:00:00. > :00:11.This is Business Live from BBC News with Ben Bland and Sally Bundock.
:00:12. > :00:14.And then there were two - the final candidates
:00:15. > :00:18.for the French presidency, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen,
:00:19. > :00:21.have been chosen, but what economic challenges will the winner face?
:00:22. > :00:42.Live from London, that's our top story on Monday, 24th April.
:00:43. > :00:45.The candidates of both mainstream political parties in France have
:00:46. > :00:49.urged their supporters to back Emmanuel Macron for the presidency,
:00:50. > :00:53.after they were eliminated in the first round,
:00:54. > :00:56.but is he the man to to supercharge the French economy?
:00:57. > :01:10.China shuts down 29 plants and puts another 40 on warning.
:01:11. > :01:24.Here is how the markets look. Very strong, especially in Paris.
:01:25. > :01:26.And we'll be getting the inside track on a business that's
:01:27. > :01:29.been able to draw on the artistic talents of its founder.
:01:30. > :01:31.We're going to be speaking to co-founder and creative director
:01:32. > :01:42.Today we want to know, as UK politicians consider offering
:01:43. > :01:45.a price cap on energy bills, we want to know - what purchases
:01:46. > :01:47.would you like to see a price cap on?
:01:48. > :02:04.Centrist Emmanuel Macron has gone through to the second
:02:05. > :02:07.round of the French election, where he will face far-right
:02:08. > :02:12.Mr Macron, a former banker, is seen as a political
:02:13. > :02:18.outsider, having never run an election campaign before.
:02:19. > :02:22.The euro rose by 2% on the news - its highest level in five months -
:02:23. > :02:23.before giving up some ground this morning.
:02:24. > :02:27.Investors had worried that far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon
:02:28. > :02:30.would beat Mr Macron, giving voters a choice between two
:02:31. > :02:37.Macron is now considered to be the favorite to win the second
:02:38. > :02:40.round ballot and markets have warmed to his pledge to lower corporate
:02:41. > :02:42.taxes while lightening the administrative burden on firms.
:02:43. > :02:46.However, economic problems and challenges remain for whoever
:02:47. > :02:53.Top of the list, France's unemployment rate
:02:54. > :02:56.is running at around 10%, which is more than twice the rate
:02:57. > :03:06.So, how have global markets reacted to the results?
:03:07. > :03:07.Theo Leggett is at Berenberg Bank
:03:08. > :03:23.So the euro is soaring and now share markets in Europe are soaring too?
:03:24. > :03:26.Absolutely. The currency is up, and so are the share markets, and it's
:03:27. > :03:31.easy to see why. This isn't about what has happened in the first round
:03:32. > :03:35.of the presidential election as opposed to what has not happened. We
:03:36. > :03:38.now know we will not see a second-round run-off between the far
:03:39. > :03:41.right candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Front and Jean-Luc
:03:42. > :03:45.Melenchon, the hard left candidate who models his economic policies on
:03:46. > :03:50.those of people like the later Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. For
:03:51. > :03:53.business people, that was seen as the nightmare scenario, two
:03:54. > :03:56.Eurosceptic candidates, one of whom wanted to take France out of the
:03:57. > :04:01.euro, and a candidate who favoured extremely high taxation for the rich
:04:02. > :04:05.and a lot of state intervention in industry. That hasn't happened. The
:04:06. > :04:06.run-off will be between Emmanuel Macron, the centrist reformist
:04:07. > :04:14.candidate, and Marine Le Pen. In that scenario, nearly every poll
:04:15. > :04:19.puts Emmanuel Macron, and you can see what that has done on the
:04:20. > :04:26.markets. This is the Paris stock exchange. As you can see, at the
:04:27. > :04:30.open was up more than 5%. It is telling off a bit, but nevertheless,
:04:31. > :04:36.that is a relief rally. Banking stocks are doing well. That it
:04:37. > :04:40.because the risk premium on bonds is going down, so bond yields are going
:04:41. > :04:43.to go up. Things are more settled. But let's not forget that there are
:04:44. > :04:46.two weeks to go before the second round of the presidential election
:04:47. > :04:52.and although Emmanuel Macron does look like the clear winner according
:04:53. > :04:57.to polls taken today, you can never guarantee anything. And that is the
:04:58. > :05:05.point. Once this relief rally tails off and people think ahead to May
:05:06. > :05:09.the 7th, people may wonder what a new government may look like. Even
:05:10. > :05:14.if Emmanuel Macron gets the job, it may be an unusual coalition in
:05:15. > :05:17.France. Absolutely. You have to remember where Emmanuel Macron has
:05:18. > :05:22.come from. His movement was only created about a year ago, and it is
:05:23. > :05:26.a coalition of different interests. It doesn't have a formal party
:05:27. > :05:30.structure and in a few weeks' time, France will go to the polls again
:05:31. > :05:35.for parliamentary elections. Emmanuel Macron, if he is president,
:05:36. > :05:39.will have to work with the winner of that election. He will have to work
:05:40. > :05:42.with a Prime Minister to get his policies enacted. He does have a
:05:43. > :05:46.certain level of endorsement from the Republicans and from the more
:05:47. > :05:50.mainstream Socialists at the moment, but once he is in power and once
:05:51. > :05:56.they are forming a parliament, if he doesn't manage to get enough of his
:05:57. > :06:02.own support, he may find it difficult to enact the platform of
:06:03. > :06:06.hope he has been setting out over the last year. He may find that the
:06:07. > :06:15.reality of life as president is different from the rhetoric of the
:06:16. > :06:20.campaign. Theo, thank you very much. Let's show you Paris right now, a
:06:21. > :06:25.beautiful morning as a new day begins. Everyone is of course now
:06:26. > :06:32.looking ahead to make the seventh and the two candidates that remain.
:06:33. > :06:39.We will have more on that later on Business Live. Some of the news now.
:06:40. > :06:43.Luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo has put itself up for sale, announcing on
:06:44. > :06:48.Monday that it is seeking offers. The company, which floated in London
:06:49. > :06:55.in October 2014, has seen sales growth slow, reporting a 2% rise
:06:56. > :07:00.last year compared to 7% in 2015 and 12% in 2014. HSBC recently
:07:01. > :07:04.downgraded Jimmy Choo to hold from Help To Buy as it felt both sales
:07:05. > :07:08.and profits had fallen short. But medical devices and health care
:07:09. > :07:13.giant Philips has posted a big jump in first-quarter profits after
:07:14. > :07:17.spinning off its lighting business last year. Profits soared to $280
:07:18. > :07:21.million for the three months to the end of March compared with around 40
:07:22. > :07:29.million the same time last year. Corp profits were up by 18% higher
:07:30. > :07:34.than expected, $480 million. Sales were up 2%.
:07:35. > :07:43.US medical equipment supplier Becton Dickinson is to acquire a health
:07:44. > :07:46.care equipment manufacturer. The acquisition costs will be paid
:07:47. > :07:49.roughly half in cash and debt and the other half by issuing new
:07:50. > :07:57.shares. It comes two years after Becton Dickinson acquired another
:07:58. > :08:01.company for $12 billion. Some interesting news came out of China
:08:02. > :08:04.today. Nearly 30 steel firms that have had their production licences
:08:05. > :08:16.revoked for not meeting industry requirements. Robin Brant is in
:08:17. > :08:20.evidence of fresh consolidation evidence of fresh consolidation
:08:21. > :08:23.within China's mammoth steel industry, and also evidence of a
:08:24. > :08:26.further clamp-down by the further clamp-down by the
:08:27. > :08:30.authorities on those firms that refuse to comply with emergency
:08:31. > :08:34.measures when the pollution gets bad in the north of the country, where
:08:35. > :08:38.the steel industry is centred. Let me give you a few statistics that
:08:39. > :08:43.show you how big the steel industry is in China. China is trying to move
:08:44. > :08:47.60%, the majority of its production base, into the hands of ten much
:08:48. > :08:52.bigger companies. That was supposed to happen two years ago, but has
:08:53. > :08:55.been pushed back to 2025. Historically, the industry here has
:08:56. > :09:04.been about small-scale production companies. Around 300 of some 630
:09:05. > :09:08.firms have been closed in recent years, so that shows you how serious
:09:09. > :09:12.China is about consolidating the industry. It is trying to move 100
:09:13. > :09:16.million tonnes of production every year from what is currently churned
:09:17. > :09:21.out. This all comes amidst further evidence from the US that Donald
:09:22. > :09:24.Trump is concerned about steel dumping and anti-competitive
:09:25. > :09:28.measures. The president announced a new probe on Thursday. But the US
:09:29. > :09:36.and EU have concerns about China's mammoth steel industry.
:09:37. > :09:40.Thank you, Robin. Let's look at the markets. Investors are cheering the
:09:41. > :09:50.news that Emmanuel Macron came out ahead in the first round of France's
:09:51. > :09:59.presidential election. The euro is strengthening against the yen. That
:10:00. > :10:03.makes exports cheaper to foreign buyers. Let's show you the European
:10:04. > :10:08.markets. Really interesting, particularly in Paris. Investors are
:10:09. > :10:13.clearly pleased with the outcome of the French poll. The euro reached
:10:14. > :10:15.its highest level against the dollar for five months.
:10:16. > :10:19.sentiment can also be seen in the sentiment can also be seen in the
:10:20. > :10:22.bond market. The price of French bonds increased, suggesting that
:10:23. > :10:26.investors have an appetite for French government debt. That lowers
:10:27. > :10:30.the yield and has narrowed the gap between French bonds and German
:10:31. > :10:36.bonds. Here is Michelle Fleury. Earning season continues this week.
:10:37. > :10:43.Three companies will all be reporting. T mobile is the number
:10:44. > :10:46.three American wireless carrier. It managed to attract new customers and
:10:47. > :10:50.also managed to secure a book of broadcast airwaves in a government
:10:51. > :10:55.auction, making T mobile some stiff competition. Meanwhile, Halliburton
:10:56. > :11:00.is the world's number two oilfield services provider and while oil
:11:01. > :11:03.prices are picking up, the cost of reactivating Will Riggs and
:11:04. > :11:08.equipment is putting pressure on earnings. Finally, Star Wars and
:11:09. > :11:14.Disney Princess dolls gave Hasbro a big boost this time last year.
:11:15. > :11:21.Comparatively, though, it will be hard for the toymaker to meet and
:11:22. > :11:24.beat the numbers from a year ago. That was Michelle, giving us a heads
:11:25. > :11:30.up on what is ahead in the US. We have the head of multi-asset is at
:11:31. > :11:34.Royal London asset management with us. Trevor, are you with the share
:11:35. > :11:41.markets and the euro and cheering the outcome of Sunday's election in
:11:42. > :11:45.France? It is a positive outcome. One way to look at is that 40% of
:11:46. > :11:51.voters voted for somebody who was anti-euro, so that was a bullet
:11:52. > :11:54.missed the markets, because if France were seriously considering
:11:55. > :11:57.leaving the euro, there would be all sorts of financial stress. You might
:11:58. > :12:01.say Marine Le Pen is through to the second round and she is one of these
:12:02. > :12:07.people who also thinks the euro is not a good idea, but the polls have
:12:08. > :12:12.Mac run on 65% versus her 35%, and the polls were pretty accurate in
:12:13. > :12:18.the first round, so the markets are taking the good news early. People
:12:19. > :12:23.feel there is a more centrist candidate. So it is not just the
:12:24. > :12:29.equities market, it is the bonds and the euro reflecting that as well. It
:12:30. > :12:32.is. You saw those three areas of stress, which are resolved at the
:12:33. > :12:36.moment. There will be some nervousness in the next few weeks
:12:37. > :12:41.ahead of the next round, but most of the good news has been factored in
:12:42. > :12:44.early. This is probably the first of several summer stories. We are
:12:45. > :12:48.heading into the summer period, when the economic activity around the
:12:49. > :12:55.world tends to be quieter and the markets are more fragile. I think we
:12:56. > :13:01.will see a focus on China and the potential US shutdown is the next
:13:02. > :13:06.stories. Those stories are in the papers and cover will return for
:13:07. > :13:14.that later. More still to come. We were here from the co-founder of a
:13:15. > :13:17.company who had the inspiration for award-winning greeting cards while
:13:18. > :13:19.Dudley Laugher home with a newborn. You with Business Live from BBC
:13:20. > :13:32.News. The price of property
:13:33. > :13:35.in the UK continues to rise. Online housing portal Rightmove says
:13:36. > :13:40.that the prices of homes coming to the market is up
:13:41. > :13:43.1.1% on last month. of 2.2% is the lowest it's
:13:44. > :13:58.been for four years - Tell us more about what has been
:13:59. > :14:05.going on. What can we read from between the lines? It seems to be
:14:06. > :14:10.good news for property markets. Obviously, house prices have
:14:11. > :14:15.increased and are up 2% annually, the highest rises we have ever seen.
:14:16. > :14:18.But as you say, house prices are rising but at lower levels than we
:14:19. > :14:23.would expect at this time of year. So that is one way of looking at the
:14:24. > :14:29.health of the housing market. But what really matters is transaction
:14:30. > :14:32.levels. At Rightmove, we can see the point where houses are agreed as
:14:33. > :14:35.opposed to when transactions are being done, and we can see that
:14:36. > :14:38.sales are agreed at the highest level we have seen for over a
:14:39. > :14:45.decade, so it is good news for a healthy housing market. But still
:14:46. > :14:51.quite tough for those trying to get on the property ladder. Yes, and
:14:52. > :14:55.every month we look at the numbers and it has been difficult for
:14:56. > :14:59.first-time buyers for a long time. But prices have increased 6.5% in
:15:00. > :15:05.the first time buyer sector, which shows the first time buyers have
:15:06. > :15:09.been buying. We have also seen the impact of the 3% stamp duty for
:15:10. > :15:13.investors, which has pulled investors out of the property
:15:14. > :15:16.market. They typically by one-bedroom properties, the same as
:15:17. > :15:19.first-time buyers, so they are getting out of the way and the
:15:20. > :15:24.market has freed up space for first-time buyers, who are buying in
:15:25. > :15:29.such numbers that prices are starting to rise again.
:15:30. > :15:35.More detail about that on the Business Live page. A lot of other
:15:36. > :15:45.stories that we can't fit in this programme. We are always running out
:15:46. > :15:51.of time here. Goals in merger talks. It is in
:15:52. > :15:56.take-over talks with rival, Power League.
:15:57. > :16:09.You can read more about that on the live page.
:16:10. > :16:17.The final round of the French
:16:18. > :16:19.presidential election will be between the centrist politician,
:16:20. > :16:21.Emmanuel Macron, and the far-right National Front leader,
:16:22. > :16:25.That vote will take place in a fortnight.
:16:26. > :16:30.A quick look at how markets are faring.
:16:31. > :16:39.In France, it is up, up and away, up nearly 3.5%. Yes, that positive
:16:40. > :16:43.sentiment, investors going back into risk mode and also being seen in the
:16:44. > :16:49.strength of the euro against the dollar and the yen and also yields
:16:50. > :16:51.on French Government debt, French bonds coming down and narrowing the
:16:52. > :16:54.debt. Now let's get the inside track
:16:55. > :16:57.from a woman with quite Hanna Dale is a zoology graduate
:16:58. > :17:11.who became an investment banker. But her true calling lay elsewhere,
:17:12. > :17:14.on a crowded kitchen table she began drawing and painting,
:17:15. > :17:16.initially to have something to do Someone suggested she try her hand
:17:17. > :17:20.at greeting cards as her depictions The business now sells cards,
:17:21. > :17:23.stationery and gifts Hannah Dale is co-founder
:17:24. > :17:45.and creative director She has littered across the table
:17:46. > :17:50.her goods. We have got greeting cards, diaries and cushions, it is
:17:51. > :17:55.kind of more offing into all sorts of things, but I'm fascinated by
:17:56. > :17:58.studying zoology and becoming an investment banker and now running
:17:59. > :18:02.your own company. Talk us through that journey? Yes, I never really
:18:03. > :18:07.imagined that this is where it would end up, but in some strange way
:18:08. > :18:10.having painting animals and having the business background from work at
:18:11. > :18:14.the bank actually both have contributed to having a successful
:18:15. > :18:20.business. I think the card business really started out as something, a
:18:21. > :18:25.necessity really. I was in Lincolnshire. I had a young family.
:18:26. > :18:30.I was qualified as a stockbroker. This wasn't a lot of call for a
:18:31. > :18:37.stockbroker in Lincolnshire. I tried a few things. I was really
:18:38. > :18:45.struggling. You were what some people might call a mumprener. But
:18:46. > :18:48.it is something that many have done, career women who have had children,
:18:49. > :18:53.who can't see their way back into their previous job, starting a
:18:54. > :18:56.company? Absolutely, yes. For me it felt like the only option to have
:18:57. > :19:03.something that I could fit around the family that was also going to be
:19:04. > :19:10.challenging and exciting. I wonder if there are any other mumpreners
:19:11. > :19:14.out there, what's the one bit of advice you wish you had been given?
:19:15. > :19:20.Just really go for it is the best advice. It is a great time to start
:19:21. > :19:25.a business because although your hands are full, you have got a young
:19:26. > :19:28.baby and coping with that, it is a natural break from work so it is a
:19:29. > :19:31.good time to try a few different things and the nice thing about
:19:32. > :19:36.greeting cards, it didn't really require a lot of investment. So it
:19:37. > :19:39.was a fairly low risk thing for me to try and as it started to snowball
:19:40. > :19:43.and take off and the cards did well, we started to expand into different
:19:44. > :19:49.products and it really grew organically from there. It is it has
:19:50. > :19:53.grown organically, you have got 25 people working at your company. It
:19:54. > :19:58.is a sizeable business for greetings cards, but it is not on the scale of
:19:59. > :20:02.some companies out there. No. Talk us through your process and how you
:20:03. > :20:05.want to try and grow more organically and more successfully
:20:06. > :20:09.and then what are you going to do because you've got three children
:20:10. > :20:13.now, you arks tremly busy? The children are getting easier as
:20:14. > :20:18.they're going to school and giving me a bit more free time, but it has
:20:19. > :20:21.expanded because of the nature of designs lent themselves to our
:20:22. > :20:26.products, that's been a key part of our growth. So we moved into the
:20:27. > :20:33.stationary and moved in the diaries and through licensing, the designs
:20:34. > :20:37.appear on Royal Western mugs. They are sold in some pretty significant
:20:38. > :20:42.retail nears the UK which is key, isn't it? We supply 1500 independent
:20:43. > :20:47.stockists across the UK. That's our core market. Through the licence
:20:48. > :20:50.with Royal Worcester, their mugs are stocked at John Lewis and we export
:20:51. > :20:53.over the world. We launched in the US a couple of years ago and that's
:20:54. > :20:56.going really well. So, there are lots of avenues of growth really,
:20:57. > :21:01.but product development is really key and we've just moved into home
:21:02. > :21:06.furnishings doing a range of fabrics. This is a new scar of which
:21:07. > :21:10.is hot off the press. It is the first sample and that's launching
:21:11. > :21:14.later in the year. There are lots of plans for new product development.
:21:15. > :21:17.It started with your artistic designs. Are you still the person
:21:18. > :21:21.behind the designs we see on the mugs and the cards? Yes, I do all
:21:22. > :21:26.the artwork. Having the staff that we have got supporting on the
:21:27. > :21:29.administrative side and helping on all aspects of the business enables
:21:30. > :21:35.me to focus on the artwork and developing that and keeping it fresh
:21:36. > :21:44.and hopefully giving people, giving shops a newness and fresh designs
:21:45. > :21:48.and keeping the displays. I get the impression you are still loving it?
:21:49. > :21:53.I don't feel like I go to work. It is really brilliant. Hanna, thank
:21:54. > :21:56.you for coming in. We appreciate it. Thanks.
:21:57. > :21:58.Now, in this modern 24/7 work culture, work-life balance
:21:59. > :22:01.can be hard to manage, but for Harvey Bowden,
:22:02. > :22:03.Chief Executive of a leading UK water softener firm,
:22:04. > :22:07.putting family first has been central to his business ethos.
:22:08. > :22:10.Building a business takes an awful amount of energy and time, but don't
:22:11. > :22:35.I made a decision early on that the most important thing
:22:36. > :22:38.for me was the family, not just building a big business,
:22:39. > :22:49.but having a business that was big enough,
:22:50. > :22:52.but to spend time with the children as we were raising them,
:22:53. > :22:56.if you want to be a family man, you've got to spend the time to do
:22:57. > :22:59.it so I used to get my diary and write down all the school
:23:00. > :23:02.holidays and take the family down to Cornwall for 13 weeks a year
:23:03. > :23:05.which seems incredible, but I used to work like hell
:23:06. > :23:07.during the other 39 weeks to make up for it.
:23:08. > :23:09.Actually, get your diary and write in the school holidays
:23:10. > :23:12.Working is exciting. It's fun.
:23:13. > :23:14.It's interesting and it keeps you going, but so are children.
:23:15. > :23:17.If you spend as much energy with the children
:23:18. > :23:19.as you do with the business, you'll have a great time.
:23:20. > :23:36.Some more top tips for you on Business Live.
:23:37. > :23:48.We asked you what you'd like to see a price cap on? Percy says a price
:23:49. > :23:54.cap on tobacco and alcohol and Louise saying a price cap on rent
:23:55. > :23:58.and council tax. Ryan wants a price cap on cable channels and
:23:59. > :24:04.broadcasters what they charge. Oh, controversial, thanks, Ryan. Trevor,
:24:05. > :24:10.let's talk about the stories we were discussing earlier. Donald Trump and
:24:11. > :24:13.the prospect of a fiscal cliff going over the edge again the we remember
:24:14. > :24:17.it well from the Obama administration? We do. Every now and
:24:18. > :24:21.then you need to have official permission to increase Government
:24:22. > :24:27.debt beyond a certain point and there is a stand-off coming here, I
:24:28. > :24:29.hesitate to say a Mexican stand-off about the Mexican border wall.
:24:30. > :24:32.Donald Trump says the budget should include money for the wall. The
:24:33. > :24:36.Democrats don't want that and you can end up with a situation where
:24:37. > :24:39.the Government shuts down and they stop paying federal employees and
:24:40. > :24:44.this kind of thing does concern the markets because some of that
:24:45. > :24:50.spending is on infrastructure and wages which help the economy. A risk
:24:51. > :24:54.there for Friday, but again, one of these classic Donald Trump
:24:55. > :25:03.stand-offs. The way to avoid these cliffs is doing a compromise. It is
:25:04. > :25:09.which side is prepared to budge? Donald Trump hasn't shown a lot of
:25:10. > :25:13.compromise. Uber's boss is in the press again. This is in the New York
:25:14. > :25:16.Times. The viewers would have to read this one to appreciate it. But
:25:17. > :25:22.it talks about the fact that he's playing with fire? He is a big risk
:25:23. > :25:28.taker. He always pushes regulatory and legal boundaries to try and get
:25:29. > :25:34.Uber into new areas. The strength of the CEO is heing willing to run
:25:35. > :25:37.through walls to get things done and his negative is, he is willing to
:25:38. > :25:43.run through walls to get things done. Uber is doing well, but they
:25:44. > :25:46.might push things too far and then things come back again. To find
:25:47. > :25:51.where the line is, sometimes you have to cross it and row back a bit.
:25:52. > :25:55.Without that spirit perhaps these companies wouldn't thrive as they
:25:56. > :26:01.would. The best advice is always be nice to everyone. Awh, bless you.
:26:02. > :26:02.Trevor, you can come back! That's the thought of the day. Have
:26:03. > :26:11.a good day. See you soon. Hello. All parts of the British
:26:12. > :26:12.Isles are set