Entain buys Angstrom Sports, LXi finance chief hands in notice
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 44 points lower on Monday, having closed down 0.08% on Friday at 7,434.57.
Stocks to watch
Gambling firm Entain said it had bought Angstrom Sports for £81m plus contingent payments up to a maximum of £122m. US-based Angstrom is a specialist provider of next generation sports modelling, forecasting and data analytics, Entain added on Monday.
LXi REIT announced on Monday that Freddie Brooks would step down as chief financial officer of LXi REIT Advisors, and as a statutory director of its subsidiaries, on 3 September, to pursue other opportunities. However, it said Brooks would continue to work as a consultant to its investment advisor until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition and assist in finding a suitable replacement.
Newspaper round-up
Betting company logos appear as often as 3,500 times during the course of a televised football match, the majority on pitchside hoardings, prompting renewed scepticism about top-flight clubs’ plan to give up front-of-shirt betting ads only. A study led by psychology experts from four universities measured the volume of gambling adverts during 10 matches that took place last season, featuring every Premier League club. – Guardian
Some of the UK’s largest investors have backtracked on their support for a shareholder resolution that would force the big oil companies to cut their carbon emissions, according to a campaign group. Asset managers at Legal & General, abrdn and Janus Henderson voted against the climate resolutions put forward by Follow This, a Dutch shareholder activist group, at the annual general meetings of the US oil companies Chevron and ExxonMobil this year, having voted in favour of them in previous years. – Guardian
British Airways (BA) is bringing back free cups of tea and coffee for economy customers on some of its short haul flights this summer, six years after a cost-saving drive axed the service. Sean Doyle, chief executive of BA, announced the measure by telling staff “we want to surprise and delight customers,” in a message first reported by the Sunday Times. – Telegraph
A record number of people are paying to use Netflix, the streaming service is expected to reveal this week, after it began a crackdown on password sharing and released a cheaper tier with adverts. Analysts estimate that the company added 1.8 million subscribers in the last quarter, a modest increase that would take its paying audience to about 234.5 million. – The Times
Tesco is pushing suppliers to pass on savings from falling costs as Britain’s biggest supermarket sets out to cut prices more aggressively than its rivals. In a presentation to its grocery suppliers on Thursday, Tesco characterised the market as moving from “inflation to deflation” and made clear it intended to lead on price cuts. – The Times
US close
Wall Street stocks closed in a mixed state on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.33% at 34,509.03.
The S&P 500, however, slipped 0.1% to 4,505.42, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.18% lower to end the session at 14,113.70.