The Herald

Hbos Staff Considering Options

Wyg Buys Farningham Mccreadie

Plexus Half-Time Losses Double

Insurer Confirms Glasgow Jobs Ace Group to Centralise Back-Office Operations in City's Financial Services District

GLOBAL insurance giant Ace Group confirmed last night that it plans to centralise backoffice operations across the British Isles in Glasgow, bringing hundreds of jobs to the city's international financial services district. The company has accepted a hefty public sector grant to smooth the transfer, which is likely to trigger scores of job losses at existing Ace offices, particularly in southern England. The company declined to confirm whether employees at offices south of the border and in D...

Ag Barr Defies Oliver Twist with Increased Sales

AG BARR, the maker of iconic Scottish soft drinks, yesterday said sales of its Irn-Bru products had surged by 5-per cent - in spite of the effect of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and others boosting consumers' thirst for more nutritious beverages. The Cumbernauld-based company also said that Irn-Bru 32, its recently launched highenergy drink and the first new Irn-Bru product for 26 years, had already shown early, "encouraging signs" of success.

Wolfson Microelectronics' Chief Enjoys 79-Per Cent Hike in Pay Package

DAVID Milne, chief executive and founder of Scotland's brightest technology star Wolfson Microelectronics, enjoyed a 79-per cent rise in his pay package, excluding pension contributions, to GBP365,000, the company's latest annual report and accounts reveal. Total directors' pay at the Edinburgh-based maker of audio and video chips surged 53.4-per cent to GBP1.2m, compared with GBP752,000 last time.

Gyllenhammar Defence Reignites War of Words Over Nmt Record

PETER Gyllenhammar, the activist investor, reignited the war of words with shell company NMT yesterday by defending his record in Scotland. Gyllenhammar this week sold his 14.6-per cent stake in NMT after criticising its governance by financial investor Volvere, prompting Volvere's chief executive Jonathan Lander to liken the Swede to "a small child needing constant attention".

Macfarlane Back in Profit After Four Years of Losses Packaging Group Unwraps Plans to Pay Dividend

PACKAGING group Macfarlane has returned to profitability after four loss-making years and announced plans to pay its first ordinary dividend since the end of 2002. The Glasgow-based group, which makes and distributes packaging products, made a trading profit of GBP2.6m in 2005 on turnover of GBP130.9m. That was up from the previous year's trading loss of GBP2.4m.

Babcock Looks Past Bid Talk to Growth On 'Independent Basis'

BABCOCK International yesterday poured cold water on a possible joint bid by BAE Systems and VT Group, as it gave an upbeat assessment - particularly of the "excellent longterm prospects" of its Rosyth shipyard in Fife - and said it was plotting acquisitions. Babcock said it had been "in discussions with industry participants and with the Ministry of Defence about various options for both its submarine and surface ship support operations, but that those discussions had not extended to the po...

Baa Forecasting Slower Passenger Growth in Uk

BAA is predicting annual passenger growth at its seven UK airports of 2-per cent - in line with expectations but lower than rises of around 4-per cent recorded in previous years. In a trading update, chief executive Mike Clasper blamed a softer economy, last July's terrorist attacks, and the Gate Gourmet industrial dispute at Heathrow for the dip.

Bank Chief Rules Out Early Uk Rate Cut Fed Tightens Monetary Policy yet Again

UKmonetary policymakers signalled yesterday that they were unlikely to cut interest rates again any time soon, while the Federal Reserve last night raised the cost of borrowing in the US yet again. The Fed moved the benchmark interest rate in the world's largest economy from 4.5-per cent to 4.75-per cent - the 15th consecutive meeting at which it has moved them up by a quarter-point. Its decision, which was anticipated widely, takes the benchmark rate in the US higher than the UK's 4.5-per cent.

Aberdeen Asset Lifted Bydeutsche Funds and Asia-Pacific

ABERDEEN Asset Management confirmed yesterday that it had hung on to more than it had expected of the funds grabbed in the scale- building acquisition of Deutsche Asset Management. Aberdeen, which came out on top in a bidding war for the loss- making UK-based fund arm of Deutsche Bank last year, said it suffered only GBP4.5bn of outflows from GBP14bn of equity and multi- asset funds over the five months to the end of February.

Dana Shares Soar to Record As Oil and Gas Firm Triples Earnings

SHARES in Dana Petroleum raced to a record high after the oil and gas company unveiled sparkling annual results, which showed that heavy investment in the North Sea paid off in a year of surging energy prices. Aberdeen-based Dana more than tripled pre-tax profits to GBP108m last year, when 91-per cent of its production came from the North Sea.

Bowleven Adjusts Options Terms to 'Properly Incentivise' Directors

BOWLEVEN, the oil and gas firm that is embroiled in a bitter public dispute with its former chief executive, has adjusted the terms of options for five remaining directors in a move that could be worth more than GBP2m in total to them. Weeks after sacking its chief executive, Philip Rhind, for alleged gross misconduct, Edinburgh-based BowLeven has amended its executive option scheme to allow directors to buy shares at a much lower price than when they were first granted.

Emap Expects Underlying Revenues to Be Flat

MEDIA group Emap warned yesterday that growth from its radio, television and UK consumer magazines businesses would be offset in the coming year by continuing losses at its French magazine unit, which has been put up for sale. The London-based group also warned of continuing difficulties in all its markets, with recruitment advertising in its business-to- business publications particularly hard hit. As a result, like-for- like revenues in the coming year are expected to be flat.

Beef Producers Urged to Target Continent Farming

ITmay take some time, but exporters of Scotch beef should be aiming for a trade with mainland Europe worth GBP200m each year, according to Ross Finnie, the rural development minister with the Scottish Executive. Speaking in Dundee yesterday at a conference organised by promotions body Quality Meat Scotland, Finnie was very upbeat.