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AIMOilking
So does oil and gas - as development costs for renewables and capital costs reduce with scale its likely that there will be a equalisation in capital costs between renewables and fossil fuels.
Also with Governments willing to subsidise new nuclear power plants, storage of power becomes less of an issue, especially when heavy industry switches to green hydrogen to utilise excess renewable power.

Its certainly true that not all the renewables technology has been developed or implemented as yet and it may take 50 years for that to happen.

But, a great deal has been done and will be done over the next 7 years in the run up to 2030, enough to tip the balance from fossil fuels to renewables and start to combat climate change. Concentrate on what can be done and is being done, rather than future tech. For example with nuclear back up, storage of renewable power and lack of wind/sun is much less of an issue.

The war in Ukraine has actually done a lot to kick start this process - it has given industry and Governments a kick to speed up the process and made renewables more competitive as the price of fossil fuels increased - especially in Europe.

The UK Governments clumsy attempts to balance their books with the windfall tax are not welcome, simply because its the oil industry that is leading the way towards renewables - the market and Governments have to pull together for change, utilising all the financial resources available, not diverting them with taxation.

Also remember that if you strip away the capital costs its actually cheaper to generate electricity using renewables - wind and solar - plus nuclear, than it is using fossil fuels - this could have a significant effect going forward.

Full year results for Ocado Group are due Tuesday 28th Feb.

They will give us much more clarity of what revenue can be expected from Ocado Solutions in the future.

Malaysia levied their own windfall tax in 2022 on corporate profits over RM100 million at 33%

The problem is that public finances around the world are badly depleted after Covid.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2021/11/01/budget-2022-putrajaya-insists-windfall-tax-a-one-off-measure/2017518

VP has a much more in-depth knowledge of Ocado than the rest of us.

At the moment his glass half empty attitude is very useful to give balance to the discussions on this board.

its absolutely bloody pointless if everyone is singing from the hymn sheet - points need to be challenged to give a balanced view.

Christmas shows what can be done and the potential of Ocado Retail.

Also price rises were the lowest from any major supermarket group reflecting the need to compete in the market place - this is probably the main reason for the fall in short term profitability.

As the mature customer base grows I think we will see a strong return to profitability as excess capacity is used, but this probably won't be until 2024.

At this stage of the growth in the company, it was always going to be difficult to find profit because of the growth needed and the macro has made that even more difficult, sales though are up 40% on 2019.

This sales growth shows that Ocado Retail has massive potential in the medium-long term, even though the short term is difficult. This is underlined by the cost savings as new tech is introduced.

Christmas shows what can be done and the potential of Ocado Retail.

Also price rises were the lowest from any major supermarket group reflecting the need to compete in the market place - this is probably the main reason for the fall in short term profitability.

As the mature customer base grows I think we will see a strong return to profitability as excess capacity is used, but this probably won't be until 2024.

At this stage of the growth in the company, it was always going to be difficult to find profit because of the growth needed and the macro has made that even more difficult, sales though are up 40% on 2019.

This sales growth shows that Ocado Retail has massive potential in the medium-long term, even though the short term is difficult. This is underlined by the cost savings as new tech is introduced.

Likewise - we certainly chose the right renewables horse.

I think that the Christmas trading period will be very good.
The last trading statement in September reported a 23% increase in customer numbers, therefore, its reasonable to assume that with these extra customers and added capacity that Christmas will be the highlight.

Also M&S food products are selling well - M&S have already said that 30% of Ocado Retail baskets are M&S products.

Therefore, although sales in the earlier part of the Autumn may have been flat, I thing the period should have been a strong one and reasonably profitable.

It will depend on the macro, that could still bring the SP down again.
But, with good fortune and news of a dividend we could easily see the SP over 200p again later in the year.

The peak of over 250p this time last year was mainly built on sentiment and the belief that dividends were to be reinstated. This could easily be repeated and if we do see dividends and institutions start long term buying then we could see a return to the FTSE100 with the SP on much firmer foundations.

A trading update is due, maybe this week - issued 20th Jan last year - should be very interesting!

Mr Opedal said that while the tax had not impacted Equinor's investment strategy in the UK: "It is affecting how we judge each project because we have to take into account what is the tax level compared to what are all the other risks."

On Rosebank
Mr Opedal said: "There have been two changes in the tax regime already and we're thinking about will it even be more going forward? Rosebank is a project that we think is needed in the UK in terms of energy security."
He added: "Uncertainty about what will the tax level be will be an important part of the decision [to go ahead] because, for instance, now on some of the fields we have invested in we are still not profitable but pay tax already based on the windfall taxes. So this is how we kind of evaluate every project."

From my observations of AB over the years, I guess he would have the same view - I doubt he would have gone ahead with Kraken faced with this austere tax regime unless he had assurances that the tax regime would ease - likewise with Rosebank and Bressay/Bentley going forward for Equinor and Enquest.

ITM has gone into another phase of its meltdown this morning.
Unfortunately that always seems to affect the SP here, even though the businesses are totally different in their approach to the renewables market.

The investors generally are the main source of revenue for AIM companies, pre profit, that is why they list on AIM in the first place - to raise capital.

The market valuation at the moment is controlled by poor macro and sentiment - AIM was the worst performing large stock index globally in 2022 - most AIM companies are suffering in the same way as EQT.

Yesterdays trading update received a very good response from these brokers.

UBS raises Whitbread price target to 3,750 (3,505) pence - 'buy'
SocGen raises Whitbread price target to 3,150 (2,790) pence - 'hold'
Barclays raises Whitbread price target to 3,750 (3,500) pence - 'overweight'
Bernstein raises Whitbread price target to 2,985 (2,700) pence - 'market-perform'
Jefferies raises Whitbread price target to 3,500 (3,000) pence - 'buy'

Investors need to follow developments at Eqtec rather than following the SP before making judgements.
The company has plenty in the pipeline and should start to build revenue nicely in 2023.
The brief to management is to grow the company and build long term value, not featherbed investors.

Covid and the macro has made things very difficult here, it could be a while and another fund raise before we see an improvement in the SP - no amount of bluster will change that.

Nice to see the SP back over 3000 - bodes well for 2023.

Premier Inn continues to dominate the budget hotel market in the UK and with healthy room rates should have a very good year in 2023. Clearly a go to brand in the UK.
The German market is building nicely but occupancy needs to improve before we see profit.
Clearly there are still staffing issues affecting the food offering that are depressing sales, as is the case for most of the hospitality industry, no easy fix here.

US inflation rate as forecast - now expecting a very positive blue day.

Its not just ENQ that looks cheap at the moment - most UK listed oil companies are at or below year lows - including those that don't extract from UK waters.
The notable exception is big oil - BP is only 5-10% off its year high.

We will learn early this afternoon what direction markets will take in the short term, with the publication of US inflation figures for December. This will be followed by the FED's response.

Hopefully US inflation will be down as forecast - 5.7% for core products.

The volatility of today's news cannot be underestimated, it will continue to drive markets for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully todays news will be positive and the market gains since the new year will continue, also Brent could easily rise strongly back into the 90's, especially with the Chinese market improving.