Fortescue takes axe to $400m in costs; ANZ slumps on rising bad debt; Low rates boost WA housing market; Turnbull sets new ETS plan; Lower costs help nickel miners lift earnings
AGGRESSIVE and often controversial managed investment scheme (MIS) operator and latterly, corporate agriculture company, Timbercorp, has succumbed to the weight of its ever-increasing mountain of debt.
LAST year's boost to the first home owners grant and cuts to interest rates have given rise to a two-tiered property market, with the first home buyer and sub-$500,000 market firing while the middle to upper end of the market languishes.
THE small business sector is missing out on the benefits of lower interest rates, with higher risk margins on business loans outweighing the fall in rates, new research has found.
MADDINGTON-BASED Coote Industrial and associated company Greentrains have negotiated related fund raising deals worth $8 million with Victorian Caterpillar dealer Dale Elphinstone.
IF there's any upside to the current housing slump it would have to be the easing of several boom time pressures, such as labour shortages, input costs and time blowouts.
Metal recycling group CMA Corporation says it will have improved access to world investment markets as its shares start trading in the United States as American Depository Receipts.
Agribusiness and automotive components supplier Futuris Corporation will begin trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Thursday under the old Elders name.
Straits Resources says it expects to deliver shareholders around $94 million of the $US335 million ($A470 million) deal with Thailand's PTT International Company, which achieved financial close today.
Sundance Resources has raised nearly $11 million through a share purchase plan as talks continue with potential strategic partners for the Mbalam iron ore project.
EPA approves Karara but blocks satellite pit; Fortescue had only an MOU, says witness; NAB's swinging door; Building fund hit by crisis; Death of a tycoon - Pratt loses cancer fight
West Perth-based Reed Resources has obtained an exclusive option to acquire a silver project and processing plant near Kalgoorlie from a private company for more than $2 million.
Nedlands-based Tox Free Solutions has decided to drop its acquisition of a Victorian waste management company as it revises down its earnings forecast for the 2009 financial year.
Perth-based energy group Aviva Corporation has today invited the public to comment on its environmental review documents for its Coolimba power and coal projects located near Eneabba.
Shares in Aurox Resources have surged after it received environmental approval for its Balla Balla magnetite iron ore project in the Pilbara in a move the company says will provide certainty for potential financiers.
Galaxy Resources says it is investigating several sites in China for a processing plant for its Mt Cattlin lithium and tantalum project near Ravensthorpe.
Gindalbie Metals has welcomed the Environmental Protection Authority's long awaited report on its $1.8 billion Karara project but may appeal over the exclusion of one iron ore deposit in the project area.
Fox Resources has confirmed it has undertaken a $3.4 million private placement with funds to drive exploration across the company's nickel and copper projects.
Million to face the dole queue; Clarke quits AMP's board; Laws force scrutiny of ability to repay loans; ASIC leniency for business failure; Allco crash blot dogs Eddington
Australia's consumer credit laws are set for an overhaul with the federal government today releasing draft legislation that looks to slash red tape for business and impose tougher penalties for irresponsible lending.
Sharp increases in oil and gas works will not offset WA's engineering construction activity which is forecast to fall 15 per cent over the next two years, an economic forecaster says.
Maddington company Coote Industrial Ltd and associated company Greentrains Ltd have negotiated related fund raising deals worth $8 million with Victorian Caterpillar dealer Dale Elphinstone.
Tap Oil says it will farm-out interests in some of its projects in order to boost its forward cash flow while it cuts its 2009 exploration expenditure by 65 per cent on the back of lower oil prices.
West Perth-based Target Energy has pointed to suitor Advance Energy's operational viability as it advises shareholders to take no action on a takeover bid.
Union Resources says it has secured a $4 million underwriting deal for a proposed rights issue with funds to support its takeover bid for Bonaparte Diamond Mines.
Judge slams deception by Hardie board; Fortescue ships out; Property group's earnings slashed; St Barbara shares plunge on production cuts, cost blowouts; Gindalbie boss 'embarrassed' over project approvals delay
