Good morning from London where the FTSE 100 is down very slightly so far, with the markets back wait-and-see mode ahead of UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement on Wednesday. Ahead of that statement Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be making a speech this morning highlighting the economic progress made during his year in office - particularly in the battle against inflation.
Speculation is rife at to what the statement on Wednesday might contain with a reported move to cut inheritance tax now not expected to go ahead.
Specialised technical products and services company Diploma PLC (LSE:DPLM) is bucking the downward trend this morning, up several percent after reporting on what CEO Johnny Thomson calls an “excellent year.”
International equipment rental business Ashtead Group PLC (LSE:AHT) is propping up the other end of the table this morning, recording the biggest day-on-day percentage fall of any FTSE 100 company. Its share price is down more than 10% after the company warned sales and profit for the current financial year will be below current market expectations after a quieter hurricane season and a lack of demand for equipment from the film industry, where a writers’ and actors’ strike has persisted longer than expected.
The firm said revenue late in the second quarter was affected by lower levels of emergency response activity with a significantly quieter hurricane season than seen in recent years and fewer naturally occurring events, such as wildfires.
Finally in small caps, Helium One Global Ltd (AIM:HE1, OTCQB:HLOGF) have wrapped up their operations at the Tai-3 well in Tanzania after a rollercoaster few weeks battling technical gremlins. You can hear all about it when I speak to Lorna Blaisse a little bit later this morning. All the very best to you until then.
