FTSE 100 made a low key start as inflation worries linger though Royal Mail shareholders got a pleasant surprise delivery in the form of a bumper payout package. London’s blue chip index was down 15 at 7,275 in early trading.

Royal Mail said it will return £400mln to its shareholders via a buyback and a special dividend as it announced a surge in profits for the first half of the year. Profit jumped to £315mln in the six months to 26 September 2021 from £17mln in the same period last year, on revenue up 7.1% at £6.07bn.

Flutter Entertainment PLC (LSE:FLTR) has acquired Tombola, one of the UK’s leading online bingo operators, for £402mln. Tombola, which is located in Sunderland and Gibraltar, has around 400,000 average monthly players and over 700 employees.

Boots, Ocado and Homebase are amongst 40 retailers that will roll out a Bitcoin cashback scheme. Powered by fintech Mode, customers will have the option to use Mode’s QR code based system at the checkout to accrue Bitcoin with every purchase.

Among the small caps, Sativa Wellness has partnered with Superdrug to offer an extensive range of drug tests. Organ health, cholesterol and pre-diabetes are some of the conditions the tests will be offered for

Chill Brands shares jumped 18% in early trading as its US distributor said the group’s products were among its best sellers. Chill’s Products are part of Betterments’ Feel Good Store wellness program, a scheme that vets hemp brands for retailers in the CBD category.

Argo Blockchain, the cryptocurrency miner, has received net proceeds of US$38.6mln from a bond issue. The money has been earmarked for the construction and purchase of mining machines for its Texas cryptocurrency mining facility.

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