Wednesday business round-up: Five key stories of the day

Aquamarine said it needed new private sector funding as it called in administrators from BDO

Renewable energy firm Aquamarine Power called in administrators to manage the business and seek a sale or fresh investment. BDO business restructuring partners James Stephen and Graham Newton were appointed joint administrators and will now take over the running of the firm, which will continue to trade with all 14 employees retained.

David Duffy, chief executive of Clydesdale Bank, insisted the Glasgow-based lender has an “exciting future” ahead of it as plans take shape for its spin-off next year. The bank, which is to be floated off by parent National Australia Bank in February, reported cash earnings of £156 million for the year to the end of September, down from £158m a year earlier.

Lloyds Banking Group revealed the total amount set aside to compensate customers mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) has reached almost £14 billion after taking a further provision of £500m in the third quarter. The update came as the lender posted an 8 per cent fall in quarterly underlying pre-tax profit to £2bn compared with a year ago.

Standard Life said it had overcome “volatile” markets to deliver a rise in assets under administration. The Edinburgh-based life and pensions firm reported assets of £301.9bn for the three months to the end of September, up from £290bn a year earlier and ahead of City forecasts.

Volkswagen posted a third-quarter loss of €3.5bn (£2.5bn) due to the cost of the diesel emissions scandal. The German car maker said it has set aside €6.7bn to deal with the controversy over its installation of software designed to cheat emissions tests.