Scottish Business Briefing - Tuesday 10 May, 2011

Published on Tuesday 10 May 2011 09:38

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

RBS ends PPI resistance as last of the banking dominos fall

THE first mea culpa came even before the markets opened. Following media speculation over the weekend, Barclays published a notice at 6am that it was throwing in the towel and giving up its appeal against the latest mis-selling scandal to engulf the already vilified banking market (Scotsman).

Read all today's banking news from scotsman.com

ECONOMY

Blanchflower says interest rates will remain below 1%

INTEREST rates may have to be held at 1 per cent or below for up to five years as the risk of deflation and a significant period of low growth threaten the economy, former Bank of England maverick David Blanchflower warned yesterday (Scotsman)

Read all today's economics news from scotsman.com

MEDIA & LEISURE

Buccleuch Estates is still in the red but shade a little lighter

"We're all in this together" might be a fitting motto for the Buccleuch Estates after another challenging year for Scotland's second-largest landowner. Re-structuring and slimdown have helped results but the group still ended 2010 in the red, albeit a paler shade of crimson (Scotsman).

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

TECHNOLOGY

Profits up at Axios following cuts to wage bill

Axios Systems, the Scottish software developer, has posted a 2 million-plus increase in profits, driven largely by overseas contract wins and hefty cuts in its wage bill, the company's latest accounts reveal (Herald).

Rocela profits soar on record growth

PROFITS at Edinburgh-based IT firm Rocela have more than doubled after a further year of record revenue growth. Turnover in the year to 30 November jumped by 45 per cent to 29.1 million, leading to pre-tax profits rising to 547,000 from 222,000 (Scotsman).

Read all today's technology news from scotsman.com

TRANSPORT

Easyjet losses widen as fuel costs rise

Low cost airline Easyjet has said its half year losses have almost doubled because of higher fuel costs and the tough economic environment (BBC).

Read all today's transport news from scotsman.com