this is business live from bbc news with ben thompson and sally bundock. the heir to samsung, the world's biggest smartphone maker, jay y lee walks free as south korea court suspends his jail term for corruption. live from london, that's our top story on monday 5th february. jay y lee, is vice chairman of samsung but was convicted in a sprawling corruption scandal that also brought down the former south korean president. we will explain all you need to know. also in the programme... the world's biggest airline, ryanair, sees profits take off but do consumers face the prospect of higher fares for their summer getaway? and markets in europe opening like this, following the lead set by wall street on friday.

and we'll be getting the inside track on marketing the world—famous kew gardens. its commercial boss tells us how the gardens funds one of the largest plant collections in the world. today we want to know about your travel trials as ryanair profits take—off, are you fretting about the prospect of disrupted flights over the summer hols? let us know, just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. the heir to samsung, the world's biggest smartphone maker, walks free as south korea court suspends his jail term for corruption. the appeals court upheld jay y lee's bribery conviction but cut his prison sentence to a suspended term, ordering his immediate release. lee, the vice chairman of samsung electronics, saw his sentence for charges including bribery and embezzlement, suspended so he does

not have to serve time. lee was convicted in connection with the sprawling corruption scandal that brought down former south korean president too. why is it so significant and that action, which few people expect it? in the last few minutes we have received a statement from the lawyers of jay y lee. the lead attorney has said to the bbc we respect the core‘s decision in finding the defendant not guilty on the key indictments and we will do our best to clear the charges. as i was saying to you earlier, jay y lee has appealed this all the way and it has appealed this all the way and it has gone all the way to the supreme

court. he insists he is not guilty. to your point earlier as to how significant this is, it is massively significant. up until today, the idea jay y lee would be able to walk out, effectively freed from detention, where he has been for the last year was the least likely outcome in terms of legal options we we re outcome in terms of legal options we were expecting to see during the court case. now, we have to make it very clear, he was still found guilty of bribery, but crucially the differences it is alleged he made bribes to get further control of samsung and the courts couldn't find that to be true. they ruled they couldn't find explicit evidence to show that was the case. already you are seeing some impact on the share price. we have seen samsung shares going upa price. we have seen samsung shares going up a bit. the fact he has been in detention for the last year, the long—term strategy was still a big

factor in the fact that he had been behind bars for so long. briefly, it is so interesting is the timing of this, the spotlight being thrown on these huge organisations in your pa rt these huge organisations in your part of the world, there has been a lot of pressure in trying to reform them and make them more transparent, where does this leave that process? it raises so many questions over the reform process. these massive family run conglomerates, they are the pillars of south korea's economy and be helped build the korean economy. but they wield massive influence and are influential in the political spheres. when the current president was voted and he came in on the back of these are election campaign promises he was going to clean them up. this particular case was being seen as up. this particular case was being seen as a up. this particular case was being seen as a litmus test for corporate career. many koreans hoping for some

change may see this decision as business as usual. interesting stuff, but for now, thank you very much. the world's biggest airline by passenger numbers, ryanair, has report its latest set of financial results. the company posted profits of $132 million in the last three months of 2017, that's a 12% increase on this time last year. european airlines are still grappling with overcapacity in the market, but the bankruptcies of monarch, air berlin and alitalia, have already helped ryanair to post a 6% rise in passengers numbers in january. tilmann gabriel, associate professor of aviation management 93: 2"; 2"; 2:— 37“; to see you f“? to see you again. t“ to see you again- g results, better than interesting results, better than expected, ryanair still doing interesting results, better than expected, rya nair still doing well and growing, but michael o'leary,

the boss, warning about a difficult summer? the easter vacation, he has many european bases and therefore many european bases and therefore many european bases and therefore many european airlines and each country has a pilot union. he's based in ireland and he has brexit asa based in ireland and he has brexit as a big problem with the uk being his main market. he doesn't have an aircraft operating certificate in the uk. these all threats to come. what about the issue of having to agree last month to work with the british airways pilots association with regards to ryanair pilot in terms of discussions about pay and holiday and all that type of thing? he is saying today, some of the demands from the unions at the moment are laughable and he would rather deal with strike action than give in to the unions. it sounds like he has got fighting talk? he

might follow the example of luftha nsa might follow the example of lufthansa over the last two years, they lost 100 million. they were due to strikes. these are things he has to strikes. these are things he has to ta ke to strikes. these are things he has to take seriously to emotional lies the discussion with laughable terms, is not advisable. we have a very strong support by brussels and labour laws for good social conditions for the pilots. remember, we have a shortfall of pilots. he has, at the moment, the issue, monarch, air berlin and alitalia had problems all went down. so pilots are there, but for the long term with his growth, you will have two be very conscious of the pilot issue and get agreements going that will help him. we have also seen in this statement this morning they are not optimistic about average fares for

short—haulflights optimistic about average fares for short—haul flights over the summer. potentially we could see fare rises, we know there is pressure on airlines at the moment but what specifically for ryanair is pushing up specifically for ryanair is pushing up that price? the pressure at the moment, few are going up slightly but significantly, 30% is made up of fuel. labour costs, 45 million this year as claimed by michael 0la you. he says 100 million next year. —— michael 0'leary. he has an based —— embrace the problem is that he has a good rapport with his palace. his new ceo will help that and good luck, i can say. we will watch this space. thank you very much indeed. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the uk's civil aviation authority

is set to launch a review into airlines' seating policies. the investigation will examine whether companies are deliberately splitting up groups of passengers to encourage them to pay to sit together. the caa said it wanted to make sure seat allocation practices were "fair and tra nsparent". britain's lloyds banking group has banned its customers from buying bitcoin on their credit cards, following a sharp fall in the value of the digital currency. the ban, starting on monday, applies to lloyds bank, bank of scotland, halifax and mbna customers. shares in asia winning back some of the losses sparked by a sell off on wall street. actually ended the session higher. also got a boost from a private survey showing china's services sector got off to a strong start in 2018, expanding at its fastest pace in almost six years. it was interesting showing the

service data, china expanding at its fastest pace. eruopean markets opening lower though following that lead set on friday by wall street. expectations of a rate rise in the us, earlier than many had been expecting. investors have assumed that there could be another two, or maybe three rate rises this year. friday's jobs data adds the option of a fourth. we'll discuss what that could mean in a moment, but first yogita has the details about what's ahead on wall street today. there's another budget deadline looming, this week. a situation that seems all too familiar now. the us congress must agree on a spending bill by thursday, to avoid one more government shut down. and, so, we're going to be seeing some hectic negotiations take place between democrats and republicans. the new chair of the federal reserve, jerome powell,

takes over, today. wall street will be watching that. but traders will also be looking very closely at corporate america, because it's yet another big earnings week. on tuesday, we'll see general motors releasing results and social media company twitter as well, which is expected to post a profit for the first time ever. later in the week, tesla, disney and viacom will all be reporting earnings. joining us is simon derrick, chief markets strategist, bank of new york mellon. good morning. pretty busy, lots of earnings stories. jerome powell into day and brexit stuff here dominating in the uk and brussels as ever, but it isa in the uk and brussels as ever, but it is a big week for brexit? when you look at this week, there are so many interaction, whether it is the

bank of england, the brexit discussions or the new chairman of the federal reserve, but the backdrop is we have markets that are starting to take a little bit of a fright about the rise in interest rates taking place in the us. this isa rates taking place in the us. this is a story that has been building since the start of the year and the jobs data and this concern about inflationary pressures in the us is starting to spook the markets. can we get a recovery from here and stabilise, or will we have another rotten february. february is always the worst month for the markets. history tells us. a quick word on rate rises. will we get a next one for the well‘s largest economy and that changes the dynamics because what happens in america affects the rest of us, whether we like it or

not? there is the discussion of three, but also whether it will move to four rate rises the share. that will make pretty money on deposits, us government debt more attractive to equity markets. it is a tough call when markets are already so high and some people would say overvalued. february could be telling. simon will be back soon. we have other stories to discuss with him. also... still to come: growing revenue. we meet the woman who keeps the money coming in to fund research at the royal botanic gardens at kew. you're with business live from bbc news. downing street has insisted britain will leave the customs union after brexit, amid claims of tory disunity over the uk—eu future relationship joining us now is our business correspondent, jonty bloom.

tell us more... since theresa may said last year we we re since theresa may said last year we were leaving the customs union, why is this significant now? two reasons, this week there will be meetings of the cabinet committee, which is in charge of deciding what the uk's policy on brexit should be, what the end result is likely to be. that was still up in the air. there was internal battles going on in the conservative party last week with the hard—line conservative party last week with the ha rd—line brexiteers conservative party last week with the hard—line brexiteers insisting they wanted to be outside the customs union. number ten was forced to say that has been our plan all along. nothing has changed, there is nothing to see here. those internal battles in the conservative party forced those comments from number ten. in the meantime, theresa may's meeting with michel barnier today in london is quite important. remind us

what this statement comment come out of downing street means? the uk has determined it will leave the single market, the whole of the eu market, the free movement of goods, people and capital. we have also confirmed we will leave the customs union, the series of external tariffs on agricultural products and goods that arrive in the eu and faces a common external tariff. we will have our own tariffs, we will be able to set our own free trade agreement. but it does leave open quite a few large issues, how will we manage the border between the eu and the uk in ireland? border between the eu and the uk in ireland ? that border between the eu and the uk in ireland? that is currently virtually nonexistent, you would be lucky if you could spot it. and how we will deal with goods that are right in the uk that are shipped on to the eu, things that are made in the uk and shipped to the eu, what happens to them at the border? thanks. let's show you what is online. tesco

has got a new boss. tesco is merging with the wholesaler group, booker and we are told that its boss, charles wilson, will become the new chief executive of tesco in the uk. the group executive remains dave lewis, he will be tesco group ceo as he was before. you're watching business live, our top story: the heir to samsung, the world's biggest smartphone maker, jay y. lee walks free as south korea court suspends his jail term for corruption. a quick look at how markets are faring. not a great start to trading if you don't like to see losses. this is the story in europe. heavy losses in asia earlier today. it might feel like it's been a long cold winter, but spring

is just around the corner. certainly if you live in the northern hemisphere. and so it's a busy time for our next guest — from the world famous kew gardens. it's home to one of the largest and most diverse plant collections in the world. kew is also a research centre, which requires a lot funding. the uk government's environment department, defra, provides around 45% of kew‘s income. the rest needs to be self—generated. the gardens' depends heavily on the generosity of donors — from private philanthropy, the corporate sector and the public. visitors are essential, too. with us is sandra botterell, director of marketing & commercial enterprise at kew gardens. nice to see you. good morning. we talked about some of the funding and we had a chat and you get even less money from the government? it's about one third at the moment, that means we have to generate two thirds

of our revenue ourselves. explain for people who don't know how it works where you get the majority. as you mentioned, a lot of it is philanthropy and different types of philanthropy, we have a successful friends scheme, membership scheme. corporate philanthropy and individual giving. but we have lots of different ways that we raise commercial revenue and that is really important. it is increasingly important as our public funding goes down. funding is key. this is a 200—year—old site, it is pretty huge. it's not just 200—year—old site, it is pretty huge. it's notjust the fact 200—year—old site, it is pretty huge. it's not just the fact that it is beautiful gardens, you've got a lot of scientists there as well who do very important work. and it is a unesco world heritage site, which puts shackles on your bit as to what you can and can't do. that is right, it isa you can and can't do. that is right, it is a world heritage site, which is beautiful. lots of old infrastructure and beautiful heritage buildings which we have to maintain. we have a large capital

investment programme at the moment to do that. in terms of commercial revenue, you are right. we have as many scientists as we have horticulturalists. people don't realise that is what the botanic pa rt realise that is what the botanic part of our name means, we either working garden and they are working to maintain those living and dry collections. they do important scientific work. it costs about $30 to get in, about £20. when people look at that, they might think it's quite expensive. but we were just talking about the cost of maintaining an site. people no kew for those huge greenhouses and you are renovating one of those and that is pretty expensive. the temperate house, the world's largest surviving victorian glasshouse, we spent £40 million restoring that. that is going to open again in may. we have pictures of the houses, those are the things that some iconic and it allows you to have all of these

amazing plants right there inside london, plants that are only grown in other parts of the world more traditionally. that is right, they are the living collections, that is what the public will see. behind the scenes, we had huge reserves dry collections. what do you do, in terms of events? and attractions that will bring tourists in? you have got to keep yourself relevant, compared to all the other things on offer in london. we do an awful lot, we have a whole programme of activities and events across the year. not everybody thinks that a visit to kew would be for them but actually, there are activities for everybody, whatever you're interested in, whatever your age group. we have the 0rchid festival coming up in february. as you said earlier, february is a bit gloomy. it's a real highlight in the year, exotic orchids. and then easter, we have a family festival. we opened the temperate house in may, we have

a series of activities around the temperate house. and we have christmas at kew, that is fantastic illuminated trail. you have to be careful with knowing who you are. a lot of people makes you up with the chelsea flower show. the rhs. yes. i suppose we have royal in our name. we are different because we are a botanic garden, a working garden with those crucial collections and the scientific work that goes on behind the scenes. it really helps further our understanding of why pla nts further our understanding of why plants matter to our lives in a whole range of ways. lovely to see you, thank you for coming in. we could talk much more but time is against us. thank you. now, we know the battle for driverless cars is hotting up — and in silicon valley a court case between two huge names in the business could have big implications for the future of the sector. 0ur north america technology reporter dave lee explains what's at stake. waymo is the self driving car company spun out of google. they're suing uber, claiming that company

stole their trade secrets and used them to help them build a self—driving car. uber denies this. it all centres around a man called anthony levandowski. he used to work for google but then he left, taking with him, it's alleged, 14,000 confidential documents relating to the design of lider, that's the technology that allows self—driving cars to see where they're coming. where they're going. he then set up his own company that was later acquired by uber. waymo says this is all a front for simply stealing google's technology. but uber‘s defence is this: so what if the documents were stolen? that doesn't mean that they were used. and that is what waymo has to prove. simon is back with us. february is gloomy but there's another story. it's the best i can do for you on a

monday morning. the us government deficit, the amount of money they borrow every year is going up. the talk is that it's going to double and they may end up borrowing close to $1 trillion. that's an astonishing amount. of course, people are wondering quite what's going to happen when we talk about the infrastructure spending. going to happen when we talk about the infrastructure spendingm going to happen when we talk about the infrastructure spending. is this to fund that infrastructure? 0r the infrastructure spending. is this to fund that infrastructure? or is it to fund pre—existing commitments? pre—existing commitments. we haven't talked about where the money will come from to fund the infrastructure stuff. the reason it is going up is because of the tax cuts. for the moment, there is no evidence that there's going to be funding from growth. people will forecast this sharp rise. they were talking about a2 sharp rise. they were talking about a 2 trillion deficit. why should we care? because if we talk about the us command borrowing more money, there will be people out there saying, if they borrow this much,

that raises questions about creditworthiness. maybe we need to charge a higher rate. interest rates go up. when we already worry about inflation, you're pushing rates higher and higher, that makes it far more concerning for equity markets because people will think i can get a better rate simply putting my money on deposit. or bitcoin? did i say that? no! wall streetjournal, apple music on track to take over spotify in us subscribers. there has been a real race between the two but it seems that apple has the edge. you can understand that, apple has the operating system and the hardware. the whole world of music has gone round in almost a full circle. nowadays, we got rid of cds, we got rid of downloads to a large degree, we have spotify and apple music, the world's best radio and people buy vinyl, like the 70s. do

you stream music? no, i have vinyl. iam you stream music? no, i have vinyl. i am that old—fashioned. you stream music? no, i have vinyl. i am that old-fashioned. you can't do that in your car. you just need to keep your hand on it and it's fine. drive really slowly! when you get your driverless car you can ship your vinyl around. what about you? streaming. i have kept certain key cds, growing up. but the rest will be... you have the option of whatever mood you are in, you search for it, there it is. i have been given instructions to clear the loft of all cds. before you go, this week, your seat belts fastened? 0r are you calm going into a new week? this will prove to be bumpy but i don't think it's going to be the big, big correction. good. there you go, ending on a bright note. even though it is february five. that's it from business live today. have a great day. goodbye. definite wintry feel to weather as

we move this week. cold temperatures, frosty night and even some snow. some of us woke up to a dusting this morning, this photo from a weather watcher in east sussex and simile wintry scenes sent in from rochester. sunny spells and wintry showers, largely in the east and south—east of england, heaviest this morning and there could be some patches of ice. they should ease as we move through the day and away from those wintry showers, dry and brighter weather. that spells of sunshine developing but it won't feel warm. particularly in the south—east with a north—easterly wind, which will ta ke a north—easterly wind, which will take the edge of temperatures although it will ease through the day. temperatures largely in the mid single figures. this evening and overnight, the wind will pick up in

the north—west is ahead on this band of cloud, rain, sleet and snow that will edge its way south—east overnight. it will bring snow for northern ireland, scotland, northern england and wales. ahead of it, widespread frost but mostly dry with one or two patches of freezing fog. behind it, wintry showers feeding to the north west. a cold night across the north west. a cold night across the board these are the towns and cities temperatures, but it will be called in rural areas. some of us working up to snow on the ground, patches of ice, the band of snow and sleet will edge its way south and east and it will die out. behind it, brighter conditions feeding in wintry showers, the odd rumble of thunder not out of the question. far south—east holding onto dry conditions for longer. another very cold day with temperatures in low single figures. that snow could reinvigorate for a time in east anglia through tomorrow evening. but the weather front should largely have cleared the south—east as we move into wednesday. it will be largely dry but the next weather front already beginning to move into

the north—west. wednesday and thursday, there will be some rain and snow at times. but across the board, the temperatures staying cold. feeling wintry as we move through wednesday and thursday with cold temperatures. similar to what we will see through this week. staying cold, there will be some frosty nights. and some snow at times. hello, it's monday, it's 9:00am, i'm chloe tilley in for victoria derbyshire, welcome to the programme. our top story today... number ten has insisted that the uk will leave the customs union when it leaves the eu — but what happens next is still up for negotiation. theresa may seeks to reassure tory brexiteers there will be no sell—out as she quashes the id with any sort of customs union with the european union. as the row continues to highlight divisions within the conservative party, we'll get reaction from a group of tory voters.

do they have confidence in theresa may's leadership? my my name is harry and i believe theresa may is doing a good job, doing what is necessary to get us a good deal. my name is grace and i