Three things you need to know in the financial markets today from investment writer, Tony Cross.
#1. Pennon to hand back money to customers as targets missed
There’s a note out from the Water Services Regulation Authority this morning detailing financial penalties which will be applied to the majority of UK water companies as a result of missed targets. Customers will see £150m of refunds as a result, with South West Water – owned by Pennon LON:PNN – on the hook to repay £13.3m. As these stocks tend to be very steady dividend payers, a move like this has the potential to be greeted with a degree of disquiet by investors.
#2. Severn Trent wins on biodiversity, customers to pay up!
Keeping with a theme here, Severn Trent LON:SVT fared somewhat better than its peers with the water regulator noting that they had exceeded targets in areas like biodiversity and as such would be able to recover an additional £62.9m from customers. Managing that message in the current stretched economic climate is going to be a challenge, but the impact of the regulatory management here is certainly worth watching.
#3. Cleantech Lithium: second Chilean lithium project yields results
Cleantech Lithium LON:CTL has announced a maiden inferred resource estimate at its Francisco Basin lithium project in Chile. These estimates provide the basis for a scoping study with a base case production rate of 20k tonnes a year. The expectation is that all product will be used in the electric vehicle industry and this news means that two of the company’s three projects in Chile now have resource estimates. Further updates will be delivered in due course.
