Financial Services

Henderson shipbuilder Austal expects revenue and profit to continue its downward trend in the second half of fiscal 2009, as it reports a 43 per cent fall in first half net profit.

Fortescue Metals Group has gone into a trading halt pending an announcement about a capital raising.

ALP call for crisis plan as 5,300 mine jobs lost; Australians to set iron ore price; Gold expert warns on selling farm cheaply; No rental relief as Perth crashes; Turnbull lifts stakes on climate

The sluggish property market has impacted Cedar Woods Properties which reported a net loss of $5.6 million for the first half of the 2009 financial year, down from the prior corresponding period's net profit of $4.6 million.

A near $5 million impairment charge to one of Coventry Group's divisions has impacted the company's bottom line, which fell 61 per cent for the first half of fiscal 2009.

Recycling group CMA Corporation today announced a $36.5 million operating loss for the half year, in line with guidance provided late last year.

Kresta Holdings expects difficult market conditions to continue well into next year as it posts a 57 per cent slump in its half-year net profit to $1.5 million.

Mineral sampling equipment manufacturer Essa Australia expects to remain profitable during the second half of this financial year after it posted a 34 per cent drop in its interim net profit.

Oil and gas services company Mermaid Marine Australia has reported a 63 per cent lift in its interim net profit on the back of higher margins from its international business.

The board of Scotgold Resources is facing a shake-up after a major shareholder requested that all directors be removed.

Education services provider Navitas has executed an agreement with the University of Portsmouth in the UK to establish International College Portsmouth.

A boardroom battle at Rio Tinto may be looming as leading shareholders reportedly want former chairman-elect Jim Leng reinstated.

Gold miner St Barbara, which holds operations in Western Australia, expects to extend its half-year loss to some $44 million as a result of write downs and lower carrying values of listed investments.

Fortescue Metals Group says investment talks with a number of parties remain incomplete as new details emerge over its $3 billion expansion plans.

Losses from discontinuing operations have hit Clough's bottom line with the engineering and construction company reporting a 30 per cent fall in its interim net profit.

RUSSELL Collins is an overachiever by any measure, but he'd be the last person to ever give himself that label.

THE fallout from the global financial crisis has left many big investors with red faces as poor due diligence or undue risk taking has been exposed by the seismic wrenching in the financial system.

Record sales and revenue figures seem out of step with all the doom and gloom.

Has the government superannuation fund GESB's mutualisation stalled for good?

DESPITE the doom and gloom coming from the state's mining sector, the January Deloitte WA Index revealed stock values of miners rose more than 3 per cent, bucking the overall trend.

THE National Australia Bank has signed a 10-year lease to open a one of a kind branch at the former Red Rooster premises in the Murray Street Mall later this year.

ast year, the world changed in a meaningful and substantial way, but most of us have not yet begun to grasp the nature of changes now in store.

THREE Western Australian companies servicing the resource sector have managed to defy the economic downturn to report record sales and profits in the half-year to December 2008.

Extensive, untouched coal reserves and increasing demand for power generation makes Tanzania an attractive prospect for WA miners.

This year’s 1st Amongst Equals winner, David Flanagan, sees himself as part of a new generation of mining entrepreneurs.

Recent deals by Patersons draw parallels with Hartley Poynton 10 years ago. Mark Pownall looks at how the market has changed since then.

Nick Catania is passionate about his current role as mayor of the Town on Vincent.

AS Local Government Minister John Castrilli continues to advocate mergers of local councils, some councils that have already undergone amalgamation say local communities feared the loss of a town's cultural identity.

A DIRECTOR at Compass Hotel Group has bought shares at a very favourable rate compared to the company's initial public offer price some 13 months ago.

BUSINESS owners could save millions of dollars updating plant and equipment through legislation being drafted by the federal government.

IN what is already being pegged as the biggest office leasing deal of the year, Chevron has signed a 10-year lease agreement for the entire 14-level Dynons Plaza office tower.

An impairment charge to its New Zealand business and reduced levels in funds under management, administration or advice has impacted Plan B Group's earnings, which fell 52 per cent.