Dan Wilkie

Financial planning firms Shadforth and Snowball have announced their intention to merge to create a $14.3 billion wealth management business with 188 financial advisers nationally.

Struggling Perth-based scooter retailer Vmoto has told its shareholders that business is operating as usual and urged them to disregard a letter rallying stockholders against its board of directors.

Western Australia's peak business representative body says the wharfies dispute that has shut down Fremantle Port today will have a significant negative impact on the state's economy if it drags on much longer.

Western Australia-based financial adviser Todd King has been banned by the corporate regulator after it found he engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.

The state government has appointed 27 specialist members to development assessment panels designed to take pressure off of local governments and streamline the approvals process.

Global pipe valves and fittings distributor McJunkin Red Man Corporation has announced it will acquire Jandakot-based Stainless Pipe and Fittings for an undisclosed sum.

Small to medium businesses in Western Australia are growing faster than anywhere else in the nation, according to a new report prepared by Bankwest.

THE vacancy rate in Perth’s CBD office market is forecast to fall to as low as 5 per cent by 2014, leading to rental growth that will outperform the national average.

STRONG growth in engineering construction fuelled by the resources boom is expected to exacerbate skills shortages and increase

The state government has launched a new expressions of interest process for affordable housing and has beefed up its shared equity home loan scheme in the latest initiatives to help ease the high costs of housing in Western Australia.

Austal is shifting the focus of its Henderson shipyard to the defence industry, after it revealed the high Australian dollar and weak European markets slashed full-year profit expectations down to between $20 million and $23 million.

The state government remains resolute in its opposition to a federal offshore gas regulator, even after federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson announced it would be based in Perth.

Construction and development group Pindan has won its third major contract in two months, after being awarded a $22 million mine camp deal by Fortescue Metals Group.

The state government says it wants to nearly double the output of the metropolitan area's most important industrial precincts, including the Kwinana and Rockingham industrial zones, and Latitude 32 and the Australian Marine Complex in Henderson.

Canning MHR Don Randall says residential estates and businesses in his electorate are missing out on communications infrastructure and may not receive it for up to eight years as the Gillard government presses ahead with the national broadband network.

Buru Energy has given up its rights to explore for oil and gas in Roebuck Bay near Broome in a landmark agreement with the region's traditional custodians, the Yawuru people.

Rental growth in Perth's CBD office market is set to outperform the national average over the next five years, thanks to ongoing expansion in the resources sector, with forecasts tipping the vacancy rate to drop under five per cent by 2014.

Base metals explorer Corazon Mining's shares have emerged from a trading halt to surge by more than 90 per cent after it unveiled spectacular drilling results at its Lynn Lake nickel sulphide deposit in Canada.

Engineering firm RCR Tomlinson's subsidiary RCR Energy has enhanced its capabilities in the power and steam generation arena, with the acquisition of clean energy services provider AE&E Australia for an undisclosed sum.

Nickel miner Mincor says it is entering a new era of acquisitions and opportunities outside its home base of Kambalda after entering a $30 million joint venture covering a group of highly prospective gold and copper tenements in Papua New Guinea.

A third of Western Australia's House stores have been placed into the hands of administrators as the downturn in retail spending hits specialty stores.

Both sides of politics have jumped on a $50 million contract awarded to AusGroup subsidiary AGC Industries for Chevron's Gorgon development in the continuing debate over local content in major resources projects.

A disgruntled group of Vmoto shareholders has launched a campaign to replace the current board of directors, saying many stock owners have no confidence the board and the executive management team can restore shareholder value.

Shares in Territory Resources have soared after the Perth-based iron ore explorer announced a friendly $0.48 per share takeover offer from South African diversified commodities group Exxaro Resources.

Kalgoorlie-based explorer MacPhersons Reward Gold says it is looking at "near-term" production opportunities after acquiring a processing facility for ore from its namesake gold operations in Coolgardie.

Perth-based Hunnu Coal has beefed up its Mongolian coking coal portfolio, with the $40 million acquisition of a controlling interest in tenements owned by a subsidiary of Rio Tinto.

A merger between the cities of Nedlands and Subiaco would enhance the quality of services provided by the local councils, improve the management of community assets, and have the potential to decrease household rates, a new study shows.

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell has established research and traning partnerships with the state's top universities as part of its strategy to lift local participation in its Prelude gas project.

Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting says its plan to become the first company to export thermal coal from Queensland's Galilee Basin is on track, with the first shipment from the trial Alpha mine set to be shipped to a Korean power station on June 26.

The vendors of a 76-hectare parcel of Baldivis land owned by fallen fertiliser tycoon Pankaj Oswal have extended the original expressions of interest closing date in response to a surge in inquiries, both domestic and international.

Strong growth in engineering construction fuelled by the resources boom is expected to exacerbate skills shortages and increase construction costs over the next two years, the building and construction industry says.

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell announced today it will go ahead with the world's first floating liquefied natural gas project, off WA's northern coast, at a cost of approximately US$12 billion.