Scottish Business Briefing - Wednesday 4 April, 2012
ENERGY & UTILITIES
Cairn pays £280m for Norwegian oil firm
OIL explorer Cairn Energy unveiled a $450 million (£280m) acquisition of Agora Oil & Gas to boost its drilling activity in Britain and Norway and reduce its exposure to high risk activities on Tuesday (Scotsman).
FOOD, DRINK & AGRICULTURE
Dean’s of Huntly enjoys a 10% sales growth
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Hide AdSHORTBREAD maker Dean’s Of Huntly has grown sales by almost 10% from £6.3 million to £6.92m. The company, which also makes biscuits and oatcakes, said its focus on the premium end of the market had helped pre-tax profits go from £537,117 to £587,308 (Herald)
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Strathmore Foods hit by rising costs
STRATHMORE Foods has seen profits more than halve due to rising ingredient costs. The Forfar business saw turnover rise 3% from £11.3 million to £11.6m in the 12 months to June 30, 2011, despite cutting back on products with poor margins (Herald)
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INDUSTRY
Murray warns of slow recovery as MIH takes £59m hit on Rangers exit
SIR David Murray’s dwindling business empire revealed that it took a final £59 million hit on the sale of Rangers Football Club as he insisted that the group had made “good progress” in its last financial year (Scotsman).
MANAGEMENT
Board hits back in heated row over running of Alliance Trust
THE board of the beleaguered Alliance Trust has hit back at activist investors, labelling efforts to oust its chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox as “disappointing” and a “waste of money” (Scotsman).
MEDIA & LEISURE
Unst businesses benefit from injection of cash
A pair of firms on the most northerly island in the UK have invested nearly £200,000 between them in response to the area’s growing tourism industry (P&J).