:00:00. > :00:09.This is Business Live from BBC News, with Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock.
:00:10. > :00:12.Volkswagen set to announce it's buying back
:00:13. > :00:14.around half a million diesel cars in the US.
:00:15. > :00:17.It will also pay over $1 billion in compensation
:00:18. > :00:39.Live from London, that's our top story today, Thursday 21st April.
:00:40. > :00:42.VW makes a deal with US authorities after rigging emissions tests,
:00:43. > :00:46.but who gets what and when is still to be determined.
:00:47. > :00:58.And other car-maker in the headlines for fiddling its tests, Mitsubishi
:00:59. > :01:09.officers raided by authorities after admitted falsifying data. Their
:01:10. > :01:17.shares were not traded at all, they fell so much yesterday. Their shares
:01:18. > :01:21.have slumped more than 30% since the story first broke. And the science
:01:22. > :01:24.behind making milk taste better, one firm says it is all about the type
:01:25. > :01:31.of protein, and with shares up nearly 200%, visit the cat who got
:01:32. > :01:37.the cream? It is certainly milking the market in China. We will speak
:01:38. > :01:40.to the boss. And are you fed up with upgrading your phone, tablet or
:01:41. > :01:44.computer - there is a growing movement of people pitching new
:01:45. > :01:49.technology and making the old trusty device last longer. Are you an
:01:50. > :01:50.upgrade junkie or rely on traditional technology? Get in
:01:51. > :02:00.touch. Volkswagen is trying to draw a line
:02:01. > :02:09.under the torrid affair that saw it rig emissions tests
:02:10. > :02:11.around the world, by fitting 11 million diesel cars
:02:12. > :02:29.with cheat devices. Last year, apologies came thick and
:02:30. > :02:32.fast after it used a cheat device to flatter test results. The dealers
:02:33. > :02:36.said to cost the car-maker over $1 billion, although how much each
:02:37. > :02:42.owner would get is still to be finalised. Volkswagen is expected to
:02:43. > :02:47.give more details of the deal to a federal judge later today. In March,
:02:48. > :02:50.the judge gave VW until today to announce concrete proposals for
:02:51. > :02:53.getting the polluting vehicles off the roads. Sally.
:02:54. > :02:55.With me is Catherine Hutt, from the automotive and transport
:02:56. > :03:09.Nice to see you, Catherine Ben outlining the options open, with
:03:10. > :03:14.regards to VW fixing this situation, reports say they are going for
:03:15. > :03:20.buying back cars, what's the make of that? I think it is a really
:03:21. > :03:23.important step for VW to give the consumer choice. Consumers are
:03:24. > :03:28.really wanting that choice, and it is important for the industry as a
:03:29. > :03:33.whole that VW reaches an agreement, and we can move on and show a line
:03:34. > :03:39.under this. We also saw that the markets responded positively in the
:03:40. > :03:41.US, with the US base to VW shares up 6% on the announcement that they
:03:42. > :03:46.would reach a settlement, rather than going to a lawsuit. I think it
:03:47. > :03:53.is a positive step forward. What is also really important is, from an
:03:54. > :03:56.investor's point of view, uncertainty is the enemy, so it is
:03:57. > :04:00.not just the figure that is important of how much it will really
:04:01. > :04:04.cost, but also the time involved, because the longer this drags on,
:04:05. > :04:07.the more damage and is going to do. I think it is really positive news
:04:08. > :04:12.that we are hearing, that they will reach a settlement and we will get
:04:13. > :04:16.some clarity. I know you and said the big number is not necessarily
:04:17. > :04:20.the issue, we are weighing it up, some are saying it could be about
:04:21. > :04:27.$30 billion in terms of cost to VW, but overall how costly is this for
:04:28. > :04:34.Europe's biggest car-maker? A very strong brand in the car industry,
:04:35. > :04:37.everything, reputation, financials everything, reputation, financials
:04:38. > :04:42.et cetera? I think the figure we do not know yet, and time will tell, so
:04:43. > :04:46.we will have to wait and see on that front. In terms of how damaging it
:04:47. > :04:50.has been, I think that varies across the globe. You can see in the states
:04:51. > :04:57.that sales have dropped 10% in the last month, in one report, versus
:04:58. > :05:01.Europe where sales have dropped just 2% in the last month. Compare that
:05:02. > :05:06.to China, where sales have increased to 3.6% in the last month. And the
:05:07. > :05:14.impact on Volkswagen is really influenced by those figures, but it
:05:15. > :05:17.is not a one-to-one correlation, because Asia-Pacific and
:05:18. > :05:21.particularly China represents about 40% of Volkswagen sales globally, so
:05:22. > :05:27.that really helps them out and help them weather the storm, which is the
:05:28. > :05:32.production of sales in Europe, which accounts for about 35% of Volkswagen
:05:33. > :05:37.sales globally, talking about the Volkswagen Group. Although the 10%
:05:38. > :05:41.reduction in the US is painful to Volkswagen, actually the US only
:05:42. > :05:47.accounts for 10% of their global sales. So you can see how, yes, they
:05:48. > :05:50.are worse off in terms of the reduction in sales, but that growth
:05:51. > :05:57.in China is really helping them. Catherine, we appreciate your time.
:05:58. > :06:03.It would seem that VW could be weathering the storm, that is for
:06:04. > :06:07.sure. Staying with car emissions, Mitsubishi Motors is also in the
:06:08. > :06:11.spotlight after admitting improper testing of fuel efficiency. Its
:06:12. > :06:15.shares did not traded a in Japan because so many people wanted to
:06:16. > :06:20.upload the Mitsubishi Motors Stark, trading did not take place at all.
:06:21. > :06:26.It is quite complicated, in fact. Karishma Vaswani can explain, the
:06:27. > :06:33.stairs did not trade but still managed to fall? -- shares. It is
:06:34. > :06:37.quite a complex mechanism on the Tokyo stock exchange, but as we
:06:38. > :06:42.understand it, after having spoken to officials, there were so many
:06:43. > :06:49.sellers for the shares of Mitsubishi Motors, and buyers as well, but the
:06:50. > :06:52.price did not match up, Ben. Basically, the amount that the
:06:53. > :06:56.sellers wanted for their shares and the amount that the buyers were
:06:57. > :07:00.offering, there was no actual deal that was executed, so no shares
:07:01. > :07:07.traded in Mitsubishi Motors on the Tokyo stock exchange, but they still
:07:08. > :07:11.fell by 20%. That is as a result of a mechanism within the Tokyo stock
:07:12. > :07:15.exchange that, every three minutes, when there are no trade is being
:07:16. > :07:22.executed for this particular stock today, the shares are known to
:07:23. > :07:26.which is why you have ended up which is why you have ended up
:07:27. > :07:34.seeing 20% taken of Mitsubishi Motors shares. In total, that is
:07:35. > :07:37.about $2.5 billion of value from the company's share price, so quite a
:07:38. > :07:43.dramatic fall as a result of the announcement that we saw yesterday.
:07:44. > :07:49.Also, we have been hearing about raids at some of its plants, some of
:07:50. > :07:57.its officers, what is going on? Yes, well, the government has weighed in,
:07:58. > :08:00.as you would expect, it is the country's sixth largest auto-maker,
:08:01. > :08:06.so earlier today the transport ministry sent in a team of
:08:07. > :08:14.investigators to Mitsubishi Motors' plant, research centre in Nagoya to
:08:15. > :08:18.find out how the employees of the company went about falsifying this
:08:19. > :08:22.tyre pressure data, which then resulted in its ability to make some
:08:23. > :08:26.of its models, the mini car models, at the more fuel efficient than they
:08:27. > :08:31.actually are. The investigation is expected to last a week or so, and
:08:32. > :08:36.the government says it is a serious breach of trust between Mitsubishi
:08:37. > :08:39.Motors and consumers, and it is taking it extremely seriously. Watch
:08:40. > :08:45.this space, lots more comments to come from the government on this in
:08:46. > :08:47.the next couple of days. Karishma, as always, thank you for explaining
:08:48. > :08:49.that. Shares in Yum brands -
:08:50. > :08:52.the firm behind KFC and Pizza Hut - have jumped nearly 4%,
:08:53. > :08:54.after the company reported better than expected earnings
:08:55. > :08:56.for the first quarter. Its profits rose 8% in the three
:08:57. > :09:11.months to March, to $391m. Microsoft has said it is to stop
:09:12. > :09:14.manufacturing the Xbox 360 games In a blog post, Xbox boss
:09:15. > :09:18.Phil Spencer said gamers had completed more than 78 billion hours
:09:19. > :09:21.of play on the devices. Last year the firm enabled Xbox 360
:09:22. > :09:24.games to work on its successor, Mining firm Newmont
:09:25. > :09:31.has reported lower earnings blamed on weaker gold
:09:32. > :09:35.and copper prices. The US-based Newmont is the world's
:09:36. > :09:37.second-biggest gold miner, but says profit came
:09:38. > :09:41.in at $182 million, down from a year ago but still
:09:42. > :09:44.well ahead of expectations. The results were helped by higher
:09:45. > :10:06.production along with lower costs. Tokyo shares rose yesterday for the
:10:07. > :10:11.third successive session, but the rise in oil prices was helping.
:10:12. > :10:24.Mitsubishi fell 20% after admitting falsifying those fuel efficiency
:10:25. > :10:27.tests. It is Brent crude that is back up, in the early part of the
:10:28. > :10:31.day, trading down slightly, but nonetheless up on what we saw
:10:32. > :10:35.earlier in the week. A quick look at how Europe is looking, because in
:10:36. > :10:39.the UK some disappointment that jobless claims rose in March, but
:10:40. > :10:43.wage growth came in lower than expected too, but still ahead of
:10:44. > :10:48.inflation. That is the picture for the UK market, we will talk about
:10:49. > :10:52.that in more detail in a moment. Michelle Fleury has the details from
:10:53. > :10:54.Wall Street. The earnings release from General
:10:55. > :10:59.Motors may be overshadowed by other news in the automobile world,
:11:00. > :11:02.because this is the deadline for VW and US officials to reach a deal to
:11:03. > :11:08.get diesel cars that used software to evade US emissions laws off the
:11:09. > :11:13.road. Reuters is reporting that VW will offer to buy back almost
:11:14. > :11:19.500,000 diesel cars, while the German newspaper de Buit says that
:11:20. > :11:26.VW may be ready to pay each affected customer $5,000 each. -- Die Welt.
:11:27. > :11:38.Two big names in technology turned in their report card, Alphabet, the
:11:39. > :11:41.parent company of Google, reported its first numbers after the market
:11:42. > :11:45.close. And investors will want to hear from Microsoft about how its
:11:46. > :11:47.cloud computing business is doing and whether its third-quarter
:11:48. > :11:51.results were impacted by a stronger dollar.
:11:52. > :12:04.Jeremy Cooke is the chief economist at World First,
:12:05. > :12:11.what is grabbing your attention this morning, oil going up? Yes, whisper
:12:12. > :12:16.it, but we may be seeing a rise in prices, the meeting in Doha did not
:12:17. > :12:20.produce much, but we have come back from the lows in short order, and a
:12:21. > :12:24.lot of people are saying we may have put the bottom in oil prices as
:12:25. > :12:28.well. The key question is whether the rancour that we saw between
:12:29. > :12:33.Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia spills over into supply, if tensions rise
:12:34. > :12:38.and supply contracts. Let's talk about the data we had in the UK,
:12:39. > :12:43.jobs and earnings, a surprise rise in an appointment, the first time in
:12:44. > :12:48.a long time, but earnings versus inflation, still above inflation,
:12:49. > :12:52.but not hugely. Not hugely impressive, and we talk about
:12:53. > :12:56.corporate reports, we said that revenue is vanity, profit is
:12:57. > :13:00.reality. If low unemployment for the UK is vanity, the reality is higher
:13:01. > :13:06.wages, and we're not seeing that at the moment. It is a seasonal thing,
:13:07. > :13:09.in February businesses do not pay large bonuses, banks for instance,
:13:10. > :13:12.so that may have taken the number lower, but it is something the Bank
:13:13. > :13:17.of England will be worried about if they are talking about high
:13:18. > :13:21.inflation. The ECB meeting, a nonevent this time? A little bit,
:13:22. > :13:28.after what Mario Draghi said last month, saying the policy was maybe
:13:29. > :13:34.at its lowest, the last time he said that, someone stormed the
:13:35. > :13:34.through glitter at him. Promises, promises! I will tune in, just in
:13:35. > :13:37.case. We're going to be talking
:13:38. > :13:41.about a company that's been moooving in on its milk
:13:42. > :13:43.producing rivals. A2 make a type of milk which thay
:13:44. > :13:47.say is better for us, and it's been We're going to be joined
:13:48. > :13:52.by their CEO after the break. You're with Business
:13:53. > :14:06.Live from BBC News. Heathrow Airport has just announced
:14:07. > :14:11.a boost in its first-quarter results thanks, it says Komla Dumor
:14:12. > :14:20.passengers and lower costs. Revenues were up by 3.2%, ?642 million. The
:14:21. > :14:25.chief executive of Heathrow Airport joins us now, good morning, another
:14:26. > :14:28.good year, another set of good figures, but still falling down the
:14:29. > :14:33.international league tables in terms of capacity and passenger numbers.
:14:34. > :14:37.It is frustrating, to say the least, is it not? We need to make a
:14:38. > :14:40.decision as quickly as possible about the future of this country. We
:14:41. > :14:45.are the fifth largest economy in the world, and we're not going to be for
:14:46. > :14:49.much longer unless we invest in our biggest port, and Heathrow is our
:14:50. > :14:54.biggest port, we handle over a quarter of UK exports. We are the
:14:55. > :14:59.only airport that gets business to all the growing airport in the
:15:00. > :15:01.world, but we are at capacity, and it is frustrating to DD French
:15:02. > :15:07.moving head, Paris has more long haul destinations than we have, and
:15:08. > :15:13.we need to make the right decision to secure the long-term future of
:15:14. > :15:18.this country. And we talked in our release about the capacity issues we
:15:19. > :15:23.have, it is not just about not enough roots, it is about trading
:15:24. > :15:27.capacity. Some of our key routes, like Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, are
:15:28. > :15:30.close to capacity, we cannot get more exports on those planes, and
:15:31. > :15:34.unless we expand Heathrow, that is not going to change. Now is the time
:15:35. > :15:35.for the Prime Minister to make the right decision to secure the future
:15:36. > :15:50.of Britain by expanding Heathrow. If they decide not to, what is your
:15:51. > :15:55.plan for the airport? We will keep on doing what we have been doing the
:15:56. > :16:02.last few years. We are currently rated the eighth best airport in the
:16:03. > :16:05.world. I want us to be the best airport in the world, giving
:16:06. > :16:10.passengers the best airport service. We are going to keep on working on
:16:11. > :16:13.that, serving Britain well. We will keep doing it at a lower cost as
:16:14. > :16:19.well, giving better value to passengers. Our job is to serve
:16:20. > :16:25.Britain. We can serve Britain better if we are a larger Heathrow, getting
:16:26. > :16:32.more of the cities and the regions of the UK with direct links into
:16:33. > :16:33.Heathrow, and onto 120 long haul destinations. That keeps Britain on
:16:34. > :16:42.the map. Thank you. in court in the US later today -
:16:43. > :16:48.it's thought they'll promise to buy back some of the 600,000
:16:49. > :16:50.diesel cars which had the emissions-cheating
:16:51. > :16:51.software installed. Some reports suggest
:16:52. > :17:02.they could spend over $1 billion Details coming into us about how
:17:03. > :17:06.that deal may work but no specific detail. How much individual
:17:07. > :17:11.consumers will get or when it will be paid. We will keep your cross
:17:12. > :17:15.that. Sure we pause for a little drink of milk?
:17:16. > :17:17.And now let's get the inside track on milk.
:17:18. > :17:22.The long held belief that people from Asia are intolerant to milk,
:17:23. > :17:24.is being slowly eroded as sales of dairy products across the area
:17:25. > :17:29.New Zealand has been cashing in on the change in tastes and now
:17:30. > :17:33.ranks as the world's largest dairy producer -
:17:34. > :17:40.One of the companies involved in the uplift is dairy company
:17:41. > :17:44.They believe that mass produced milk has, over time,
:17:45. > :17:48.lost what scientists call the A2 protein.
:17:49. > :17:54.They say that the milk we get now has got A1 protein, but that it's
:17:55. > :18:02.the A2 protein that they claim is better for us all.
:18:03. > :18:05.Demands for the company's infant formula has been particularly strong
:18:06. > :18:07.in China, where consumers have switched to products made
:18:08. > :18:11.in Australia or New Zealand after locally produced milk led
:18:12. > :18:22.the company's shares to rise by 189% since they began trading in Sydney
:18:23. > :18:31.He's the UK and China Chief Executive for A2 Milk Company,
:18:32. > :18:46.Good morning. We sort of explained what you would argue is your unique
:18:47. > :18:54.selling point, the fact that A2 Milk is full of protein? Yes, it is the
:18:55. > :19:00.only milk available that has the aid to protein. The difference that
:19:01. > :19:03.makes is that it does not have the A1 protein. That is associated with
:19:04. > :19:10.issues of digestion, making it difficult to digests. That can
:19:11. > :19:18.affect as many as 90% of the population in China. A recent trial
:19:19. > :19:24.announced yesterday has shown that the 90% lactose intolerant people of
:19:25. > :19:28.China are able to drink A2 Milk. It is the A1 protein causing the issue.
:19:29. > :19:35.Explain the process? It is the same cows eating the same staff. It is
:19:36. > :19:41.different what is coming out of their orders? Are you going to a
:19:42. > :19:51.herd of existing cows and DNA them. We farm the A2 Milk cows. It is
:19:52. > :20:00.genetics. Forgive my ignorance, but will this taste Andy different? We
:20:01. > :20:04.are going to try some now. People will not notice any difference. Talk
:20:05. > :20:10.smack through the change people may see in terms of cost? If your
:20:11. > :20:13.children have an issue with milk they could try this and they would
:20:14. > :20:19.not know they are trying a different man. It is fresh cow's milk. In
:20:20. > :20:29.terms of pricing, this is about ?1 39. -- 1.3 nine. About twice the
:20:30. > :20:35.price of normal milk. But we argue that milk is on the priced and
:20:36. > :20:40.undervalued. I am a family of five. We consume a lot of milk. One of my
:20:41. > :20:46.children had trouble with milk. I looked into other milks. I have
:20:47. > :20:50.never seen A2 Milk. I do not feel the strength of your presence in the
:20:51. > :20:55.UK and yet you are taking China by storm. That is presumably pushing up
:20:56. > :21:03.your profits and share price? We have only been in the UK a couple of
:21:04. > :21:08.years. We are relatively new. People struggle to find us sometimes. We
:21:09. > :21:12.are there. In Australia we have got a big share, growing significantly.
:21:13. > :21:16.The strength of that has gone into China. Chinese consumers have
:21:17. > :21:20.realised from talking to a friends that there is something out of there
:21:21. > :21:25.for them. They are buying it and taking from Australia. We have set
:21:26. > :21:29.up in China and are growing a strong business. Let's talk about the
:21:30. > :21:34.industry for milk. Here in the UK and many parts of Europe, we see
:21:35. > :21:38.supermarkets selling milk as a loss leader. Farmers are not getting what
:21:39. > :21:43.they should. We are also seeing a decline because there is a
:21:44. > :21:47.health-conscious move away from dairy towards different diets. You
:21:48. > :21:53.are seeing that correlated upswing in Asia. Does that compensate for a
:21:54. > :22:01.slowdown in Europe? The growth opportunities in Asia are enormous.
:22:02. > :22:07.China will overtake Europe next year as the biggest milk exporter. In
:22:08. > :22:10.Europe, we think a lot of the decline in Derry is due to
:22:11. > :22:21.misunderstanding. A lot of rumour and non-fact about milk is spread.
:22:22. > :22:24.-- dairy. People believing they are lactose intolerant means they do not
:22:25. > :22:27.go for milk in a way they could do. Something like this could enable
:22:28. > :22:36.them to drink milk again. Thank you for coming in, sharing the milk. I
:22:37. > :22:39.am treating this like a fine wine! Have you smelted? Yes, it smells
:22:40. > :22:44.good. There is some going in my coffee.
:22:45. > :22:53.In a moment, some of the other stories out of there. First, a quick
:22:54. > :22:55.reminder of how to be across it all. The businesslike pages where you can
:22:56. > :23:00.stay ahead with the breaking business news. We will keep you
:23:01. > :23:04.up-to-date with the latest details, with insight and analysis from the
:23:05. > :23:08.team of editors across the world. And we want to hear from you. Get
:23:09. > :23:20.involved on the BBC Business Live web page. You can find us on Twitter
:23:21. > :23:26.and on Facebook. Business Live on TV and online
:23:27. > :23:29.whenever you need to know. Jeremy has returned. Let's have a
:23:30. > :23:34.look at some of the stories. Starting with the international New
:23:35. > :23:44.York Times, which says choosing to skip the upgrade and care for the
:23:45. > :23:51.graduate -- gadget you have got. It is a PalmPilot he has got in his
:23:52. > :23:55.hand. Old technology. This is a story about people who, after a
:23:56. > :24:02.couple of years when their phone plan has, Kraupp renewal, holding
:24:03. > :24:12.onto what have got. -- coming up for renewal. Clearly this is not
:24:13. > :24:15.widespread but the problem is that many people now have a phone they
:24:16. > :24:24.are happy with. They will not upgrade between a five, six or
:24:25. > :24:29.seven. We are getting past the stage where you can open up a phone --
:24:30. > :24:38.draw in the kitchen and cross old phones. We have a picture of an old
:24:39. > :24:46.Bakelite telephone. He says if only my mobile had the stability of this.
:24:47. > :24:51.Matt says upgrading software can be tiring, especially if it happens
:24:52. > :24:57.every couple of days. It is sort of a work in progress all the time. You
:24:58. > :25:04.are constantly having to update and upgrade, rather than trust your
:25:05. > :25:09.reliable phone. Exactly. You have to be worried about the data charges as
:25:10. > :25:12.well. Briefly, the Daily Telegraph talking about Tata possibly going
:25:13. > :25:20.for a crowdfunding to rescue Port Talbot? Crowdfunding may be a
:25:21. > :25:26.difficult way. It is a management buyout and it is raising money from
:25:27. > :25:31.employees. Of the ?10,000 each. That seems steep. Whether you would want
:25:32. > :25:36.to split the ownership that wide within a steel plant among the
:25:37. > :25:40.employees remains to be seen. But certainly it is a new idea which can
:25:41. > :25:48.hopefully raise money for an ailing industry. Thank you for coming in.
:25:49. > :26:09.Some milk for you later. Thank you. We will see you soon. By bye-bye.
:26:10. > :26:16.Good morning. Some sunshine on offer today. But not for everybody. The
:26:17. > :26:19.skies are going to turn cloudy in the next 24 hours. We have already
:26:20. > :26:20.had some rain in south-western