Scottish Business Briefing - Tuesday 12 February, 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.

BANKING

Barclays axes jobs as profits slump

Banking giant Barclays today said it was axing at least 3,700 jobs under a strategic overhaul after compensation claims relating to mis-selling contributed to a dramatic slump in profits. Despite a plunge in pre-tax profits to £246 million in 2012, from £5.9 billion the previous year, the group revealed it was paying £1.85bn in bonuses to staff (Scotsman).

ENERGY & UTILITIES

Wood Group wins Norwegian platform contract

ENERGY services heavyweight Wood Group has won an engineering contract, believed to be worth more than $50 million (£31.8m), to design an offshore oil and gas platform in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea (Scotsman).

Faroe keen to compete for North Sea oil assets

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THE chief executive of Faroe Petroleum has said he remains enthusiastic for UK North Sea deals in spite of fierce competition for assets. Graham Stewart told The Herald the company still wants to buy UK producing interests after missing out on a number of targets that it bid for last year (Herald).

Proserv grabs brace of North Sea deals

OIL and gas technology firm Proserv has picked up two deals worth more than £15 million to install communication and control systems in the North Sea. The Aberdeenshire company said Abu Dhabi’s national oil company, Taqa, had chosen it to supply a high-speed data network to control three wells near its Tern platform off Shetland. Westhill-based Proserv will also provide a fibre-optic communications system for wells operated by an undisclosed firm (Scotsman).

FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE

Thistle Pubs company put up for sale

A SCOTTISH pub company which operates seven outlets across central Scotland has put itself up for sale. The Thistle Pubs Company III was set up in 2006 under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) which offered tax breaks to investors in return for backing smaller companies (Scotsman).

TECHNOLOGY

California group Corsair buys up Simple Audio

An ambitious Scottish audio company backed by the Scottish Investment Bank and in its first year of product sales has been sold to a Californian computer hardware group. Simple Audio, founded five years ago in Cathcart, has developed a networked HD music streaming system which sells below the £1000 level at which Linn products begin (Herald).

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