Welcome to taking stock on.... Monday 7th August 2023
Taking Stock: Is a look at today's top business news & investment views plus we cover the winners, losers, the most read company news & the most followed. Today this includes:
It’s anticipated that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will take 23% of market share by the end of the year. Do you own one? Are you looking for one? Or will you stick with Petrol / Diesel?
RISERS
Trinity Exploration - Jacobin-1 Oil Discovery Confirmed
Highlights
§ Jacobin-1 was successfully drilled to a total depth of 10,021 feet and is one of the deepest wells drilled in recent times within the prolific Palo Seco area, onshore Trinidad.
§ Over 290 feet of net oil pay encountered in the Jacobin well, including 63 feet of net oil pay in the deeper exploration targets.
§ A comprehensive logging and pressure sampling programme has confirmed virgin pressures in these deeper zones.
§ Results validate the geological model and are within pre-drill range for a commercial discovery.
§ Flow testing is now planned to confirm the deliverability of these reservoirs, which is expected to commence during September.
§ Oil produced during well testing is expected to immediately be sold to Heritage within the PS4 licence area as operated by Trinity, demonstrating the speed at which the well will be able to generate revenue post completion of drilling.
FALLERS
Christie Group plc - Trading Update
The Board of Christie Group Plc advises that, following continued delays in achieving contractual exchange on ongoing transactions in its agency and advisory business, Christie & Co, and alterations to the expected timing and outcome of certain significant portfolio assignments, it now expects full year performance to be materially below previous expectations.
MOST READ RNS
Vast Resources - Company Update
As announced on the 16 May 2022, the totality of the debt owed to Mercuria and Alpha was due to be repaid on or before 30 June 2023.
The Company is currently concluding documentation regarding an extension to 29 September 2023 that will allow further time to finalise the settlement of its historic claims outlined in previous announcements.
The Company will update the market with further details in due course.
RNS WORTH READING
Card Factory - Trading Statement
Trading Update
cardfactory, the UK's leading specialist retailer of greeting cards, gifts and celebration essentials, announces a trading update following the close of the first half to 31 July 2023.
The positive start to the financial period, highlighted at the preliminary results, has continued. Trading in the first six months was materially ahead of the Board's expectations.
The macro backdrop continues to be uncertain, and there is still much to be delivered over the remainder of the year. Nevertheless, given the strength of the performance in the first half, together with our current outlook for the second half, the Board now expects the full year outturn to be materially ahead of its' previous expectations.
TOP BUSINESS STORIES
UK house prices drop for fourth month running, as Halifax predicts ‘gradual decline’
UK house prices dropped again last month, lender Halifax reports this morning, as higher interest rates cool the market.
But Halifax says it expects a “gradual” drop in prices in the coming months, rather than a “precipitous decline”.
Its monthly house price index, just released, shows that the average house price dropped by 2.4% on an annual basis in July. That’s a pick-up compared with June, when prices fell by 2.6% – the biggest drop since 2011.
On a monthly basis, the average house price fell by -0.3% in July, the fourth consecutive monthly decline.
It means the typical UK home now costs £285,044, down from a peak of £293,992 last August, on Halifax’s gauge of the housing market.
But, Halifax also says the market is showing ‘some resilience, although Southern England and Wales are seeing the most “downward pressure on property prices”.
UK hiring falls at fastest pace in over three years, wage growth slows
British employers reduced the number of new permanent staff they hired through recruitment agencies by the most since mid 2020 last month due to concerns about the economic outlook, adding to signs that the market is becoming tougher for job seekers.
A gauge of permanent staff hiring by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and accountants KPMG fell to 42.4, the lowest since the 34.3 in June 2020 when the country was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey chimed with other indicators showing the labour market is loosening, welcome news for the Bank of England which raised interest rates for the 14th meeting in a row to 5.25% last week and has been concerned about high wage growth.
Official data showed unemployment rose to 4% in the three months to May, a 16-month high, although annual wage growth remained at a record high of 7.3% in cash terms.
Rate of pub closures reaches decade high as rate hikes and inflation bites
The number of pub closures in the UK reached its highest quarterly figure in over a decade, new data reveals, as soaring costs force more of the country’s local watering holes to close their doors for good.
Some 223 pub businesses entered insolvency in the second quarter of this year, up from 200 in the first quarter, according to analysis from accountancy firm Price Bailey.
A total of 729 pub businesses went bust over the last 12 months to June 30, marking an 80 per cent increase on the previous year, the firm found.
Bank of England finally administers bitter medicine to treat inflation
“Since the MPC was formed in 1997, the average gap between the last rate hike and the first cut has been 10 months. The persistence of inflation may mean the gap is about 12 months this time,” Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, noted.
Bill Gates-backed nuclear contender Terra Power aims to build dozens of UK reactors
A Bill Gates-backed clean energy player is hoping to build dozens of reactors in the UK, and will enter the race alongside potential rivals Rolls-Royce and GE Hitachi with its own mini-nuclear power plant designs.
Chris Levesque, chief executive of nuclear start-up Terra Power, confirmed the company will bid for government approval to build small modular reactors (SMRs) in the UK, with the competition being overseen by freshly launched industry vehicle GB Nuclear.