UK factory gate prices rose in April at the fastest monthly and annual rates since comparable records began in 1986 - official figures revealed yesterday - casting doubt on whether the Bank of England will feel able to cut interest rates in June.
Kilpatrick Property Group, the Glasgow-based commercial property investment company, said yesterday it increased its net asset value by 16% for the year to March 31, 2008, bucking the gloomy trend in the sector.
Shares in Dana Petroleum jumped 6% yesterday after the oil and gas independent announced its second oil discovery in the Northern North Sea in the space of three weeks.
HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank by market value, said yesterday that it has set aside a smaller-than-estimated $3.2bn (£1.6bn) for bad loans related to its US consumer finance business and said first-quarter profit increased.
Hard-pressed homeowners continued to face big rises in mortgage costs last month, in spite of the April 10 cut in base rates, according to figures yesterday from the Bank of England which point to continued weakening of the UK housing market.
Scotland's private sector economy has shrunk for the first time in five years amid a sharp slowdown triggered by the global credit crisis and soaring raw material costs driven by rocketing oil prices.
The value of BAE Systems’ shipyard business on the River Clyde to the Scottish economy climbed to £392m in 2007, according to a report by Strathclyde University’s influential Fraser of Allander Institute.
Royal Bank of Scotland yesterday confirmed it was under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over its exposure to American sub-prime mortgages.
A fast-growing Glasgow chauffeur company is expanding into the fiercely competitive limousine market in New York City.
Thebookingroom owns a fleet of 50 vehicles in Scotland and London.
In this week’s SME Focus, we look at the case of an American technophile who has made a successful business in Scotland by helping demystify technology.
Clydesdale Bank owner National Australia Bank (NAB) lost around £15m from the effects of the credit crunch over the last six months, it revealed yesterday, but still succeeded in posting pre-tax profit of £194m, up 17% on the year before.
The pound tumbled on the foreign exchanges yesterday, as traders bet the Bank of England would have to cut benchmark UK interest rates again as soon as economic conditions deteriorate.
Edinburgh headhunting firm Fletcher Jones is beefing up its core financial sector expertise with the recruitment of Alistair Crawford, who headed operations in the Scottish capital and Manchester for rival Jonathan Wren.
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