BUSINESS

A spokesperson for private hospitals operator and pathology supplier Healthscope will permit private equity consortium to perform due diligence on the company provided that both parties will agree on a confidentiality agreement.

Brockman Resources issued a statement today asserting that both its strategic relationship with Sinosteel Australia Ltd and the development of its flagship Pilbara iron ore project remain on track.

An exploration firm declared on Monday its recent reverse circulation (RC) infill drilling results at Davidson Creek area for its pre-feasibility study.

Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Ma'aden) announced that it has awarded a $202 million contract to Flour Corp and WorleyParsons Ltd for the supervision, engineering and procurements its alumina refinery.

A1 Minerals Ltd announced today the commencement of its gold production as it moves out of the commissioning stage of the Brightstar Gold Project in the Laverton region of Western Australia.

A small salt miner in South Australian has appealed to the government, stating the resource super profits tax will not further help its firm as it is unviable.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is hit with a new controversy when its currency firm is linked to bribery with foreign officials and offers of prostitutes to gain banknote printing deals.

During the past weeks, resource companies continuously lobbied its campaign against the tax as it will jeopardize any investments coming to Australia and will also limit its competition to foreign miners.

The annually published World Competitiveness Yearbook study has listed Australia as the fifth most competitive economy in the world along with Singapore, Hong Kong, the USA and Switzerland topping the list respectively.

Budget carrier Virgin Blue is once gain cited as the top low cost airline in the Australia/Asia Pacific region at the Skytrax world airline awards held in Hamburg, garnering the honour for four consecutive times and edging out Tiger Airways and Qantas subsidiary, Jetstar.

Rio Tinto Ltd confirmed reports that it has reached iron ore price agreement with big Asian steel mills for April to June as a company representative clarified that China was not part of the closed deal, with price appreciations that could reach up to 90 percent according to industry experts.

Share in Sonic Healthcare Ltd plummeted 19.33% to $10.18 at midday, following an announcement downgrading its 2010 profit guidance.

Brockman Resources requested for trading halt today pending the release of a response to market speculation on its deal with Chinese steel giant Sinosteel Corp.

Sand mining company Unimin is seeking to expand a national park area at Stradbroke Island near Brisbane.

GUD Holdings Ltd confirmed today that it has signed a conditional takeover bid implementation agreement with Dexion Ltd. allowing it to make an off-market offer to acquire all issued shares of Dexion at $0.80 a share.

Debts of electrical appliance retailer Clive Peeters have now ballooned to $140 million after the National Australian Bank has called in receivers to seize control of the company.

Suncorp aims to reach the margin of its insurance business by 3 per cent over the next two years.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said On Friday the Federal Government is committed to the mining tax and will not impose any significant changes.

Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd announced in a statement to ASX today it has received a non-binding, indicative and conditional takeover proposal of $0.60 per share.

Woolworths Ltd and Bruce Mathieson paid $24 million for 4,692 decade-long poker machine licenses in Victoria during a state government auction.

A former chairman of BHP Billiton is fully against the resources rent tax proposed by the federal government.

West Australian residents are being called to switch to SGIO Home Insurance and start enjoying rewards unmatched by the industry.

Airport operator MAp Airports Ltd has reported Thursday that Sydney Airport saw a spike in domestic travellers which lifted the terminal’s overall passenger numbers by 6.4 percent in April, with the local passengers’ traffic jumping by 8.6 percent while international travellers contributed a bit with 1.5 percent increase.

China maintained its hard-line stand against revaluing the Yuan amidst longstanding pressures from the US and Europe and instead pointed fingers on the soaring American debt levels, which Beijing described as possible source of more and graver economic concerns.

Mineral sands producer Iluka Resources Ltd has joined the fight against federal government's proposed resource super profits tax (RSPT), urging its shareholders to contact local MPs.

The logging industry in the State is disappointed over the banning of logging red gum while 11 environment groups were elated with the decision by the government.

Downer EDI Ltd announced it has secured new orders totalling more than $300 million across its engineering, rail and road divisions.

Majority of the miners have expressed dismay over the resource super tax profits – except for one.

Healthscope Limited confirmed on Thursday it has received a revised takeover offer from a private equity group at $5.75 per share, originally priced at $5.50 per share.