last quarterly result. 93rd set of quarterly results. What was your favorite one . What was my favorite one . I have continued in ryanair. Fromstepping down fulltime. I continue to guide as i have done. He would never leave over his dead body. We have had quite a few discussions. One of us has got to go. Is great to talk to you. If we dont speak to you again, i hope we will. Thank you very much. Ceo. D miller, the deputy is in talks tor go public. Details next. Welcome back. Lets talk ipos. Initial share sales. The german manufacturer of auto headlights and electronics maybe going public. If the Company Lists in frankfurt it may be germanys biggest initial share sales. Time i mike . We have heard they are looking at doing it in the second half of this year. Economy isrgest faster. What does that tell you about the ipo market in germany versus other countries . One thing we have been flagging is volumes were the most since 2006. Germany has but that trend. A lot of private has bucked that trend. You have more of the familyowned companies. The German Market is tricky. It is 61 billion. The table. 11 on usually germany has a good portion of the market. I have got to be very rude and interrupt you. Countdown is next. Ferro. S get to jonathan sessione just off highs. Year to date the euro near the lowest of the year. You see that lower. This thursday. Cpi expected to comment zero point five percent. Finally it is the dollar side where the story is. You are finally getting a little bit of reward. A big week for all things u. S. , a plethora of data. No forecast, but its about the statement. Beforetings left october. As tol give a little clue when rates might rise. We are looking for an estimate. F 234 k that would be another month over 200 k. These are the top bloomberg headlines. The United NationsSecurity Council is calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in gaza. The palestinian Observer Says the ceasefire is just the first step. The main idea is to have a humanitarian ceasefire for a time which we hope will be a were all of the issues would be addressed through a process and through our brothers in egypt so we can address these guarantee this separation will not be repeated. Dozens of people are killed after an upsurge in fighting. There have been significant battles made. They have all of actuated staff and the treasury travel advisory. The United States has released evidence they say proves Russian Military has been firing across its border to attack government forces. The dutch Prime Minister said heavy fighting has prevented investigators from reaching the site of the down Malaysian Air flight. Angela merkel said to be pushing for her eu counterparts to sign off, some say by the end of tuesday. Meanwhile the dutch Prime Minister said heavy fighting around the site prevented investigators from reaching it yesterday. Joining us, aaron would. Very much for joining us. To do is that you going it . Are they going to press the button on sanctions . They came up with satellite images to nudge the europeans along. It is not just about the aircraft. Aircraft is a terrible happening as the result of a situation getting out of hand. I think the e. U. Is more or less condemned to do something. The Financial Sector is going to be the main target. If we continue to hold up the construction will have some effect. Do you think all members and potentially not allow russian banks or state banks to use Capital Markets in europe . I think the Main Elements are there. U. S. Sanctions would be quite telling on european banks. I think there would be pressure on the russians for that. Whether there are individual countries within the eu, they are going to be more reluctant than others. Where you were as an ambassador, what would you be trying to advise David Cameron would be the reaction of president putin . I know you were never that close. We areuld you presume pushing his response to be if you put in these sanctions . Asked the short term response would be anger. The response would be to resist pressure to change his attitude, but you have to bear in mind he has already failed to secure ukraine in the way he hoped, that his efforts in the east of ukraine to provoke a widespread Popular Uprising have been disappointed. He is in the trap. Whether he will respond by making things worse, which he may very well, doesnt make any difference to what we do. Which i want to ask you about. Satellite images purport to show artillery fire over this past weekend. If they are accurate, really what is going on, he knows presumably if they are firing artillery that is going to be seen. He would be aware of that. He doesnt seem to be responding to these sanctions and threats of sanctions thus far. You see this going . A lot of people talk about how we are entering a cold war. At what point do you think president putin would respond to this pressure by changing course . There is no evidence of him changing course. Iti think there is evidence has not gone as well as he hoped. I think there is evidence some around him see this is a dangerous course to go down. Its true he is the sort of arson for whom the idea of retreat is extremely difficult, but he does have to take some account of the effects on the russian economy. Cant suppose he is going to change course immediately, but i do think that doesnt mean we should do nothing. Work,y its not going to but what are we going to do . How much does the russian economy have to contract for putin and the population to really stand up, because it is already sliding. What does it take on an economic the population make its critics step up . You are right to divide putin and the population. The population is under propaganda. They believe russians in ukraine are being persecuted and they have the right to stand up. There is a certain degree of heroism in their eyes on the part of those resisting. Entourage, they are not losing directly, but what they are losing is prospect for the future. I think that must have some affect. Ukraine at the moment . The government is having emergency reviews. What are we expecting ukraine to do . I think ukraine so far has come out of this very well. Solidified. It has become very much antirussian. As certain degree of chaos is natural towards democracies. I would be basically quite optimistic of that. Do you think there is a bit of unfairness about how russia has been treated about the mh17. One separatist and tell the ap they were behind the downing. I am sure you have gotten this question before. The United States did down an iranian air flight. The United States admitted it and made reparations instantly. They didnt apologize instantly. They paid reparations. It took a number of years. I dont want to make light of the downing of inm