FTSE 100 slumped in early trading as a merry Christmas seemed a long way away after the warnings about Omicron over the weekend. The blue chip index tumbled 164 points or 2.3% to 7,105.
Boris Johnson is considering more Covid restriction ahead of Christmas including possible limits on people mixing at home, according to reports today. Health minister Sajid Javid also refused to rule out a short lockdown after the holiday break.
GlaxoSmithKline has appointed Tesco’s former chief Sir Dave Lewis to be chair of its consumer healthcare arm ahead of its separation from its pharma arm. Lewis will spearhead the demerger next year.
Amazon has partnered with Barclays to begin offering the option to ‘buy now, pay later’ in the UK. Customers will be able to spread purchases by instalments up to four years after the initial purchase was made.
Supermarket Income REIT PLC (LSE:SUPR) has announced the acquisition of a Tesco supermarket in Sheffield. The deal is worth £73.2mln and represents a net yield of 4.5%.
Directa Plus has been granted an EU wide patent covering the use of its graphene-based technology in rubber-based shoe soles. The Italian group now has 72 patents in place.
Keyword Studios was up 6% following an upbeat trading report. The board now expects full year revenue for 2021 to be at least €505mln and adjusted profit before tax in excess of €85mln, both ahead of current analysts' consensus forecasts..