Abbey National today announced that it has received a bid approach that has led to an offer for the company being made this morning.

The suitor has been named as Banco Santander, despite the chairman of the Spanish bank ruling out a pan-European merger on July 20, on the basis that mergers within one country are complicated enough.

This echoed comments made by the company's chief executive, who said at the beginning of June that he had ruled out a bid for Abbey due to leaks to the press causing a hike in the share price.

A shares and cash offer around 560p - 580p looks likely. Abbey has results due out on Thursday of this week, and investors will be looking not only for an update on the bid, but also reassurances that the restructuring plan is delivering, and that they are on track to reach profitability in the second half of the year.

This would be in line with the guidance given by the chief executive Luqman Arnold in his first quarter trading update and may be why Abbey is now considered a more attractive bid prospect.

However, since the terms of the Banco Santander offer are yet to be confirmed, Abbey continues to place great importance on its restructuring plans.

The shares jumped as much as 92p on the news, before settling back a little and remain a firm hold. This could create a bidding war with The Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS looking interested in bidding.

The stock exchange was notified at the end of last week, that one of Wm Morrison's directors has been buying shares in the company; Roger Owen has bought 25,000 shares at 188.75p.

At a time when investors have concerns about trading at the supermarket chain it is good to see a director clearly backing the company and this should provide a boost to investor confidence.

Atlantic Global, the provider of integrated business and resource management software applications, has issued a trading statement in order to update the markets before the closed period prior to their results.

Overall it was very positive, with potential client interest at highest ever levels, and turnover up on last year.

They expect the results, when they are announced in September, to be in line with market expectations.

Cattles, the low income lender, has confirmed that first half results should be in line with expectations and that that credit quality remains stable.

In addition they have raised a further £500m through a syndication of twenty three banks. This will be used to generate more new business by adding new customers in the UK.

Following the difficulties experienced recently, Filtronic has made a move to bolster its management team by taking on Prof John Roulston, a defence electronics expert, as chief executive.

This follows David Rhodes' decision to step down as CEO, although he will continue as chairman.

Prof Roulston joins from BAE Systems, where he was an integral part of the team who developed the strategic technology link with Filtronic in gallium arsenide and integrated microwave technology.

This prior knowledge of Filtronic, their markets and operations will help him to settle into his new position when he starts on Monday, September 6.