Scottish Financial Review

Standard Life Aberdeen shareholders on Monday voted more than 99% in favour of the £3.24 billion sale of Standard Life Assurance Limited to Phoenix Group…

Glasgow-based drinks company Edrington — owner of Scotch whisky brands The Macallan, Highland Park and The Famous Grouse — said its core revenues rose 7% to £706.7 million…

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has appointed former Tesco Bank CEO Benny Higgins as the strategic adviser for the establishment of the Scottish National Investment Bank….

The Scottish Government had expenditure of £30.9 billion in 2017-18 against a fiscal budget of £31.4 billion — indicating an underpsend of around £500 million. “Surplus…

Edinburgh Trams exceeded all financial expectations in 2017, recording a pre-tax profit of £1.6 million compared to £252,000 in 2016. Results published on Friday show…

Scotland’s Auditor General Caroline Gardner has produced her annual report on Scotland’s colleges which shows the sector reported a £300,000 surplus in its underlying financial position for 2016-17…

PfP Capital, the fund management business established by Places for People Group, said it intends to launch a new fund in partnership with the Scottish…

Crown Estate Scotland said on Wednesday it has “opened up” coastline, seabed and rural estates for local management under a new scheme. The Local Pilots…

Scottish economic growth is set to recover this year but remain below trend, according to the latest analysis by the University of Strathclyde’s Fraser of…

Scotland’s Court of Session has ruled against Grangemouth refinery operator Ineos after it challenged a Scottish government moratorium against fracking for oil and gas. Ineos had argued…

Edinburgh and London-based private equity firm Dunedin has invested in the £44 million funding of Global Processing Services (GPS), the global payments processor and tech…

Edinburgh-based rented housing developer Sigma Capital Group announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with housebuilder Countryside Properties with a framework agreement targeting the delivery…

Highland Scotch whisky distillery Tomatin, near Inverness, announced on Monday that its turnover increased almost 25% during the company’s most recent financial year. For the period…

The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) said on Monday it acquired the under-construction wind farm at Solwaybank, Dumfries and Galloway, for up to £82 million. The project was…

UPDATE 5 — Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner CYBG said on Monday it finally clinched an all-share deal to take over Newcastle-based rival Virgin Money in…

For the second time in four years, a major fire has ravaged the Mackintosh Building at The Glasgow School of Art, one of Scotland’s architectural gems….

Rathbone Brothers on Thursday confirmed a much touted deal to acquire Glasgow-based Speirs & Jeffrey, Scotland’s largest independent wealth manager, for an initial £104 million. “Under…

House prices have nearly trebled since Scotland last took part in the World Cup in 1998, according to new research from Bank of Scotland. The research…

Perth-based bus and rail firm Stagecoach said it has urged politicians throughout the UK “to take tough action on congestion” and put buses at the heart…

The UK rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), has published its assessment of Network Rail’s plans to spend £4 billion in Scotland over…

Glasgow-based cloud computing firm Iomart Group plc said its revenue grew 9% to £97.7 million in the year ended March 31, with adjusted profit before tax up 7%…

Aberdeen’s commercial property market recorded sales higher than both Edinburgh and Glasgow for the first time since 2014 in the first quarter of 2018, according to…

SSE plc and innogy SE have appointed Gordon Boyd as chief financial officer designate for the new independent British energy supply and services company they…

Output across the Scottish private sector economy increased at the fastest pace since July 2017 during May, according to the latest Royal Bank of Scotland…

Scotland has achieved an “unprecedented” record of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) — with 6,000 jobs created in 2017 alone — according to Ernst & Young’s…

The latest IHS Markit Report on Jobs for Scotland shows the rate of expansion for permanent job placements in May was the strongest in 43…

The UK Individual Shareholders Society (ShareSoc) and the UK Shareholders’ Association said it is “a public disgrace” that individual investors were excluded from the placing by…

Lloyds Banking Group will sell its remaining 97.7 million shares in Standard Life Aberdeen, representing a 3.3% stake in the Edinburgh-based asset management giant, bookrunner Bank…

Energy regulator Ofgem said Perth-based energy giant SSE has agreed to pay £1 million to Ofgem’s consumer redress fund “after providing some pre-payment meter (PPM)…

M&G Real Estate is buying The Crown Estate’s 50% stake in Fort Kinnaird retail and leisure centre on the east side of Edinburgh for £167.25…

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) said it appointed EU expert Dagmar Droogsma as its Director of Industry, based at the SWA’s London office. Scotch Whisky is…

London-based Ocean Outdoor Limited said it acquired Glasgow-based Forrest Media, the large-format outdoor media firm founded by major Celtic shareholder Chris Trainer. Trainer is Celtic’s…

The sixth annual Registers of Scotland’s Property Market Report shows that the total value of the residential sales market in Scotland from 2007-08 to 2017-18…

Glasgow-based fashion firm Quiz said its underlying profit before tax increased 20% to £9.8 million for the year ended March 31, 2018, as revenue grew 30%…

Baillie Gifford’s flagship £7 billion fund, the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plc, said it has raised further borrowings of £170 million “to invest in additional future growth…

M&G Real Estate has acquired a four-acre site called The Haymarket in Edinburgh for £49.1 million. With a gross development value of about £280 million, the…

Shares of Johnston Press plunged 17% to a new record low after it said in an AGM trading update that no agreement has been reached with its bondholders…

UK Government Investments Limited (UKGI) announced the “successful disposal” of 7.7% of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc at 271p per share for proceeds of about…

UPDATE 3 — The UK government is to sell another 7.7% of its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland for about £2.6 billion. UK Government Investments Limited…

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner CYBG and Virgin Money confirmed on Monday morning that CYBG has made a revised proposal to acquire Virgin Money and…

Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup plc has announced the details of departing CEO Tim O’Toole’s “agreed termination arrangements” and the temporary remuneration increases for interim…

The Scottish Fiscal Commission has published its latest report ‘Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – May 2018’ in which it describes the outlook for the…

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s capital backlog of £389 million is “insurmountable” without investment and changes to how the service operates, according to a report…

Scottish Rugby announced it has applied for planning permission to install a new playing venue in the grounds of BT Murrayfield with a capacity of…

Edinburgh-based travel search site Skyscanner said its co-founder and CEO Gareth Williams is to take up a new role as chair of the company. He…

The UK and Scottish Government are to invest more than £90 million in Stirling and Clackmannanshire via City Region Deal to drive economic growth in the…

UPDATE 2 — Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup plc — which recently rejected a takeover approach from US private equity firm Apollo Global Management — said…

Perth-based energy giant SSE said on Wednesday it would raise its standard electricity and gas prices — leading to a 6.7% increase on average to a…

Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), is to build a subsea manufacturing campus at its existing location in Montrose to support the oil and gas…

Royal Bank of Scotland announced early Wednesday morning that Ewen Stevenson has resigned from his role as chief financial officer and executive director “to take up…

Royal Bank of Scotland said on Tuesday it will no longer provide project-specific finance to new coal fired power stations, new thermal coal mines, oil sands projects,…

UPDATE 2 — Standard Life Aberdeen said on Tuesday it plans to return up to £1.75 billion to shareholders once it closes the sale of…

The UK government is poised to resume selling down its remaining 70.5% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) — perhaps as soon as this week…

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has gone to Brussels to meet the EU’s Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. “The First Minister will continue to ensure…

An independent Scotland should keep the UK’s pound for an extended period before setting up its own currency, a report commissioned by the Scottish government…

Perth-based energy giant SSE said on Friday its adjusted profit before tax fell 6% to £1.45 billion for the year to March 31 amid “complex challenges” and…

The average price of a property in Scotland in March 2018 was £146,009 – an increase of 6.7% on March of the previous year, according to…

Paddy Power Betfair plc announced a definitive agreement to combine its US business Betfair US with fantasy sports firm FanDuel, which was founded in Edinburgh…

Provisional figures show that Scottish-registered fishing vessels landed 464,000 tonnes of sea fish and shellfish in 2017 with a value of £559 million. This represents…

Almost 80% of public sector contracts in Scotland are now awarded to small and medium businesses (SMEs) as a result of Scottish Government legislation. “In…

The UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) said on Wednesday it has offered for award 123 licences over 229 blocks or part-blocks to 61 companies…

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has released an analysis of the industry’s 2017 export performance that indicates the UK trade deficit would be almost 3%…

Edinburgh-based fund management firm Martin Currie, the active equity specialist that is part of the Legg Mason group, said it made a “key strategic hire”…

Scotland’s employment rate in 2017 was 74.3% — the highest on record. Last year, 2,618,100 people were in employment in Scotland — also the highest on record. The…

Crown Estate Scotland on Monday unveiled proposals to lease seabed to encourage a new generation of offshore wind projects in Scotland’s waters. A Crown Estate…

The Scottish government’s culture secretary Fiona Hyslop has written to Ofcom expressing her regret over the planned loss of STV News Tonight “and the potential…

Edinburgh-based aviation logistics and news distribution company John Menzies plc said on Friday the planned sale of its distribution business is taking longer than anticipated. Menzies has undergone…

The amount of organic farmland in Scotland rose slightly in 2017, the first increase since 2008, the Scottish Government said. There was also an increase…

Irish bookie Paddy Power Betfair plc has confirmed it is in discussions to merge its US operations with fantasy sports company FanDuel. “Paddy Power Betfair plc notes…

The UK’s East Coast rail service between Edinburgh and London will be temporarily taken back under public control after UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said he…