BUSINESS

Pizza lovers in Australia will soon have a healthy alternative with Pizza Hut's latest less salt line of pizza products. Customers will enjoy 45 percent less sodium starting next year.

Australian healthcare service provider Healthscope Ltd (ASX:HSP) has announced a 37 per cent rise in annual profit and projects solid demand and growth in the year ahead.

Dairy farmers in Queensland and New South Wales will continue collective bargaining with milk company Parmalat. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said the move will protect small farmers from being pushed over by multinational companies.

The proposed $70 million direct factory outlet near Hobart Airport would push through as planned despite looming possibility that its developer Austexx could be entering receivership soon.

Close to 1,200 job vacancies are expected when mining company Billiton Mitzubishi Alliance (BMA) begins its $4 billion coal project. The jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase.

Japanese carmaker Mazda Motor Corp announced on Wednesday that a total of 315,000 Mazda3s and Mazda5s would be recalled in North America to fix the cars’ faulty power-steering system, which the company said could heighten the possibility of crashes.

The Australian currency opened weaker Thursday morning after ratings agency Moody's (NYSE:MCO) announced it would review the credit rating of global miner BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP).

US mortgage applications rose sharply last week, lifting 13.0pct in response to strong refinancing demand. The refinancing index soared by 17.1pct to 15-month highs although the purchase index actually fell by 3.4pct.

Retailers led U.S. stocks slightly higher Wednesday as better than expected earnings from Target lifted fellow department store chains Kohl's and J.C. Penney.

The Australian stock market is likely to open flat today following mixed to positive leads from offshore trading overnight.

Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL) is trying to reach gas supply agreements with BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP), ExxonMobil and US explorer Hess over the next months in support of a massive expansion of its $13 billion Pluto liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia, analysts say.

Small businesses maintain high hopes that retail activity will go back to normal after the national elections. A number of business operators noted trickling customers as August 21 approaches.

The Australian Dollar opens lower today against the greenback at 0.8980.

The Australian Dollar is steady after a relatively quiet night on the economic data front gave the markets little to draw on as far as the state of the economic recovery in the US and Europe is concerned.

Labor party head Julia Gillard presented a vague social transformation scheme while Coalition bet Tony Abbott promised a budget surplus. Persuading the public continues three days into the election.

New Zealand farmers have opted to embrace the government's carbon trading program because of the financial rewards. The decision, though, was based on a weak understanding of the risks of converting pasture land into forest.

Australian mining leader BHP Billiton may just make a second bid for the Potash Corporation of Canada. The world's largest fertilizer producer earlier considered the BHP's unsolicited bid of $38 billion to be "grossly inadequate."

Fifteen to nineteen year olds are having difficulties in finding jobs. The total number of unemployed youth rose from 145,000 in June to 152,400 in July.

Retail property specialist Westfield Group (ASX: WDC) said on Wednesday that it has climbed back to profit status, managing to collect $961 million in net profit from the first six months leading to end of June this year.

Australian department store David Jones (ASX: DJS) has reported a moderate increase in like-for-like sales in the fourth quarter and reaffirmed earnings guidance for fiscal 2010 and 2011.

Sydney-based Boral (ASX:BLD) is selling Boral Formwork and Scaffolding to Anchorage Capital Pty Ltd, for a consideration of A$35 million, in line with its strategy to concentrate on growing core assets.

As construction activities start picking up in the second half of 2010, steel manufacturer OneSteel Ltd (ASX: OST) said on Tuesday that demand growth for the product could be expected for the rest of the year as the company reported that it gained 12 percent full-year profit for 2009/10.

Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc announced overnight it has rejected an unsolicited takeover bid from Australian diversified natural resources company BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) worth about $US38.49 billion ($42.85 billion).

Inflation is expected to remain under control until 2012 even though consumers continue to hold on to their money. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) revealed its favorable outlook on the inflation rate and on the economy in the minutes of its August meeting.

Australia faced a 5.3 percent unemployment rate in July. Economic analysts are confident the figure will remain the same for August. Political analysts, however, say the figure may sway votes in the August 21 elections.

Australia-based medical centre operator and pathology provider Primary Health Care (ASX:PRY) has announced a 21.7 per cent increase in net profit but expects earnings in the current year to be at the lower end of earlier guidance.

A study by the Australian Farm Institute (AFI) published on Tuesday found that the country’s agricultural sector is suffering from labour shortage of at least 96,000 full-time workers and an additional skill drought of 10,000 part-time workers.

The Welfare Rights Centre (WRC) expressed deep concern over the employment policies of the Coalition and the Opposition parties. Both parties have included rewards, as well as, punitive measures in efforts to win voters for the August 21 elections.

A study by the Australian Farm Institute (AFI) published on Tuesday found that the country’s agricultural sector is suffering from labour shortage of at least 96,000 full-time workers and an additional skill drought of 10,000 part-time workers.