Scottish Financial Review

Edinburgh-based ready meals firm Parsley Box Group plc has proposed the cancellation of its ordinary shares trading on the AIM stock market and the re-registration of the…

Audit Scotland has warned that faster reform of Scotland’s public sector is needed to protect services in the long term. “The Scottish Government is facing…

UK finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Thursday announced a number of tax increases and proposed tighter public spending in his £55 billion Autumn budget plan….

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), a UK government agency, has forecast that living standards in the UK will fall 7% over two years, wiping out eight…

Thurso-based battery cell developer AMTE Power plc announced the appointment of Anita Breslin to its board as chief financial officer (CFO). Breslin will join the AMTE…

SSE plc, the Perth-based electricity infrastructure giant, said on Wednesday it invested almost four times as much as it made in profits in the first half of…

Heart of Midlothian Football Club announced that it has returned to “pre-pandemic levels of financial strength” as it posted an operational profit of £3 million…

BAE Systems said the UK Ministry of Defence has awarded it a £4.2 billion contract to manufacture the next five City Class Type 26 frigates for…

Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) has appointed HSBC’s head of strategy Chirantan Barua to be the next chief executive officer of Scottish Widows and LBG’s wider insurance,…

Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has warned that oil and gas companies risk being “driven out” of investing in UK waters if UK finance minister Jeremy…

A new economic impact assessment by Biggar Economics showed the activities of the University of Dundee supported £1.6 billion Gross Value Added  (GVA) and 16,070…

Abrdn CEO Stephen Bird has responded to allegations that he has an aggressive management style. “What you see is what you get from me,” said Bird…

Aberdeen-based global engineering and consulting giant John Wood Group said it has agreed to settle its legacy lawsuit with Enterprise Products Operating LLC for $115…

The latest Royal Bank of Scotland Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data shows that that contraction across Scotland’s private sector firms deepened during October. The report’s Business…

By Mark McSherry — The half-year report from the £14 billion Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plc is another sobering read from the giant closed-end fund which…

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, Baillie Gifford’s flagship fund, on Friday reported its net asset value per share (NAV) fell almost 18%, with borrowings at book value, for…

Job hiring activity across Scotland fell into decline during October, with both permanent staff appointments and temporary job billings contracting, according to the latest Royal…

By Mark McSherry — Edinburgh-based investment giant Abrdn has led a $28.5 million Series A funding round into Archax, the UK’s first regulated digital securities exchange….

Aberdeen-based North Sea oil and gas producer Ithaca Energy made an unimpressive stock market debut in London on Wednesday as the firm staged the UK’s…

Shares of Aberdeen-based transport giant FirstGroup fell about 9% after it reported its statutory pretax profit plunged to £8.7 million from £516.5 million in the six…

Renfrewshire-based Scottish Leather Group is embarking on a recruitment campaign to help it fulfil its new pipeline of orders from clients including Aston Martin, Jaguar…

Beam Suntory, owner of the Laphroaig, Bowmore and Teacher’s whisky brands, has announced a new partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)…

KPMG’s latest Venture Pulse Survey showed that investments in fast-growth Scottish businesses cooled over the summer. Scotland’s scale up firms attracted £117 million of venture…

Private equity and venture capital firms invested £895 million into businesses in Scotland in 2021, according to a new report produced by the British Private Equity…

House prices in the Scottish Borders have risen 17% in the past year, while East Lothian has seen a 12.5% annual increase. Sales volumes in…

Media investment firm National World Plc — publisher of The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post — announced it is in the early stages of exploring…

The Bank of England, the UK’s central bank, raised interest rates to 3% on Thursday from 2.25%, its biggest rate rise since 1989. However, the…

Roslin Tech, the Edinburgh-based food and ag tech company, has announced the closing of its series A capital raise led by Novo Holdings, the international life sciences investor. Roslin Tech said this £11 million funding round will fuel the company’s next wave of growth…

Edinburgh’s Filmhouse Cinema building on Lothian Road has been listed for sale by Savills with a “price on application” notice. “Suitable for a range of…

Just 1% of financial advisers and wealth managers “completely trust” sustainability claims from funds, according to research from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). The…

Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, said it has concluded a £200 million Bulk Purchase Annuity (BPA) transaction with the Agfa UK Group Pension Plan,…

Scotland’s onshore gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3% in August, after remaining flat with 0.0% growth in July, according to statistics announced today by…

Shares of North Sea oil and gas producer Hurricane Energy rose about 17% to around 8p after it received an unsolicited takeover offer at an indicative…

Weir Group, the Glasgow-based global engineering and mining giant, on Wednesday reported a strong performance in the third quarter of 2022, with increasing orders and…

Orbex, the Scottish rocket manufacturer and orbital launch services provider, said it will build and operate the first vertical launch site for satellites on the…

PA Media Group announced it has acquired Hydrogen, a Glasgow-based social media agency. PA Media Group said Hydrogen has worked with clients across publishing, utilities,…

The UK’s central bank on Tuesday held its first auction to sell some of its £838 billion stockpile of government bonds it bought during successive quantitative easing…

Martin Gilbert’s fast-growing asset manager AssetCo announced completion of the acquisition of Colin McLean’s Edinburgh-based SVM Asset Management and said it plans to have a…

Asset manager Fidelity International said it strengthened its Solutions & Multi Asset Team with the appointment of Julie-Ann Ashcroft as Portfolio Manager, Multi Asset. Ashcroft…

By Mark McSherry — New Jersey-based Verisk announced the sale of Wood Mackenzie, the Edinburgh-based consultancy for the energy, chemicals, metals and mining industries, to New York private equity…

The Scottish Housing Regulator has published a new report on its analysis of Scottish Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) annual loan portfolio returns for the period April 2021…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Abrdn has confirmed the completion of the first £150 million phase of its £300 million share repurchase programme which commenced on July 6,…

The UK Treasury has taken £8 billion in tax from the North Sea in just nine months, according to new research by Aberdeen & Grampian…

Law firm Aberdein Considine said it has boosted its senior management team with the appointment of a new chief financial officer and its first chief…

Shares of NatWest Group fell as much as 9% on Friday after the bank, formerly known as RBS, warned of rising costs and as its third-quarter results…

UK pension holders are being encouraged to trace their lost pension pots worth a total of £26.6 billion, with almost three million pensions not currently…

Marine Scotland Science has published the Scottish Fish Farm Production Survey 2021 — and it shows that Scotland’s production of Atlantic salmon increased last year…

Shares of Edinburgh-based Frontier IP, a specialist in commercialising intellectual property, rose about 8% after it published results for the year ended June 30, 2022,…

Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, said it has concluded a £530 million Bulk Purchase Annuity (BPA) transaction covering 3,000 members of the Cobham Pension…

Glasgow-based DeepMatter Group plc, the AIM-listed digital chemistry data and software company, announced that it signed a multiyear database license agreement with Merck. DeepMatter said the…

Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup plc announced it will be entitled to an earnout consideration of around $85 million as EQT Infrastructure has agreed…

HSBC Holdings plc sprung a major surprise on financial markets by announcing the departure of its chief financial officer Ewen Stevenson, the former RBS CFO….

FirstGroup announced that its 100% electric rail operator Lumo has achieved two major milestones in its first year — as it attracted one million passengers…

Shares of Edinburgh-based ready meals firm Parsley Box Group plc fell about 60% on Tuesday afternoon after it announced it is considering “whether the company’s status as a publicly…

Aberdeen-based North Sea oil and gas producer Ithaca Energy confirmed on Tuesday its “intention to undertake an initial public offering” and said it is seeking…

By Mark McSherry Rishi Sunak will become the next prime minister of the UK after he won the contest to be the leader of the…

By Mark McSherry Moody’s Investors Service has changed its outlook on the government of the United Kingdom’s ratings to negative from stable. Moody’s maintained its…

By Mark McSherry — The debt interest payable of the UK government was £7.7 billion in September 2022 — £2.5 billion more than in September 2021…

Scotgold Resources Limited, the Australia-based gold exploration firm focused on Scotland, said on Thursday that third-quarter gold concentrate shipments from its Cononish Gold and Silver Mine near…

Sterling rallied on Thursday as Liz Truss said she would resign as UK prime minister after 44 days of chaos. The UK pound was up…

NatWest Group plc has announced a “strategic partnership” with the Vodeno Group which will see the creation of a “Banking-as-a-Service” (BaaS) business in the UK….

Glasgow-based Loganair — currently up for sale — announced that it returned to profitability in the financial year to March 31, 2022, as it reported a…

Scottish Water has appointed Alex Plant as its new chief executive, with Plant taking over from Douglas Millican when he steps down from the role on…

Edinburgh-based Artisanal Spirits Company plc (ASC), owner of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), announce that SMWS has signed a new franchise agreement with F.J. Korea…

By Mark McSherry — Edinburgh-based fund management group Baillie Gifford revealed on Wednesday that its assets under management and advice have fallen roughly 40% to £216…

Glasgow-based AlbaCo announced it hired former Scottish Financial Enterprise’s CEO Graeme Jones as its chair. Alba is currently working with the FCA and PRA as…

Aberdeen-based North Sea oil and gas producer Ithaca Energy said on Tuesday it is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange. Ithaca…

Forres-based spaceflight company Orbex said it has secured £40.4 million for its Series C funding round, led by new investor the Scottish National Investment Bank with…

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched the Scottish Government’s “independence economy prospectus” on Monday. Sturgeon said the paper called “Building a New Scotland: A stronger economy with…

The £530 million Abrdn Asia Focus plc fund reported that its net asset value (NAV) total return declined 2.0% over the 12 months to July 31,…