Scottish Financial Review

Glasgow-based engineering firm Weir Group said Keith Cochrane will step down as chief executive after 10 years on the board. Finance director Jon Stanton will succeed Cochrane on October…

The University of Glasgow has signed a partnership agreement with a major state-owned enterprise company in China to develop an international optoelectronics industry base in the…

British healthcare firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is to invest £110 million in its Montrose site to develop a new, state-of-the-art facility for the manufacture of respiratory active ingredients. The Montrose plant manufactures…

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said news that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and its NatWest subsidiary might consider charging business customers to deposit money would be…

The volume of residential property sales in Scotland rose 4.9% in the April-June quarter compared to the same period last year — but the average price…

Edinburgh Trams are to run every five minutes during morning and evening rush hours to respond to higher demand. The tram line is 14km long and runs from Edinburgh…

Edinburgh’s Festivals attracted audiences of more than 4.5 million in 2015, putting them on a par with the FIFA World Cup. Only the Olympic Games attract…

Glasgow-based packaging firm Macfarlane Group said it agreed to buy Leicester-based Nelsons for Cartons and Packaging Limited for up to £6.75 million. The deal is backed by a placing…

Glasgow-based drinks company Edrington said revenues for the year to March 31 were flat at £574.6 million amid a “challenging environment” where results were hit by “political and economic…

Aberdeen Asset Management said it had net outflows of £8.9 billion during the quarter to June 30 but this was offset by £17.5 billion of asset appreciation. Assets under…

Stirling based insulation firm Superglass said it is recommending that its shareholders accept a £8.7 million cash takeover offer from Cyprus incorporated investment vehicle Inflection. Sergey Kolesnikov, the sole…

Dundee-based investment trust firm Alliance Trust said its investments had underperformed its benchmark in the six months to June 30 “reflecting the turbulent market conditions around the…

MasterCard said it agreed to acquire 92.4 percent of payment processing giant VocaLink for about £700 million ($920 million). In the UK, VocaLink operates the Link ATM network and processes…

Universities Scotland and the Scottish Government have launched a joint campaign to protect the European research credentials of Scotland’s universities following the narrow vote by the…

Swedish state-owned energy firm Vattenfall will invest more than £300 million as it becomes the 100% owner of the Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm test facility. For an undisclosed…

Aberdeen-based transport giant FirstGroup has won its first rail contract in North America with the A-train commuter rail service in Texas — a 21-mile regional rail system that…

Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive of Perth-based energy giant SSE, said the outcome of the EU referendum “could lead to aspects of the financial, regulatory and political…

The Scottish Government said the average time for a planning decision to be made on major developments in 2015-16 fell by 17% on the previous year….

The output of the Scottish economy remained flat during the January to March quarter of 2016, according to gross domestic product (GDP) statistics from Scotland’s chief…

As the Scottish Government focuses on pursuing “all available options” to keep Scotland in the EU, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) chief executive David Frost has vowed…

Bathgate-based construction firm Dunne Group — which has been involved in some of the UK’s highest profile civil engineering projects — has gone into administration with the loss of more…

Edinburgh-based aviation logistics and news distribution company John Menzies has appointed Irish paper and packaging tycoon Dermot Smurfit as independent chairman of the group. Smurfit’s appointment will be…

EnQuest, the largest UK independent producer in the UK North Sea, said it is holding discussions to sell up to 20% of the massive Kraken development east…

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she held constructive talks with new UK Prime Minister Theresa May in Edinburgh on Friday — and that May is…

More than 60% of Scottish companies believe Brexit will have a negative impact on their business and only 19% believe that it will have a positive…

The weaker pound since the EU referendum could give a boost to Aberdeen-based bus and rail giant FirstGroup, which has extensive operations in North America. “It…

The new owners of Midlothian-based Dobbies Garden Centres — Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital — announced that retail and consumer business veteran John Cleland…

Spending by Scotland’s two public enterprise agencies — Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise — totalled £398 million in 2014-15, according to a report by…

Aberdeen Asset Management said it has lifted the suspension of trading in its £3.2 billion UK property fund. Uncertainty over the UK commercial real estate market following the…

Aberdeen-based oil and gas services giant Wood Group said it has been awarded an extension to its master service agreement (MSA) contract with Apache Corporation…

Finance Ministers from the three devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have written to UK Chancellor George Osborne seeking an urgent meeting to…

Glasgow-based Collagen Solutions, a manufacturer of medical grade collagen biomaterials, said group revenue and other income increased to £3.24 million in the year to March 31 compared…

Edinburgh-based Tesco Bank said it appointed former Royal Bank of Scotland executive Declan Hourican to the position of chief financial officer (CFO). Hourican will take up the…

News publisher Johnston Press, owner of The Scotsman, said it has continued to increase readers of the i newspaper since it was acquired in April 2016…

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) said it has lowered its long-term credit rating on Wheatley Housing Group, Scotland’s biggest social landlord, because the narrow UK vote to…

Shares of Edinburgh-based Craneware, a software firm that specializes in the US healthcare market, rose again after it said it enjoyed “a third consecutive year of record sales…

Shares of Edinburgh-based Standard Life have fallen about 13% so far this week after its fund management business Standard Life Investments suspended trading in its £2.9 billion UK Real Estate Fund…

A spin-out company launched six years ago by the University of Glasgow has been bought by California-based software giant Synopsys. Gold Standard Simulations Ltd (GSS) was…

Scottish investment writing, copywriting and marketing communications company Copylab is to launch a new business in Asia with office openings in Hong Kong and Singapore. Copylab Asia…

Standard Life’s fast-growing financial planning business 1825 said it will make its fifth acquisition through buying Crewe-based Jones Sheridan, which has assets under advice of £350 million. The deal will establish 1825’s…

The sale of the UK taxpayer’s remaining 73% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland is likely to be delayed by “at least a couple of years” said RBS chief executive…

Edinburgh-based aviation logistics and news distribution company John Menzies is facing a new demand from investors to split the firm in two, according to Reuters. The fresh demands…

A plan to create a new independent stock exchange for Scotland has been launched. A website for the planned exchange said Edinburgh-based SCOTEX will be “a…

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) has outlined its opposition to Scotland remaining in the European Union despite the vow by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to “protect…

Shares of North Sea exploration firm EnQuest rose about 5% after it announced encouraging results fom its Central North Sea drilling programme.  Neil McCulloch, EnQuest’s president, North…

Aberdeen-based oil and gas services giant Wood Group said it was sticking to the guidance of full year 2016 earnings before interest, taxes and amortization (EBITA) of…

Glasgow-based engineering firm Weir Group said chief operating officer Dean Jenkins would step down from its board on September 30 and his employment with the group will cease on December 31….

The UK government is extending the bid deadline for the £4 billion sale of its Edinburgh-based UK Green Investment Bank by almost two months because potential buyers…

The first annual receipts for Scotland’s new Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Scottish Landfill Tax showed £572 million was collected in 2015-16 — about…

Lothian Buses — 91% owned by the City of Edinburgh Council — saw revenue rise 5.3% to £142 million in 2015 and net profit fall to £6.4 million from…

Investment bank JP Morgan said on Wednesday it expects Scotland to vote for independence and introduce its own currency before the UK leaves the European Union in…

Perth-based rail and bus giant Stagecoach Group said its revenue for the year to April rose more than 20% to £3.8 billion and profit before tax excluding exceptional items rose £2.4 million…

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she will make an initial visit to Brussels on Wednesday to set out Scotland’s position on remaining in the European…

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it has started an investigation into the conduct of KPMG Audit Plc’s audit of HBOS for the year ended December…

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has formed a Standing Council on Europe — a group of legal, financial, business and diplomatic experts — to advise the Scottish…

Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross McEwan sent a memo to the company’s 90,000 staff to try and ease their concerns amid a calamitous drop in the…

Aberdeen-based energy services giant Wood Group said it won a multimillion dollar contract to provide engineering and design and procurement services to South Atlantic Holding, owned…

Perth-based bus and rail giant Stagecoach Group said it would propose former National Express executive Ray O’Toole for election as a non-executive director of the company at its annual general…

UK finance minister George Osborne tried to calm financial markets on Monday morning following the turmoil that greeted Britain’s narrow vote to leave the EU — but the…

The share prices of many of Scotland most important public traded companies have plummeted since Friday morning when it became clear the UK had voted narrowly to…

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said talks will take place with EU institutions and member states to “protect Scotland’s place in Europe” after Scotland voted in favour of…

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a second Scottish independence referendum was now “highly likely” after Scotland voted in favour of remaining in the EU by 62% to…

Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) chief executive David Frost said the £5 billion industry had “serious issues to resolve” now that the UK had voted to leave the EU…

Edinburgh-based Business Stream, a subsidiary of state-owned Scottish Water, said it bought the non-domestic customer base of Southern Water to strengthen its position as it prepares to…

Royal Bank of Scotland has received bids for its Greek ship finance business — with Credit Suisse and China Merchants among the suitors — according to Reuters. Experts…

Glasgow-based engineering firm Weir Group said it is selling two renewables focused businesses — American Hydro Corporation and Ynfiniti Engineering Services — for up to £36.7 million….

Falkirk-based bus maker Alexander Dennis enjoyed a 20% increase in sales to £602 million and a £10 million increase in profit before tax to £23 million in the…

Energy services company Subsea 7 said it will cut 1,200 jobs — including several hundred in the Aberdeen area — after being forced into a second…

Glasgow-based Smart Metering Systems (SMS) said it signed a “framework agreement” with First Utility as its “preferred domestic smart meter asset provider.” First Utility currently supplies energy to…

A new wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway has signed a 15-year deal to provide power for about half of Nestlé’s operations in the UK &…