Here are the local and national stories making the business headlines this morning.
Baker Hughes sees eight-fold earning surge
Baker Hughes saw quarterly profits surge eightfold year-on-year in its Q1 results to March 31, Energy Voice reports.
The oilfield services giant kicked off a wave of results for the sector today, reporting net income of $576m, up from $72m in Q1 2022.
Strong demand for services amid what Baker Hughes called a “favourable macro backdrop” saw orders increase 12% year on year to $7.6bn, as revenues climbed 18% to $5.7bn.
Abrdn cuts a fifth of multi-asset fund management staff
Abrdn is cutting around a fifth of the staff in its multi-asset fund management division.
It is offering voluntary redundancy to at least 27 people in the 144-strong team.
A spokesperson for the Edinburgh-based financial services firm told Insider: “Earlier this year we announced that Russell Barlow would assume responsibility for working with the Multi-Asset Investing Team team to redesign the end-to-end investment process, with a core focus on simplification and the establishment of a solid foundation from which we can scale and grow the offering.
“The starting point for the redesign was an open acknowledgement of the need for change, any restructuring decisions have and will be as a direct result of collaboration and engagement.
“The end state will ensure we have a strong, client-led proposition and the building blocks to ensure we are future fit.”
Ministers have no clear plan for net zero, says watchdog
It is not clear what Scottish government actions will be taken to limit the risk of climate change, the spending watchdog has said in a new report.
Nicola Sturgeon declared a climate emergency in 2019, setting a target of achieving net zero by 2045. But the climate change committee said last year the government had missed seven out of 11 targets and there was “no clear plan of delivery” for reducing emissions by 75 per cent by 2030.
A new report released by Audit Scotland said improvements were necessary in the governance arrangements within government aiming to meet the climate change targets, particularly around how risks are managed.
Putin threatens Europe with fresh gas crisis
Russia has warned Europe that it faces a fresh gas crisis next winter as it scrambles to restock reserves as Vladimir Putin launches a new attempt to weaponise energy.
Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas supplier, said Europe had made it through winter despite cuts in Russian gas supplies owing to mild temperatures but warned there “is no guarantee that nature will make such a gift” again.
In a statement on Twitter, it said restocking for next winter would not be easy, blaming “politically motivated decisions aimed at halting the imports of Russian pipeline gas”.
BP investors revolt over U-turn on green pledges
A shareholder revolt to remove Helge Lund as chairman of BP was gathering momentum last night, according to the Times, which reports that five of Britain’s biggest pensions schemes planning to vote against his re-election in protest at the company’s watering down of green commitments.
The Universities Superannuation Scheme followed the National Employment Savings Trust in announcing plans to vote against Lund. Brunel Pension Partnership, a group of nine council schemes, also said it would vote to oust him. Two other council pension umbrella groups, LGPS Central and Border to Coast, are said to be joining them.
The investors are frustrated that BP chose to reduce its targets for emissions reductions in February without seeking shareholders’ consent. They believe that by announcing their intentions early, they could encourage wavering investors to join the protest.
Colin Beattie resigns as SNP treasurer after arrest
Colin Beattie has resigned as SNP treasurer after his arrest as part of a police investigation into the party's finances.
He said he would also be stepping back from his role on the public audit committee until the police investigation had concluded.
The 71-year-old was taken into custody and released without charge on Tuesday. The BBC reports he has resigned "with immediate effect".
90% of young save too little in pension
Workers in their thirties and forties are heading for uncomfortable retirements as the wealth of today’s pensioners breeds complacency in government, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.
Nine in ten workers are saving less than needed for a decent standard of living in retirement as final salary pensions disappear from the private sector and people struggle to contribute enough, the think tank finds.
Middle earners are worst affected but even most of the richest fifth are skimping on their retirement savings while pensions have “collapsed” among the self-employed, a report finds.
Tesco ordered to drop Clubcard logo after court rules it copied Lidl
Tesco may have to stop using a blue and yellow logo to promote its Clubcard loyalty scheme after the High Court ruled that it had infringed the trademark of Lidl, the German discounter.
Judge Joanna Smith said in a written ruling that Britain’s biggest grocer had taken unfair advantage of its rival’s “distinctive reputation” for low prices.
Smith also ruled that Tesco was “deceiving a substantial number of consumers into believing that Tesco’s prices represented the same value as Lidl’s prices, when that was not the case”. She rejected Lidl’s argument that Tesco had “the deliberate subjective intention of riding on Lidl’s coat-tails”.