Investors will have to make do with slim pickings from the top table of Scottish business this Christmas with the total value of the country's 10 biggest companies down nearly 20% over the year.

A £10 billion slump in the stock market value of the part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland did most of the damage but oil companies Cairn and Premier, together with FirstGroup, also suffered painful reversals and Standard Life slipped lower after a bright start to the year.

There were some encouraging features, however, with temporary power supplier Aggreko and Weir both climbing further up the table as they continued to enjoy export-led success in the face of the deteriorating global economy.

The strength of their shares enabled the two companies to leapfrog Cairn in the rankings as the oil giant suffered the effects of a hangover from a hugely disappointing drilling programme in Greenland in the lead up to the sale of the bulk of its Indian assets.

But the real star performer for investors was Aberdeen energy services John Wood Group where a 14.5% increase in the published share price tells only part of the story.

That is because directors, led by chairman Sir Ian Wood, sanctioned a £1.08bn cash return to shareholders during the year.

Including the giveaway, total shareholder returns spiralled by some 53% during the course of 2011.

Power giant SSE , which is threatening to overtake RBS as Scotland's biggest quoted company, put in its usual solid performance with investors attracted to the safety of its high-dividend yield.

Those who bought the shares in the summer, however, have had a less happy experience and the current price is now down more than 20% from its peak after a slow start to winter across much of the UK and the prospect of slower industrial demand during the economic slow-down.

Another fall in the share price of FirstGroup appeared to take most professional advisers by surprise – a majority of stockbrokers polled by the Morningstar news service was tipping them as a "buy" last year because of their hefty dividend payments.

The same brokers are continuing to tip the shares (and the dividend yield is now a good bit higher) although others remain concerned that rising unemployment and Government cutbacks are likely to impact prospects.

But the professionals can take some comfort from the fact they were more often right than wrong last year,

True, they ended up with egg on their faces with a recommendation of Premier Oil as a "strong buy" but were spot on with recommendations for Weir, Wood and Aggreko, and also tipped Aberdeen Asset Management.

The brokers rarely suggest that investors should sell an individual share but came close with neutral recommendations on the remaining four companies.

We will publish their views on prospects for Scotland's top table in our January 1 issue.