COMPANIES

Phone carrier Optus reported an annual net profit up by 16 per cent. The Singapore Telecommunications Ltd subsidiary posted $676 million net profit for fiscal 2010.

China's Citic Pacific announced it has been hit by a cost blowout and has to pay an extra $US835 million to its contractor in its Australian iron ore project.

Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese joined attacks against the government's planned super-profits tax saying that the text measures would reduce Australia's competitiveness and hurt investments.

Jetset Travelworld Ltd has announced plans to merge with Stella Travel Services Holdings as respective boards of the two travel companies have agreed on a conditional merger deal with Qantas Airways, Jetset’s majority shareholder, giving its thumbs up for the planned merger.

Curtain manufacturer and retailer Kresta Holdings Ltd has reported Wednesday of an expectedly higher full year 2010 result following a five percent surge of up to $29.5 million on its third quarter sales for this fiscal year alone.

BTIG LLC, a broker dealer focused in institutional trading and related brokerage services, has announced its expansion into fixed income and equity capital markets. The move is seen to allow issuers a variety of solutions across their entire balance sheet and complements BTIG's existing lines of business, while leveraging its distribution platform and the deep experience and relationships of its sales and trading professionals.

CSR Limited confirmed on Wednesday that it performed decently at 66 per cent in its annual result for the year ended March 31. The firm did not specify any expected figures for the following year.

Transurban Group turned down a $7.2 billion takeover bid from its three Canadian shareholders, stating the offer undervalued the company.

Energy utility company SP AusNet has reported that its full year net profit after tax (NPAT) jumped by 42.3 percent or $209 million in the March quarter as it cited that boosted activity from its new commercial arm, price increases and additional clients fuelled the recorded gain.

Shipbuilder Austal confirmed on Wednesday it will have a total transformation as it discontinues its Tasmanian shipyard operations and terminates 116 employees.

Manila Water Company (MWC) confirmed it engaged in a Japanese association to acquire an Australian wastewater treatment and desalination firm for $A225 million.

Xstrata chief executive officer Mick Davis said the Australian government's proposed tax measure is the "biggest assault" in the mining industry.

Paper maker Amcor Ltd is set to merge with Amcor Packaging Distribution and eventually combine all its Australasian operations into Amcor Australasia and Packaging Distribution, which will be based in Melbourne and set to be headed by US-based Nigel Garrard.

Transfield Services Infrastructure Fund (TSI) sold its 70-megawatt Mt Millar wind farm in South Australia to New Zealand-state owned Meridian Energy for $191 million.

Macarthur Coal Ltd announced Tuesday that it is "not inclined" to accept the reduced bid of Peabody Energy Corp.

Samsung Group announced Tuesday that it is set to invest a total of $US20 billion in healthcare and green energy sectors by 2020, which would create thousands of new jobs as company chairman Lee Kun-Hee hinted that governments around the world are channelling billions to sustainable energy over concerns on the planets dwindling resources.

Australians who want to get hold of Apple's latest electronic gadget, iPad, will have the opportunity to get hold of this latest device on May 28. In a statement, Apple said the iPad would be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK before the end of this month.

Transport company Asciano Group has revealed Tuesday that it is set to book impairment charges of up to $1.1 billion by the second half of fiscal year 2010 following recommendations from its internal audit and risk committee, even as the company has reaffirmed its earning guidance of close to $700 million for the full year 2009/10.

Transfield Services Infrastructure Fund has announced Tuesday of plans for capital restructuring which involves a capital raising of up to $110 million and selling its Mt Millar Wind Farm for $191 million, as it added that TSI Fund is also set to extend its corporate debt maturity to May 2015.

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) warns its investors to prepare for unsolicited, undervalued offers for their shares.

Xtrata declared suspension on its $30 million copper exploration in central Queensland a week after the federal government released the proposed resource super profits tax.

The Melbourne government is set to collect about $125,000 in compensation from the city’s train operator Metro, as it again failed to meet its punctuality target for the month of April, with only 84.5 percent of trains running on time, which is just 3.5 percent shy of meeting its 88 percent goal, that would have allowed the company to write off the fine.

Avexa Ltd shares tumbled by almost 78 percent or up to 2.7 cents on Monday as the drug company announced that it is ending Apricitabine (ATC), its lead HIV program, amidst the resignation of its chief executive Julian Chick who is set to leave by end of May.

The State government will attempt to save $160 million for the next four years to supply travel services for politicians and government officials.

Transurban Group confirmed that it purchased Sydney's Lane Cove Tunnel for $630.5 billion.

American company Peabody Energy reduced its offer to buy each share of Macarthur Coal at $15 a share from its previous offer of $16 a share. The proposal came in the midst of the growing disagreement on the Australian government's proposed super-profits tax scheme.

Kraft Foods Inc. reported strong first quarter 2010 results bouyed by good operating momentum in every geography. Volume/mix improved sequentially from the fourth quarter 2009 and contributed significantly to income growth and margin expansion for Kraft Foods' base business.

U.S. real estate giant Simon Property Group (SPG) is proposing what is described as its "best and final offer," $6.5 billion or $20.00 per share to acquire General Growth Properties, Inc. (GGP) in a fully financed deal.

Newly-elected chief executive of Virgin Blue may be earning much more for a year than the previous CEO.