Scottish Business Briefing - Wednesday September 1, 2010

Published on Wednesday 1 September 2010 09:53

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

Scottish Life owner warns of challenges still to come

Royal London, the owner of Scottish Life and Britain's biggest mutual insurer, has booked a 3 per cent rise in operating profits, but warned of a "challenging" outlook (Scotsman). Stripping out the performance of investment markets, profits rose to 111 million in the six months to the end of June from 108m in the same period last year.

Read all today's banking news from scotsman.com

ECONOMY

Wiseman staff ready to milk rewards of 3m sharesave programme

More than 400 staff at Robert Wiseman Dairies will share a 3 million gain when a sharesave scheme matures today, after a surge in the East Kilbride-based company's share price (Herald). Staff at Wiseman have had the opportunity, under this scheme, to save between 50 and 250 every month over a five-year period to buy shares at a price of 196p which was set when the savings plan started in 2005.

Read all today's economics news from scotsman.com

FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE

Scottish salmon farming giant sees profits leap

Strong demand in the first half helped Oslo-listed Scottish Salmon Company (SCC), previously Lighthouse Caledonia, to post a leap in profits. Scotland's salmon farms have benefited from the collapse of production in Chile, where disease forced the closure of farms and created a vacuum in the international market (Scotsman).

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

INDUSTRY

Dawson shares slide as sales fall but firm confident of Christmas rebound

SHARES in Dawson International fell by almost 6 per cent yesterday after the cashmere group warned that full-year operating profits will drop below last year's 2 million due to rising commodity prices (Scotsman). Chief executive Andy Bartmess said the hike in cashmere goat's wool and cotton was taking its toll on margins because the Kinross-based business had been unable to pass all of the costs onto its customers.

Scots firm faces years of uncertainty over EU inquiry into its key market

ONE of Scotland's biggest industrial firms yesterday admitted that a Brussels investigation into pricing practices in one of its key markets could overhang it "for years, not months" and influence how people view the group (Scotsman). It came as Greenock-based British Polythene Industries (BPI) posted resilient interim results despite "very challenging markets", but said it had nothing to currently add about the EU inquiry divulged in May.

Read all today's industry news from scotsman.com

PERSONAL FINANCE

Bungalows see biggest price rises

People who own bungalows have seen the value of their property rise more than any other kind of home over the past year, according to a new study (BBC). The Bank of Scotland report found bungalows rose in value by 8%, from an average of 166,000 to 178,000. Detached properties also fared better than semi-detached and terraced homes, which both saw falls in the average price for the same period.

Read all today's personal finance news from scotsman.com

Entrepreneur

Be inspired and communicate with other Scottish entrepreneursat http://entrepreneur.scotsman.com. Features includeupdates from The Scotsman's Executive Editor Bill Jamieson, a diary of forthcoming company announcements and networking events and videoadvice on how to succeed with your new business start-up.