Financial Services

The impending mutualisation of GESB, the Government Employees Superannuation Board, has allowed me to dig into a few areas that I haven't touched before.

Celebration Homes has won an award for most affordable family housing at the Master Builders Association – BankWest Metropolitan Housing Excellence awards.

A two-speed economy may be starting to emerge in Western Australia.

PERTH investment banking group Argonaut has sold a 20 per cent stake in the business to Apollo Asia Opportunity Master Fund, LP, and formed a strategic alliance with Apollo for its new merchant bankin

Unemployment rate: WESTERN Australia's unemployment rate fell to 2.8 per cent in February 2008, down from 3.1 per cent a year earlier.

As Tiffany & Co prepares to take up residence on King Street in the city and a number of other luxury brands sign leases along the retail strip, several projects under construction in the CBD are attracting national and international brands.

Smaller gold miners in Western Australia are set to capitalise on the soaring gold price, which has not even come close to the real highs of the 1980s.

Former Wallabies captain and mining finance expert Nick Farr-Jones will entertain guests at the Activ Dragonfly Corporate Leaders Lunch, March 25 in the Astral Room at Burswood.

ESPLANADE Hotel Fremantle owner Marylyn New has bought the Broadwater Pagoda Hotel and Apartments in Como for a price estimated at between $15 million and $20 million.

Briefcase, in another guise, was strident in its opposition to last year's private equity bid for Australia's major airline and former national carrier, Qantas.

Eneabba Gas Ltd has terminated its agreement with Westralian Gas and Power Ltd to buy a 70 per cent stake in Mid West petroleum tenements.

ipernica Ltd confirmed today that it has received $30 million from the recently announced settlement of litigation against Sweden-based Ericsson Inc.

Wesfarmers Ltd has opted to retain the Kmart general retail business which it inherited with the acquisition of Coles Ltd last year.

Iluka Resources Ltd confirmed today that it completed the institutional component of its 4 for 7 pro-rata accelerated renounceable entitlement offer as shareholders took up their full entitlement in the $353 million rights issue.

Apex Minerals NL announced today that it has successfully completed a $62 million placement to be used to fund the company's program to resume gold production at the Wiluna Gold Mine by the end of 2008.

Monarch Gold Mining Ltd said today that it is well advanced with arrangements for the recently announced $65 million acquisition of the Mount Magnet Gold Operations, and that it is ready to get started with the exploration when it takes possession next mo

Perth company Pol Valley Energy Ltd and Italian energy company Edison have negotiated a joint venture agreement to settle a dispute over development of gas fields in northern Italy.

Singapore based Skywest Airlines Ltd has announced an interim after-tax profit for the half-year to December 2007 of S$6.5 million (A$5.1 million), an increase of 46.6 per cent on the previous corresponding period.

Perth-based Oceanic Asset Management Pty Ltd has withdrawn the prospectus for its planned uranium fund, which was aiming to raise up to $50 million, and plans to launch an 'energy' fund instead.

Norwegian company Tinfos has turned its attention to Subiaco-based manganese explorer Spitfire Resources Ltd after losing out in the takeover race for Consolidated Minerals Ltd.

Subiaco-based Phylogica has secured a signficant shareholding in Dynamic Microbials, with the two companies signing an exclusive Licence Agreement for Phylogica's anti-bacterial applications.

BankWest and Flight Centre Ltd (FLT) today announced BankWest ATMs would be installed in more than 100 of FLT's shops across Australia over the next year.

West Perth-based Moly Mines Ltd's Spinifex Ridge molybdenum project faces delays of at least three months after the company disclosed that it had been unable to complete its financial negotiations and its regulatory approvals in line with its original sch

The directors of WA Newspapers Holdings Ltd have highlighted Seven Network Ltd's riskier investment profile, as they have sought to repel the rival media company's boardroom moves.

West Perth-based gold miner Avoca Resources Ltd has credited the sucess of its Higginsville Gold Project in Western Australia for enabling the company to secure a $71 million loan for its subsidiary, Avoca Mining Ltd, in the midst of volatile world credit

Esplanade Hotel Fremantle owner Marylyn New has purchased the Broadwater Pagoda Hotel and Apartments in Como for approximately $15-20 million.

Controversial former health department boss Dr Neale Fong has emerged with a new role as executive chairman of a small exploration company that is planning to list on the Australian stock exchange next month.

Western Australia achieved the lowest jobless rate in the nation of 2.8 per cent in February, while Australia's jobless rate dropped to a fresh 33-year low of 4 per cent in the period, according to new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.

WA keeps rolling on

The ASX Materials Index, which is where the mining and energy companies can be found, has been supported by takeover action in the sector and a strong outlook for iron ore, coal and energy producers of all sorts.

The state government will pour more than $4 billion into a makeover of the health sector over the next decade, with the Fiona Stanley Hospital the standout in the overall capital works budget.

The state government has a record capital works budget, but does it have the right priorities and can it deliver?