The FTSE is no joke today as markets rise on April Fools Day ahead of Easter

The Market Report with Katie Pilbeam.

FTSE 100 started April Fool’s Day in good spirits, although it’s likely to remain quiet ahead of the long Easter weekend. London’s main index gained 46 points to 6,760 in the morning.  

() expects sales to drop 20% this year as it expects store performance to remain weak even after Covid-19 restrictions end. Profit before tax more than halved in the year to January 2021 due to lockdowns.  

Denise Coates, the head of gambling firm Bet365, was paid £469mln in 2020 in one of the biggest annual pay packets ever seen in British corporate history. However, company profits fell 74% in the same period after international sporting events were cancelled.  

PLC () shareholders have voted in favour of buying Pinnacle, a Canadian biomass company. The energy firm is planning to clean up operations by replacing coal with wood pellets but scientists have warned against it.  

 () has engaged consultancy Guidehouse to research and advise on science-based solutions as part of a long-term strategy to eliminate its climate impact. The cryptocurrency miner said Guidehouse work will include providing a full climate action plan.  

 () said it is part of a consortium of investors in Enerox that will invest US$30mln to scale up annual production capacity by 2022. Enerox is a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) manufacturer.

FastForward-Innovations-Limited () has taken part in the £14mln pre-IPO funding round for , the Jersey-based medical cannabis group. It received £600,000-worth of convertible loan notes in the heavily over-subscribed issue.