French Connection shares are out of fashion as it warns of heavy loss
FASHION chain French Connection saw its shares fall sharply yesterday after it suffered weakening sales ahead of the festive season and warned of deeper-than-expected full-year losses.Although the...
View ArticleWetherspoon’s sales up but margins squeezed
PUBS operator JD Wetherspoon toasted a rise in festive sales yesterday, but warned that profit margins are being squeezed by rising costs and its low prices.Wetherspoon, which has 800 pubs across...
View ArticleBarratt building up profits
Housebuilder Barratt Developments has predicted that its half-year profits will more than double following a significant reduction in its debt pile.The UK’s largest building firm said average selling...
View ArticleBusiness news in brief: Johnston Press | EnerMech
NEWSPAPER publisher Johnston Press yesterday named Stuart Birkett as managing director of its Scottish unit as part of wider changes to its management team.Birkett, who was previously in charge of the...
View ArticleSEP powers up Smart Grid Solutions with £3m funds
Investment firm Scottish Equity Partners has led a £3 million funding round in Smarter Grid Solutions (SGS) to help the Glasgow-based company take its electricity network technology to Europe and North...
View ArticleKeltic Seafare nets HSBC deal to grow its exports
A SCOTS shellfish company that supplies Michelin-starred restaurants in London has sealed a financing deal with banking giant HSBC to drive its sales in France, Hong Kong and Spain.Dingwall-based...
View ArticleTUI Travel in merger talks with German parent
German travel and shipping giant TUI has proposed an all-share merger with its majority-owned British business to cut costs and strengthen its focus on tourism.Sources said TUI’s main shareholders were...
View ArticleClydesdale tight-lipped on talk of parent NAB spinning off UK arm
National Australia Bank (NAB) could boost its market value by up to A$4.5 billion (£3bn) by spinning off its loss-making Clydesdale division as a separately-listed entity, analysts have claimed.The...
View ArticleComment: Drawing a line under PPI and moving on is wise
DAMNED if they do, damned if they don’t: that is the choice facing regulators as they deliberate whether to bring down the curtain on the multi-billion-pound stream of claims for the mis-selling of...
View ArticleGlasgow games firm seals Italian deal
A GAMES developer based in Glasgow has been chosen by Italian film and TV production company Rainbow to make a mobile phone “virtual world” game based on a TV series aimed at young girls. Tsumanga...
View ArticleTennent’s puts in ‘solid’ showing as higher prices offset sales drop
Higher pricing boosted revenues at Tennent’s during the nine months to the end of November, even though the amount of lager sold by Scotland’s best-selling brand continued to decline.Tennent’s, which...
View ArticleDarina Kerr: The high street must adapt or lose out to the i-street
THE fall of yet another iconic British retailer, HMV, does little to assuage fears that the high street in its current form is in terminal decline. The statistics are bleak. According to a survey by...
View ArticleBaillie Gifford sees assets rise
ASSETS managed by Edinburgh-based Baillie Gifford rose to £85 billion at 31 December, compared with £69.9bn a year earlier, according to figures released yesterday.But the partnership refused to...
View ArticleSupermarket sales help Thorntons post sweeter numbers
A LEAP in sales of chocolate boxes through supermarkets has helped Thorntons avoid a repeat of its previous year’s dismal Christmas performance.The group told investors yesterday that its “commercial”...
View ArticleBig buyers ‘moving into finishing cattle’
A PREDICTION that between 20 and 30 per cent of beef production will in future be owned by either major retailers or by large meat processing plants was made yesterday by Colin Clark, who said that...
View ArticleFarming: Lyon issues challenge over sow stalls ban
Tonio Borg, the new European Union food commissioner, was yesterday challenged by Scottish MEP George Lyon to take action against those member states that have failed to comply with the ban on sow...
View ArticleScottish Business Briefing - Thursday 17 January, 2013
WELCOME to scotsman.com’s Scottish Business Briefing. Every morning we bring you a comprehensive round-up of all news affecting business in Scotland today. BANKINGClydesdale tight-lipped on talk of...
View ArticleWood Group secures $50m North Sea contract from Nexen
Oil services firm Wood Group has won a $50 million (£31.2m) contract from Nexen Petroleum to carry out work on the Golden Eagle field development in the North Sea.The Aberdeen-based group said its PSN...
View ArticleComet’s demise and tablet demand boost Dixons sales
THE parent company of Currys and PC World has delivered a stronger-than-expected surge in Christmas sales, boosted by “phenomenal” demand for tablet computers and the failure of rival Comet.Dixons...
View ArticleArgos sales recovery driven by mobile click and collect
ARGOS’S digital makeover appeared to be paying off today as the catalogue chain turned a new page, announcing solid Christmas trading figures.Owner Home Retail Group said the chain grew sales by 1.6...
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