Scottish Financial Review

Edinburgh-based accounting software firm FreeAgent said its shares floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. FreeAgent said it raised £10.7…

Royal Dutch Shell announced it will close its Glasgow finance operations office by the end of the first quarter in 2018. It said about 380 remaining staff at the…

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that another year of lower upstream oil investment in 2017 would create a risk of a shortfall in…

Virgin Trains said it has seen a surge in cross-border rail travel after investing in 42 new services connecting Edinburgh to Newcastle and London. It…

Glasgow-based international mobile power provider Aggreko said in a trading update that it expects its 2016 full year results to be broadly in line with current market…

The UK Government should announce an immediate stimulus of 1.25% of GDP in the Autumn Statement, according to a new paper from Edinburgh-based investment giant Standard Life…

Shares of Edinburgh-based tidal power company Atlantis Resources rose about 8% after it said that first power had been produced from the MeyGen site in the…

Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup said its revenue rose 5.1% to £2.56 billion in the six months to September 30 but adjusted profit before tax fell 2.2%…

About £17.6 billion will be spent on offshore oil and gas decommissioning on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) between now and 2025, according to a new report from trade…

Aberdeen-based oil and gas services giant Wood Group said it was awarded a $40 million contract by ExxonMobil Chemical to provide main automation contractor services for…

Edinburgh-based insurance and investment giant Standard Life said India’s insurance watchdog had “expressed reservations” about accepting the current terms for the purchase of Max Life Insurance by Standard Life’s Indian joint…

(Updated) — A new report from PwC on the oilfield services (OFS) sector predicts an “uneven” recovery that could see oil prices reach a “robust” $60-$70…

The outlook for global sovereign ratings for the coming 12 to 18 months is negative, Moody’s Investors Service said in its annual Global Sovereign Outlook….

Scotland’s private sector grew for a second successive month in October — but the expansion was slower as output growth weakened and new business levels…

Forth Ports and Augean North Sea Services (ANSS) announced a partnership that will bring a new decommissioning waste management facility to the Port of Dundee. Forth Ports…

Johnston Press — owner of The Scotsman, the i newspaper and the Yorkshire Post — said it is in late stage discussions with Cambridge-based Iliffe…

Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Howard Davies told ITV it would be “damaging” for the British economy and financial services industry if the UK’s Brexit process does not…

Glasgow Airport reported its busiest October ever as 884,350 passengers travelled through the airport’s doors last month — an annual increase of 5.7%. International traffic in October rose 8.3%…

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has withdrawn the prestigious Edinburgh office block Saltire Court from the market after offers fell short of the £69 million asking price,…

Risk capital investment in early stage companies in Scotland was up 70% to £430 million in 2015, according to the Scottish Investment Bank’s annual risk capital…

Edinburgh Airport said it had 1,129,720 passengers in October — making it the busiest October ever at a Scottish Airport. Edinburgh Airport, owned by Global Infrastructre Partners —…

Shares of Glasgow-based sausage skin and collagen products company Devro fell about 20% after it warned investors that “based on current trends, sales volumes in…

Johnston Press — owner of The Scotsman, the i newspaper and the Yorkshire Post — said its group revenues year-on-year were down 5.1% for the 17…

Edinburgh-based asset management giant Standard Life Investments (SLI) has told clients that Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory introduces “significant uncertainty to the outlook for government…

Aberdeen-based Siccar Point Energy said it will acquire the North Sea assets of Austria’s OMV AG for up to $1 billion. Siccar Point said the purchase of…

Aberdeen-based mechanical engineering group EnerMech said its cranes and lifting division has secured international contract wins, extensions and renewals worth at least £85 million. In Azerbaijan, BP Exploration…

Perth-based energy giant SSE said its adjusted profit before tax fell 13.3% to £475.8 million in the six months to September 30 compared to the same…

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said many people in America and across the world will “feel a real sense of anxiety” after Donald Trump won…

Edinburgh-based Tesco Bank said 9,000 customers were affected by the fraudulent transactions that hit the bank last weekend and that all customers affected were fully reimbursed by…

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that the Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC — Scotland’s most senior law officer — will lodge a formal application to…

Baillie Gifford’s flagship £4.7 billion equity closed-end fund — the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust — said both its net asset value (NAV) and share price rose 25% on a…

Royal Bank of Scotland said it will set up a £400 million complaints and refund scheme for customers who allege they were mistreated by its “global restructuring group” small…

Scotland’s deputy First Minister John Swinney said the UK Government’s decision to reduce Scotland’s defence estate by 20% is a “huge blow for the country.” The Scottish…

Chevron North Sea said it finally started production at the Alder high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) gas condensate field in the Central North Sea discovered 41 years ago…

Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) said it raised £260 million for a new venture capital fund called SEP V which was over-subscribed and has closed above target. SEP…

Gas and electricity regulator Ofgem said it accepted legally binding commitments from Perth-based energy giant SSE following a Competition Act investigation into whether SSE’s behaviour could have impeded…

Oil & Gas UK has written to UK Chancellor Philip Hammond asking him to use his Autumn Statement later this month to boost investor confidence…

The chief executive of Edinburgh-based Tesco Bank has confirmed that over the weekend some of its customers’ current accounts were “subject to online criminal activity, in some cases…

Royal London — which includes the former Scottish Life and Scottish Provident businesses — said funds managed by the group have passed £100 billion for the first…

The UK government has announced that work for eight new Type 26 frigates at Glasgow shipyards will start in the summer of 2017, subject to final contract negotiations. UK…

The UK government said it will appeal a decision by the High Court that requires it to obtain UK parliamentary approval before starting the “Article 50” process of…

Souter Investments, the family investment office of Stagecoach Group founder and chairman Brian Souter, said it has generated a net return of 14% per annum since…

The Scottish peer who wrote Article 50 — the procedure by which the UK would leave the EU — told the BBC in an interview…

Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard, said it plans to invest £40 million in a new state-of-the-art facility at its Kilmalid site…

About £700 million of EU funding contracts for structural funds, fisheries and farming projects that are agreed before the UK proposes to leave the EU…

Aberdeen City Council has announced the successful pricing of index linked bonds to raise £370 million to fund investment in the city’s “transformational capital and infrastructure programme.” The…

Evergrande Group, China’s second-largest property developer, has been unveiled as the company that is in early-stage talks to buy Edinburgh-based upmarket home builder Cala Group for up…

The Scottish Government has seized on new research from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) that says UK service exports could be cut…

Glasgow-based housebuilding firm Mactaggart & Mickel Group said its profit before tax rose from £9.8 million to £10.4 million in the year year ending April 30, 2016, while turnover fell slightly from…

Edinburgh-based Standard Life said it completed the acquisition of AXA Portfolio Services — which trades as Elevate — from AXA UK plc following Financial Conduct Authority consent. “The…

Wood Group’s Glasgow-based renewable energy consultancy SgurrEnergy has expanded its operations in Asia by opening an office in Hong Kong. SgurrEnergy said the move will allowing…

Specialist asset manager Gresham House said it will acquire a portfolio of five forests in the west of Scotland for £12.1 million as it announced the first close…

The Central Bank of Ireland said it fined Ulster Bank Ireland DAC, a unit of Royal Bank of Scotland, €3.325 million “in respect of anti-money laundering…

Edinburgh and Newcastle-based challenger bank Virgin Money said its gross mortgage lending rose 19% on the first nine months of 2015 to £6.5 billion, giving it…

Shares of Glasgow-based engineering giant Weir Group fell as much as 6.5% after it said it expects full year 2016 profits to be slightly lower than current market…

A new six-part BBC One documentary focusing on the River Tweed and the people who live and work alongside it will be broadcast from next…

Edinburgh-based accounting software firm FreeAgent has announced plans for a flotation on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in November. FreeAgent said…

The UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) said it attracted 29 applications covering 113 blocks in the latest offshore licensing round which targeted under-explored areas…

Edinburgh-based Standard Life Investments (SLI) has launched a short-dated corporate bond fund to invest predominantly in sterling-denominated corporate bonds with a maturity of less than five years….

Edinburgh and Manhattan-based fantasy sports company FanDuel and its Boston-based rival DraftKings are “finalizing terms of a merger”, according to a report by ESPN. The recent $6…

Scotland’s Wimbledon and Olympic champion Andy Murray has continued his policy of backing early-stage UK businesses as part of his relationship with crowdfunding platform Seedrs. Murray’s latest…

Shareholders of Edinburgh-based upmarket home builder Cala Group have been approached by a potential buyer from China about a possible £600 million takeover, according to a…

Royal Bank of Scotland reported an operating profit before tax of £255 million in the third quarter — but made an attributable loss of £469 million after restructuring costs, litigation and conduct…

Biomedical research at the University of Dundee has received £3.75 million from the Wellcome charitable foundation’s Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF). The funding is for…

The UK Government said it has made further sales of its shares in Lloyds Banking Group, reducing its remaining shareholding to less than 9%. Lloyds Banking…

Royal Bank of Scotland has issued its first polymer note — a £5 note which features illustrations of Scottish poet Nan Shepherd. The £5 is part…

Qualcomm said it will acquire Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors for $110 per share — about $38 billion — in cash. Including debt, the transaction — the biggest-ever…

ScottishPower said it has placed £340 million of contracts to install about five million smart meters across the UK by 2020. Contractors including Amey, LowriBeck,…

The Scottish Government’s transport minister Humza Yousaf has called for full devolution of Network Rail operations in Scotland after a review by EY highlighted weaknesses in Network…

Biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is to work in collaboration with NHS Scotland, Scottish Universities and the Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre to create a ground-breaking initiative in genomic…