Comment: The funding is there, but where is the lending?
Unveiled to great fanfare last year, the £80 billion Funding for Lending scheme (FLS) would appear to be having little impact in persuading cash-strapped firms to take up the cheap loans on offer.The...
View ArticleRBS winds down M&A division
Royal Bank of Scotland is winding down its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) division after failing to secure a buyer for the business.The state-backed lender decided to exit the M&A arena a year...
View ArticleWarning of further woes for hard-pressed potato growers
With the worst harvesting period in the past 30 years still fresh in their memories, and with poor prices for the crop they did lift, growers might let the 2013 potato acreage in Great Britain fall by...
View ArticleEU ban on pesticide threat to bees
The European Commission moved this week to restrict the usage of a chemical which has been linked to the demise of bees. The move follows a report last week from the European Food Safety Authority...
View ArticleSupermarket giant axes contracts after horsemeat burger scare
The UK’s largest food retailer, Tesco yesterday confirmed that it had severed supply ties with ABP’s Silvercrest meat plant following the “horse meat in burgers” scandal.The decision was announced by...
View ArticleLending to firms shrinks by £2.1bn in December as FLS falters
The Bank of England’s flagship scheme to increase the flow of credit to companies has come under renewed fire after figures yesterday showed lending continued to shrink last month.The Bank said net...
View ArticleSky’s profits rise
BSkyB unveiled a jump in profits yesterday as customers signed up to an increasingly wide range of products with the broadcaster.The group reported an 8 per cent rise in operating profits to £647...
View ArticleScottish Business Briefing - Thursday 31 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. ECONOMICSGrim times ahead as 25 Scots firms...
View ArticleFacebook beats expectations thanks to mobile advertising
Facebook beat Wall Street expectations for its financial fourth quarter with a 40 per cent jump in revenues to $1.6 billion (£1bn).The company doubled its sales of advertising aimed at customers...
View ArticleMarkets: Petrofac recovers some lost ground
Shares in oilfield services firm Petrofac recovered slightly this morning after yesterday’s downgrade to forecast profits by European peer Saipem. Petrofac had been down 7 per cent in Wednesday’s...
View ArticleMarkets: FTSE enjoys best January since 1989
London’s blue chip FTSE 100 index enjoyed its best January for 24 years despite ending the month with a disappointing session.The top flight has risen by more than 6 per cent – or 379 points – since...
View ArticleSSE warms investors with dividend forecast
Scottish Hydro-owner SSE cheered investors yesterday with the offer of an inflation-busting dividend hike. The Perth-based company said it expects to see its full-year profits rise by up to 5 per cent...
View ArticleBanks face £1bn bill over swap sales
BANKS are under pressure to move quickly and compensate firms after the City watchdog found that more than 90 per cent of complex interest rate insurance products had been mis-sold.The banks are now...
View ArticleShell fails to light up City despite £17bn profit haul
Oil major Shell has disappointed the City despite racking up profits of more than $27 billion (£17.1bn) for 2012.The latest haul, which continues to reflect the strength of global oil prices, was 6 per...
View ArticleSantander float unlikely in 2013
Santander’s UK arm yesterday said a stock market flotation was unlikely until next year or 2015 as it reported a dip in annual profits.The Spanish bank was forced to shelve plans to float the UK unit...
View ArticleFarming: 2012 a disastrous year for Scottish farms
Rising costs, bad weather and a swing in the exchange rate knocked £111 million off Scottish farm incomes last year according to figures released yesterday by the Scottish Government.At £635m, total...
View ArticleOgilvie Fleet puts foot down in province
Ogilvie Fleet plans to triple the size of its already flourishing Northern Ireland business thanks to a £2.5 million investment.The Stirling-headquartered vehicle leasing and fleet management company...
View ArticleBusiness news in brief: Montagu Evans | Capital Document Solutions | Babcock...
THE government-backed Green Investment Bank has confirmed that it will take 27,000 sq ft of the seventh floor of the Atria development, the new “Grade A” office block neighbouring the Edinburgh...
View ArticleBrewin Dolphin sparks mixed analyst reviews
Wealth manager Brewin Dolphin saw its income hit 5 per cent in its first quarter, ahead of new rules preventing the sale of financial products which provide ongoing commission to advisers under the...
View ArticleHealey dynasty seals £250m wind farm deal
THE family who pulled off Britain’s biggest property deal will today seal a £250 million agreement to buy a wind farm developer from private equity firm HgCapital.Blue Energy – which is owned by Mark...
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