After a disappointing day on Friday, the FTSE 100 is building on the record high set last week, up 0.6% to 7,823.96. The weekend saw some progress on trade talks between the US and China.
Ryanair (RYA) posts a 10% increase in annual profit after it carries more passengers and fills a greater proportion of seats on each flight.
The budget carrier, however, says it expects profit to fall in the 2019 financial year, owing to higher fuel and staff costs. The shares fall 1.7% to €15.24.
Pre-tax profit rose to €1.45bn, at the top end of the company's €1.40bn-to-€1.45bn guidance range. For the 2019 financial year, the company forecasts pre-tax profit to fall to a range of €1.25bn-to-€1.35bn.
'Our outlook for the 2019 financial year is on the pessimistic side of cautious,' chief executive Michael O'Leary says. The company also expressed caution on a likely impact of a ‘hard’ Brexit.
AstraZeneca (AZN) announces that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its hyperkalaemia drug, a serious condition associated with elevated levels of potassium in the blood. The shares trade 2% higher at £53.47.
Document management group Restore (RST) says trading had started 'satisfactorily' in 2018 and that its expectations for the full year remained unchanged, despite pressure on its shredding unit. However, investors aren’t convinced, and the shares fall 5.4% to 520.25p.
Retail and leisure property investor NewRiver REIT (NRR) gains 0.9% to 269.5p as it confirms speculation it is in talks to acquire community pubs group Hawthorn.
Playtech (PTEC) says its proposed acquisition of Snaitech had been approved by Italian gaming regulatory authorities. Its shares tick up 0.4% to 803.6p.
A general meeting for shareholders relating to the transaction will be held on 29 May and Playtech says it now expected to complete the transaction in June.
Micro-cap health care equipment and services business Aortech (AOR:AIM) is the biggest AIM faller, down 21.6% at 34.5p as investors react to the dilution implied by a £2.1m share placing and £0.5m open offer.
