Scottish Financial Review

ScottishPower — a subsidiary of Basque energy giant Iberdrola — said on Wednesday 2018 had been “a pivotal year” for the business as EBITDA at…

The Scottish Government is to increase its efforts to encourage EU citizens to remain in Scotland, the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will confirm in an…

Scotland’s employment rate rose to 75.5%, close to the highest on record, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, a record low and lower than…

Moves to increase Scotland’s trade with its third largest export market will be made by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during a two-day visit to France….

UPDATE 3 — Standard Life Aberdeen will on Monday announce it acquired Orion Partners, an Asian real estate investment firm, following news that Japan’s Mitsubishi…

UPDATE 3 — Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said on Friday it made attributable full year profit of £1.6 billion in 2018, more than double…

Edinburgh-based Aegon UK — which last year apologised for big problems in the migration of Cofunds clients to Aegon — said on Thursday “significant strides” had…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Aberdeen Standard Investments is close to agreeing a deal to sell its HQ at at 6 St Andrew Square in Edinburgh, according to a…

Bahrain-based private equity firm Investcorp and Edinburgh-based investment giant Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) on Wednesday announced the launch of a joint venture that will invest in…

Celtic plc late on Tuesday reported its financial results for the six months ended December 31, 2018, showing revenue fell to £50 million from £71.5 million…

Official figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) show that the export value of Scotch Whisky grew 7.8% to a record £4.7 billion in 2018….

Diageo announced that plans have been formally submitted for its flagship Johnnie Walker visitor centre in the former Frasers department store at the west end…

Perth-based transport giant Stagecoach Group said on Tuesday its subsidiary East Midlands Trains Limited has agreed a new short-term rail franchise with the UK’s Department…

Edinburgh-based travel search site Skyscanner said it appointed Joanna Lord as its chief marketing officer. Lord, formerly CMO at ClassPass, will lead Skyscanner’s growth marketing…

An independent commission to advise on a 30 year strategy for infrastructure investment in Scotland has appointed its final members. The group, chaired by former…

Glasgow-based Smart Metering Systems (SMS) on Friday issued a trading update that showed its “total annualised recurring revenue” increased by 32% to £75.3 million at…

Perth-based energy giant SSE on Friday cut its full-year profit forecast as the suspension of payments from a back-up power scheme hurt its income.  A…

The number of restaurants in Scotland going bust last year increased by 86.3%, according to new analysis of the sector by accountants and business advisers…

Aberdeen-based Wood plc and KBR, Inc. have secured a new multimillion dollar contract to deliver front-end engineering design (FEED) for Shell Australia’s Crux project to build…

Buccleuch — one of Scotland’s biggest private landowners — said on Wednesday the Duke of Buccleuch will step down as chairman of the group at the…

Shares of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner CYBG rose about 14% on Wednesday after it lifted its forecast for margin growth and reported a rise…

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is visiting North America this week to strengthen trade and cultural links between Scotland and the US and Canada. The…

Perth-based energy giant SSE said on Friday it agreed to sell a 49.9% stake in its Stronelairg and Dunmaglass wind farms for about £635 million…

Elgin-based housebuilder Springfield Properties said on Friday it completed the acquisition of Livingston-based Walker Group for up to £31 million. Springfield is building a number…

Total income from Scottish farming is estimated to have fallen by £57 million to £672 million in 2018, after increasing in 2017. The chief statistician in…

Scotland’s international and rest of UK exports in 2017 (excluding oil and gas) rose 5.2% to £81.4 billion from the previous year. Exports to the…

Total and partners including China’s CNOOC have made a significant new gas discovery off the coast of Scotland at the North Sea Glengorm prospect about…

ScottishPower — a subsidiary of Basque energy giant Iberdrola — may compete against foreign infrastructure investment funds in the race to buy £2 billion Warrington-based electricity…

Aberdeen-based engineering and oil services giant Wood plc on Monday announced further progress with its $200m non-core asset disposal programme. In December, Wood agreed the…

Edinburgh-based funds platform Nucleus Financial Group Limited on Monday published an update on its assets under administration (AUA) in respect of the 12-month period to…

Cumbernauld-based Irn-Bru maker A.G. Barr said on Friday it expects its full-year revenue to rise about 5% to around £277 million. Barr, which also produces…

PwC said on Thursday it is embarking on a “significant” expansion of its Scottish operations with more than 100 staff expected to be recruited over…

Edinburgh-based water retailer Business Stream, a subsidiary of state-owned Scottish Water, said on Thursday it bought the customer base of its competitors Yorkshire Water Business…

A report launched on Thursday says Edinburgh’s 10 independent schools made an economic contribution of £125 million gross value added (GVA) in 2017-18, supporting 3,000 jobs.  The…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Aberdeen Standard Investments said it voted against the re-election of the chair of the board at the annual general meeting of pubs group…

Glasgow Housing Association’s investment programme for the past 15 years – the biggest of its kind in Europe – has boosted Scotland’s gross domestic product…

The average selling price of homes in east central Scotland — Edinburgh, Lothians and Fife — rose 4.9% to £241,827 in 2018, according to the…

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said on Thursday afternoon it will seek authority from shareholders to buy back RBS shares owned by the UK Government…

Edinburgh-based fund management giant Baillie Gifford on Thursday announced the appointment of two new partners, effective May 1, 2019, and the retirement of three partners….

There was a 14.3% increase in overseas overnight visits to Scotland — from 3.1 million to 3.5 million — in the 12 months to the…

Tom Hunter’s West Coast Capital (WCC) has agreed a joint venture with Cala Homes to help create a £1 billion housing and schools development —…

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared Edinburgh-based Menzies Aviation’s takeover of part of Airline Services’ business after an in-depth investigation allayed competition…

Grangemouth refinery operator Ineos announced that Antwerp, Belgium, will be the location for its €3 billion project for an ethane gas cracker and world-scale PDH…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) has made a $13 million minority equity investment in Singapore Life Pte. Ltd., a digitally-focused life insurance company…

Edinburgh Airport has recorded the busiest ever year for a Scottish airport with more than 14 million people passing through its doors in 2018. A…

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across Scotland will be able to access more than £100 million to help them expand and access investment through the…

Shares of East Kilbride-based Goals Soccer Centres plc fell about 15% on Monday after it said “outturn for 2018 is disappointing” and it now expects…

Perth-based energy giant SSE said on Friday its subsidiary Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks Transmission (SSEN Transmission) has completed the new £1 billion Caithness-Moray electricity transmission…

Shares of Glasgow-based fashion firm Quiz fell as much as 30% on Friday after it said overall sales for the Christmas trading period were “below expectations”…

Edinburgh-based fund management giant Baillie Gifford is set to open an office in Shanghai in the coming months as it moves to beef up its…

Aberdeen Standard Investments said its infrastructure debt team has lent £40 million to the Wales and Borders rail franchise for essential upgrades to its rolling…

Aberdeen Standard Investments and CYBG’s Virgin Money announced on Wednesday they have sealed a new investments and pensions joint venture. The venture will build on Virgin…

The latest Royal Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs said permanent staff appointments in Scotland increased at a “marked rate” at the end of 2018…

UPDATE 3 — Norwegian oil and gas company DNO on Wednesday looked set to win control of Aberdeen-based Faroe Petroleum a day after raising its…

Consultancy Wood Mackenzie has said the North Sea oil industry will stage a recovery in exploration drilling and healthy levels of mergers and acquisitions this…

Shares of Edinburgh-based rented housing developer Sigma Capital Group rose about 4% on Tuesday after it published a trading update for the financial year ended December 31,…

BP is considering selling its stake in the large Shearwater project in the North Sea as it focuses on new investments in the area and…

Edinburgh-based water retailer Business Stream, a subsidiary of state-owned Scottish Water, said on Monday it secured a new three-year water supply contract with Lloyds Banking…

The Scottish Government has announced an additional £50 million investment in the Tay cities region that will support manufacturing businesses and the delivery of the…

Figures released on Monday show more than 7.3 million customer journeys were recorded on Edinburgh Trams in 2018 — an increase of 10% on 2017….

The Bank of England, the UK’s central bank, said Colette Bowe and Jayne-Anne Gadhia have been appointed as external members of its Financial Policy Committee…

Norwegian oil and gas company DNO said on Thursday it has increased its shareholding in Aberdeen-based Faroe Petroleum to 30% and that its hostile £610 million cash takeover…

Aberdeen-based Faroe Petroleum — which has rejected a hostile £610 million cash takeover bid from Norwegian oil and gas company DNO — on Wednesday published “an independent current valuation…

Selby, North Yorkshire-based power company Drax Group plc said on Wednesday it completed the acquisition of ScottishPower’s portfolio of pumped storage, hydro and gas-fired generation….

Archangels, the Edinburgh-based business angel investment syndicate, said on Friday it led a record breaking £22.4 million of investment in Scottish tech and life sciences…

Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which owns Edinburgh Airport, said on Thursday that together with its co-shareholders it is selling 50.01% of Gatwick to France’s Vinci Airports for…

The 147th British Golf Open at Carnoustie generated a £120 million benefit for the Scottish economy, according to an independent study revealed by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon…

Perth-based energy giant SSE plc said on Friday it agreed to sell a 50% share of its SSE Enterprise Telecoms business (SSEET) to Infracapital for up…

Scotland is on track to see in excess of £2.5 billion invested in its commercial property market in 2018, according to Savills. This year has…

Shares of Edinburgh-based Craneware, a software firm that specializes in US healthcare, recovered some of their recent losses on Friday morning after the firm issued an…