Scottish Financial Review

Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) — parent of Scottish Widows, Bank of Scotland and Halifax — confirmed on Friday afternoon it has cancelled all staff bonuses for…

Metro Bank on Friday confirmed the sale of a portfolio of owner occupied residential mortgages to the NatWest group for up to £3.1 billion in…

The Scottish Government said on Friday that 25 new schools and campuses are to be constructed or refurbished as part of an £800 million investment “to…

Scotland Food & Drink said on Friday that new figures from the Scottish Government reveal that in the first nine months of 2020, Scottish food…

Scotland’s GDP increased by 0.6% in October, according to statistics announced on Friday by the Chief Statistician. This is the sixth consecutive month of increasing…

Barclays plc said on Friday that Ian Cheshire will be stepping down as chair of Barclays Bank UK plc and will be succeeded by veteran…

Audit Scotland said the Scottish Government overspent its 2019-20 budget by nearly £700 million responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. Net spending for the year across…

The Tay Cities Deal has reached a major milestone with UK Government Minister Iain Stewart joining the deal’s partners for an online ceremony to ratify…

J Sainsbury plc said on Thursday that Lesley Jones has been appointed the new chair of Edinburgh-based Sainsbury’s Bank. Jones will replace outgoing chair Roger…

Edinburgh-based international oil and gas company Cairn Energy said on Thursday it will pay a special dividend of 32p per share amounting to $250m as it…

Scotland’s Chief Statistician has released new statistics showing that the Scottish economy grew by 16% during the third quarter of 2020, covering July to September,…

The Auditor General for Scotland has said a subsidiary of Scottish Water may need between £47 million and £88 million in financial support due to…

Aberdeen Standard Investment’s outlook commentary for 2021 says “sustainable higher yielding debt, selected global equity and selected real estate will become even more attractive” as…

Scotland’s unemployment rate decreased over the August-October quarter to 4.2%, below the UK rate of 4.9%, the Scottish Government said. The proportion of people aged…

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson “needs to get his act together” and secure a trade deal with the EU, said Tavish Scott, chief executive of…

Shares of Springfield Properties, which is building a number of new communities throughout Scotland, rose about 3% on Tuesday after it published a strong trading update…

The Scottish Investment Trust (SIT) said it will increase its dividend for the 37th consecutive year despite its share price total return falling 12% and net…

The Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) has submitted a full planning application for the proposed New Filmhouse in Edinburgh’s Festival Square to City of Edinburgh Council’s planning department.   The move follows public…

Shares of Edinburgh funds platform Nucleus Financial Group rose about 3% on Friday after it published an update on fourth-quarter trading saying its assets under administration…

Standard Life Aberdeen chairman Douglas Flint said on Friday that the City of London financial sector is ready for any outcome from the ongoing Brexit…

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has improved how it operates but policing in Scotland is “not financially sustainable” says a new report by the Auditor…

Aerospace and defence company Babcock has awarded a £31.5 million contract to Robertson Construction for the development of a new assembly hall at its Rosyth…

Orbex, the European space launch company based in Forres, Scotland, said it secured $24 million in a funding round led by BGF and Octopus Ventures….

Taxes on land and property could ‘serve as a powerful tool for helping Scotland develop a robust, resilient wellbeing economy,” according to a new report…

The Port of Grangemouth has announced a major investment in its rail freight facilities which it said will cement its position as the key strategic…

Shares of Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup plc fell about 4% on Thursday after it said its reported revenue fell £430.3 million to £3.1…

Amazon has announced its investment in 26 new utility-scale renewable projects totalling 3.4 gigawatts (GW) of energy capacity around the world, including the major Scottish…

The Scottish Government has announced a £55 million emergency sports funding package “to tackle lost ticket revenue during the pandemic.” The funding will comprise grants…

Sweden’s Modern Times Group (MTG) AB has agreed to buy free-to-play mobile racing games firm Hutch Games — which has studios in Dundee — for up…

Almost a quarter (22%) of FTSE 350 defined benefit (DB) pension schemes with rated sponsors expect corporate insolvency before they reach buy-out, according to analysis…

The University of Strathclyde has announced that Mairi Spowage will be the new interim Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute — Scotland’s leading independent…

Glasgow-based Beeks Financial Cloud Group, a connectivity provider for financial markets trading, on Wednesday announced a payment of the earn-out consideration for its acquisition of Velocimetrics Limited,…

Aberdeen-based global engineering group Wood plc has announced it is “transforming paper and textile production through innovative design and engineering” on two of the most…

The Scottish Government announced on Wednesday that more than 200 jobs will be created through the development of a new deep water terminal at Stornoway…

Shares of Perth-based bus and rail giant Stagecoach Group plc rose as much as 12% on Wednesday despite the firm reporting that its revenue fell…

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) said on Wednesday it will acquire 60% of Tritax Management LLP to strengthen the combined offering of both firms in the…

The chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association late on Tuesday welcomed the news that the UK government plans to suspend retaliatory tariffs imposed on…

New analysis from EQ (Equiniti Group plc), one of the largest providers of outsourced pension administration in the UK, suggests that nearly half of full-time British…

Shares of Perth-based renewable energy and networks giant SSE plc rose about 3% on Tuesday after UK energy watchdog Ofgem proposed a return on equity…

The £200 million Keystone Investment Trust plc said on Monday it has decided to appoint Edinburgh-based investment giant Baillie Gifford to manage the trust using…

Menzies Aviation, the Edinburgh-based global airport services specialist, has announced the acquisition of a 51% shareholding in Royal Airport Services (RAS), a leading aviation services…

Italy’s Eni is buying a 20% stake in the Dogger Bank Wind Farm project from Perth-based SSE and Norway’s Equinor. Dogger Bank Wind Farm, off…

Closed life and pension fund consolidator Phoenix Group Holdings plc, owner of the “old” Edinburgh-based Standard Life Assurance, told Reuters on Thursday it expects more companies…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Standard Life Aberdeen said on Thursday it sold another slice of its stake in HDFC Life in India for about £172 million. The…

A new report from leading think tank IPPR has urged the UK and Scottish governments to work together to develop a new net zero deal…

The Scottish Government said on Wednesday the new Scottish National Investment Bank has been set three core “missions” to ensure it addresses the “grand challenges”…

Shares of Edinburgh funds platform Nucleus Financial Group soared almost 40% on Wednesday afternoon after it confirmed it has received separate proposals regarding possible offers to…

Shares of Glasgow-based cloud computing firm Iomart Group plc fell about 7% on Tuesday after it published half yearly results for the period ended September…

Shares of Glasgow-based global mining and engineering giant Weir Group edged 2% higher on Tuesday after it won a £95 million order to provide aftermarket components and…

Baillie Gifford’s £3 billion Monks Investment Trust plc said on Tuesday it produced a net asset value (NAV) total return of 26.8% compared to an increase of 10.2% for the…

Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) — parent of Scottish Widows, Bank of Scotland and Halifax — has named Charlie Nunn, currently global chief executive of wealth…

Australia-based Scotgold Resources, the gold exploration and production company focused on Scotland, published results for the year ended June 30, 2020, on Monday. Scotgold said…

Springfield Properties, which is building a number of new communities throughout Scotland, said on Monday it has been granted planning approval for 75 homes to…

Shares of Alva-based Omega Diagnostics Group rose about 7% on Monday despite announcing results for the six months ended September 30, 2020, showing its revenue…

Scottish investment industry veteran Martin Gilbert is to be the next chair of Scottish Golf, the national governing body of the sport in Scotland. The…

Scottish Investment Operations (SIO) has appointed Standard Life Aberdeen’s Denise Thomas as its new chair to succeed Pauline Burns who has held the position since 2017….

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) said on Monday it selected DEAS Group, the asset and property management group in Denmark, as the preferred bidder to acquire its…

Edinburgh-based international oil and gas company Cairn Energy said on Friday that director Nicoletta Giadrossi will be appointed non-executive chair of the company with effect from…

Spanish bank Banco Sabadell has given Goldman Sachs a mandate to sell Edinburgh-based TSB, its loss-making UK business, according to a Reuters report on Friday….

Shares of Linlithgow-based telecoms firm Calnex Solutions plc rose another 9% on Thursday following Wednesday’s roughly 20% gain on the back of a positive set…

Perth-based SSE Renewables and its 50-50 joint venture partner Equinor have reached financial close on the first two phases of what will be the world’s…

Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) said on Thursday it has created a new platform that will allow investors to track a broad spectrum of “investable” hedge…

The UK Debt Management Office (DMO) has announced the UK government will sell a further £92 billion of bonds over the next four months. The…

Scotland’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 1.6% in September — but output remains 7.6% below the level in February before the impact of the…

Shares of Virgin Money UK fell about 5% on Wednesday after it said its full-year underlying profit before tax fell 77% to £124 million “primarily due”…

Glasgow-based sausage skin and food collagen products firm Devro said on Tuesday its trading for the period July 1 to October 31, 2020, remained “robust” despite the…

The recently-created South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) has announced that its permanent chief executive will be Jane Morrison-Ross, currently CEO of ScotlandIS, the organisation for…

Global dividends fell $55 billion or 11.4% to $329.8 billion in the third quarter of 2020 as companies cancelled and cut payouts during the coronavirus…

Closed life and pension fund consolidator Phoenix Group Holdings plc, owner of the “old” Edinburgh-based Standard Life Assurance, said on Tuesday it is assessing a sale of…

The Scottish National Investment Bank has officially opened for business with the completion of its first major investment — a £12.5 million vote of confidence…