HBOS takes £400m hit from BankWest sale

Halifax Bank of Scotland has abandoned its Australian ambitions with the fire sale of BankWest at less than half the hoped-for price and at a £400m loss.

Stagecoach prepares for downturn

Perth-based bus and rail company Stagecoach has confirmed it is drawing up cost-cutting plans as transport businesses, previously seen as insulated from a downturn, begin considering the impact of an unexpectedly long and deep recession on the sector.

Do not over react, says pensions regulator

The current financial crisis should not deflect the UK from its new pension scheme regime, the pensions regulator David Norgrove told the National Association of Pension Funds annual conference in Glasgow yesterday.

Oil price falls on rise in US crude inventories

CRUDE oil prices fell yesterday after a US government report showed a big increase in crude stocks and a big drop in demand, providing evidence that economic weakness is eroding fuel consumption in the world's biggest consumer of petroleum products.

Cemtron falls into administration

One of Scotland's largest electronic manufacturing services businesses has gone into administration with a threat to its 153 jobs.

Royal and HBOS plunge ahead of expected recapitalisation

HBOS shares plummeted 41.5% yesterday to just half the level of Lloyds TSB's rescue takeover bid, and Royal Bank of Scotland was driven down 39%, as the City piled pressure on the government to reveal details of a likely £50bn plan to inject capital into most big UK banks.

US financial shares hit 11-year low as Dow tumbles again

Shares in US financial companies plunged to an 11-year low and the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average skidded another 500-plus points in a late afternoon retreat.

Troubled Icelandic bank calls receivers

Icesave, the internet bank with thousands of UK clients, has stopped savers withdrawing their cash after Landsbanki, its parent company, was taken over yesterday by the Icelandic government as the financial crisis gripping the Nordic country deepened.

After the months of shock and awe, little is surprising

Analysis: One begins to run out of words powerful enough to convey what is happening to the disintegrating global banking system. It takes your breath away.

Manufacturing output extends losing streak

UK manufacturing output fell for a sixth consecutive month in August - clocking up its longest losing streak since 1980 - according to official data yesterday which heaped further pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates.

Ferguson McKenzie sees opportunity

Ferguson McKenzie, the small Scottish recruitment specialist, forecasts that it will break the £1m-turn-over barrier on the back of a global credit crisis increasingly bleeding into Scotland’s financial services sector.

	No dividend as BHS profit falls by 40%
	Retail boss Sir Philip Green described trading as "competitive and unpredictable" yesterday after sales at his Bhs chain fell 4% in the past six weeks.

Sell-off as sterling falls against the dollar

A sell-off in UK banking stocks led to a volatile time for sterling, which dipped to a two-and-a-half year low yesterday against the dollar.

More airlines will go bust, claims BA chief

WILLIE Walsh, chief executive of British Airways, said he had no idea how long the economic slowdown that is hammering the industry would last and reiterated predictions that more airlines would go out of business.

Power output declines at British Energy

BRITISH Energy said yesterday that its power output in the first half fell compared with the same period in 2007 because of repairs at two of its power stations, although it still met management forecasts.

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