Scottish Financial Review

By Mark McSherry The Abrdn China Investment Company Limited said it has invested over £100 million in Chinese stocks since it completed a scheme of reconstruction…

National Express has been granted another extension to the deadline by which it must make a firm offer for Perth-based transport firm Stagecoach Group —…

A £13 million investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank awarded to the Iona wind partnership will help accelerate the delivery of the Iona onshore…

Bradford-based supermarket giant Morrisons has announced it will become the first supermarket to own its own recycling operations through the acquisition of a significant stake…

Edinburgh-based Martin Currie, the active equity specialist fund manager, has announced the addition of Aimee Truesdale as a portfolio manager on the firm’s global emerging…

Edinburgh-based asset management advisory firm Devlin Mambo have announced the appointment of Andrew Milligan to the position of board advisor. Milligan is the former Head of…

Edinburgh-based international oil and gas company Cairn Energy announced on Monday that it will commence an initial share repurchase programme of its ordinary shares of up…

The latest Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index shows that Q3 dividends around the world rose by a record 22% on an underlying basis to reach…

Venture capital (VC) investors ploughed record amounts of money into Scottish scaleup firms over the summer with more than £197 million raised, according to Venture…

Therme Group, a Vienna-based developer and operator of thermal “wellbeing” resorts, has signed heads of terms with Peel L&P to locate its second UK project…

Aberdeen-based global engineering group Wood plc said on Friday it has started a strategic review of “the part of its consulting business facing the built environment end…

Moody’s Investors Service said it has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Aberdeen City Council, which completed a successful £370 million bond sale via…

Scottish Widows said workplace pension savers will soon be able to view the sustainable impact of their pension investments using a new mobile phone app….

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has confirmed three senior leadership appointments, with Hannah Gurga becoming the new ABI Director General, Baroness Nicky Morgan becoming the first…

The University of Strathclyde said it has appointed Gillian Docherty as its new chief commercial officer, starting in February. Docherty has been chief executive of The…

John Menzies plc, the Edinburgh-based global aviation services business, said on Wednesday that Menzies Aviation has secured a significant contract win with Mexico’s flagship carrier…

Edinburgh asset management giant Abrdn has added its voice to a growing number of UK corporate bond managers with concerns about the current and unprecedented private equity…

A feed additive that results in a 30% reduction in methane produced by cattle will be globally manufactured in Scotland as part of a £100…

The Law Society of Scotland has announced that Diane McGiffen will be appointed as its new chief executive. She succeeds Lorna Jack, who will leave…

Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB) has announced a merger with Leeds-based independent accountancy firm Sagars to expand its UK regional presence in line with its…

Baillie Gifford’s high-flying flagship fund, the £21 billion Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plc, said on Monday it has increased its investment in healthcare and biology companies…

Wealth management is enjoying a jobs boom in Scotland, with a number of UK-wide firms setting up hubs in Scotland with experts predicting that more…

Edinburgh-based Artisanal Spirits Company plc (ASC), owner of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), said on Monday it has launched J.G. Thomson & Co, a…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Abrdn has confirmed it is in talks to buy Manchester-based online broker Interactive Investor, with analysts speculating the price could reach £1.5 billion….

The latest Royal Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs from IHS Markit shows “sharp rates” of vacancy growth during October as employers reported difficulties finding…

All young people under the age of 22 resident in Scotland will have access to free bus travel from January 31, 2022, First Minister Nicola…

Glasgow-based global engineering and mining giant Weir Group said on Friday it has agreed to acquire Motion Metrics, a Canada-based global mining technology business, for an initial…

Companies in the UK’s oil and gas sector are predicting that the share of their business outside of oil and gas will jump from 21%…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Abrdn has made three major appointments to its real assets team to support its ambitious growth agenda. Abrdn oversees £532 billion of assets including £50…

Shares of Virgin Money, the Glasgow-headquartered banking group formerly known as CYBG, fell 8% on Thursday despite the bank reporting that it would return to full-year profit…

Edinburgh BioQuarter — which now plans to have up to 2,500 residential units — has formally launched its public procurement process for a private sector…

The the latest Fund Flow Index (FFI) report from global funds network Calastone shows that rising fears over inflation and interest rates, as well as…

Franklin Templeton Fund Management Limited (FTFML) has announced a transition of oversight for its Leeds-based Franklin UK Equity team to the platform of Edinburgh-based Martin…

Edinburgh-based international oil and gas company Cairn Energy is ending its long-running tax fight with the government of India and is promising shareholders a payout…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Abrdn has announced a target to reduce the carbon intensity of its assets by 50% by 2030 versus a 2019 baseline. Abrdn…

Edinburgh-based international oil and gas company Cairn Energy said on Tuesday it has completed the sale of its interests in the Catcher and Kraken Fields in…

The accounting deficit of the defined benefit (DB) pension schemes and other post-retirement benefit plans for the UK’s 350 largest listed companies rose by £6…

Edinburgh-based Napiers the Herbalists has been bought by Samarkand Group plc, which describes itself as a “cross-border eCommerce company focused on connecting Western brands with…

Scotgold Resources Limited, the Australia-based gold exploration firm focused on Scotland, said on Tuesday that Nat Le Roux is stepping down as non-executive chairman, a position he…

Perth-based renewable power and networks giant SSE confirmed it has agreed to sell a 10% stake in Dogger Bank C to Eni for an equity consideration…

Alliance Trust plc, the £3.2 billion Dundee investment trust company which uses external fund managers Willis Towers Watson (WTW), said on Monday its total dividend…

Livingston-based smart metering firm Energy Assets Group announced it has completed a £690 million refinancing package, including £185 million of capital expenditure (capex) facilities. Energy Assets said it…

Caithness-based Reid & Fraser Chartered Accountants said on Monday the firm has become Scotland’s first employee-owned full-service accountancy firm. “All shares of Reid & Fraser…

Glasgow-based global intellectual property law firm Murgitroyd Group has announced the latest move in its international expansion strategy with the acquisition of Leeds-based UDL Intellectual Property practice. This…

Ice cream, food and drink brand Mackie’s of Scotland has reached a milestone by generating more than one hundred gigawatt hours of renewable energy through…

Shares of Alva-based Omega Diagnostics Group plc rose as much as 8% on Monday after it signed a head of terms partnership agreement with DAM Health…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Abrdn said on Friday it has acquired the “investing insights” and personal finance news platform Finimize. Finimize CEO Max Rofagha will join…

NatWest-RBS said on Friday its operating profit before tax more than tripled to £1.074 billion in the third quarter and total income rose 14.5% to £2.77 billion. However,…

Scottish Enterprise said on Thursday that income generated by its equity and debt investments was £56 million during the last financial year – a record…

Scottish craft brewer BrewDog announced it will create a 26,500 sq ft global flagship venue as the centre piece of the rejuvenated Waterloo Station in London. The…

Scottish business and finance groups were quick to react to the UK budget statement on Wednesday, with most of them of the opinion that more…

The University of Glasgow contributes more than £4 billion to the UK economy, according to a new study by London Economics. The “World Changing Glasgow:…

Aberdeen-based transport firm FirstGroup plc has launched its proposed return of up to £500 million to its shareholders via a tender offer at 105p per…

River and Mercantile Group’s chief executive James Barham will move to Schroders as part of its purchase of R&M’s fiduciary arm Solutions for an enterprise value of…

The Scottish Government “will no longer support unlimited recovery of hydrocarbons including oil and gas,” according to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The Scottish Government and…

UK dividends soared to £34.9 billion in the third quarter of 2021, up 89.2% year-on-year on a headline basis, boosted the mining boom and very large…

Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB) has announced a significant investment from London-based August Equity to speed up its growth plans and help realise its strategic…

Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) said it has appointed two new non-executive board members — Mike Tumilty of abrdn and Louisa Knox of Shepherd and Wedderburn —…

(Updates with Monday statement from Co-operative Bank) Spain’s Banco Sabadell confirmed at the weekend that its board has rejected an audacious offer for its subsidiary TSB Bank…

Highlands and Islands Enterprise announced that Stuart Black has been appointed its next chief executive. Black, who will take up the post in January 2022,…

Supermarket firm Sainsbury’s said on Friday it had ended talks on selling its Edinburgh-based Sainsbury’s Bank unit after deciding that approaches it received in November…

European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), organiser of the Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup tournaments, said it has appointed Dominic McKay as a non-executive director…

Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, has concluded a £130 million bulk purchase annuity transaction covering all pensioner and deferred members of the PerkinElmer (UK)…

Glasgow-based DeepMatter Group plc, the AIM-listed company focusing on digitizing chemistry, said it has signed a trials agreement with Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services Limited in Hyderabad, India, to…

UK government borrowing for the first six months of its fiscal year reached £108.1 billion by the end of September 2021, the second highest year-to-September borrowing…

Aberdeen-based global engineering and consulting group Wood plc announced it has signed a new $1.2 billion, five-year committed sustainable revolving credit facility (RCF) with a group…

FirstGroup has launched Lumo, its new 100% electric and “affordable” fast rail service between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross. FirstGroup has pledged that fares will…

ScottishPower CEO Keith Anderson has urged UK ministers to urgently review the energy price cap and warned that high wholesale gas prices could trigger an “absolute…

Scotland’s total exports to international markets and the rest of the UK in 2019 — excluding oil and gas — are estimated to have been…

By Mark McSherry Aberdeen-based transport group FirstGroup plc said on Thursday it sold its Greyhound Lines bus business in North America for $172 million to…