The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ACCC says competition issues have emerged from its initial inquiries into the proposed $16 billion takeover of St George Bank Ltd by Westpac Corp.The watchdog is now calling for further submissions from the market about the deal, after releasing a statement of issues...
What is brand and how important is it? Dr Stephen Downes, a lecturer at RMIT University in Melbourne, describes brand as a series of associations that determine how customers think about your company and the services you offer. Today on BTalk Australia Phil Dobbie asks if brand is important even...
White Young Green is providing civil and structural design for the 2nd-5th phases of the St George Wharf development in London. LUSAS Civil&Structural is being used to assist with the detailed design of numerous irregular-shaped in-situ reinforced concrete floor slabs in the residential tower blocks. The LUSAS RC slab design...
LeRoi Merrill, president of MBM Construction, Inc., has been building homes in St. George, Utah, for the past 28 years, after 12 years of home building experience in Idaho. MBM Construction has achieved its goal through quality construction practices, the use of energy saving building materials, and space conditioning their...
Australia's top four banks could lose more than a combined $500 million if they don't follow the lead of St George Bank Ltd and again raise their standard variable home loan rates, according to investment bank JP Morgan.An analysis by JP Morgan released Monday considered how the banks' profits...
Westpac Banking Corporation Ltd is merging the customer facing activities of its retail and business banks in a sweeping review its organisational structure.Westpac said its Consumer Finance Division and its Business Financial Services Division would be combined in a new division called Retail and Business Banking.All consumer and business...
Westpac Banking Corp is the last of the major banks to lift its variable home loan rates independently of the central bank.Westpac, the third largest bank in Australia, will raise its standard variable rate by 14 basis points to 9.61 per cent, from Thursday.The rise follows hikes by National...
Harmony Gold has halved the cash element in the sale of its Mount Magnet operations to Australian-based junior miner Monarch Gold Mining but the overall price was unchanged.South Africa's Harmony agreed to sell Mount Magnet to Monarch for A$65 million ($US61.9 million) in cash, shares and a convertible note.Harmony...
Almost 70 per cent of Australians believe the country's four largest banks are failing to provide their customers value for money on their credit cards, a new survey has found.The survey by click4credit.com.au, a credit card comparison website, found 69.2 per cent of the 500 respondents polled disagreed with...
National Australia Bank Ltd NAB has followed its big bank rivals by raising mortgage lending rates independently of the Reserve Bank of Australia RBA.NAB lifted its standard variable home mortgage rate on Monday by 15 basis points to 9.61 per cent, effective from Tuesday.The increase follows Commonwealth Bank of...
Australian bank stocks had a horror first half, losing over a quarter of their value in the past six months, as rising cost pressures for borrowers cooled demand for credit.Analysts have differing views on weather the beaten down banks represent a good buying opportunity.The steep 28 per cent drop...
National Australia Bank Ltd NAB has ditched its plans to buy the local arm of Dutch investment bank ABN Amro, without giving any reasons.In a blunt, two-sentence announcement to the Australian stock exchange issued an hour after trading concluded, NAB said it had "now withdrawn from the sale process".It...
Consumers are nearly as gloomy as they were in the depths of the last recession under the cloud of 12-year-high interest rates, record petrol prices and general inflation pressures.And if Thursday's official job figures show another fall in the number of employed, the mood is likely to darken further,...
The biggest monthly fall in the number of home loans approvals in eight years suggests the Reserve Bank of Australia RBA may be succeeding in its bid to slow the economy and push inflation down.Finance approvals for owner-occupied housing declined for the fourth straight month in May, down 7.9...
Tighter financial conditions and record high petrol prices are tipped to slow domestic demand and prevent the Reserve Bank of Australia RBA from raising interest rates again.The newly-released minutes of the RBA's July 1 board meeting cited easing demand pressures and tightening financial conditions for its decision this month...
