Scottish Business Briefing – Wednesday 22 May, 2013

Marchant bows out of SSE with 5.6% rise in profits

Utility group SSE has delivered its last set of annual results under the watch of outgoing chief executive Ian Marchant, who leaves next month. The Perth-based firm, which was fined a record £10.5 million by industry regulator Ofgem last month for mis-selling energy contracts, posted an adjusted pre-tax profit of £1.4 billion for the year to 31 March, up 5.6 per cent on the previous year (Scotsman).

Sentinel hopes to add more than 200 crew

An Aberdeen energy service business said yesterday it wanted to recruit more than 200 people after buying £100million of new vessels. Sentinel Marine said it had ordered four emergency-response and rescue vessels for operations in the UK North Sea, with an option for a further four (P&J).

Read all today’s energy and utilities news from scotsman.com

INDUSTRY

Royal Mail profits rise as privatisation beckons

THE proposed £3 billion sale of the world’s oldest postal service drew nearer today as operating profits at Royal Mail more than doubled last year. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills confirmed that it would reveal next week which banks will lead the lucrative privatisation process, with frontrunners to handle the initial public offering (IPO) thought to include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Goldman Sachs and UBS (