DESPITE no firm launch date having been set for its delayed mutualisation, $9 billion fund manager GESB has unveiled a highly experienced seven-member board.
THE roll call of Western Australian businesses directly affected by the global credit crunch grew suddenly during the past week, with several listed companies changing their plans in response to the meltdown on Wall Street.
THE Australian stock market rebounded to close almost 2 per cent higher after the Reserve Bank of Australia slashed the cash rate by 100 basis points to 6 per cent.
A TIGHTENING credit market provided the perfect opportunity for UK-based debtor finance specialist Bibby Financial Services to enter the Western Australian market, opening a Perth office this week.
THE sub-prime mortgage crisis could adversely affect some of the state's more conservative not-for-profit organisations, with a number having invested in complex financial securities called collateralised debt obligations.
MANY technology and innovation conferences in Western Australia have a sub theme that can be summed up as 'life after the resources boom', but the chair of next week's Leading Lights conference has a different focus.
The state's economic boom could turn into substantially higher electricity prices next year as Western Power submits its proposals to the Economic Regulation Authority to increase tariffs.
Incremental Petroleum Ltd has recommended its shareholders reject Cooper Energy Ltd's $86 million takeover offer, saying the offer undervalues the company by some 70 per cent.
Strong investor support for Perth-based Golden Gate Petroleum has boosted the company's capital raising efforts, with stakeholders raising a further $400,000 over the $4.7 million target.
The Australian stock market has clocked up its second-worst trading day for the year, closing down 5 per cent to its lowest point in three-years as panic selling engulfs markets around the world due to growing fears about the global financial crisis.
Former managing director of Home Building Society, Craig Coleman, has joined the board of Perth-based Amcom Telecommunications as a non-executive director.
Australia's biggest bank is set to grow, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia to take over BankWest and St Andrew's Australia from their troubled UK-based parent, HBOS plc, for $2.1 billion.
'Thousands' of jobs in doubt as CBA prepares to snatch BankWest; Merger to create $10bn bonus: BHP; Iron ore producers steel themselves for a slide; $500m windfall in $A plunge; Mitsui walks from Crux project
The Reserve Bank of Australia may cut interest rates again by Christmas, after deciding to lower the cash rate by a surprising 100 basis points for the first time in 16 years, economists said.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has responded to the global financial crisis by cutting official interest rates by 1 percentage point to 6 per cent, larger than the widely expected half a percentage point cut.
Engineering company Neptune Marine Services Ltd has finalised a $35 million acquisition of its second offshore construction vessel, with $7 million worth of contracts already locked in.
ABM Resources NL plans to raise an extra $3.2 million dollars through a share purchase plan, after successfully raising $1 million through a placement to clients of Blackwood Capital Ltd.
A possible deal for the acquisition of BankWest by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is likely to be reached tomorrow, as the major bank confirmed it was in exclusive talks with HBOS Plc to buy the Australian retail banking arm.
Backflip on Varanus may see state government gag report findings; Crisis sparks bank shake-up; Pilbara workers to strike; Investors hammer oil giants on global worries; Banks turn to fund for cheap cash
The market capitalisation of Western Australian listed companies have crashed to a 20-month low over September, falling 21 per cent to $127 billion, according to the Deloitte WA Index.
Toronto-listed Waratah Coal Ltd has urged its shareholders to take no action against a hostile bid by acquisitive billionaire Clive Palmer, who recently launched a takeover for a Western Australian iron ore play.
O'Connor-based BrainyToys Ltd is looking to raise additional funds after reporting a net loss of $4 million for fiscal 2008 and a working capital deficiency of $1.1 million.
The potential merger between CBH Resources Ltd and Perilya Ltd will have to go ahead without the Mount Oxide copper project, after formal agreements were executed for the $20 million scrip sale.
Varanus gas blast a $2b blow to WA; Recession fears increase; Shareholders target boards in executive pay revolt; ANZ readies axe over troubled lending arm; Top China official in warning on BHP-Rio tie
The credit crunch sweeping global markets is buffeting the property sector in Western Australia, with major developer Brookfield Multiplex denying rumours that the $1 billion office tower City Square was in jeopardy.
Subiaco-based explorer Vital Metals Ltd said it will reduce the pace of work on the feasibility study on its Watershed project in an effort to conserve cash in the current financial climate.
Housing and Works Minister Troy Buswell has ordered a review of public housing stock in high-end suburbs of Perth with a view to eventually reinvest the value of some properties to greater effect elsewhere.
South-Perth based Cooper Energy Ltd today said its hostile takeover bid for Incremental Petroleum Ltd could become ugly if Incremental's board acts against its shareholders' wishes and refuses the unsolicited takeover offer.
