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Business
Shares lose £40bn US money printing end threat
THE FTSE 100 saw more than £40 billion or 2.1 per cent wiped off its value today as fears that the US may ease back on money printing, along with weak Chinese data, were compounded by doubts over the UK’s recovery.
1 commentPetroceltic abandons Black Sea well after ‘disappointing’ results
Oil and gas explorer Petroceltic International, which bought Edinburgh-based Melrose Resources last year, has abandoned an exploration well off the Bulgarian coast after it failed to find enough gas to justify commercial production.
3i offers to buy Barclays’ infrastructure fund management business
Private equity firm 3i has made an irrevocable offer to buy the European infrastructure fund management business run by Barclays Bank as it seeks to boost its fee income.
Scottish Business Briefing – Friday 24 May, 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.
Glasgow store in ‘fine form’ as John Lewis sales rise 8.8%
Department store group John Lewis has reported an 8.8 per cent increase in sales last week, with its Glasgow store among its best performers.
Banking
JP Morgan Chase receives £3m fine for poor records
BRITAIN’S new financial regulator has slapped a £3.08 million fine on a wealth management unit of American banking giant JP Morgan Chase for not having records to show it was giving clients good advice.
New bank Aldermore offers mortgages in Scotland
CHALLENGER bank Aldermore is to offer mortgages to Scottish customers next month as the housing market shows signs of “renewed confidence”.
Lloyds raises £450m by selling down St James’s Place stake
Taxpayer-backed lender Lloyds Banking Group has raised about £450 million by selling a further stake in wealth manager St James’s Place.
IMF calls for swift Lloyds and RBS sale
THE Treasury edged closer to an exit from Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland today after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) called for a swift sale of its stakes and Britain’s new banking watchdog backed plans to shore up the pair’s capital buffers.
3 commentsFirst-time buyers lift Nationwide
Nationwide has grabbed a record share of the mortgage market after seeing a big rise in the number of first-time buyers joining the property ladder.
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Insurance
Royal Londoners vote on £219m Co-op deal
VOTING among over 500,000 members of Royal London is under way on its £219 million deal to acquire parts of the Co-operative Banking Group.
Headhunters seek new finance chief for Standard Life
STANDARD Life has appointed international recruitment specialist JCA Group to search for a chief financial officer following the departure last month of Jackie Hunt.
Prudential fights off shareholder rebellion on pay
INSURANCE giant Prudential defused a shareholder rebellion on pay at yesterday’s annual general meeting, but directors had to suffer being accused of corporate greed from the floor.
Standard Life leads protests over divi cut at RSA’s AGM
STANDARD Life Investments (SLI) led the protests at fellow institutional investor RSA’s annual general meeting (AGM) yesterday as shareholders rebelled over the dividend being slashed by a third and concerns regarding the auditor’s appointment.
Standard Life AGM: Pay deals defended by Grimstone
STANDARD Life chairman Gerry Grimstone was forced into a robust defence of the company’s pay policy yesterday as shareholders expressed concern at poor returns on some policies.
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Economics
Comment: Flybe blame-game goes beyond Gatwick
THERE have been many disputes between airlines and airports over fees, but rarely have they hit the sort of heights that led Flybe to pull out of Gatwick.
Next Chancellor must cut deeply, economists warn
WHOEVER wins the next general election will have to make deeper public sector cuts in order to avoid a “financial crisis” in which international money markets lose confidence in Britain, economists will warn today.
5 comments
Comment: Need to do more than beat drum for exports
EVER since the onset of recession, we’ve heard near constant clamour for the need to “rebalance” the economy towards trade rather than consumption.
MPC remained split over call to raise QE
Outgoing Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King was outvoted again in his call for more monetary stimulus this month, it was revealed today.
1 comment
Mark Carney may benefit from easing of inflation
ECONOMISTS believe incoming Bank of England governor Mark Carney will have room to print further money or copy Japan’s more radical “Abenomics” after inflation fell to a seven-month low last month.
1 comment
Energy and Utilities
Parkmead in £14.5 million swoop for rival
Parkmead chief executive Tom Cross hailed the firm’s most important deal to date today as he snapped up North Sea minnow Lochard Energy for less than its market value.
Wood Group clinches five-year Gulf of Mexico deal
WOOD Group has won a five-year contract to support deepwater oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Bowleven hails success of Cameroon well tests
SHARES in Africa-focused oil and gas explorer Bowleven rose yesterday after the latest positive update from its test well off the coast of Cameroon.
SSE’s Ian Marchant wants end to ‘interventionitis’
OUTGOING SSE chief executive Ian Marchant today launched a final broadside against the growing culture of “interventionitis” that is engulfing the UK’s energy sector.
4 commentsBusiness briefs: Shell | Johnston Press | Wood Group
Plans to redevelop the Shell Centre on London’s South Bank have been approved, developers have said.
Retail
House of Fraser hails internet shopping boom
Department store chain House of Fraser, owner of Edinburgh institution Jenners, has delivered record sales and profits, driven by the boom in internet shopping.
Business briefing: SABMiller | DMTG | Asda
SABMiller, the world’s second-biggest brewer, said margins would improve in the year ahead after strong growth in Africa and Latin America kept profits on track.
Tesco sets out bonus challenge
Bosses at Tesco will not receive a bonus this year unless they can reverse a decline in profits, the UK’s largest supermarket said in its annual report.
Halfords slashes dividend as profits tumble 22%
Car parts and cycles retailer Halfords has unveiled a three-year strategy to boost its sales after unveiling a 22 per cent plunge in annual profits.
1 commentMothercare trims UK losses as sales slowdown eases
Baby accessories retailer Mothercare today insisted its business was on a “firmer footing” after closing 56 loss-making stores during the past year.
Food, Drink and Agriculture
£80m to spend on that ‘special occasion’ meal
PUBS group Mitchells & Butlers yesterday unveiled an £80 million investment cocktail targeting special occasion eating, family dining and “upmarket” metropolitan socialising.
AG Barr ‘positive’ despite Britvic jobs axe
Irn-Bru maker AG Barr has insisted that it “remains positive” over its planned £1.4 billion merger with Britvic, which today unveiled plans to cut hundreds of jobs after reporting a 50 per cent jump in profits.
2 commentsFor dairy producers, size does matter
With a public sympathy for small family dairy farms, a suggestion was made yesterday that some method of keeping them in business – possibly with financial inducements – should be considered.
Farm wage plans welcomed
NFU Scotland yesterday described the proposed increases in minimum agricultural wages as “proportionate and reflective of the hugely challenging year faced by the sector”.
London blocks calls for livestock levy repatriation
The prospect of Scotland getting its hands on £1.4 million of livestock levies annually going into the English meat promotion board slipped away this week with Whitehall rejecting the Scottish Government’s latest claim to the cash.
Transport
Comment: Flybe blame-game goes beyond Gatwick
THERE have been many disputes between airlines and airports over fees, but rarely have they hit the sort of heights that led Flybe to pull out of Gatwick.
Flybe blames ‘penalistic’ charges as it sells Gatwick slots to EasyJet for £20m
Regional airline Flybe has unveiled plans to pull out of Gatwick airport by selling its 25 pairs of landing and departure slots to EasyJet for £20 million.
Ford closes Australian vehicle factories
CAR maker Ford yesterday unveiled plans to close its two factories in Australia with the loss of 1,200 jobs.
Vertu grabs £31m Land Rover franchise
Acquisitive car dealer Vertu Motors is seeking further deals after agreeing to buy the Co-operative Group’s Land Rover franchise for £31 million in cash.
Comment: First’s fall leaves work to do
The news from FirstGroup yesterday confirmed investors’ worst fears and set the tone for a sharp fall in the transport company’s share price. How the mighty are fallen.
1 comment
Industry
Second Cygnus order secures 320 Bifab jobs
Burntisland Fabrication (BiFab) has won a second big contract from French utility GDF Suez to help build its Cygnus gas field in the North Sea.
Tata Steel posts £840m loss
INDIA’S Tata Steel plunged into the red last year with losses of £840 million after writing £1 billion off the value of its European arm, which employs 18,500 people in the UK.
Business briefs: AGR Aberdeen | Clintec | John Menzies | IoD
AGR Petroleum Services, the Aberdeen-based operations of Norwegian well management firm AGR, has won an £18 million contract from Genel Energy covering ten wells in north and west Africa.
Jobs go as electricals unit closure costs Mitie £22m
OUTSOURCING specialist Mitie yesterday revealed that closing down its mechanical and electrical (M&E) engineering contracts arm will cost it £22.1 million.
Superglass shareholders back £12.9m survival plan
Superglass, the Stirling-based insulation materials company, today won shareholder backing for a survival plan which will see it raise £12.9 million and significantly reduce its debts.
Technology
Broadcaster Rob Woodward joins Regenersis boar
STV chief executive Rob Woodward is to join the board of gadget repairer Regenersis, one of the largest employers in Scotland’s electronics industry.
Omega Diagnostics launches £4m fundraising drive
Medical testing-kit maker Omega Diagnostics has launched a £4 million fundraising to develop its suite of products.
Sony to consider entertainment spin-off
Japanese electronics giant Sony is to consider a partial spin-off of its films and music division after trimming its sales targets for cameras, smartphones and tablet computers.
Interflora wins trademark dispute over M&S adverts
Marks & Spencer has lost a long-running trademark dispute with flower delivery network Interflora.
Vodafone keeps Verizon dividend as profits dip
Mobile phone giant Vodafone has unveiled a dip in annual profits on the back of a plunge in revenues across southern Europe, and said it would keep a £2.1 billion dividend from its US joint venture rather than return it to shareholders.
1 comment
Management
Omega Diagnostics launches £4m fundraising drive
Medical testing-kit maker Omega Diagnostics has launched a £4 million fundraising to develop its suite of products.
Next Chancellor must cut deeply, economists warn
WHOEVER wins the next general election will have to make deeper public sector cuts in order to avoid a “financial crisis” in which international money markets lose confidence in Britain, economists will warn today.
5 commentsTata Steel posts £840m loss
INDIA’S Tata Steel plunged into the red last year with losses of £840 million after writing £1 billion off the value of its European arm, which employs 18,500 people in the UK.
Ford closes Australian vehicle factories
CAR maker Ford yesterday unveiled plans to close its two factories in Australia with the loss of 1,200 jobs.
Comment: Need to do more than beat drum for exports
EVER since the onset of recession, we’ve heard near constant clamour for the need to “rebalance” the economy towards trade rather than consumption.
Market Reports
Markets: Tate & Lyle sweetens blow to market
Tate & Lyle was one of the few risers among yesterday’s market rout as a note previewing interim results next week caught the eye of traders with talk of mergers and acquisitions.
Markets: FTSE edges towards its all-time high
THE Footsie pushed through the 6,800 barrier yesterday to close above its 2000 and 2007 peaks and within 130 points of its all-time high set in December 1999.
Markets: RBS pulls FTSE over pre-crisis peak
The FTSE 100 index edged to its highest close in 12 years yesterday as banks and budget airlines made up for weakness in the mining sector.
Week ahead: Marks & Spencer | Vodafone | FirstGroup
Lower profits will heap more pressure on Marks & Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland this week when the retailer joins Vodafone and FirstGroup in releasing results.
Verizon deal forms backdrop to Vodafone results
VODAFONE’S full-year results are being released on Tuesday amid continued speculation over a deal with its American partner.
Media and Leisure
Broadcaster Rob Woodward joins Regenersis boar
STV chief executive Rob Woodward is to join the board of gadget repairer Regenersis, one of the largest employers in Scotland’s electronics industry.
£80m to spend on that ‘special occasion’ meal
PUBS group Mitchells & Butlers yesterday unveiled an £80 million investment cocktail targeting special occasion eating, family dining and “upmarket” metropolitan socialising.
Business briefs: Shell | Johnston Press | Wood Group
Plans to redevelop the Shell Centre on London’s South Bank have been approved, developers have said.
Scotland’s flagging hotel industr’s Easter boost
SCOTTISH mid-market hotels received a substantial revenue boost in March, with Edinburgh and Aberdeen reporting the best performances.
Bowl maker secures backing for exports
LAWN bowls maker Thomas Taylor, which was founded in Glasgow in 1796, has secured a £450,000 funding deal from Bank of Scotland to help it expand in Australia.
Opinion
Bill Jamieson: Banks: emerging from the bottom drawer
It’s bottom-drawer rummage time again. Remember those bank shares that made you wince every time you checked them? The ones with 90 per cent falls that dragged down your investment performance, that paid no dividends and were useful only to mitigate capital gains tax liability?
Farming: Owners of sheep-worrying dogs need bitten
Ben was about the poorest sheepdog around, and I can say that from pretty close observation as he was the shepherd’s dog on my father’s farm.
4 comments
Comment: Changing of guard bodes ill for FirstGroup
THE expected retirement this week of Martin Gilbert as chairman of transport operator FirstGroup follows similar announcements over the last month from Lord Smith at Weir, Sir Win Bischoff at Lloyds Banking Group and Richard Findlay at STV. The guard is clearly changing.
1 comment
Bill Jamieson: Finally, the recovery gains traction
WHAT now unites Alex Salmond, the CBI, Sir Mervyn King, the OECD and the Federation of Small Businesses? It’s the economy, stupid.
3 comments
Comment: Taxing questions for complicit governments
IS YOUR business guilty of “false delocalisation”? That’s the fancy EU jargon for the creative tax avoidance schemes engineered by multinational companies such as Google and Amazon.
1 comment
Personal Finance
Savers squeezed out by low interest rates
THEY pledged to get Britain saving again. In reality they’ve achieved quite the opposite, punishing prudence and removing incentives to save.
Homeowners miss cheaper loan deals
HOMEOWNERS in Scotland are missing out on a golden opportunity to slash costs by failing to take advantage of rock-bottom mortgage rates, it has been claimed.
1 commentOutdated travel insurance can’t cover modern life
TRAVEL insurance policies have failed to move with the times, providing inadequate cover for lost or stolen valuables abroad and potentially leaving holidaymakers hundreds of pounds out of pocket, a report has found.
Scots targeted by cyber crimewave
SCOTS are being targeted by cyber criminals with the power to steal their identities and empty their bank accounts, an influential organisation has warned.
1 commentJane Bradley: French lunch goes fast and furious
QUELLE horreur! A report has revealed that France – that nation of gastronomes – now eats half of all restaurant meals at fast food establishments.
Business Briefing
Scottish Business Briefing – Thursday 23 May, 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.
Scottish Business Briefing – Wednesday 22 May, 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.
Scottish Business Briefing – Tuesday 21 May, 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.
Scottish Business Briefing – Monday 20 May, 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.
Scottish Business Briefing – Friday 17 May, 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.
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Weather for Edinburgh
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 7 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: West
