Financial Services

THE property industry has called on the government to offer further tax relief to stimulate the market, despite forecasts of a decline in property tax revenue as a result of the housing market downturn.

Engineering and construction company Paladio Group has forecast full-year net profit to reach up to $12 million before any write down associated with the collapse of Windimurra Vanadium.

Western Australia has posted the biggest fall in skilled vacancies in April, nearly double the drop recorded by the national index, new data shows.

West Perth-based Magma Metals says it has raised $16 million for its Canadian project, with the placement substantially oversubscribed.

The rise in Australia's underlying inflation rate rules out a near term interest rate cut, economists say.

Perth-based IT services provider ASG Group has signed a new $8 million contract with the federal government's Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Fortescue Metals Group has received a key Chinese approval for the $645 million placement deal with Hunan Valin Iron and Steel Group Company.

Shares in Port Bouvard have jumped as much as 20 per cent today as the property developer cleared a major hurdle for the its proposed Point Grey development near Mandurah.

BHP Billiton has reported a dip in iron ore production for the March quarter, admitting today safety accidents had a part to play.

Ravensthorpe closure 'leaves scar on land'; Forrest in self-censorship bid; Long march for a great haul; Mining giants to combine power; No early recovery, says IMF

Minerals testing company Essa Australia has dramatically revised down its second half revenue and profit outlook, and anticipates that its full-year result will be around breakeven.

Three Western Australian companies have received a combined $3.7 million in federal government funds to advance technologies to combat climate change.

Osborne Park-based Cell Aquaculture has entered a joint venture deal to establish a $20 million land-based seafood production facility in South Africa.

Rio chairman on cue for Chinalco deal; Anticipated bids spark 33% surge in Asciano; $95m to settle Re-HIH matter; Labor risk to youth jobs – OECD; Health insurance rebate ‘a waste'

Rio Tinto shareholders have shown their displeasure with the miner, casting a strong protest vote against the re-election of director Rod Eddington and the company's remuneration report.

GRD's engineering subsidiary GRD Minproc has been awarded a design contract for Felix Resources' $400 million Moorlarben coal project in New South Wales.

Perth-based oil and gas explorer Buru Energy has unveiled a $41 million takeover bid by a company linked to its chairman, which has proposed to fund the offer out of Buru's cash reserves.

Engineering firm RCR Tomlinson has forecast a full-year fiscal 2009 net profit of up to $13 million as profit expectations are hit by delayed or cancelled projects.

Coles to be main act at Wesfarmers' briefing; Forrest, China in talks over Pilbara push; Bank move on B&B holders; Inflation data in the March quarter eases the RBA; Qantas flies with Etihad deal

Balcatta-based Repcol has announced plans to invest nearly $20 million in mining services company Resource Equipment Rentals and sell its debt collection business for $350,000.

The state opposition has called for $4 million from the royalties for regions fund to be committed to the $171 million Ravensthorpe biomass energy project, which could create hundreds of jobs in the region.

The state's supply of land for home development is expected to smooth out after the government said it will reintroduce a land tax concession in next month's state budget.

Shares in Bonaparte Diamonds have risen as a second suitor, Queensland company Union Resources, enters the takeover battle.

Iluka Resources expects to pocket $77 million from the sale of its controlling stake in Queensland company Consolidated Rutile after Unimin Australia launched a $150 million takeover bid.

Shares in Anvil Mining have slipped in morning trade as the copper miner enters an underwriting deal for its $C30 million ($A34 million) capital raising.

Property taxes remain one of the biggest revenue earners for government, with the state and local governments in Western Australia raking in more than $4 billion from property taxes last financial year.

The listed entity of Costarella Design Ltd is preparing to change its activity and name after acquiring Asian Centre for Liver Diseases and Transplantation Ltd.

China's GDP growth has slowed to its lowest rate in almost 10 years, growing 6.1 per cent in the year to March, in further bad news for Australia's economy.

Copper miner Anvil Mining has called a trading halt while its stockbrokers seek to obtain subscriptions for a C$30 million (A$34 million) capital raising.

WA junior Emmerson Resources has entered into a landmark $28 million binding agreement with Ivanhoe Australia to fast track the discovery of potentially world-class deposits within its fully-owned tenements at Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.

In the second part of our series on big ideas for WA, we feature FORM's Lynda Dorrington,a passionate advocate for change.

MARKET sentiment surrounding nickel appears to be on the rise translating to higher shares prices for Western Australia's nickel miners, but it's too early to call a turnaround for the base metal.