i'm rachel horne.e months of 2016, according to officialfigures. more on this in a moment. troubled royal bank of scotland has reported its first quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2015. shares in the bank opened up almost 4% after it posted profits of £259 million in the first three months of 2017, compared with a £968 million loss a year earlier. profits surged at four us tech giants in the first three months of the year. google parent alphabet increased 28% year—on—year to to £4.2 billion boosted by advertising on mobile phones and the popular youtube video service. amazon profits climbed more than 40% £560.8 million. it was its eighth quarter in a row of profit. while microsoft also had a strong quarter, with profits up nearly 28%. the uk economy grew byjust 0.3% at the start of the year, the slowest growth rate since the first three months of 2016. the office for national statistics said that the slower pace in the january—to—march period was due mainly to the service sector, which also g

rachel horne across the us dollar today, since last december. on the currency markets. we heard an announcement was coming, and sterling fell. once it was confirmed that it was about a snap general election, it recovered significantly, at levels not seen since back in october. lots of traders are saying this is a game changerfor sterling. traders are saying this is a game changer for sterling. the ftse traders are saying this is a game changerfor sterling. the ftse is down more than 2% come but there are a lot of factors at play there. lots of the global markets have been closed over the long easter weekend, so closed over the long easter weekend, soa closed over the long easter weekend, so a lot of catching up to do, things that happen over the weekend — lowball geopolitical tensions, the french presidential elections, and commodity prices were down, pulling the ftse down before we even knew this announcement was coming. when it came through and sterling then rose, that pull down the ftse again, because lots of those companies are global compan

this is business live from bbc news with rachel horne and aaron helehurst. focus on female economic empowerment. leading women from the world of business and politics gather in berlin. live from london, that's our top story on tuesday april 25th. the event is known as w20 and will feature the likes of german leader angela merkel and the boss of the imf christine lagarde. and ivanka trump. we'll be live in berlin to find out what they hope to achieve. also in the programme. it's being reported that french prosecutors are investigating the maker of peugeot and citroen cars over suspected diesel emissions test—cheating. a strong open was pencilled for the european markets, continuing the rally sparked by the presidential elections, they have delivered but are they overconfident? we will discuss the matter. making sure you hire heroes, not zeroes. we'll meet the man who says tech is the best way to vet new recruits. asa as a whistle—blowing engineer wins $1 million for reporting a cruise ship for dumping waste, we want to know, would the chance of the big payoff

this is business live from bbc news with aaron heslehurst and rachel horne. high security in france after the gun attack in paris that left one policeman dead and two more seriously wounded. it's a tense time for a nation on the brink of an election. live from london, that's our top story. yes — it's a historic moment for france as voters go to the polls on sunday for its closest election in living memory and one that'll have consequences far beyond its own borders, posing major risks for the european project. also in the programme, we're going to find out why america thinks cheap steel from asia is a threat to national security. and we will bring to the latest market action as investors wrap up another trading week. and we'll be getting the inside track on global economic challenges and the threat of protectionism — words of warning from the imf‘s boss christine lagarde. all this and more with our economics correspondent andrew walker. and do you shop on the internet? online shoppers in the uk spend more per household than consumers in any other country. we

here's rachel horne from bbc business to explain what's happened.ts, the french elections, and now this added into the mix. because sterling rose, that brings the ftse down as well, because lots of companies bank their profits in dollars or euros, because they are global companies, so any rise in the strength of sterling brings down the values of those profits. that has also been pulling the ftse down ever so also been pulling the ftse down ever so slightly. overall, traders are saying that apart from that initial knee—jerk reaction in stirling, reaction in the market is fairly muted, they do not expect a big reaction until the results of the election come through, unless polestar to show that the conservatives won't win a majority. i'm going to begin the next segment with a video that has been shared thousands of times, you may well have seen it. this isjon kay in bristol breaking the news of the new election to a woman called brenda. you're joking, not another one?! oh, for god's sake, i can't honestly... i can't stand this. there's too much polit

this is business live from bbc news with aaron heslehurst and rachel horne. he's promising a big announcement on taxes today. but can president trump really make good on his ambitious pledges on tax reforms? live from london, that's our top story on wednesday, 26th april. mr trump has promised a "phenomenal" tax plan. he'll unveil the details in just a few hours time. also in the programme, paying the price for regional tensions. the south korean carmaker hyundai sees profits plunge as sales in china take a dive. and as always we'll take you through the markets, but right now, investors focused on just two things — trump's tax cuts and those french elections. riding the wave of the foodie revolution. celebrity chef mark hix will be with us to talk, food, fads and investment. today, we want to know is cash your king? a survey says a third of us would rather pay digitally, do you still carry cash or is contactless the future? let us know. just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. cash, rachel. always carry that with you. i shouldn't say that. i don't have any cash on me

i‘m rachel horne.rted a fall in full—year pre—tax profit after it was fined for overstating its profits in 2014. the supermarket giant says a charge of £235m and other costs associated with closing stores and paying redundancy pushed profits down. however uk like—for—like sales were up almost 1%, their first reported growth since 2009/10. unemployment in the uk remained unchanged at 4.7 per cent in the last three months. but rising inflation is wiping out any growth in wages. inflation statistics released yesterday showed inflation was running at 2.3 per cent, just above the bank of england‘s 2 per cent target. now, let‘s turn to some corporate news. the head of communications for uber has become the latest executive to leave the embattled ride—sharing firm. chief executive travis kalanick confirmed rachel whetstone‘s departure in an all—staff email on tuesday. no reason has been given for her resignation, though it follows months of turbulence at uber. ms whetstone joined the company from google in 20

i'm rachel horne. in the business news...m financial shocks. the bank raised about 6 billion francs from shareholders back in 2015 and is in the middle of cutting 5,500 jobs. fast—food chain mcdonald's is to allow its uk staff a choice of working fixed hours or having zero—hours contracts. it has been trialled in 23 outlets, where only one in five staff opted for fixed hours. meanwhile, mcdonald's announced better—than—expected profits, helped by cost cuts, big match promotions and the all—day breakfast. and it's another difficult news day for united airlines. following huge reputational damage after a passenger was forcibly removed from a flight last month, they are now investigating the death of a giant rabbit — like this one — who was flying from heathrow to chicago's o'hare airport. the 90cm—long bunny was found dead in the cargo hold. united said it was "saddened" by the rabbit's death. when it comes to the high—street lenders, we are used to hearing about profits in the billions. well, metro bank hasjust reported underl

this is business live from bbc news with aaron heslehurst and rachel horne.

we have already heard from rachel this morning that she is on the horns of a moral dilemma.d went for some. the weather 5i5ter streaming in from the atlantic. it has already brought rain to parts of atlantic. it has already brought rain to pa rt5 of western atlantic. it has already brought rain to parts of western scotland and northern ireland. they belong before it flexes way across the iri5h before it flexes way across the irish sea and brings the threat of rain into the heart of the british isles and i 5tre55 rain into the heart of the british isles and i stress that quite strongly because the northern parts of scotland, you have a mixture of sunny 5pells, showers of scotland, you have a mixture of sunny spells, showers and chilly conditions. if you are underneath the blanket of cloud and the rain, i'm afraid the temperatures will disappoint here through the day as well. seven, eight, nine, ten, something of that order. the rain went like that in the south where it is probably needed by many. the south—west of england, you just cloud up. they won't be a drop of rain were