Scottish Financial Review

The latest estimates of the controversial and highly contested Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland (GERS) statistics have revealed the full impact of the pandemic on…

Investment trust dividends slipped for the first time in a decade in the first half of 2021 — but have still outperformed the wider market “by…

The Scottish Government said on Tuesday it is taking the “first steps on the road” to establishing a Scottish Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG). Social Justice…

Aberdeen Standard Investments’ veteran Asia chairman Hugh Young told Bloomberg in an interview the Edinburgh-based asset management giant is sticking with its big China investments…

SOLASTA Bio, a Glasgow University spinout company specialising in the next generation of green insecticides, has secured seed investment of £1.3 million to support ongoing…

Aberdeen Standard Investments’ Pan-European Residential Property Fund (ASPER) said on Monday it has exceeded €1 billion of committed equity. ASPER is an open-ended fund designed…

Edinburgh-based Aegon UK — owned by Dutch investment giant Aegon NV — has seen its assets under administration top £200 billion for the first time. In…

The Scottish Government has formally launched the search for its next permanent secretary and is offering a salary of up between £162,500 and £180,000 a year…

Shares of McColl’s Retail Group fell about 26% on Thursday after it announced it intends to raise up to £35 million via a discounted placing…

Deltic Energy Plc announced it has entered into a binding, conditional farm-out agreement in relation to five of its gas licences in the Southern North Sea…

Mark McSherry A top executive at Edinburgh-based investment giant Aberdeen Standard Investments said cryptocurrency is still the “wild west” in terms of regulation and consumer protection…

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has written to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for the UK Government to reassess oil and gas licences already issued…

Closed life and pension fund consolidator Phoenix Group Holdings plc, owner of the “old” Standard Life Assurance, said on Wednesday it plans to grow its…

Baillie Gifford’s high-flying flagship fund, the £20 billion Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plc, announced it has raised a further £200 million by issuing two long-term, fixed…

The Scottish Government said on Tuesday the number of Scottish domiciled students being offered a place at Scottish universities is at a record high on…

Catterick-based managed IT services provider razorblue has announced further expansion in Scotland with the acquisition of Stirling-based sarn Technologies Ltd for an undisclosed sum. razorblue…

New HMRC figures show that the average inheritance tax bill in Scotland for deaths in 2018-19 was £195,798, an 8.5% increase on the previous year,…

Rebranded Edinburgh-based asset management giant abrdn on Tuesday posted a 52% increase in adjusted operating profit to £160 million for the first half of 2021…

Reading-based Idox plc announced the acquisition of Stirling-based thinkWhere Limited, a geospatial information services (GIS) technology business. Idox said thinkWhere provides end to end GIS…

UK and Scottish law firm Brodies LLP has reported revenue of £82.5 million, up from £82 million, with operating profit increasing from £38.5 million to £39…

South Carolina-based Novolex has acquired Edinburgh-based Vegware, a rapidly growing international provider of compostable foodservice packaging that sells to over 70 countries around the world. Novolex…

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and its subsidiary Mitsubishi Electric Power Products announced on Monday they agreed to acquire Glasgow‑based Smarter Grid Solutions (SGS), a spin-out from…

Edinburgh-based private bank Hampden & Co said on Monday its deposits rose by £180 million or 42% to £603 million in the six months to…

UPDATE 4 — Shares of SSE, the Perth-based energy and networks giant, have risen about 11% to £16.05 in the last few days amid claims in the…

Shares of Edinburgh-based oil and gas company Cairn Energy rose another 7% on Friday — following a jump of 26% on Thursday — after London’s…

The Scottish Government said on Friday that an independent review of how fish farms are regulated in Scotland is underway in a move “to make…

Edinburgh-based investment giant abrdn announced that former State Street executive Hannah Grove will be appointed a non-executive director of the asset management group on September…

The £145 million acquisition of Edinburgh funds platform Nucleus Financial Group by James Hay to create a £47 billion adviser platform has received regulatory approval and the offer…

The latest Royal Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs shows that Scottish labour market conditions continued to strengthen during July, with a shortage of candidates…

Royal London said on Thursday its assets under management increased to a record high of £153 billion in the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared…

Shares of Edinburgh-based international oil and gas company Cairn Energy soared about 26% on Thursday amid news that India has proposed scrapping a controversial law that…

Pension funds in the UK have been urged by prime minister Boris Johnson and finance minister Rishi Sunak to provide an “investment big bang” by…

June data published by the Investment Association (IA) has revealed that the first half of 2021 saw UK fund market net retail sales of £24 billion,…

Shares of Glasgow-based DeepMatter Group plc, the AIM-listed company focusing on digitizing chemistry, rose about 5% on Thursday after it announced a collaboration with the University…

Embattled Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup plc said on Thursday that non-executive directors Martha Poulter and Steve Gunning have notified the group they will not…

UK company dividends will show headline growth of 24.4% to £79.5 billion this year, according to the latest UK Dividend Monitor from Link Group. Underlying…

Legal & General said it has entered a 15-year joint venture partnership with NatWest Pension Trustee Limited (NWPTL) to invest £500 million of equity to…

A.G. Barr, the Cumbernauld-based maker of Irn-Bru, Rubicon energy drinks and Funkin cocktail mixers, said on Tuesday its revenue for the 27-week first half of…

Aberdeen-based Swire Energy Services (SES) has announced the acquisition of Danish wind services provider ALL NRG. “The substantial acquisition will see SES become sole owner…

Edinburgh-based international oil and gas company Cairn Energy said on Monday that Italy’s Eni has announced an oil find in offshore Mexico — at the Sayulita Exploration Prospect…

Shares of Scotgold Resources Limited, the Australia-based gold exploration firm focused on Scotland, rose 5% on Monday after it published an update on mine production and processing…

Perth-based energy and networks giant SSE said on Monday it agreed to sell its entire 33.3% stake in gas distribution operator Scotia Gas Networks Ltd…

NatWest Group plc, formerly known as RBS, said on Friday it will aim to distribute a minimum of £1 billion a year to shareholders via a…

Shares of Glasgow-based sausage skin and food collagen products firm Devro rose about 3% on Thursday after it said its first-half revenue rose 0.8% on a reported…

Glasgow-based global engineering and mining giant Weir Group said on Thursday it has resumed paying a dividend as its profit before tax rose 31% to £102…

TSB Bank plc on Thursday reported a statutory first-half profit before tax of £42.9 million compared to a pre-tax loss of £65.5 million in H1…

Shares of Glasgow-based Smart Metering Systems plc (SMS) rose as much as 3% on Wednesday as the firm published a trading update for the six months…

The Scottish Government announced on Wednesday evening that fully vaccinated people from the EU and US will be able to travel to Scotland without quarantining…

Orbital Marine Power’s O2, the “world’s most powerful” tidal turbine, has started grid connected power generation at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney….

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has appointed Richard Stone as its chief executive from September 13, 2021. The AIC was founded in 1932 to represent the…

John Menzies plc, the Edinburgh-based global aviation services business, said on Tuesday it “continues to trade slightly ahead of current market expectations.” Menzies said it…

Perth-based Stagecoach, the UK’s biggest bus operator, has announced plans to create 80 jobs at a new customer contact centre in its home city. Stagecoach…

Business activity has risen in Scotland as the wider UK economy continues to reopen, with business sentiment continuing to improve through the second quarter of 2021….

The Scottish Affairs Committee of the UK government announced it has launched a new inquiry “considering airports in Scotland.” The committee said the focus of…

Forth Ports, Scotland’s largest ports operator and owner of seven Scottish ports on the east coast, said on Tuesday it has “intimated” to the Scottish…

Virgin Money, the Glasgow-headquartered banking group formerly known as CYBG, said on Tuesday its customer lending rose 0.4% to £72.5 billion in its third quarter…

By Mark McSherry Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup plc said on Tuesday that CEO Matthew Gregory will step down at the company’s AGM on…

The UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has fined BP £50,000 and served it with a sanction notice for breaching a licence condition by “failing…

Edinburgh-based Tesco Bank confirmed on Monday that all Tesco Bank personal current accounts will close from November 30, 2021. Tesco Bank’s current account was closed to…

FirstGroup’s biggest shareholder Coast Capital LLC has again demanded the resignation of the Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant ‘s chief executive following the £3.3 billion…

Crown Estate Scotland announced that the process to secure seabed for Scotland’s next generation of offshore wind farms has attracted 74 applications. Analysts have estimated…

NatWest Group plc — formerly known as RBS — said on Friday it is making progress with its phased withdrawal from the Republic of Ireland…

Alliance Trust plc, the £3.3 billion Dundee investment trust company which uses external fund managers Willis Towers Watson (WTW), said on Friday it is “reviewing…

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has announced the launch of a range of climate funds aimed at supporting the shift towards net zero global emissions. “These…

Investment in Scottish commercial property increased 35% during the first six months of 2021 compared to the same period last year as the market continued…

By Mark McSherry Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup plc said on Thursday it has increased its proposed return of value to shareholders to £500…

Shares of Martin Gilbert’s investment firm AssetCo plc fell about 15% on Thursday to around £17.50 as it announced its intention to conduct a placing of…

The UK Government on Thursday unveiled a plan to return NatWest-RBS to majority private ownership within a year. The UK taxpayer still owns 54.7% of NatWest-RBS…

Cazenove Capital said its Edinburgh team has moved to a new base in Charlotte Square and has announced the appointment of James Burley as a portfolio…

Interest payments on the UK Government’s debt were £8.7 billion in June 2021, the highest monthly payment since records began in April 1997, the UK’s…