Centrica profits boosted by oil and gas production
INCREASING returns from oil and gas production helped Scottish Gas owner Centrica post a 14 per cent rise in operating profits following last year’s record £2 billion investment in North Sea and other...
View ArticleSLI reveals how it forced changes on board policies
STANDARD Life Investments (SLI) has lifted the lid on the pressures it applied on the boards of companies such as Aviva, Barclays and Vedanta. The company, which manages £163.4 billion in assets...
View ArticleWave energy trio net £21m
THREE wave power developers have secured more than £21 million in grants to demonstrate how their technology can work on larger scales.MeyGen, which is working in the Pentland Firth, and SeaGeneration...
View ArticleITV ‘stronger and more balanced’
DOWNTON Abbey and Britain’s Got Talent helped ITV post higher profits as the resurgence of its studios business helped overcome a flat advertising market. Chief executive Adam Crozier said ITV was...
View ArticleStandard’s £83m Newton swoop
STANDARD Life Wealth, the discretionary fund manager owned by the Edinburgh insurance giant, yesterday confirmed an £83.5 million deal to acquire the private client division of Newton Management.The...
View ArticleFish firm’s legal action over feed
THE Scottish Salmon Company (SSC) yesterday revealed that it is taking legal action after “sub-standard feed” hit its fish growth and survival rates, wiping £1.7 million off its 2012 profits.The...
View ArticleScottish hotels sold as US group makes £360m swoop for Principal
Principal Hayley, the hotel group behind The George in Edinburgh and Glasgow’s Grand Central, has been sold to a US private equity firm in a deal believed to be worth £360 million.Property specialist...
View ArticleRyanair to go to court for Aer Lingus merger
RYANAIR has vowed to fight in court a rejection by European officials of its renewed takeover bid for Irish rival Aer Lingus, branding the ruling politically motivated.The low-cost carrier said the...
View ArticleExporters hope to beef up sales in Middle East market
Scottish farmers hoping to target new markets in the Middle East saw Scotch beef as the centrepice of a menu celebrating the best of Scottish produce in Dubai last night.The debut for Scotch beef in...
View ArticleVictory in war to control bracken
Scottish farming leaders yesterday welcomed a breakthrough which will allow landowners to use the main bracken control product, Asulam, this year.The weedkiller was banned in 2011 by the European Union...
View ArticleRBS to pay £607m in bonuses as losses widen
Royal Bank of Scotland has reported a steep rise in annual losses but said its staff would receive bonuses of £607 million for 2012.The taxpayer-backed group posted a pre-tax loss of £5.2 billion for...
View ArticleBridge hails ‘transformational’ fourth quarter
Oil and gas explorer Bridge Energy today said the final three months of 2012 was a “transformational” period for the company, with three oil discoveries in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.The...
View ArticleSpanish woes drag BA owner into the red
British Airways parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) has slumped to a loss of almost €1 billion (£865 million) as it battles to turn around troubled Spanish carrier Iberia.The group said...
View ArticleScottish Business Briefing - Thursday 28 February, 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. BANKING AND INSURANCE£1 billion Esure...
View ArticleGenius buys Finsbury’s gluten-free business for £21m
Edinburgh-based Genius Foods, which specialises in gluten-free breads and cakes, has paid £21 million for Finsbury Food Group’s Free From business.Finsbury said the Free From division, which comprises...
View ArticleFTSE 100 seals ninth monthly gain
the FTSE 100 ended the month on a high note as traders forgot about Italy’s woes and focused on further evidence of economic recovery in the US.The index added 34.9 points at 6,360.8, finishing up 1.3...
View ArticleMPs name HBOS report review team
Former building society chiefs Stuart Bernau and Iain Cornish have been drafted in by a committee of MPs to review the City watchdog’s forthcoming report into the failure of HBOS.Bernau, the former...
View ArticleBattery ban boosts Glenrath
GLENRATH Farms, the UK’s largest producer of free-range eggs, has enjoyed bumper profits on the back of a ban on battery production.The family-owned company said that the price of lower grades of eggs...
View ArticleShareholders poised for maiden Direct Line dividend
Direct Line, which was spun out from Royal Bank of Scotland last year, is to pay shareholders a maiden dividend of 8p per share after reporting better-than-expected profits for 2012.Chief executive...
View ArticleVirgin Atlantic names domestic service Little Red
VIRGIN Atlantic’s first domestic flights service connecting Scotland and Manchester to London Heathrow will be known as Little Red.Sir Richard Branson’s airline will start four-times-a-day Manchester...
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