Scottish Business Briefing – August 12th 2013
FINANCE
MARTIN Currie, the Edinburgh-based money manager, has recorded its first loss in more than 130 years after clients withdrew investments on the back of failings in one of its funds in China. A £7.7 million profit before tax, interest and other items in 2011 turned into a £9.3m loss last year. The statutory profit after tax fell from £1.6m profit to a £12.3m loss.
British banks will be legally obliged to introduce quotas setting out the number of women they will have on their boards from next year, under new rules planned by Europe. The regulations will force major financial institutions to establish figures for females in senior leadership roles. Under the ground-breaking rules, banks will become the first British businesses obliged under regulations to set out targets on gender balance.
ECONOMY
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Hide AdScotland’s private sector growth edged back from the previous month’s high point in July, falling short of the rapid expansion south of the Border. But Bank of Scotland’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI), published today, still shows a healthy level of growth, edging back only slightly from June’s 73-month high of 57.
ENERGY
Scottish Water has announced the completion of a £7m project to upgrade aqueducts supplying water to a quarter of Scotland’s population. The company said it was the biggest improvement to the aqueducts from Loch Katrine since they were constructed more than 150 years ago. Engineers worked on miles of tunnels and 21 bridges along the route to water treatment works near Glasgow.
SCOTSMAN CONFERENCE
The Future of the UK Aerospace Industry, 5 Sept - Prestwick
Full agenda now available. Featuring expert industry speakers including: Scott McLarty of Spirit AeroSystems, Alan Fraser of BAE Systems; Jim Houston of Woodward & Gavin Campbell of Bombardier Aerospace. See The Scotsman Conferences website for more details.
TRANSPORT & INDUSTRY
Contract wins helped offshore services group Sparrows grow profits by 17 per cent last year. The Aberdeen-based firm said earnings before tax and other deductions hit £20.8 million on turnover of £188m, 8 per cent higher than the year before. Sparrows also increased staff numbers from 1,649 at the beginning of 2012 to 1,748 by the end of the year.
MEDIA, TECH & LEISURE
Scotland’s oldest printing and bookbinding firm, Bell & Bain, has won a “significant” contract with an academic publisher after investing in a new high-speed press. The contract with Oxford University Press (OUP) came after the Glasgow-based academic book and journal printer invested in the latest litho colour and digital monochrome printing and binding technology, funded by a £3.4 million asset finance deal with Bank of Scotland.
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