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Global Energy’s bid to create a private port in the Cromarty Firth thrown out by Scottish Government: A bid by one of the largest employers in the Highlands to take control of a strategically important part of the Cromarty Firth from the harbour authority that has controlled shipping in the firth since 1973 has been thrown out by the Scottish Government as being legally incompetent. According to a letter sent to the marine engineering multi-national Global Energy last week by Transport Scotland, Global’s proposed Harbour Revision Order (HRO) to wrest control of the Nigg yard from the Port of Cromarty Firth, submitted in December, cannot lawfully be made under section 14 of the 1964 Harbours Act.

Shell opens rich seam for the City: M&A experts poised to strike gold as energy giant’s BG takeover bid heralds new wave of consolidations, writes Martin Flanagan. AS Easter eggs went, investment bankers got a golden one from Royal Dutch Shell’s £47 billion blockbuster swoop on BG Group. The “deal suits” will find shaken oil and gas company boardrooms far more receptive towards what is likely to be their new calling card: strike yourselves or risk being swallowed. And the investment bankers’ pickings could be

Customer outrage as Sainsbury’s slashes Nectar point rewards for shoppers: Loyal customers of Sainsbury’s are to have the nectar points they can earn on spending cut from Saturday. Customers will receive just one Nectar point for every £1 spent - half the previous number awarded - and will no longer receive points for bringing their own bags to stores. The scaled-back reward scheme is a sign of the increased market pressure Sainsbury’s has been under in recent years

Dreamland’s revamp fuels hope for resorts: Britain’s first seaside destination leads heritage revival with £18million backing: Britain’s seaside towns have long been a byword for faded glory and economic decay, with some of the highest rates of personal debt, bankruptcy and company failures. But if all goes to plan, in June one of those former seaside glories, Margate, in Kent, will see the reopening of its famous leisure park Dreamland after £18 million of investment and years of legal battles

Fossil fuel-free funds outperformed conventional ones, analysis shows: Investors who have dumped holdings in fossil fuel companies have outperformed those that remain invested in coal, oil and gas over the past five years according to analysis by the world’s leading stock market index company, MSCI, which runs global indices used by more than 6,000 pension and hedge funds, found that investors who divested from fossil fuel companies would have earned an average return of 13% a year since 2010, compared to the 11.8%-a-year return earned by conventional investors

Is now the time to buy Rio Tinto’s 5.6pc dividend? :Shares in Rio Tinto took a knock last week after a city broker gave a downbeat outlook for the year ahead. The mining team at broker Investec moved Rio Tinto’s shares from a buy recommendation to a hold citing fears over Chinese demand for iron ore. Chinese demand during the past two decades for nearly all raw materials from iron ore to oil has been the driving factor behind high prices and high profits. Rio Tinto said it produced a record 295million tonnes of iron ore in 2014. It is planning to increase iron ore production for another three years until it reaches 360million tonnes a year in 2018. The miner is not alone as FTSE 100 rivals are also ramping up output. The Chinese government last week announced tax cuts and subsidies to support its homegrown iron ore mining industry and with that level of state support the oversupply of iron ore could last a long time. The shares have been relatively stable this year, down just 5pc so far. It could have been worse as the shares are being propped up by a $2billion (£1.34billion) share buyback programme that will continue until the end of 2015. Rio Tinto also increased the annual dividend by 12pc to $2.15 per share at the end of last year. Questor says “Avoid”.

Poundland boss ‘disappointed and surprised’ by 99p Stores ruling: The Chief Executive of Poundland has said he is “disappointed and surprised” by the competition regulators’ call for a full-scale review of the retailer’s £55million takeover of rival 99p Stores.

Blur Group’s shares plunge on ‘substantially lower’ revenues: Blur Group’s share price tumbled by more than a quarter on Friday after the online marketplace for business services warned that its full year revenues would be “substantially lower than previously expected”. The Aim-listed company, which only three months ago issued its third profit warning in the space of a year, has lost more than 90% of its market value since January 2014

Aviva slashes bosses’ awards after investor intervention: Aviva has watered down long-term share awards for two of its senior executives following talks with the influential investor voting agency Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). The FTSE 100 giant said that both its Chief Executive Mark Wilson and finance director Tom Stoddard had agreed not to accept the long-term incentive plans (L-tips) handed to them earlier this year. Under the terms of the three-year awards, which are dependent on the company’s performance, Mr Wilson stood to make up to 350 % of his annual salary – worth a maximum £3.43million-and Mr Stoddard 250 %, £1.03million.

Flood insurance scheme is put on ice: Ministerial sign-off for a long-awaited flood insurance scheme has been delayed until after the general election. The insurance industry had hoped the £180million-a-year Flood Re would be fully approved before 7 May, averting the risk of ministerial change, which could lead to a reconsideration of how the scheme works. Flood Re subsidises home cover for people living on floodplains, so insurers can offer them affordable premiums.

Weak construction set to slow GDP growth: Disappointing construction figures have left the Coalition parties facing a pre-election growth slowdown when the first quarter’s GDP figures are released just nine days before Britain goes to the polls. Output from Britain’s builders fell 0.9% in February, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - a big miss on the 2% growth that analysts had expected

Governor of the Bank of England is a non-dom: Mark carney, the governor of the bank of england, will fall foul of ed miliband’s plan to abolish “non-dom” tax status if labour wins power. Canadian-born Carney, who was lured to Britain by George Osborne on an £874,000 pay package, has non-dom status and will face higher taxes if the benefit is revoked by an incoming Labour government.

Saudi price war set to topple ailing US frackers: American oil drillers that account for half the world’s excess supply are in danger of going bust, according to an exclusive report, writes Danny Fortson. Twenty-three U.S. shale oil producers, that together pump more than 500,000 barrels a day, have been pushed deeply into loss by the halving of the price of crude, according to detailed analysis by Lambert Energy Advisory. The revelation is the latest sign of the carnage caused by Saudi Arabia’s price war.

Huntsworth writes off £71million and cuts dividend: The new management of Huntsworth has announced write-offs totalling £71.5 million on two of its businesses, including one of the oldest PR operations in the City, Citigate Dewe Rogerson, and drastically cut the dividend. Huntsworth is writing down £6.5 million on the value of Citigate in part to reflect the value of goodwill in the business after its 1998 acquisition of Dewe Rogerson to create Citigate Dewe Rogerson, its London operating subsidiary. This took place before the business was acquired by Huntsworth, which was founded by Lord Chadlington

M&S makes room for another hotelier as IHG’s Richard Solomons joins board: Marks & Spencer has for the second time turned to one of the world’s top hoteliers to bolster its non-executive board members. The retailer announced yesterday that Richard Solomons, Chief Executive of f (IHG), would become a director next week and sit on its nomination committee.

Oil prices ended higher last week, after Saudi Arabia raised its official oil selling price for Asian buyers for the second consecutive month and amid expectations that the agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program would not lead to an immediately oil supply surplus. However, the commodity pulled back most of its gains after the EIA announced that US crude oil stockpiles recorded their largest weekly increase since March 2001. Brent crude oil prices rose 5.3% to $57.87/barrel

WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department said on Friday it has received a plan by Royal Dutch Shell PLC to explore drilling opportunities in the Arctic. The company's plan envisions "exploration drilling in the shallow waters of the Chukchi Sea Outer Continental Shelf, off the northwest coast of Alaska." Late last month, the Obama administration upheld a 2008 Arctic lease sale, clearing an important hurdle for Shell. The Interior Department will now consider the company's drilling plan, which could take 30 days. (Reporting By Patrick Rucker; Editing by Sandra Maler and Will Dunham)

Housebuilders were among the best performers as Jefferies upgraded ratings for stocks across the sector, including Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Bellway, Crest Nicholson and Redrow. Jefferies said it has turned more positive on the sector after recent data "point[ed] to a stronger pre-election housing market than we had anticipated".

British industrial production grew by just 0.1% in February after a 0.3% decline in January, which economists said indicated that UK economic growth slowed in the first quarter. The consensus forecast was for growth of 0.3%.

UK construction output extended its decline in February, as uncertainty surrounding the general election weighed on sentiment. According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics, construction output fell 0.9% in February, following a 2.5% decline in the previous month and falling way short of analysts' expectations calling for a 2% increase. Coupled with a disappointing reading in industrial output, the decline in construction production is set to weigh on Britain's gross domestic product in the first quarter. Having dropped 4.9% in January, the housebuilding sector declined by a further 1.2% month-on-month in February, data released on Friday showed. All types of new building work declined, With the exception of certain areas of public sector construction, pointing to weaker private sector investment in housing as well as industrial and commercial construction. Although analysts said the data looked likely to lead to UK first-quarter economic growth slowing, most remained confident that the slowdown was only temporary "The initial estimate of first quarter GDP could well surprise on the downside to register only modest growth, but that this initial reading will subsequently be revised higher to indicate reasonably robust growth, at least in line with that seen late last year," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. Sam Tombs at Capital Economics said the industrial and construction figures suggested GDP growth in the first quarter "may be disappointingly weak", with an initial estimate of GDP now looking set to reveal a slowdown to quarterly growth of around 0.4%. But he said the stimulus from lower crude prices, cheaper credit and somewhat stronger demand in the euro-zone left him optimistic that the UK economy is "on course for its best year since 2006".