More than half of Australian businesses anticipate declining sales and profits in the March quarter amid fears of a steep rise in unemployment leading executives to prepare for a tumultuous year ahead.
Business braces for the worst; Lenders repossessing homes at soaring rate; Bosses eye early job cuts; ATO pursues new business dispute plan; NAB denies planning withdrawal from Britain
West Perth-based explorer Northern Iron has signed an initial five-year offtake deal with a subsidiary of the Tata Steel Group over its Sydvaranger iron project in Norway.
Takeover target Perilya has urged shareholders to vote in favour of a $45 million major acquisition by a Chinese company, in what has been described as "not fair but reasonable" by an independent expert.
Subiaco-based Golden State Resources has entered into a $3 million share facility agreement to raise additional funds for its Golden Eagle oil and gas project in Utah.
Low oil prices have forced Incremental Petroleum to defer non-essential exploration at its Edirne gas project in Turkey as it prepares for first gas sales for later this year.
Automotive Technology Group has broken into China's massive automobile market after it signed an exclusive distribution deal with a Chinese company for its Sprintex Supercharger products.
Business braces for wages battle; China manufacturers shrink again as global slowdown bites; Cape Lambert ready to pounce on assets; Resources exports will face tough year; Jobs plan to tackle next wave of crisis
The founder of collapsed property group Westpoint, Norm Carey, has been given back his licence to operate as a real estate agent, following a successful appeal in the State Administrative Tribunal.
Chinese steelmaker AnSteel is set to lift its stake in Gindalbie Metals to 36 per cent as the miner sets a date for a shareholders meeting for the approval of a $162 million placement.
Perth-based alternate energy explorer Eden Energy expects to start trading on the local market by March next year after it entered a deal to sell its stake in a Welsh coal bed methane project for over $5 million.
Phosphate Resources has warned it may incur some losses in some of the remaining months of this financial year, as it reports a profit before tax of over $62 million.
Magellan Metals, the miner at the centre of the Esperance lead contamination drama, has agreed to a $10 million commitment towards the clean up of the town and the establishment of a community fund.
The development and successful completion of Western Australian projects will be at risk under the federal government's proposed industrial relations changes, a state business lobby group says.
Pressure grows on banks over rates; Hogan stockbroker shuts the door; Pan pharma class action seeks $120m compo; Banks fees yield extra $2bn; Aussie hedge fund freezes payouts
Perth-based biotechnology company Stirling Products is teetering on the brink of administration as it cans a $960,000 capital raising and enters talks for the possible disposal of its assets.
Fortescue Metals Group expects to hold a steady production rate of 55 million tonnes per annum over the course of 2009, setting aside earlier plans to hit that rate by the end of the March next year.
Perth-based developer Axiom Properties says it is evaluating suitable sites for its business park concept for Coffey International after Pivot Group terminated its agreement with Leighton Properties.
The commercial viability of a liquefied natural gas hub in the Kimberley appears to rest on oil giants Woodside Petroleum and Inpex, as the state government selects James Price Point, 60 kilometres north of Broome, as its preferred site.
Fremantle Ports' general manager strategic and commercial development Chris Leatt-Hayter has been promoted to chief executive, taking over from Kerry Sanderson.
When then premier Alan Carpenter chose to make 2008 an election year in Western Australia, Labor stalwart Kim Beazley joined a handful of optimistic Liberals in foreshadowing a change of government.
The merger between collapsed miner CopperCo and Mineral Securities has not been fully completed, with some MinSec shareholders missing out on shares owed to them.
Perth-based Aspen Group says its revenue stream will be boosted by some $58 million over the next five years following the completion of the Karratha Accommodation Village for Woodside Petroleum.
The downturn in commodity markets has prompted Nomad Buildings Solutions to cut its earnings forecast for the 2009 financial year as its modular division comes under pressure.
ATO gives Wickenby target $1m; Multiplex poised to build Fiona Stanley; Regulator ready to curb ATO aggression; CCC fails to censor McCusker report; Arrow takes aim at Pure
New BankWest managing director Jon Sutton committed his new charge to acting independently of its parent Commonwealth Bank as the major moves to take control of its new WA asset.
