CORPORATE activity in the energy sector picked up a notch this week when acquisitive BG Group launched a $796 million cash offer for South Perth-based Pure Energy Resources.
ENCOURAGING signs from two key biofuels players points to a potential recovery for the sector, recently besieged by rising feedstock costs and plant commissioning problems.
BOATIES might have found a champion in Premier Colin Barnett, who has set his government's sights on a marina nestled into the northern part of Rous Head.
The owners of the Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline have taken direct control of asset management activities that previously were run by Babcock & Brown Infrastructure subsidiary Westnet Energy.
The takeover battle for Pure Energy Resources has escalated with first suitor Arrow Energy trumping BG Group's $796 million offer with an $890 million cash and scrip bid.
The state opposition has urged the government to make haste with the awarding of over $9 million of grants to developers of innovative energy technologies.
Property developer Finbar Group has suffered a 51 per cent drop in its interim net profit result but has maintained its full-year forecast, expected to be in excess of last year's record $12.2 million result.
BC Iron has secured its first offtake agreement for its Nullagine project in the Pilbara, with the contract starting from 2010 over a minimum five-year period.
Belmont-based Diploma Group has secured $32 million in new contracts, with work to cover a Riverton shopping centre and a mixed use development in Northbridge.
East Perth-based Fleetwood Corporation has delivered a record interim result for the first half of fiscal 2009, with net profit up 16 per cent to $18.4 million.
Shares in Emeco Holdings soared after the earthmoving equipment provider foreshadowed a record interim result and full year earnings in line with expectations.
Bond dispute blocks Lynas on $390m Mt Weld project; AWB shares dive after profit halved; BHP in chase for Rio assets; Write-downs push Challenger to 10-year low; Barnett in stand-off with BHP
Success in attracting students has prompted a Canadian university to call off a deal with Navitas for the establishment of McMaster University College.
The number of corporate insolvencies climbed 27 per cent in calendar 2008 with the growth rate gathering pace in the last quarter, according to new research.
The global economic slowdown has forced engineering company Sedgman to write-off $20 million of goodwill value from its Perth-based subsidiary Intermet Engineering, which it bought less than two years ago for $32 million.
Subiaco-based Global Nickel Investments will branch out into the medical sector following a proposed deal to acquire Minomic International for around $6.4 million in cash and scrip.
Golden Gate Petroleum plans to raise up to $6.32 million through a share purchase plan, with funds to go towards ongoing development work at its Bullseye oil project in the United States.
Shares in Forge Group have surged as much as 59 per cent as the company secures $97 million worth of contracts, including work on the Pluto liquefied natural gas project and the Dampier to Bunbury pipeline.
The state government has awarded two contracts valued at nearly $5 million to Southern Roads Services to upgrade highways near Mount Barker and Balingup.
The privatisation of the state government's 300,000-member superannuation fund GESB remains stalled, with an expanding number of problems - including tax treatments - preventing the state from giving the move the green light.
Perth-headquartered Pure Energy Resources shares have surged as much as 29 per cent after BG Group launched a $796 million takeover bid for the coal seam gas explorer.
Economists at odds over Rudd's $42bn stimulus; BHP 'must not' dismantle mine; Downturn pulls plug on IT boom; Copper leads rise in metals prices; Blue chips help MAC buck trend
The DomGas Alliance says the federal government's emissions trading scheme could lead to higher gas and electricity prices, domestic gas shortages and undermine the country's efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
