Philip Hammond delivered his Spring Statement on Wednesday afternoon, a day after MPs voted to reject the government’s revised Brexit deal. In a blow to Prime Minister Theresa May, MPs voted down the prime minister’s deal by 149, a sight improvement from the initial vote back in January. MPs will next get to vote on whether the UK will depart the EU without a deal. The PM has said that her Conservative MPs will get to vote freely, without the imposing of a whip. However, despite Brexit dominating the headlines and Westminster for the past week, the Chancellor presented his highly anticipated Spring Statement to Parliament today, detailing a series of measures.

I’m on my way to Parliament to deliver the #SpringStatement – the government’s response to the forecast from @OBR_UK. I’ll be setting out how we’ll invest in infrastructure, technology, housing, skills, & green energy, to capitalise on the post-Brexit opportunities ahead. pic.twitter.com/bnrwfDBmQl

— Philip Hammond (@PhilipHammondUK) March 13, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Here are some of the key points to take away from today’s Spring Statement: The Economy The chancellor said that the UK economy continued to grow, with nine consecutive years of growth and growth forecast for the next five years. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) also expects inflation to stay close to targets. Nevertheless, Hammond warned that the economy is set to grow at the slowest pace since 2009, back at the height of the financial crisis. Employment Hammond also appeared optimistic regarding employment figures, noting an unemployment figure of 4.0%, which is the lowest rate since 1975. In addition, Hammond said that wages continued to grow faster than inflation. Public Finances The chancellor said that government debt fell last year, with forecasts also indicating further falls to 73.0% of GDP in 2023-24, compared to a high of 85.1% in 2016-17. Tech Another key focus in the Spring Statement was developing the nation’s tech industry. Nevertheless, the chancellor acknowledged the need to challenge the dominance of tech giants in the UK, particularly following the Furman review, an independent study into competition in the digital economy. Hammond said: “The UK will remain a great place to do digital business… …but it will be a place where successful global tech giants pay their fair share… …where competition policy works in consumers’ interests… …and where the public are protected from online harms,” Hammond said he has accordingly asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to conduct a market study into digital advertising as soon as possible. Hammond also announced the investment of £81 million in Extreme Photonics (state-of-the-art laser technology) at the UK’s cutting-edge facility in Oxfordshire. Alongside this, he announced the setting aside of £45 million for Bioinformatics research in Cambridge as well as £79 million of funding for a new supercomputer in Edinburgh. Keeping Britain Open Despite ongoing uncertainty regarding Brexit, the chancellor flagged keeping the UK open to visitors as a key priority. As a result, the chancellor announced that from June of this year, citizens of the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea will be permitted to use e-gates airports and at the Eurostar terminals, alongside the ending of the use of landing cards. The chancellor said this will minimise airport queues and make the UK a more attractive location for business. The environment Another key focus for this year’s Spring Statement proved the environment. Alongside encouraging smaller businesses to reduce their emissions, the chancellor said it was looking into how to ensure wildlife would be suitably protected when delivering necessary infrastructure and housing. Among other environmentally-friendly measures, Hammond said the government would be introducing a ‘Future Homes Standard by 2025’, which will ensure that new new build homes have low low carbon heating and are energy efficient. Education The Spring Statement also addressed improving Education and Skills. A key measure announced was the provision of free sanitary products in secondary schools to tackle poverty. Housing and Infrastructure Hammond also pledged to deliver on remedying the nation’s housing shortage. He announced that through the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme, the government will set permit up to £3 billion of borrowing by housing associations to ensure delivery of approximately 30,000 affordable homes.

88 Energy shares fell on Wednesday after the company updated investors on results from its oil and gas operations in North Alaska. The company said it had completed the comprehensive wireline logging program at Wink-1, alongside beginning a full petrophysical analysis and review. According to the results, 88 Energy said provisional analysis indicated ‘low oil saturations in the primary Nanushuk Topset objectives’. As a result, testing and fluid sampling suggested that reservoir quality and fluid mobility proves ‘insufficient to warrant production testing’. In addition, areas of interest in the Torok formation exhibited similarly low oil saturations. As a result, the company said that whilst the results indicate that oil is present in the investigated areas, it is not sufficiently mobile. 88 Energy Ltd’s Managing Director, Dave Wall, commented on the analysis: “The early encouragement seen at Winx has not been confirmed by the results from the wireline logging program, despite many of the hallmarks of a successful Nanushuk play being present. Analysis of the data is ongoing; however, it is deemed unlikely to change the current view in a material fashion. We appreciate that this is disappointing for investors but, at the same time, we look to the future and continue our forward path to ultimate success at our projects in Alaska. An update will be provided on the broader Alaska project portfolio in the near term.” Earlier this month, shares in 88 Energy soared more than 20% after the company announced it had reached total depth in Alaska. Shares in the Australian-based energy company (LON:88E) are currently trading down -34.75% as of 13:15PM (GMT).

Carphone Warehouse has been hit by a £29 million fine after the UK’s financial watchdog said it had mis-sold insurance to its customers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that the mobile phone retailer had encouraged customers to to sign up to its Geek Squad insurance even if they already had alternative cover. Mark Steward, the executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, commented on the decision: “The Carphone Warehouse and its staff persuaded customers to purchase the Geek Squad product, which in some cases had little to no value because the customer already had insurance cover. The high level of cancellations should have been a clear indicator to the management of mis-selling.” According to the investigation, which covered the period of 1 December 2008 and 30 June 2015, the FCA found that Carphone Warehouse sold £444.7 millions worth of Geek Squad policies to its customers. In addition, the FCA said a large portion of these plans were subsequently cancelled, “High cancellation rates are an indicator of a risk of mis-selling which The Carphone Warehouse failed to properly consider,” The FCA said. Current Dixons Carphone chief executive Alex Baldock, commented on the news: “We’re obviously disappointed that Carphone Warehouse fell short in the past. But we’re a very different business today; as the FCA acknowledges, we’ve made significant improvements since 2015. We’re committed to stay on that trajectory and to make sure all customers enjoy the right technology products and services for them.” Baldock has been chief executive of Dixons Carphone as of April of 2018. Dixons Carphone was formed following a merger between electrical retailer Dixons and Carphone Warehouse in 2014. It is London-listed, and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Shares in the company (LON:DC) are currently down marginally at -1.05% as of 12:34PM (GMT).

Dignity reported a fall in annual profits for the year on Wednesday causing shares to slide downwards. The funeral operator said that during the 52 week period ended 28 December 2018, underlying operating profits fell 23% to £80.2 million, with revenue also down 3% to £315.6 million. Despite the fall, profits remained ahead of expectations, with the company having previously forecast underlying profits of £79 million at the start of the year. Dignity also said it performed 72,300 funerals during the period, compared to 68,800 the year before. Deaths during the year were ahead of the previous year, rising 2% from 590,000 in 2017 to 599,000. The company proposed a final dividend of 15.74, remaining unchanged from the previous year. Dignity chief executive Mark McCollum commented on the results: “2018 marked the beginning of a period of radical change for Dignity. We reduced our funeral prices, created a broader range of choices for clients and embarked on plans to transform the business by the end of 2021. Our vision is to lead the funeral sector in terms of quality, standards and value-for-money. To achieve this we are building a more coherent, cohesive and technology-enabled business, one geared to meeting the changing needs of our customers. I am pleased with the progress we made during the year, we built momentum and our Transformation Plan is on track. A lot of work remains to be done, but I am confident that with our highly experienced staff and the new transformation expertise we have brought in, we will achieve our goals.” He also added that he expected the competitions and markets authority (CMA) to also begin its investigation in the industry in 2019. Dignity is one of the largest funeral operators in the UK. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has been a publicly traded company since 2004. Its headquarters are in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham UK. Shares in Dignity (LON:DTY) are currently trading -0.94% as of 11:46AM (GMT).

Everyman Media Group reported its preliminary results for the 53 week period ending 3 January 2019. According to the company, revenue for the year was up 27.7% to £51.9 million, compared to £40.6 million back in 2017. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 38.2% to £9.2 million, an improvement from the £6.6 million reported a year ago. During the period, Everyman Media Group said it opened five new venues, including locations in York, Glasgow and Liverpool, taking its estate to 26 sites and 84 screens as of March 12. In addition, the group have plans to open an additional 14 sites, with seven set to open during the course of this year. Paul Wise, Chairman of Everyman Media Group, commented on the results:

“I am pleased to report on the Group’s results for the 53 weeks ended 3 January 2019.

With 5 new openings in the year in York, Glasgow, Altrincham, Crystal Palace and Liverpool, 2018 marked another year of strong growth. The business delivered performance in line with the Board’s expectations across all key areas.

The Group now operates 26 venues (84 screens) as at 12 March 2019, up from 21 (65 screens) at the beginning of 2018.”

Everyman Cinema Group operate cinemas across the UK. The firm was originally founded back in 2000 by Daniel Broch, who opened the group’s first location in Hampstead in London.

The company has listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange as of 2013.

Shares (LON:EMAN) are currently trading +4.97% as of 11:07AM (GMT), as the market reacts to the results.

French Connection sales fell for the year, despite returning to a modest profit of £100,000, according to the company’s preliminary annual results. The struggling high-street retailer said like-for-like sales fell by 6.8% in the year ending 31st January 2019, compared to a year ago, amid declines in sales both in store and online. French Connection also reported a profit of £100,000, against a loss of £2.1 million, and also marking its first profit in seven years. Despite the modest return to profit, French Connection listed itself up for sale last year, as it continues to struggle amid a ‘difficult trading environment’. As a result, the retailer closed 10 underperforming sites and concessions last year.