In the long run the position of national champions in individual markets tends to

In the long run the position of national champions in individual markets tends to decline under the impact of economic and cultural globalisation. There was a 13 per cent rise in annual pre-tax profits to £13.8m, with dividends 10 per cent higher at 25.5p. Barr has always represented a bit of an anomaly, in that Scotland is the only soft drinks market in the world where Coca-Cola has to play second fiddle (they have 24 per cent to Barr’s 25 per cent). They are two old Scottish concerns that may still be around in a hundred years, more than we can necessarily expect of Shell and Marks and Sparks.My faith in Belhaven and Barr has been well rewarded over the years with growing dividends and a roughly doubled share price in each case Barr reported excellent results last week. As I have frequently written here, I have been sore disappointed by the share price performance some of the big blue chip (or formerly big blue chip) companies that I had thought would provide a solid and secure base for my port-folio; Marks & Spencer and Shell have been the villains for a long time.
So it is just as well that I have always included a brace of well-managed medium-sized Scottish companies that rarely make it into the management textbooks or as models for business school case studies. Their executives are much less well-rewarded than their peers in the FTSE 100, but they seem to do a much better job of running successful firms.I refer here to Belhaven, the Glasgow brewer, and AG Barr, the soft drinks firm, maker of Irn-Bru and Tizer, based in Dunbar.

I hear rumours it is on the verge of clinching an acquisition and another is in the pipeline A cash-raising exercise may also be underway.. Well. The stock market is now showing signs of recovering from the latest outrage against civilians, but shares are still hesitant and are likely to remain so until the heat is taken out of the Arab terror campaign.
The Footsie blue chip share index, as is customary, led the retreat but, somewhat surprisingly, quite a few small-caps, usually resilient in times of international stress and strain, lost their shine.Glisten, the little chocolate maker, has been the star constituent since I last examined the portfolio’s performance in February. Still, with a near 30 per cent shareholding, Mr Rafferty, the man behind the development of the hi-tech printer, is still deeply involved in the group, which plans a trading statement for the year ending next month in a couple of weeks. The analyst Roger Hardman has forecast sales of £9.6m with profits of £930,000.

If he is correct the shares are selling at 19 times earnings.Glisten and Printing are in their infancy and dividends are not yet on their agenda.Finally Wyatt, the little online risk consultancy. Problems at its south London office were responsible for the earlier setback.Shares of Printing , my Ofex representative, have returned to my 30.5p buying price. The sight of the chief executive, Tony Rafferty, unloading 403,000 shares at 30p may, I suspect, have unsettled investors and prompted the fall to 28.5p. Chairman Anthony Coombs says the group’s bad debts have been “significantly reduced” and the car hire purchase side, which produced profits of £1.6m (£1.3m), should make further headway. The portfolio’s longest-serving member has achieved a 15 per cent profit advance to £9m, a little below its best-ever level The yearly dividend was lifted 1p a share to 29p. I was probably too hasty when I unloaded the cake and pastry maker, admittedly at a handsome profit.