Good morning from London where its all quiet ahead of this afternoon’s Autumn Statement. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will give his statement around 1230 UK time and reports suggest he intends to reduce headline rates of national insurance and to make permanent a £10 billion-a-year tax break for companies investing in new machinery and equipment.
Today’s autumn statement is Jeremy Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s second, with the first one taking place shortly after the disastrous mini-budget of last September. The pair appear confident that the UK economy is in much better shape than a year ago, and that’s a view backed up in today’s smattering of corporate results.
B&Q owner Kingfisher says in a Q3 update today that underlying retail and trade consumer trends are ‘resilient’ in the UK. They’re instead attributing their second profit forecast cut of the year to warm weather in France, that has delayed French consumers from buying insultation and heating equipment.
In small caps, CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM:CTL, OTCQX:CTLHF) (CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM:CTL, OTCQX:CTLHF), CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM:CTL, OTCQX:CTLHF)) has conditionally raised £8 million in its latest share placing with investors, successfully overshooting their initial target by £2 million. Spot lithium carbonate prices are at their lowest since September 2021, making the firm backing for the Chile-focused lithium developer an interesting development this morning.
And another interesting development this morning is that across the Atlantic Sam Altman is back in as CEO of OpenAI after a rollercoaster few days.
You can stay on top of all the latest twists and turns right here on Proactive