March 18 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening higher on Friday, with futures up 0.38%.

* TED BAKER: Sycamore Partners is in the early stages of making a possible cash offer for fashion retailer Ted Baker , the private equity firm confirmed on Friday, the latest in a slew of takeover interest in British companies from the United States.

* INVESTEC: Investec, raised its full-year profit guidance on Friday, saying it now expected an up to 90% increase in earnings.

* J D Wetherspoon: J D Wetherspoon is facing higher costs of food, drink and energy, but expects the rise in input prices to be slightly lesser than the level of inflation, the British pub operator said on Friday after reporting a first half loss.

* IAG: Iberia-owner IAG has struck a deal to provide a 100 million euro, seven-year unsecured loan to Globalia which could be turned into a 20% equity holding in its Air Europa airline, it said on Thursday.

* ASTRAZENECA: An AstraZeneca Plc executive said the British drugmaker would consider not submitting its COVID-19 vaccine for approval in the United States if the regulatory process takes too long, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

* BHP: A union representing workers at BHP's sprawling Escondida copper mine in Chile, the world's largest copper mine, on Thursday threatened a work stoppage over what it claims are breaches in its collective contract.

* P&O FERRIES: Britain's P&O Ferries on Thursday made 800 staff redundant with immediate effect and suspended crossings for the next few days, sparking a backlash from politicians and unions who criticised plans to hire cheaper agency workers instead.

* HSBC: HSBC is buying a plot of virtual real estate in an online gaming space called The Sandbox for an undisclosed sum, the bank's first major foray into the metaverse as it shrinks its UK branch network.

* FTSE 100: UK's FTSE 100 extended gains on Thursday, as oil majors lifted the commodity-heavy index, while the Bank of England raised interest rates as expected and struck a less hawkish tone on further hikes.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)