The Herald

Scottish Firms' Spending On R&D Crashes by 21percent in Just One Year

SCOTTISH business organisations last night expressed their frustration at the 21percent fall in research and development spending by businesses north of the border in the latest year. Figures released by the Scottish Executive showed that the value of business enterprise research and development undertaken in Scotland in 2003 was [GBP]521m, 3.8percent of the UK total, down from [GBP]640m in the previous year.

Intelli Moves On to Next Phase with [Gbp]5m Sale

INTELLI has been bought by an English investment management firm in a deal valuing the Edinburgh corporate finance boutique at more than [GBP]5m. It is being taken over by fastexpanding iimia, which began life advising private clients in Exeter but has been attracting attention as an innovative player in the fund management business.

Stagecoach Assets Tumble On International Global Accounting Rules

PERTH transport giant Stagecoach revealed yesterday that the introduction of global accounting rules has slashed the company's net assets almost by half. Issuing restated figures for the year ended April 30, the company attributed the cut to the obligation under international financial reporting standards to recognise pension scheme funding shortfalls on the balance sheet.

Blue-Chip Stocks Flirt with Four-Year High

TAKEOVER fever in the energy and banking sectors, strength in mining stocks and a robust performance by oil majors are helping to propel the London Stock Exchange's FTSE-100 index to four-year highs. The Footsie reached 5500 points in intraday trading yesterday for the first time since August 2001, but fell back on profit-taking in the mining and financial sectors after robust gains on Wednesday.

Mckillop Buys Royal Bank Shares

SIR Tom McKillop, who became deputy chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland on September 1 and is viewed as an eventual successor to chairman Sir George Mathewson, spent [GBP]483,600 yesterday on acquiring his first shares in the Edinburgh institution. An announcement to the stockmarket revealed McKillop (pictured), who is to retire as chief executive of AstraZeneca in January, bought 30,000 shares in Royal Bank at 1612p each.

Icas Freezes Subscription Fees

Equitable Court Costs Could Pile Up Activists Claim Mutual Will Pay [Gbp]20m Extra for Case 'to Go Away'

EQUITABLE Life faces having to pay out another [GBP]20m for the legal costs of the 15 former directors it is suing for [GBP]1.7bn, it was claimed yesterday, as chief executive Charles Thomson shrugged off calls for his resignation. The mutual life insurer refused to comment on reports that the case against the exdirectors had been adjourned with a view to settlement, only days after it abandoned its [GBP]700m action against former auditor Ernst & Young and admitted to having incurred [GBP]30m...

Economists Think Rate Cut Unlikely Before Next Year

MOST City economists believe a rate cut is on the cards to kick- start the lethargic economy but feel worries about inflation may prevent the Bank of England from lowering the cost of borrowing until early next year. All 50 economists surveyed by Reuters between September 27 and 29 expected the Bank's monetary policy committee to keep rates on hold at 4.5percent when its monthly meeting ends next Thursday.

Scottish Economy Grows at Lower Rate

SCOTLAND'S economy continued to grow during this summer but at a lower rate than a year earlier, the latest business monitor from Lloyds TSB has shown. According to the data for the three months to August 2005, 42percent of the firms surveyed reported an increase in turnover, with 33percent reporting flat sales and 25percent indicating a decrease, giving a net balance of +17percent - unchanged from the previous quarter. The same quarter in 2004 reported a figure of +33percent.

Boots Anticipates Festive Sales Gloom After Poor Interims

SHARES in Boots fell more than 3percent yesterday as it added to the downbeat mood on the high street with further evidence of falling sales. In a trading update ahead of first-half results, the retail chain wrote off the chances of a major upturn in consumer confidence this Christmas, after disclosing a 1.6percent fall in like-forlike sales in the second quarter.

Inveresk Tumbles to [Gbp]109,000 Interim Loss

INVERESK is continuing its transformation from papermaker to real estate developer by offloading the assets of its last Scottish mill. The quoted company's Carrongrove mill at Denny in Stirlingshire will shut on schedule early in November, triggering the sale of plant and equipment.

London Stock Exchange Forecasts 'Excellent' First-Half Results

LONG-time takeover target the London Stock Exchange has outlined a strong start to the financial year with total new share issues up by 50percent - its best trading period for almost three years. Updating the market ahead of its interim close period, the City's key financial institution said trading on its electronic SETS system had risen by 30percent to 200,000 deals a day, while the number of stock exchange information terminals was now 84,000 - a 4000 gain since August 2004.

Electronics Group Sees Interim Losses Rise

MICROEMISSIVE Displays, the Scottish technology firm which has had a rough ride since floating on the Alternative Investment Market, announced increased interim losses and said volume production of its miniature television screens should finally happen early in 2007. Shares in the Edinburgh University and Napier University spin- out took a pasting in June when it said its pilot production line in Edinburgh would need to be boosted by another volume production facility sooner rather than later.

Sli Increases Stake in Scottishpower Life Insurer Spends Another [Gbp]2.4m On Utility's Shares

STANDARD Life's spending spree on ScottishPower shares is continuing, with an announcement to the stockmarket yesterday revealing the Edinburgh institution's investments arm spent another [GBP]2.4m on Wednesday on increasing its stake in the Glasgow- headquartered utility. The Herald reported yesterday that, between German giant E.ON's revelation after the stockmarket closed on September 5 that it was weighing a potential [GBP]10bn-plus cash bid for ScottishPower and Tuesday this week, Standa...

Walker Ponders His Future As Qms Stakeholders Prepare to Make Changes Farming

JIM Walker, the former president of NFU Scotland whose collaboration with the Scottish Executive in handling the foot- andmouth crisis in 2001won him great applause, has spoken out about his future as chairman of Quality Meat Scotland. The agency, funded by the industry through levies with an annual budget approaching [GBP]5m, has succeeded in raising the profile of the Scottish red meat industry.