Us Investment FirmElliott Advisors has walked away from making a takeover bid for currys after being rejected by the retailers board in its own words multiple times. It had initially proposed an offer that valued the electricals chain at £700 million, and later raised it to 757 million. But currys rebuffed the approaches, saying they significantly undervalued the business. Currys could still receive a bid from chinasjd. Com, which said last month it was mulling an offerfor the firm. Lets speak now to russ mould, investment director at aj bell. What is going on, one firm has walked away but there is another weighting in the wings . Walked away but there is another weighting in the wings . There is but it it will focus weighting in the wings . There is but it it will focus on weighting in the wings . There is but it it will focus on what weighting in the wings . There is but it it will focus on what the weighting in the wings . There is but it it will focus on what the two it it will focus on what the two main shareholders in currys have got to say, red wheel and phrases. Any bid will have to get their approval and one can only assume that wasnt forthcoming this time. The . And one can only assume that wasnt forthcoming this time. Forthcoming this time. They said it undervalued forthcoming this time. They said it undervalued the forthcoming this time. They said it undervalued the business. Forthcoming this time. They said it undervalued the business. It forthcoming this time. They said it undervalued the business. It is forthcoming this time. They said it | undervalued the business. It is rare we are in a position where we are talking about a high street retailer at the centre of a possible bidding war. We thought that bricks and mortar were done but there is to life in that model. I mortar were done but there is to life in that model. Mortar were done but there is to life in that model. I must admit if ou had life in that model. I must admit if you had asked life in that model. I must admit if you had asked me life in that model. I must admit if you had asked me at life in that model. I must admit if you had asked me at the life in that model. I must admit if you had asked me at the start life in that model. I must admit if you had asked me at the start of| life in that model. I must admit if i you had asked me at the start of the year what would be a good bet for a Uk Takeover Target i think currys would have been a long way down my list if truth be told. I guess you could say that the elliott bid was £750 million for nearly £9 billion of annual sales so you could argue that there is some potential value there. Theres £1 billion of stock on the Balance Sheet and nearly £2 billion of assets but there are also leases on the stores, a Pension Deficit and a little bit of debt so the overall cost of acquisition is lot higher. Elliott clearly felt there were more profits to be squeezed out of that business i would assume otherwise they wouldnt have looked at it at all. Yes. Have looked at it at all. Yes, thats the have looked at it at all. Yes, thats the question. Have looked at it at all. Yes, thats the question. Call have looked at it at all. Yes, thats the question. Call me | have looked at it at all. Yes, | thats the question. Call me a have looked at it at all. Yes, thats the question. Call me a cynic but we often talk about these sorts of takeovers and the bidder comes in, fleeces it for any sort of value and then sells off the stores and it becomes an online only retailer. I dont get a sense that that was going to happen in this case but as you say there is some value in their stores and stock. Stores and stock. There is value in the Stores Stores and stock. There is value in the stores and stores and stock. There is value in the stores and stock stores and stock. There is value in the stores and stock and stores and stock. There is value in the stores and stock and you stores and stock. There is value in the stores and stock and you have i the stores and stock and you have the stores and stock and you have the £i. 2 the stores and stock and you have the £1. 2 billion of leases, so currys doesnt own all of its assets so if you are being cynical looking at the asset stripping angle i dont think it was really there if truth be told. There are other things happening at currys, its business in scandinavia seems to be turning around, it is selling its greek business to further strengthen its Balance Sheet so there were other options and angles there. I couldnt find the asset strip angle, having said that elliott are smarter than i have and have made a lot of money than i have but it didnt seem like a straightforward asset strip and why i was surprised about it being bid for in the first place. Bid for in the first place. Jd. Com potentially bid for in the first place. Jd. Com potentially mulling bid for in the first place. Jd. Com potentially mulling a bid for in the first place. Jd. Com potentially mulling a bid, bid for in the first place. Jd. Com potentially mulling a bid, too. L bid for in the first place. Jd. Com i potentially mulling a bid, too. Why would it want to because it is a huge online retailer . It is not short of places to flog electronics on its own website. Short of places to flog electronics on its own website. Correct, again, ou can on its own website. Correct, again, you can argue on its own website. Correct, again, you can argue that on its own website. Correct, again, you can argue that one on its own website. Correct, again, you can argue that one of on its own website. Correct, again, you can argue that one of curryssl you can argue that one of curryss attractions, it is now probably the only Real Uk Electrical Retailer with a physical or retail park presence which you could argue was worth something, currys own online offering has been improving under the Current Management Team and Chief Executive alex baldock so there may be an angle there for jd. Com using it as an initial start for warehousing and logistics in the uk. ,. , , uk. Interesting how these things la out. Uk. Interesting how these things play out watch uk. Interesting how these things play out. Watch this uk. Interesting how these things play out. Watch this space uk. Interesting how these things play out. Watch this space is uk. Interesting how these things | play out. Watch this space is what we will need to do right now. Talk to you, russ from a] bell. To the us now and President Joe Biden will map out his fiscal vision for the country later today as he unveils his budget for the year ahead. This being an Election Year, of course, means his spending wish list it will be as much a pitch to voters as a policy proposal. Lets get more with our north America Business correspondent Michelle Fleury whos in new york. Gives a sense of what he may be able to do. He has a bit of a problem here, doesnt he, that voters dont feel any better off, even though the economy is faring rather well in the us. I economy is faring rather well in the us. ~ economy is faring rather well in the us. ~. , economy is faring rather well in the us. I think it goes back to your oint, us. I think it goes back to your point. You us. I think it goes back to your point. You said us. I think it goes back to your point, you said this us. I think it goes back to your point, you said this was us. I think it goes back to your point, you said this was a us. I think it goes back to your| point, you said this was a policy wish list, in part because if you look at the make up of congress which would have to approve any budget, the house is controlled by republicans and certainly there is a huge gap between what republicans want and what democrats want. So essentially this is a chance for President Biden to lay out his vision for the economy. And as you pointed out, given recent high inflation he has scored low with voters when it comes to his handling of the economy. Many of the voters said they trust trump more to handle the economy. So this is a chance to try and draw a distinction between his potential rival in novembers president ial election and the contrasts are pretty clear. 0n the one hand you have the Biden Administration saying we want to try and save 3 trillion over a decade and save 3 trillion over a decade and we intend to do this by essentially raising taxes on the wealthiest and on corporations trying to help the middle class more with some tax cuts but also more services. I think thats the key distinction, trying to get a jump on this, the other hand, you had the House Republicans are releasing their own budget idea last week. They were hoping to save around 14 trillion over the next decade. In part, though, they talked about cutting taxes, reducing inefficiencies and pumping more oil. It is not clear why they didnt outline how they would make severe cuts to Government Spending to achieve that number. But it gives you a sort of platform, compare and contrast, as we head into the sort of campaigning season. For campaigning of campaigning season. For campaigning season, do you get any sense about what voters want to hear from the white house . What are their priorities, quite aside from those of government . fine priorities, quite aside from those of government . Of government . One of the key auestion of government . One of the key question is. Of government . One of the key question is, the of government . One of the key question is, the old of government . One of the key question is, the old reagan of government . One of the key question is, the old reagan saying, how do voters feel . Do they think they are better off than they were four years ago . If you look at recent polls it suggests that they did not feel great, and the reason for that goes back to these rising prices, when you are cutting that cheque to pay your rent or your mortgage, its hard to feel good if the price just keep going mortgage, its hard to feel good if the pricejust keep going up. We are starting to see improvement, that those price rises are beginning to stabilise, there have been wage increases, and so that optimism is beginning to creep in in recent surveys. People are feeling better about the economy, that might help President BidenGoing Forward in the months ahead, or it might be too little too late. Little too late. Michelle, for now, thank you little too late. Michelle, for now, thank you. Michelle little too late. Michelle, for now, thank you. Michelle fleury little too late. Michelle, for now, thank you. Michelle fleury live i little too late. Michelle, for now, thank you. Michelle fleury live inj thank you. Michelle fleury live in new york. Now lets turn to the problem of fraud because it has now become the most common crime in the uk accounting for 40 of all crime according to accountants kpmg. Despite that the police allocate just a fraction of their resources to fight it. Against that backdrop the uk is Hosting A Globalfraud Summit Starting Today in london hosted by security minister Tom Tugendhat and involving representatives from government, industry and law enforcement. What will they discuss . We spoke to Security Consultantjames bore who had some advice on avoiding becoming a victim of fraud. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If there is any sort of emotion attached to the message, if they are trying to make you panic, make it seem urgent, make it seem like you are in trouble with authorities then there is a high risk of it being a fraud. And the best thing to do with any of them is not engaged immediately but instead either hang up the phone or cancel the e mail, get in touch with whoever they are trying to impersonate through a different means. So phone your bank if they have sent an e mail, or e mail them if they have done a phone call. The film star idris elba is leading a Regeneration Project in sierra leone along with siaka stevens, the grandson of a former president. They recently announced plans for a wind and solarfarm, in a country where fewer than three in ten households have access to electricity. The site for the planned eco city is Sherbro Island off the coast of west africa. Britains 0ctopus Energy Generation will build the project and our Business ReporterDavid Waddell spoke to its Chief Executive, and with idris elba, who explained why the island was chosen. 0riginally we went there looking at how could we bring tourism to the most incredible 19 miles of beachfront that was there . And then we saw something a bit more innovative, a bit more exciting was this idea of building a sort of eco smart city, preserving whats beautiful about it, but at the same time attracting partners to help build it out, if you like, and explore it. So thats how it came about. This is a question for you, zoisa. So theres a lot of work to be done to make this project work. Have you identified local skills and experience that are needed to complete the project . Absolutely. We would want to work with local communities to be able to upskill as much as possible. We even want the wind farm to be able to unlock new industry and actually to unlock Old Industries as well, such as fisheries and fishing. So, refrigeration suddenly gives us the opportunity to be able to do that again. What is it first attracted 0ctopus to partnering with International Tv and film star idris elba . Well, i was going to say, the way you put it i mean, several reasons in that when we met with both siaka and idris, the one thing that actually blew me away was their knowledge of renewable energy. They were describing to me how this was a wind tunnel and it has, you know, 16 hours of sunshine that we can be looking at. So it was that as much as, of course, a name like idriss and siaka who, of course, is the grandson of the former president of sierra leone as well. So we knew that relationships would have been built there. And idris, what is it that inspired you to lend notjust your passion, but also your name to a project like this . Never in my lifetime would i have thought i could help build the foundation for a new smart city. No, im not qualified for that. But i am qualified to dream big. And my parents came to this country when they were young, late � 60s, with the aspirations of going home. My mums still alive, but my dad isnt. So part of me wants to build that beautiful Retirement Home for my mum where she can go back and say, wow, you know, my little guy that was born in hackney came back home and built this incredible island. And its a dream, you know . But i work in the make believe business and its exactly that make believe, you know. Your mum, i think, is ghanaian, but your father is sierra leonean, and youve just mentioned that hes no longer with us. How do you think he would feel to see you getting behind this project . I think hed think that i was dreaming way too big. First of all, hell say, like, why sherbro . Thats miles away from my village. And secondly, hed say, look, you know, if youre going to do it, make sure you do it properly. Do it good. Do it with all your heart, because thats the best you could do. I think hed be proud, though. Idris elba and the boss of Octopus Energy speaking to arm business editor. The Worlds Biggest OilCompany Saudi aramco has reported a sharp fall in annual profit it was down 25 in 2023 compared to the previous year. Aramco attributed the downturn to Lower Crude Oil prices and decreased production. But its increasing Dividend Payouts providing a financial boost to saudi as it tries to diversify away from oil. Just time to show you the numbers at this stage, that is what europe looks like now. Not a whole lot of confidence, uncertainty as we approach the Election Year in more countries than ever before in 2024 so struggling for any direction. Brent is lower at 81 per barrel. We will see you later. Bye bye. Bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. Not roadworks, just a road system that cant cope, this was the centre of newbury a few months ago. The authorities closed off the road because the car park was full on the road was jamming up with cars that had nowhere to go. At this time of year the road is quiet and residents say traffic jams will start as soon as the easter holidays do. They have even been road rage incidents here among frustrated visitors. Among frustrated visitors. People cominu among frustrated visitors. People coming out among frustrated visitors. People coming out to among frustrated visitors. People coming out to argue among frustrated visitors. People coming out to argue and among frustrated visitors. People j coming out to argue and then you have the traffic behind them arguing with them because they are not moving. Absolutely hectic. The cars are just flowing constantly. You got them going up and coming down at the same time. find them going up and coming down at the same time. � ,. ,. , same time. And this is the reason why newborough same time. And this is the reason why newborough has same time. And this is the reason why newborough has become same time. And this is the reason why newborough has become so l why newborough has become so congested, the number of visitors has increased in recent years. Numb people people have been asking if it is becoming too popular. People people have been asking if it is becoming too popular. It is becoming too popular. Filming has started it is becoming too popular. Filming has started here, it is becoming too popular. Filming has started here, netflix it is becoming too popular. Filming has started here, netflix are it is becoming too popular. Filming has started here, netflix are here | has started here, netflix are here filming, we have it all blo