30. Serica Energy
Serica Energy (SQZ) spent much of this year on ice, strategically speaking, due to the new Labour government’s pre-election promises, which quickly became policy. That means a higher tax rate of 78 per cent for its profits, and reduced offsets from new spending. The positive take is that the offsets remain higher than some potential scenarios put forward before the Budget last week, and Serica’s share price climbed 13 per cent while Chancellor Rachel Reeves was speaking. This more than compensated for the news the day before that it would miss production guidance this year.
The company is now considering whether to spend more in the UK, on top of tapping resources near existing infrastructure, or look elsewhere for growth. As a buyer of mature oil and gas assets, indecision would quickly knock output.