London's FTSE 100 opened in the green, gaining 29 points to 7,512 on the back of talk of renewed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly told Russia the country is ready to declare neutrality rather than apply to join NATO.
The four shortlisted contenders to buy Chelsea have been given a deadline of 11 April to submit new and improved bids. The quartet were told to commit over £1bn to future investment if they wish to succeed oligarch Roman Abramovich as the club’s new owner.
Bosses of ferry companies DFDS and Stena Lines, which are P&O Ferries’ rivals, will meet government officials on Monday. Meanwhile, Secretary of Transport Grant Shapps insists P&O rehire the 800 workers it unlawfully sacked without any notice.
NatWest is no longer a UK government subsidiary following the bank’s latest share buyback. The lender has been in government majority ownership since the financial crash of 2008/09, when the Royal Bank of Scotland needed successive bail-outs worth £46bn in total to avoid failure.
Ted Baker confirmed it has received two unsolicited non-binding proposals from private equity firm Sycamore Partners over a possible cash offer for the company. Both offers were rejected as they significantly undervalued the business, said the fashion retailer.
Alien Metals said drilling has started at its high-grade silver and copper-gold projects in Zacatecas, Mexico following delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drilling will target the mineralised vein systems previously exploited for their high-grade silver, where grades above 1,000 g/t were historically reported.
Nuformix’s patent application for key asset NXP004 has progressed to the publication phase. It was able to reveal that NXP004 is a novel, or new formulation of Olaparib, for the treatment of treat ovarian, breast and pancreatic cancers.