Scottish Business Briefing - Friday April 29, 2011

Published on Friday 29 April 2011 09:58

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 & INSURANCE

Corporate pensions drive sales at Standard Life

LIFE and pensions giant Standard Life unveiled sales figures for the first quarter "well ahead of expectations" as the Edinburgh-based firm saw healthy take-up of corporate pensions (Scotsman).

Read all today's banking news from scotsman.com

ENERGY & UTILITIES

Shell may have to sell North Sea assets after tax raid

ROYAL Dutch Shell warned yesterday that it may have to sell some assets in the North Sea and reduce investment in the region because of the Chancellor's tax raid and higher industry decommissioning costs in the Budget (BBC).

Total gas plan for Shetland moves

Work has started to pipe the first commercial gas from the west of Shetland to the Scottish mainland (BBC).

Read all today's energy and utilities news from scotsman.com

FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE

Beef price rises are not all good news for producers

RECENT increases in the price paid to beef producers may give the idea that all is well in the red meat sector. Not so, according to one of Scotland's beef lobby organizations (Scotsman).

Read all today's food, drink and agriculture news from scotsman.com

MEDIA & LEISURE

Premier Inns and Costa set for major expansion

WHITBREAD yesterday set out ambitious plans for 50 per cent more Premier Inn rooms in the UK despite the group forecasting a very slow recovery in consumer confidence (Scotsman).

Read all today's media and leisure news from scotsman.com

TRANSPORT

Stagecoach shares surge on strength of revenue growth

SHARES in Stagecoach jumped 4.4% yesterday – adding about 75m to the Perth-based bus and rail group's stock market worth – as the City expressed delight at revenue growth across all divisions (Herald).

Read all today's transport news from scotsman.com