Croda acquires Solus Biotech, Vesuvius hit with cyber attack

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 25.5 points lower ahead of the bell on Monday after wrapping up the previous session 1.04% firmer at 7,901.80.

Stocks to watch

Chemicals company Croda has agreed to acquire biomaterials firm Solus Biotech for KRW 350.0bn (£232.0m) one a cash and debt-free basis.

Croda said on Monday that the acquisition provides it with access to Solus' existing biotech-derived ceramide and phospholipid technologies, and will "significantly strengthen" its beauty actives portfolio and increase its exposure to targeted prestige segments.

Molten metal flow engineering and technology firm Vesuvius said on Monday that it had been hit by a cyber attack involving "unauthorised access" to its systems.

"Immediately upon becoming aware of unauthorised activity on our networks, we have taken the necessary steps to investigate and respond to the incident, including shutting down affected systems," said Vesuvius.

Newspaper round-up

Return tickets will be scrapped and new digital ticketing introduced under reforms of the British rail system expected to be announced this week. The two-way tickets, which offer a discounted rate, will be replaced by "single-leg pricing" which will mean that the price of two singles will be the same as the current return fare, according to the Telegraph. The idea was trialled by London North East Railway in 2020. – Guardian

The City watchdog is considering easing rules in an attempt to win the $40.0bn (£34.0bn) listing of Cambridge-based technology firm Arm Holdings, it has been reported. Officials are said to be locked in talks in a last-ditch attempt to persuade the semiconductor chip-maker's Japanese owner SoftBank to consider a dual listing on the London Stock Exchange alongside New York's Nasdaq technology market, according to the Sunday Times. – Guardian

Amazon is aiming to shed empty warehouses across Britain as it slams the brakes on growth plans after falling to its worst annual loss on record. Amazon is understood to have kicked off work to sublet unused big-box sites in Britain, following years of swooping for more warehouse space across the country. It is estimated to have opened hundreds of warehouses globally during the pandemic, in a bid to make the most of the boom in online spending. – Telegraph

Working from home is fuelling a fraud epidemic, with a growing number of staff falling victim to scams related to their employers. Research by accountants BDO found almost nine in 10 of mid-sized businesses it surveyed had become victims of fraud in 2022, with average losses totalling £219,000 per firm. More than one-quarter of these firms also fell victim to fraud at least twice. – Telegraph

The UK is losing out on investment from AstraZeneca to more competitive countries, the head of one of the country's biggest and most valuable companies has warned. Tom Keith-Roach told The Times that AstraZeneca has not made new research and development capital investments in Britain since 2021 and its wider R&D spending in the country could also now be at risk due to the uncompetitive fiscal environment. – The Times

US close

Stocks closed lower on Friday as traders digested some key labour data.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.38% weaker at 33,926.01, while the S&P 500 slipped 1.04% to 4,136.48 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.59% softer at 12,006.95.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com