This week gets off to a quiet start due to today’s bank holiday for the coronation of King Charles.
But things will soon be back to normal, with financial highlights for the days ahead including a decision on the UK interest rate from the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee on Thursday.
Investors in Aberdeen’s biggest company, Wood, will be interested to see if there is any update from the company on the move by a US private-equity firm to take the business over.
The leading engineering and consultancy group is scheduled to make a trading update on Thursday.
In the middle of last month, Wood announced that it had agreed to engage with Apollo Global Management after it tabled a firm bid valuing the Granite City business at £1.7billion.
Wood said it would open its books for scrutiny by Apollo after rejecting several previous approaches.
Final proposal for Wood
Apollo’s fifth and final proposal was for 240p a share.
In last month’s stock exchange announcement, Wood said: "The board remains confident in Wood's strategic direction and long-term prospects, following a transformative year in 2022, including new executive leadership and a new strategy.
"However, having now weighed all relevant factors, particularly feedback received from Wood shareholders, the board has decided to engage with Apollo to see if a firm offer can be made on the same financial terms as the final proposal.
"Accordingly, the board will grant Apollo access to due diligence materials."
The deadline to make a formal offer is May 17.
Harbour Energy update
Other trading updates this week include one from Harbour Energy - and industry watchers will be looking for any further news on the impact of the controversial windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers.
Harbour, the UK’s biggest oil and gas producer, last month confirmed plans to axe one fifth of its workforce, blaming the new levy for deterring investment.
The firm said it planned to cut 350 onshore jobs following a review of its business, the majority of which are understood to be in Aberdeen. It pointed to the chancellor’s money grab having squeezed cash flows and put off financial backers.
In January, Harbour said it was preparing to shift attention outside of the UK in response to the windfall tax. Then, in March, the company revealed that the levy had virtually wiped out its profits for the last year. Profits after tax at were less than £7million on turnover of more than £4.5billion.
FTSE 100
The UK's top share index, the FTSE 100, ended last Friday up 75 points at 7,778.
The London Stock Exchange is closed today.
Brent crude futures were 0.54% higher at $75.71 a barrel earlier this morning.