AG Barr profit rises but revenue slips; Astra's Tagrisso approved in Japan

London’s FTSE 100 is seen starting six points higher than Friday’s close at 6,113.

Stocks to watch

Full year statutory pre-tax profits at soft drinks maker AG Barr rose 7% to £41.3m on net revenues of £258.6m, slightly down from £260.9m a year ago.

Chief executive Roger White said: "We have delivered a creditable financial performance in difficult market conditions over the past 12 months through continued tight cost control, rigorous cash management, executional improvement and further investment in our brands, assets and people.”

“Market conditions in the core UK soft drinks market are not expected to substantially change as we look forward. Top-line growth remains under pressure and changes in consumer preferences offer challenges and opportunities in equal measure.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare delivered good news to AstraZeneca on Tuesday morning, approving the FTSE 100 drug company's Tagrisso (osimertinib) tablets for the treatment of patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M mutation-positive inoperable or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is resistant to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.

"We continue to move at an unprecedented pace with osimertinib, with the full approval in Japan following closely the recent US and EU approvals. As first-in-class lung cancer treatment directed at the T790M mutation, we are delighted that this targeted medicine is now available to patients in Japan to address the existing unmet medical need," said Sean Bohen, executive vice president, global medicines development.

In the press

The FBI has abandoned its attempt to force Apple to help it break into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, after it found another way to access the device’s contents without the company’s help. The move ends a high-stakes stand-off between the iPhone maker and the US government but leaves unresolved the wider issue of how far tech companies should be required to modify their products to aid law enforcement. In their respective statements, the Department of Justice left open the door to future legal clashes with Silicon Valley over encryption and data security, while Apple said it would continue to strengthen the protections built into its devices. – Financial Times

Anbang has fired a new shot in the fiercest bidding war dealmakers have seen in recent years, after the Chinese insurer raised its bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts to $14bn in its latest effort to trump a rival offer from Marriott International. Starwood said on Monday that it was in talks with Anbang after the acquisitive Chinese insurer sweetened its all-cash offer to $82.75 per share, a non-binding proposal the US hotel operator said it was likely to consider superior to Marriott’s offer. – Financial Times

Savers have withdrawn almost £6bn from their retirement funds after the introduction of pension reforms last year. New industry figures show that just over 213,000 cash lump sum payments totalling £3bn were made to over-55s since the changes were implemented on 6 April. On top of that, pension firms paid out £2.9bn in the form of regular sums to provide an income, said the Association of British Insurers. – Guardian

A multimillion-pound Revenue & Customs publicity campaign to stamp out tax evasion and avoidance used an advertising agency ultimately controlled in an offshore haven. HMRC spent more than £6 million on the campaigns, including £300,000 specifically on offshore evasion. – The Times

US close

US stocks ended little changed on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.1%, the S&P 500 up 0.05% and the Nasdaq down 0.1%.

Energy shares were among the worst performers, as oil prices fell below $40 a barrel.