this is business live from bbc news with victoria fritz and sally bundock. more cash but bigger losses. the us riding hailing company lyft insists it is heading in the right direction. live from london, that's our top story on thursday the 8th of august. the company is forecasting that its losses for the year will be much lower than expected as it attracts more passengers and earns more money. also in the programme... china's central bank takes action on the yuan as a potential currency war looms with the us. we'll be in our asia

businsess hub for the latest. this is how the european markets have opened. this is the situation in 30 minutes into the trading day. this is the situation in 30 minutes into the trading day. game on! we'll meet the man who's aiming to disrupt the global gaming industry by putting power into the hands of the punter. also the un is about to release a report that calls on us to eat a more plant—based diet and less meat to help combat climate change. so we'd like to know, will you? are you ready to change your diet to save the planet? let us know — just use the hashtag bbcbizlive hello and welcome to business live. we start with the us ride hailing company lyft has reported its results and it beat market expectations and delivered an upbeat outlook. its revenues soared 72% during the second quarter, compared to the same period last year.

however, its net loss widened to $644] million, three and a half times bigger than a year ago. when it launched on the stock market back in march the company warned it may never make money. and since then its share price has struggled. in fact, it's down by around 25% since that stock market debut as investors start to question the sustainability of its business model. that's not been helped by the resignation of several senior managers, including the chief operating officer, john mcneill, who's leaving afterjoining last year. the ride hailing sector is seeing increased competition, therefore putting pressure on prices. investors will want to see how these latest results stack up against those of larger rival uber, which reports today after market close. natalie sauber, market

intelligence and mobility solutions lead, arcadis. good morning. what do you make of the numbers? frankly it was a bit of a surprise. not in our wildest dreams would we have got 887 million four 0 two. they are out to pass market expectations. we saw the share price go up off the back of that news. but how sustainable is this? they have said they will put their prices up. when you climb in a taxi it will cost more. they have to do that eventually, don't they? they do. they said they would be in heavy price wars with uber, trying to get a price advantage. they have now lowered some of the prices and taken back the incentive, so that is good news for riders and consumers. let's

be honest, both lyft and uber have said they might never make a profit. now the focus will be on a path towards growth and profitability, so they will want to see results eventually. many describe lyft compare to uber as a one trick pony because it is mainly in the us with some operations in canada. is that a problem or not? considering how enormous the us is. i don't think it is. lyft is a smaller company and is much more focused. it has got some things going on in food delivery, but because they are so focused they can focus on the north american market, whereas uber is fighting a lot of different battles on different fronts. when you talk about driverless cars that is where we believe we are headed in terms of the future of transportation. what

will that mean for the uber drivers? i don't think anything will change. at the moment we will still very much need the riders because d riverless ca rs much need the riders because driverless cars will take years. thank you, natalie. the results for uberare thank you, natalie. the results for uber are out later today and we will make sure you know the numbers. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. china has released new trade figures that was better than expected despite mounting economic pressure from elevated us tariffs. the country's dollar—denominated exports injuly rose 3.3% from a year ago while imports fell 5.6% during the same period. the figures show that overall trade surplus last month was $45.06 billion. the trump administration has just announced a ban on federal agencies using huawei technology and services, among four other chinese tech giants.

this comes at a time when america's biggest tech firms have been pressing for more clarity on what kind of business they can do with huawei. this is a shocking story. some 16,000 dairy cows could be culled in northern ireland, in the event of a no—deal brexit if new higher tariffs are applied to british milk, senior industry figures have warned. northern ireland is particularly vulnerable because about a third of its dairy output is processed in the republic of ireland, which would continue to be part of the eu. this week has been dominated by news of what has been happening to the chinese currency. in the last few hours, china's central bank set its official yuan midpoint rate below the key level of 7 yuan per us dollar. a similar move earlier this week triggered a sell—off in the global markets. but today it has not had that

impact, why the difference? monica miller is in singapore. why the change in reaction to what is going on with the yuan today? this was the weakest level since april the 21st, 2008. the currency has been able to steady throughout the day with asian traders shrugging off the news. this is stronger than a nalysts off the news. this is stronger than a na lysts ha d off the news. this is stronger than analysts had expected. a lot of people believe now that the china central bank is trying to reassure traders. the fixing rate has been closely watched, especially in the white house, after a weak reference on monday that sent a ripple wave through the markets all over the world. it sparked concern about a global currency war which with china getting the level of the currency manipulator by the us. thank you

very much. thank you very much. let's talk about the markets. chinese exports are rising injuly, bucking expectations. imports did slip. that is the whole trade dispute and that remains a focus for investors at the moment. growth in the philippines has slowed to a more than four year low in the second quarter of this year and it has stoked expectations that the central bank will cut rates to support the economy there. asian equities enjoyed a bit of a relief from recent losses. in europe this is how things have been looking. you can see it rising in the first half an hour or so of trade. losses at funding circle deepening. it has bad

debts in the uk, its largest market. the uk's second largest insurer, aviva, is reviewing its asian portfolio. cbs and via com are in the stages of a merger agreement, but the two media companies will not have an announcement ready in time for when they report their quarterly earnings. craft heinz is likely to report a decline in first—quarter earnings. the results were delayed by over two months, pending an investigation into some of its accounting practices. that is michelle in new york for us. that is michelle in new york for us. joining us is jane foley, senior currency strategist at rabobank. this has been your way, currency wars, what has been going on? china is the centre of attention and today

the tension has eased back, but the markets are extremely nervous and veryjumpy, markets are extremely nervous and very jumpy, waiting for the markets are extremely nervous and veryjumpy, waiting for the next news. this boils down to the trade tensions between the us and china. will they escalate further or will there be a reprieve? we keep watching donald trump is my twitter account. also the news from china as well. a lot of things are going on in the oil market with a weaker dollar and the oil price has been tumbling in recent days. what is going on there? there is a big bite between supply and demand. at the start of the year we saw oil plaque prices strengthening because 0pec and other producers said they would supply less. but more recently at the start of this month we saw prices spiking because people began to think world growth is slowing, so perhaps a demand is a biggerfactor. but overnight we have seen saudi,

one of the biggest producers, suggesting it will cut back even more oil in order to stabilise prices. that has added some support into the market, but it is focused on the global growth scene which again comes back to the trade war again. we have not mentioned this morning that we are talking plant —based diets versus meat. i know you will have a view on that. you will be back later with some thoughts on that. and we want your thoughts as well. and we want your thoughts as well. still to come... revolutionising the computer gaming industry. we'll meet the man aiming to shake up how games are made and played. you're with business live from bbc news. cinema chain cineworld has reported a fall in revenues for the first six months of year. revenues were down 11% with admissions down 14%.

the chain blamed the timing of big releases. david madden is an analyst for cmc markets. is it about the timing of big releases or is there more to it? to a certain extent it can be the timing of big releases. but bear in mind consumer confidence here in the uk is not great and it is slightly cooling in the us as well. it is a problem for sydney world because the uk, ireland and the us are its biggest markets. but it also made a very large acquisition at the back end of 2017 for $3.6 billion and it loaded up on deck. it is the nature of the beast. sometimes there are not popular movies coming out on a regular basis and the financial markets will not forgive you for saying it has not been a good time

at the cinema, please overlook the fa ct at the cinema, please overlook the fact there is a mountain of debt. sometimes you just can't be bothered to go to the cinema when you have got a tv with a subscription to netflix or something cinema and you don't have to spend a fortune on popcorn. that is a problem. yes, it is, but last year admissions to cinemas across the uk as a whole we re cinemas across the uk as a whole were at its highest level since 1970. the two can coexist. cine world is revamping some cinemas in the uk and the regal cinemas in the us. they are making sure that it is different to go to the cinema. if they continue to keep those two experiences different, they will stay relevant. david madden from cmc markets with his take on the

results. a survey has been done by what car magazine saying experts can break into new cars in ten seconds. all the details are on our bbc web page. it tells you how to do it! yes, there is a video. it is all about keyless entry systems. it is all about keyless entry systems. you're watching business live. our top story, the us riding hailing company lyft records a 72% rise in revenues but also sees widening losses. a quick look at how the markets are faring. the ftse is pretty much flat. just that one piddly point. it was a

pretty choppy session in wall street. as jane foley was talking about there are a lot of concerns about there are a lot of concerns about there are a lot of concerns about the global slowdown. now let's turn to the gaming industry. it's big business worth over $100 billion per year. in the uk alone, the sector is worth around $6bn and accounts for more than half of the entire entertainment market. that makes it more lucrative than video and music combined. until recently, this success was largely driven by consoles and pc devices which gave players the chance to own hard copies of their favourite games. but now smartphones have transformed the market putting gaming systems now within the grasp of hands everywhere. well, uk firm green man is aiming to shake things up by operating a platform where gamers can trade digital versions of their favourite hard copy games. it's founder paul sulyok is here with us.

this company has been around for ten yea rs this company has been around for ten years and the industry has changed enormously in that ten years, hasn't it? dramatically. ten years ago the vast majority of gamers would purchase a physical disk. they would ta ke purchase a physical disk. they would take it home and they would load up a code onto their machine, a pc or a console, and then they played a game. where we are today is a fully digital market, whereby gamers from all over the world can purchase games and interact with them and can talk to other gamers in other countries. what you have got is a global network of digital computer access and console access for gamers to be able to consume the product they love. that is changing the profile of what we consider a gamer. if you have got a mobile phone, you can now play a game. anything that has a chip in it is a platform for

gaming. initially it was computers and then consoles and now if you have a mobile phone or a tablet, you can bea have a mobile phone or a tablet, you can be a gamer as well. initially it was quite niche and now it is enormous and the projections of growth are massive because of the fa ct growth are massive because of the fact that we are all at it it would seem. fact that we are all at it it would seem. there is this whole issue of the fact that some cannot seem to stop, it is very addictive, and that isa stop, it is very addictive, and that is a problem. naturally it is a problem. if you think of it realistically, the video games industry is 2.5 times the size of hollywood and six times the size of digital music and this is a massive and growing industry. as more access points come into play, more smartphones, more consoles, more accessible pcs in less developed areas of the world, more people have the ability to be able to interact with it. however, as parents i know

full well you have to control the access to those computer games. you have to watch the interaction people have to watch the interaction people have and ensure that your children are enjoying the medium, ensure that you are enjoying the medium, but doing it in a safe and controlled manner. and they are not spending your money without you knowing. i wonder how you think you can tackle toxicity in the industry. do you think it should be up to the individual or the parents to monitor these things, or should it be regulated properly and on a global scale? this is a social problem. toxicity in gaming is no different to that in social media. you have got pressures on facebook and pressures on teens with instagram. there is not just pressures on teens with instagram. there is notjust one fixed rule in order to be able to overcome this. there are multiple points and we all have responsibility. what we do and what our social team does is very

carefully a nd what our social team does is very carefully and make sure that one issue at a time is address, one concern at a time. one level of toxicity is addressed at a time. that is how we approach it, but that is how society, with this new digital medium that we have got, need to approach this. it is not just a need to approach this. it is not justa gaming need to approach this. it is not just a gaming problem or a social media problem, it is a social problem we need to address. you started this ten years ago, but this isa gaming started this ten years ago, but this is a gaming industry. your company has exploded and it is growing and growing, but you started out in the military and worked in the city, you have had an interesting journey stop i have had an interesting journey, very politely put. i did six years in the forces in the light infantry and had a tremendous time doing that. i moved across into the city and ended up as a management co nsulta nt and ended up as a management consultant specialising in international trading systems. in 2001 i took a big leap and decided

to become an entrepreneur and set up my first company which built algorithmic trading engines, robot traders before robot trading was a commoditised item. the second company i had was my first taste of the games industry and it was a hybrid of computer games and gambling. green man gaming launched in 2010 with two of us and it has now got over 100 people and we sell games in 195 countries. it is incredibly international, 92% of the sales you make are outside the uk. how is that profile changing? who are your gamers? initially principally we were male, between 18 and 25—year—old gamers. what has happened with the types of games available is there is a much wider audience. some of the games attract

audience. some of the games attract a large number of female gamers. as franchises have become more open to a wider demographic, you get different types of gamers participating. from an international perspective as the wave of internet technology has spread over the world, as has the wave of gamers who like to participate from a digital perspective in that market. your pearl of wisdom for someone watching who is trying to start a company or who is trying to start a company or who thinks they are an entrepreneur. 0ne pearl of wisdom? it can be two or three, but nice and short. come up or three, but nice and short. come up with a good idea and then have a cold shower and bounce it off as many potential investors as you can. potential investors in companies, and we have a great entrepreneurial culture in the uk, investors will see floors in your potential business idea which you cannot see

because by definition you are an entrepreneur and by definition you are slightly mad to give up a regular dayjob and start up a new business. it has been great to have you on the programme. there we go. in a moment the business pages, first how to get in touch. london, singapore, shanghai, new york, our correspondence have your business will covered on air, online and on your bbc‘s news app. check out the website for their insight and analysis. we have the latest breaking business news and we wa nt latest breaking business news and we want your views as well. get in touch on the website or tweet us and find us on facebook at bbc money. join the conversation.

we have had a huge response to the discussion that the un is due to release a report which will talk about lots of issues with regards to climate change and how to improve matters because they feel we are in a crisis. 0ne matters because they feel we are in a crisis. one of them is we eat more plant —based food and less meat. jane, your thoughts on that advice. we have been asking people if they will change their diet to save the planet. i think the answer is we have to change our diets. for me it is an easy have to change our diets. for me it is an easy answer have to change our diets. for me it is an easy answer to that. but we must also mention on top of the climate change issue is the population growth. in a few decades' time the population of nigeria is projected to be bigger than the population of the us. there is a static population in europe, but the population in asia and africa will explode. with that and climate change we need to make better

decisions about how we produce food. the report is expected to discuss things like food security, lots of issues with regards to that. in the financial markets at the stock that has wowed everyone is a company called beyond meat, which is a plant —based burgers. it listed in the us earlier this year. there are a lot of scare stories about as eating insects. is that a scare story? it is for me. it is about eating meat that has been manufactured by scientists. 0nce that has been manufactured by scientists. once you get over the shock, it is not that bad. perhaps thatis shock, it is not that bad. perhaps that is what we will be doing in the next few decades. thank you for your comments. jt has said they have already changed their diet because of climate change, but because the

quality of proper organic meat is now so expensive he can barely afford more than two chicken breasts afford more than two chicken breasts a month. jerome says only eating food that is in season would cut down on transportation costs, especially if rated perishables from distant parts of the world. robert says, i have not consciously cut down but since moving to asia two and a half years ago i naturally eat less meat and less food in general. it is notjust about climate change, they are also raising the issue of obesity and the fa ct raising the issue of obesity and the fact it is said to be better for our health. i think we know that, we need to take better decisions. we are seeing more discussion about sugar tax as well which is part of the broader discussion. but if we wa nt to the broader discussion. but if we want to live longer and certainly in the uk our life span is no longer increasing. that is partly to do with the obesity crisis. increasing. that is partly to do with the obesity crisislj increasing. that is partly to do with the obesity crisis. i reckon we should all have a veggie patch.

thank you for being with us. thank you for your company. have a lovely day, goodbye. good morning. before we start to see wet and windy weather moving in tonight and tomorrow things today are quite quiet. an area of low pressure moving away, but in the south—west there is this area of low pressure and the associated cloud. it will move its way through overnight tonight. but for today it is dry and bright, sunny for most of us, a few showers in southern scotland. but certainly drier for scotla nd scotland. but certainly drier for scotland and northern ireland compared to the last few days. with light winds it will feel quite warm and quite pleasant at there, temperatures up to 2a degrees. but overnight this area of low pressure brings heavy rain right across the

uk into the early part of friday morning. it will be a very wet night as that rain pushes up through south—west england, wales and into northern areas of england. some tricky driving conditions in the morning and that rain spreads up into scotland into northern ireland as we head into the afternoon. behind that area of rain there will be some sunshine breaking through, but also some showers. though showers move into wales and the south—west and again some thunderstorms there. despite the fa ct thunderstorms there. despite the fact it will be windy, 35 to a0 miles an hour, maybe 60 miles an hourin miles an hour, maybe 60 miles an hour in the south—west, it will still feel quite warm. temperature is about 2a or 25 degrees. this is the area of low pressure and as we go through the start of the week and it is still there in scotland and northern ireland and it is unusual for this time of the year. strong

winds on saturday and gales in southern areas, strong winds quite widely up into england and wales. scotla nd widely up into england and wales. scotland and northern ireland have a few heavy showers during saturday and drier in the south. a bit cooler compared to friday. saturday night into sunday there are still quite a lot of showers around in the north and the west. further south and east it is drier on sunday and fresher in northern parts. we have already seen quite a few events either cancelled or rearranged. travel disruption is likely both on friday and saturday because of the heavy rain.

you're watching bbc news at nine with me, rebecca jones. the headlines. a policeman critically injured in a "frenzied" machete attack in east london will make a recovery, according to the metropolitan police. police! a sharp rise in the number of women and girls carrying knives in england — police have found blades hidden in babies' prams and designer handbags. i used to have knives in my backpack andi i used to have knives in my backpack and i would use it to threaten people, give me what you have got, ta ke people, give me what you have got, take it and run off then. eating less meat could help slow down global warming, according to climate scientists. torrential rain causes disruption for travellers in parts of scotland, as flooding closes the main rail line from edinburgh to glasgow.