:00:12. > :00:17.Hello, you with business live. Campaigning in the UK in action gets
:00:18. > :00:44.under way today. Antonio to Johnny will meet with
:00:45. > :00:49.Theresa May at 10 Downing Street this morning. The European
:00:50. > :00:52.Parliament made it clear what its so-called red lines are in the
:00:53. > :00:57.negotiation process. And we will talk you through what is at stake.
:00:58. > :01:07.Also in the programme, Emirates reduces its flights to the US. And
:01:08. > :01:14.looking at the European markets, they are treading water and
:01:15. > :01:18.relatively mixed. Of course, that first round in the election on
:01:19. > :01:22.France is on Sunday. Traders are gearing up for that. We will take
:01:23. > :01:27.you through the markets a little bit later. Now, it might taste good, but
:01:28. > :01:32.could it also do good? We will meet the woman behind the chocolate brand
:01:33. > :01:38.which is co-owner and by farmers in Ghana. Also, as Facebook begins work
:01:39. > :01:43.on mind control technology, we want to know, is mind control and social
:01:44. > :01:57.media a risky combination? Just think of the havoc it could cause.
:01:58. > :02:01.Let us know what you think. A very warm welcome to the programme. So,
:02:02. > :02:06.once again we start with our focus on what's going on in Downing
:02:07. > :02:09.Street. In less than an hour, the head of the European Parliament is
:02:10. > :02:16.due to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May. That's Antonio
:02:17. > :02:20.Tajani, who is visiting as the UK prepares for an election which will
:02:21. > :02:23.be dominated by Britain's exit from the European Union. The European
:02:24. > :02:30.Parliament has a vote on the final Brexit deal, but is not involved in
:02:31. > :02:35.the process. However it has set out a series of what it describes as red
:02:36. > :02:39.lines, that it will not compromise on, something Antonio Tajani will no
:02:40. > :02:44.doubt discuss with the reason may later. Let's tell you what we know
:02:45. > :02:48.about those. So, the European Parliament wants the final agreement
:02:49. > :02:52.to make sure the UK continues to comply with a range of EU policies
:02:53. > :02:53.on various issues, such as the environment, tax evasion and
:02:54. > :02:59.competition. It also stresses the United Kingdom
:03:00. > :03:05.must honour all its legal and financial obligations to the EU
:03:06. > :03:08.- including its agreement to pay That could mean a hefty exit bill -
:03:09. > :03:16.a figure put by the European And one that's bitterly
:03:17. > :03:28.disputed by some in the UK. Notably by the so-called Brexit
:03:29. > :03:33.secretary David Davis. And it insists two major EU
:03:34. > :03:36.regulators currently based in London - the European Banking Authority
:03:37. > :03:39.and European Medicines Agency - will also have to move
:03:40. > :03:42.to the continent. Some in financial markets are now
:03:43. > :03:45.betting that getting the election out of the way in June will allow
:03:46. > :03:49.the UK to be much more flexible in agreeing to these demands -
:03:50. > :04:08.and avoid a so-called "hard We can now get the view of a
:04:09. > :04:11.political analyst from King's College London. In one sense it
:04:12. > :04:15.makes her life easier because she will have to pass a lot of
:04:16. > :04:17.legislation to make Brexit happen. With a bigger majority, which
:04:18. > :04:21.pollsters expect, that will be easier. I don't think it will affect
:04:22. > :04:24.the European Union lose position, though. They will not care one way
:04:25. > :04:29.or the other what size her majority is in parliament. I think they will
:04:30. > :04:34.fair negotiating position, and that fair negotiating position, and that
:04:35. > :04:36.won't change. How important is today's meeting? The European
:04:37. > :04:39.Parliament is not involved in the negotiations, but it does have to
:04:40. > :04:44.sign it off at the end of the two years? Yes, it is curious, we are
:04:45. > :04:48.not negotiating with the European Parliament but we need to keep them
:04:49. > :04:52.on site. The worst of all worlds is that the European Parliament says,
:04:53. > :04:55.we don't like this, we going to vote it down, which they can do. So
:04:56. > :04:59.keeping them on side is important. They have described some of these
:05:00. > :05:04.things as red lines which can't be crossed. The divorce bill of 60
:05:05. > :05:09.billion euros, already, David Davis says it is nothing like that. Yeah,
:05:10. > :05:13.that figure has been bandied around by the European Commission as a
:05:14. > :05:16.possibility. I think the first stage of negotiations will be to figure
:05:17. > :05:20.out what we should be including in our bill and what we shouldn't. I
:05:21. > :05:24.don't think that figure is set in stone, but I think the EU is making
:05:25. > :05:26.it clear that whatever figure they arrive at, we have to pay, we cannot
:05:27. > :05:30.get around it. Emirates will reduce flights to five
:05:31. > :05:37.US cities from next month, after new security rules targeted
:05:38. > :05:45.travellers from the Middle East. According to the Dubai-based
:05:46. > :05:47.airline, "recent government relating to the issuance
:05:48. > :05:50.of entry visas, heightened security vetting and restrictions
:05:51. > :05:52.on electronic devices in aircraft cabins have had a direct impact
:05:53. > :05:55.on consumer interest and demand Consumer goods maker Unilever
:05:56. > :06:05.reported better than expected first-quarter sales on Thursday,
:06:06. > :06:11.helped by pricing growth. Underlying sales rose by 2.9%,
:06:12. > :06:14.beating analysts' estimates of 2%. The results could boost investor
:06:15. > :06:20.enthusiasm for Unilever, whose shares have remained higher
:06:21. > :06:25.since February, when it received, and then quickly rejected,
:06:26. > :06:28.a $143 billion takeover offer Premier League football clubs
:06:29. > :06:36.posted record revenues of ?3.6 billion in 2015-16 -
:06:37. > :06:42.according to research by Deloitte. Manchester United topped
:06:43. > :06:46.the earnings table for the first time since the 2003/4 season -
:06:47. > :06:53.with revenue of ?515 million. Still, the top 20 English clubs made
:06:54. > :07:00.an overall pre-tax loss after two seasons of profit -
:07:01. > :07:03.hit by higher player wages, operating costs
:07:04. > :07:08.and other one-off charges. Japanese exports saw
:07:09. > :07:14.their biggest gain in more than two years in March -
:07:15. > :07:19.a sign of optimism for the world's third-largest economy,
:07:20. > :07:25.which also boosted Asian markets. Let's go to Sharanjit Leyl, who's in
:07:26. > :07:36.our Asia Business Hub in Singapore. A real boost for exports? That's
:07:37. > :07:40.right. Exports in Japan growing 12% in March led essentially by a strong
:07:41. > :07:44.demand for auto parts, optical instruments such as mobile phone
:07:45. > :07:48.parts and tools to make semiconductors. While imports were
:07:49. > :07:54.also up nearly 16%, which is mainly to buy all the coal, oil and energy
:07:55. > :07:57.needs to fuel the economy. We also heard from the International
:07:58. > :08:02.Monetary front, they have just rooted Japan's economic forecast,
:08:03. > :08:09.projecting a 1.2% annual expansion this year. And there was a key bank
:08:10. > :08:12.of Japan business confidence survey, which pointed to rising optimism
:08:13. > :08:17.among big manufacturers. All in all, really good for Japan, although I
:08:18. > :08:22.should say, the Newquay ended fairly flat, with worries about the French
:08:23. > :08:28.elections and north Korea. We have also seen the Japanese Prime
:08:29. > :08:33.Minister who has been trying to achieve this economic growth for
:08:34. > :08:38.years and end what has been a long period of on and off deflation
:08:39. > :08:47.through a policy blitz of easy money stimulus as well as reform. So,
:08:48. > :08:54.despite that great news about exports, as we heard, the Nikkei
:08:55. > :09:00.ended pretty flat. The Dow Jones was down. Quite a lot of earnings
:09:01. > :09:03.stories out of the US also which did not impress. IBM and eBay among
:09:04. > :09:17.them. In Europe, all eyes on France, as we
:09:18. > :09:19.head into the weekend, with voters deciding who they want to be the
:09:20. > :09:25.front runners in the presidential race in France. That's how things
:09:26. > :09:29.are going in Europe right now. We'll talk some more about trade in a
:09:30. > :09:31.moment. But first, let's look ahead to the day in the United States.
:09:32. > :09:33.And Michelle Fleury has the details about what's ahead
:09:34. > :09:46.The SNP 500's losing streak stretched into a fifth day. Doubts
:09:47. > :09:51.about Donald Trump's ability to fulfil his progress promises are
:09:52. > :09:54.behind that. Investors are hoping that first-quarter earnings will be
:09:55. > :10:01.strong enough to justify those lofty valuations. Of the more than 50
:10:02. > :10:07.companies in the SNP 500 that have turned in their report cards so far,
:10:08. > :10:11.75% have done better than it did, according to data from Thomson
:10:12. > :10:17.trend continue? Among those trend continue? Among those
:10:18. > :10:25.reporting quarterly profits come visa, cigarette maker Philip Morris
:10:26. > :10:30.and toymaker to picky. The number one US wireless carrier is expected
:10:31. > :10:39.to decline for a fourth straight quarter. Investors want to know how
:10:40. > :10:42.it will respond to rival AT's move into TV and content.
:10:43. > :10:47.Joining us is Alix Stewart, Fixed Income Fund Manager, Schroders.
:10:48. > :10:56.Good morning. We have been talking all week, and tomorrow is a big one,
:10:57. > :11:03.with a lot of the manufacturing news come can you explain the
:11:04. > :11:07.significance of these manufacturing PMIs? Well, obviously we have seen
:11:08. > :11:14.strong economic both through a lot of the world. And on the other side
:11:15. > :11:17.of the political stuff that has been dominating everything, we will be
:11:18. > :11:21.focusing back on what is actually happening in the economy is. We get
:11:22. > :11:28.that focus back, as you say, during the week, when the IMF upped its
:11:29. > :11:33.growth forecast for the UK, for Japan, for many economies, actually.
:11:34. > :11:36.And so it is quite interesting how the news coming through about
:11:37. > :11:40.various economies in the world seems to be getting better, even the
:11:41. > :11:43.inflation figures in the Eurozone yesterday were not as robust as
:11:44. > :11:49.people had feared, with worries about petrol going up etc? Yeah, we
:11:50. > :11:52.seem to be in quite a nice phase at the moment many we're getting a
:11:53. > :11:55.cyclical upswing globally perhaps for the first time since the
:11:56. > :11:59.financial crisis. And inflation is not a worry at the moment. Speaking
:12:00. > :12:03.of prices going up, let's talk retail sales. We will get the
:12:04. > :12:07.figures tomorrow. We have had results from Debenhams this morning.
:12:08. > :12:14.That is a big department store chain here. But it is interesting because
:12:15. > :12:17.ten stores are up for closure, a big warehouse and distribution centre
:12:18. > :12:21.potentially at risk. This is being replicated around the world, these
:12:22. > :12:26.big department stores really struggling? Well, you've got three
:12:27. > :12:31.things going on. You've got the fact that consumers are being squeezed as
:12:32. > :12:35.prices go up, if income is don't keep pace with that. We have seen
:12:36. > :12:39.here in the UK that people are dipping into savings to keep
:12:40. > :12:44.consumption going. So there are big question marks specific to the UK.
:12:45. > :12:47.But globally, we have got this issue with department stores, people are
:12:48. > :12:52.shopping in a different way now. We will talk more about Debenhams a bit
:12:53. > :13:00.later. For now, thank you very much. We meet the woman behind
:13:01. > :13:08.the chocolate brand that says it can make a difference for
:13:09. > :13:19.cocoa farmers in Africa. You're with Business
:13:20. > :13:34.Live from BBC News. Sky and HBO have announced
:13:35. > :13:39.a co-production deal worth ?195 million, and have also promised
:13:40. > :13:45.a "ground-breaking" virtual reality experience in partnership
:13:46. > :13:48.with Sir David Attenborough The announcement comes as Sky
:13:49. > :13:58.reports sales up 11% to ?9.6 billion It also comes a few weeks
:13:59. > :14:07.after the Culture Secretary, Karen Bradley, referred 21st
:14:08. > :14:09.Century Fox's bid for Sky Let's get more with Alex De Groote -
:14:10. > :14:22.media analyst at Cenkos. Nice to have you on the programme.
:14:23. > :14:27.Skype coming out with so many different bits of news, what is your
:14:28. > :14:30.take on the HBO deal? They have a long-standing arrangement with HBO
:14:31. > :14:34.whereby probably half of the output that you would see on sky at
:14:35. > :14:40.Atlantic already comes from HBO. In a way, this development cements that
:14:41. > :14:43.pre-existing relationship. Sky in the UK for some time now has been
:14:44. > :14:47.going down the path of higher quality, more expensive drama.
:14:48. > :14:50.Primarily through sky at Atlantic also through some of their other
:14:51. > :14:56.channels. So, this is more of the same but it is a big commitment and
:14:57. > :14:59.should be seen as a real positive for HBO as well. And also, it is
:15:00. > :15:04.what these companies have to do, they have to have that content that
:15:05. > :15:10.viewers want to tune in for, that's what it's all about, isn't it? It
:15:11. > :15:14.is, this is the golden age of TV, maybe the second golden age of TV.
:15:15. > :15:18.One reason for that is the amount of money which is being put into this
:15:19. > :15:23.high end drama by the likes of Sky. If you go back 10-15 years, a lot of
:15:24. > :15:27.based around paying up for the footy based around paying up for the footy
:15:28. > :15:31.and hoping to draw in subscribers on that basis. That has kind of come to
:15:32. > :15:35.the end of the road now, so this is about trying to get perhaps a
:15:36. > :15:38.slightly different democratic, with pretty high end drama, starring guys
:15:39. > :15:49.who previously would only have worked in film. Boyd thank you for
:15:50. > :15:56.your time. As promised, a reminder, much more on the Debenhams story. It
:15:57. > :16:01.is part of a plan already being announced but clearly there are now
:16:02. > :16:06.implications for some stores. Ten hour before potential closure, one
:16:07. > :16:07.of those is loss-making, the other given some sense to prove
:16:08. > :16:22.themselves. You are with Business Live, our top
:16:23. > :16:26.story today, we are focused on the head of the European Parliament. He
:16:27. > :16:30.is at Downing Street today meeting with the British Prime Minister to
:16:31. > :16:33.discuss of course the Brexit negotiations. We will have more on
:16:34. > :16:38.that story in a moment. Quick look at the numbers for you. After a
:16:39. > :16:41.pretty volatile week, calling off the snap election, markets and
:16:42. > :16:48.occurrences not sure I'd one point what to make of it. You can see as
:16:49. > :16:52.the FTSE 100 is finally back in positive territory after a week of
:16:53. > :17:00.losses so far, on the back of that. But the FTSE 100, because most
:17:01. > :17:04.many of you may have been indulging over the weekend regardless of where
:17:05. > :17:06.you live in the world on chocolate. Many of us enjoy a sweet treat -
:17:07. > :17:10.but how do you combine that urge Well, our next guest
:17:11. > :17:14.believes you can do both. She's the boss of the Fair Trade
:17:15. > :17:20.chocolate maker, Divine. It's co-owned by a co-operative
:17:21. > :17:25.of cocoa farmers in Ghana and exports to more
:17:26. > :17:27.than ten countries. Last year, it had a turnover
:17:28. > :17:30.of around $15 million - not bad, when you consider it's
:17:31. > :17:32.a social enterprise. Sophi Tranchell, is Group
:17:33. > :17:46.Chief Executive and MD And she has brought lots of slabs of
:17:47. > :17:50.the staff as well, over the studio. We had the out of the hands of a
:17:51. > :17:54.floor manager and manager and directors and various others to give
:17:55. > :17:57.it in the studio. Nice to see you, welcome. Let's start with the
:17:58. > :18:03.product, because I think it is really interesting. Defoe got
:18:04. > :18:06.involved in this, you had no experience of retail, no experience
:18:07. > :18:10.of chocolate, and yet you are now running this global chocolate
:18:11. > :18:16.business. Tell us your story. I had a tin chocolate, so I did know what
:18:17. > :18:19.it was! I was running a film distribution company and a cinema
:18:20. > :18:25.group in London, and we were distributing foreign films, so we
:18:26. > :18:28.brought in that in America films, and the early Almodovar films. We
:18:29. > :18:32.were getting people to watch subtitled films and back in the 90s
:18:33. > :18:38.young people didn't do that so that was quite a challenge. I saw an
:18:39. > :18:44.advert in a newspaper, a very little advert, because they were recruiting
:18:45. > :18:47.a team to run Divine chocolate, they already had the name, the recipe of
:18:48. > :18:55.the first buyer and the ownership structure, and I just thought it was
:18:56. > :18:59.a great project. The idea that it was owned by a cooperative of cocoa
:19:00. > :19:01.farmers in Ghana that would get the benefits from the money that
:19:02. > :19:05.chocolate lovers spend on the chocolate was just an irresistible
:19:06. > :19:09.combination. My thought it was a great idea and inner way I had
:19:10. > :19:14.nothing to lose, because I had no experience in retail at know how
:19:15. > :19:16.difficult a task I was taking on. I hadn't really recognise that you are
:19:17. > :19:24.entering into a category dominated by enormous Tom Preece la global.
:19:25. > :19:28.It just seemed a lovely idea, why wouldn't you want to lead chocolate
:19:29. > :19:31.that tasted great that would give benefit to farmers? When you think
:19:32. > :19:37.of the big names in chocolate, it is almost David Empoli of, Nestl and
:19:38. > :19:40.Cadburys and all those dominant chocolate brands but the less about
:19:41. > :19:43.how this company works because it is very unusual. Even people like Anita
:19:44. > :19:47.Roddick have been involved, the founder of the body shop. It is all
:19:48. > :19:52.about ethical shopping and consumption. Yes, it is about
:19:53. > :19:56.offering people all over the world who like chocolate a genuine choice
:19:57. > :20:00.to buy something that taste nice, a big range of products, but also they
:20:01. > :20:04.know that the farmers really benefit because they own 44% of the company,
:20:05. > :20:09.which means they have a seat on the board. They also get a share of the
:20:10. > :20:15.profits. It puts them much higher up the supply chain. Farmers who grow
:20:16. > :20:18.cocoa trade it on the international market, and that is very volatile.
:20:19. > :20:23.So the idea that they actually have a share in the chocolate company
:20:24. > :20:28.means they get a share in the world they are hoping to create. We are
:20:29. > :20:31.looking at pictures in Ghana, the fair trade logo is there. How has
:20:32. > :20:36.that changed, because I imagine when you started out doing this, there
:20:37. > :20:40.was a lot of education, but fair trade mean, have that affect farmers
:20:41. > :20:48.in Africa? People are more aware about where things come from the is
:20:49. > :20:51.there still an education involved? When we first started, people didn't
:20:52. > :20:59.know where chocolate came from, when you ask them, of course it comes
:21:00. > :21:03.from Switzerland or Belgium. That idea that cocoa comes from West
:21:04. > :21:06.Africa, 70% of the world's, and it makes a difference to the plight of
:21:07. > :21:11.the people who grow at how much you pay for it was completely foreign.
:21:12. > :21:13.So we were changing the narrative of the industry and fair trade was a
:21:14. > :21:27.nice way to do it. We had now people expect to behave properly
:21:28. > :21:30.to people in their supply chains, but there are companies that are
:21:31. > :21:32.turning a better and more thoroughly than other companies and there is
:21:33. > :21:39.now a whole range of products you can buy. Lots of things like clothes
:21:40. > :21:52.and stuff. Time is up, sadly, I could talk all day, but Sophi thank
:21:53. > :21:56.you. Lovely to see you. Let's return to the top story. We explained that
:21:57. > :22:00.the head of the European Union Parliament is meeting with Theresa
:22:01. > :22:04.made today in Downing Street. Vicky Ford is a member of the European
:22:05. > :22:09.Parliament in the UK's governing Conservative Party. She joins us now
:22:10. > :22:15.from Cambridge in her is to Viglen constituency. Thank you for being on
:22:16. > :22:18.the programme. Tell us about this meeting and how important it is,
:22:19. > :22:22.given that the European Parliament won't be involved in the negotiation
:22:23. > :22:26.at all. The European Parliament is important because it has a vote on
:22:27. > :22:30.the outcome of negotiations. Santonio the journey is a new
:22:31. > :22:34.president of the parliament, dresses beginning of this year, quite a
:22:35. > :22:39.practical and pragmatic person and he clearly wants to find an ally
:22:40. > :22:42.couple relationship with the UK, post the negotiations as well, so
:22:43. > :22:50.this is very good that he is coming to Downing Street -- Antonio Tajani.
:22:51. > :22:57.The Parliament's position as set out in a vote that we had just before
:22:58. > :23:01.Easter is quite in line with the UK Government position on a number of
:23:02. > :23:06.issues. I am interested in the story on the front of the FT, Brussels
:23:07. > :23:10.starts to freeze Britain out of EU contracts. You might expect this of
:23:11. > :23:13.course, the UK leaving the European Union so maybe we are not entitled
:23:14. > :23:19.to have an active role in some of those contacts, but how worried
:23:20. > :23:22.should business be? It uses very specific examples are saying that
:23:23. > :23:27.Britain should not be invoked if it is not a member of the club. I am
:23:28. > :23:35.very interested in that, because Parliament's position is very clear
:23:36. > :23:40.that until Britain leaves the EU, we haven't left, so they should not be
:23:41. > :23:47.pre-emptive conditions like that. Key priorities like making sure that
:23:48. > :23:51.British and European citizens rights expected, both sides agree on that.
:23:52. > :23:53.Key issues on financial contributions, the European
:23:54. > :23:58.Parliament does not put a number on the ball, but they say that Britain
:23:59. > :24:04.should pay its commitments and the Prime Minister has said we are
:24:05. > :24:08.prepared to pay our commitments. So again there should in principle be
:24:09. > :24:13.an agreement on these issues, and then we need to start working on
:24:14. > :24:17.those long-term relationship issues, like what should be the likes of
:24:18. > :24:29.British businesses trading into Europe. Thank you very much. Alix
:24:30. > :24:33.has rejoined us in the studio, most CEO, Alix. Let's took on this one in
:24:34. > :24:37.the Financial Times. Emirates cut back on flights to the United States
:24:38. > :24:40.after heightened security. This is so interesting, because when it was
:24:41. > :24:44.announced at the time there was a lot of speculation that this was US
:24:45. > :24:47.airlines lobbying the president and therefore he would get tough on
:24:48. > :24:52.those Middle Eastern airlines, that they do not like, because they think
:24:53. > :24:56.they get unfair state aid. Yes, it has come at an interesting time of
:24:57. > :24:59.these airlines because they have been expanding capacity and growth
:25:00. > :25:03.is slower in their home countries because of the slow in the oil price
:25:04. > :25:07.so quite a good time to get competitive with them. They have
:25:08. > :25:10.talked about the security measures and the ban on electronics on the
:25:11. > :25:16.plains. And the Visa regulations changing as well. A lot of
:25:17. > :25:20.headwinds, to pardon the pun. But at the same time you have big carriers,
:25:21. > :25:24.the legacy terraces -- carriers in the US, the company they complain
:25:25. > :25:29.about the Gulf carriers, United airlines getting such bad press.
:25:30. > :25:34.Indeed, these guys have been winning a lot of market share, they have
:25:35. > :25:38.been growing very fast, the Gulf airlines, so it is putting a big
:25:39. > :25:41.tent and that is part of the policies of Trump to try to fight
:25:42. > :25:47.back on trade with these guys. Talk us through the story from Facebook,
:25:48. > :25:53.it is fascinating. Your thoughts activating computers to change
:25:54. > :25:56.things. There is this optical neuroimaging system which is
:25:57. > :26:00.supposed to be able to read your brainwaves, and mean that you can
:26:01. > :26:03.actually type with your mind. So scary! Interesting stuff, Alix,
:26:04. > :26:07.thank you very much.