BP FY profits double to record high, Morgan Advanced Materials still managing with 'consequences' of cyber attack

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was called to open 11.1 points higher ahead of the bell on Tuesday after closing 0.82% lower on Monday at 7,836.71.

Stocks to watch

Manufacturing company Morgan Advanced Materials said on Tuesday that it was still "managing the consequences" of a cyber security incident after having detected unauthorised activity on its network back in January.

The FTSE 250-listed group said a "small number of systems" had proven "irrecoverable" and said it was also accelerating the implementation of a new cloud-based enterprise resource planning solution at the affected sites. Exceptional costs associated with the incident were said to potentially amount to approximately £8.0m-12.0m, comprising specialist professional fees, as well as costs associated with recovering a number of systems.

BP more than doubled annual profits to a record $27.6bn as it cashed in on soaring gas prices, fuelling more calls for the government to change windfall tax arrangements on energy companies as consumers face a 40% rise in household bills in April.

The full-year result compares with $12.8bn a year earlier. In the final three months of 2022, underlying replacement cost profit – its preferred measure - came in at $4.8bn, missing estimates of $5.04bn and well below $8.15bn in the third quarter.

Newspaper round-up

Consumers could be using a new digital pound as an alternative to cash by the end of the decade under plans being drawn up by the Bank of England and the Treasury. The government is speeding up its response to the rise of privately issued cryptocurrencies and stable coins with a four-month public consultation process on a "Britcoin" starting on Tuesday. – Guardian

Hundreds more of England's dwindling bus services could be axed next week with a funding shortfall looming, transport authorities have warned. Labour said the government had "just 10 days to act" before operators start having to cut routes because of the expiry of post-pandemic state support. – Guardian

Strike-breaking rail managers were paid £50 an hour on top of their salaries to work on the front line during walkouts over Christmas, leaked documents show. Salaried workers could get as much as £6,500 in extra pay if they swapped the office for shifts on trains on strike days between Dec 19 and Jan 3. – Telegraph

Union leaders have been forced to call off a two-day postal strike following a legal challenge by Royal Mail bosses. The Communication Workers Union blamed laws that are "heavily weighted against working people" for scrapping planned walkouts on Feb 16 and Feb 17. – Telegraph

The battle between Santander and the financier who was once in line to run the Spanish bank is set to continue after a Spanish court cut the compensation the lender should pay for rescinding its job offer. It emerged yesterday that a court in Madrid had upheld Andrea Orcel's claim against Santander, but had lowered the payout he should receive by €8.0m to €43.4.0m. Santander immediately said that it intended to appeal against the ruling in the Spanish Supreme Court. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks were in the red at the end of trading on Monday as traders prepped for another week jam-packed with earnings and comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial was down 0.10% at 33,891.02, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.61% to 4,111.08 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.00% softer at 11,887.45.

The Dow closed 34.99 points weaker on Monday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com