British retail spending is still rising despite pressure on household budgets, which may help smaller listed firms with cleaner balance sheets and little new share issuance. A Simply Wall St screen highlights three UK penny stocks with stronger finances and upbeat growth forecasts. Hochschild Mining (LSE:HOC), valued near £2.6 billion, runs precious metals mines. Its Inmaculada mine in Peru generated about $840.9 million in revenue. Mara Rosa in Brazil is targeted to reach 80,000 to 85,000 ounces a year from 2027. Kainos Group (LSE:KNOS), a Belfast-based IT firm valued at £1.3 billion, earned about £81.7 million from Workday Products. Analysts expect double-digit annual recurring revenue growth. QinetiQ Group, valued near £2.7 billion, reported record order intake of £3.6 billion and a £4.8 billion backlog. Its partnering agreement has been extended to 2033.

Soteria Battery Innovation Group has licensed QinetiQ's Q-TRED thermal event detection technology for its Battery Safety IP Exchange platform. The technology uses coatings that emit detectable volatile compounds when battery cells reach elevated temperatures, enabling early warning of potential thermal runaway events before fires occur. Unlike traditional temperature monitoring at limited points, Q-TRED supports distributed sensing with volatile sensor molecules on every cell. Commercially available gas sensors can detect these compounds to alert systems of abnormal thermal conditions. The technology will be integrated into Soteria's IPX, a licensing platform bringing together battery safety innovations across cell materials, detection, mitigation and design. Soteria will partner with supply chain companies to develop Q-TRED for electric vehicles, energy storage systems, aerospace applications and other battery-powered devices.