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UK stocks opened stronger on Wednesday after general insurer Hastings soared on the back of a £1.66bn takeover bid from Sampo.
At 0834, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 59.21 points, or 1.0%, at 6,095.21.
Hastings jumped 18% to 253p after it agreed to a bid from Sampo of 250p per share. The share-price rally above the bid price could indicate that some investors expect a rival suitor could emerge.
Hastings also reported a higher first-half profit as a rise in premiums and an improved loss ratio offset the impact of claims inflation owing to the pandemic.
Fellow insurer Legal & General shed 1.8% to 216.2p as it reported a plunge in first-half profit as increased claims related to Covid-19 and lower interest rates weighed on performance.
Legal & General held its dividend steady at 4.93p per share.
Gambling company William Hill rallied 6.5% to 124.75p even as it scrapped its interim dividend after it posted an underlying loss for the first-half.
William Hill said that in the last two weeks of June, like-for-like revenue was flat, following the reopening of the majority of its retail estate.
Iron ore pellet producer Ferrexpo jumped 7.4% to 195.01p despite its profit falling 8% on lower iron ore fines prices, which offset a 5% rise in production.
Ferrexpo also declared a second interim dividend of 6.6c per share, on top of a payment of the same amount announced in June.
Recruitment company Page gained 1.8% to 376p even as it swung to a small first-half loss and scrapped its interim dividend after the economic fallout from the Covid-19 crisis crunched the jobs market.
Page's headcount had dropped by 713, or 9.3%, to 6,985 at the end of June after it chose to 'lose recent joiners or those on performance reviews'.
Healthcare services group UDG Healthcare firmed 4.1% to 736.29p, having reinstated its interim dividend and annual guidance, citing greater visibility as lockdowns eased.
Challenger bank Metro Bank tumbled 13% to 99.43p as it posted hefty first-half losses after it booked expected credit losses of £112m due to the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on borrower's ability to pay back loans.
Music rights investor Hipgnosis Songs Fund fell 0.8% to 118p on announcing that it had acquired Blondie co-founders, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein's, writer's share and neighbouring rights royalties in their catalogues, comprising 197 songs.
Construction and regeneration group Morgan Sindall jumped 12% to £11.68 posted a 62% slump in first-half profit and scrapped its interim dividend, citing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Morgan Sindall, however, also reinstated its annual guidance, for a pre-tax profit of £50m-to-£60m, citing better visibility as lockdowns eased.
Molecular diagnostics group Yourgene Health added 1.1% to 17.18p on raising £16.2m via a share issue to help fund its acquisition of Vancouver-based sample preparation company Coastal Genomics.
New shares in the company were issued at 17p per share, following an initial announcement about the raising late on Tuesday.