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Cooper Energy Ltd has extended its takeover offer for Incremental Petroleum Ltd and declared the offer unconditional and final.

West Perth-based Automotive Holdings Group Ltd says it is working to replace its existing network of finance providers after major financier GMAC Finance Services withdrew from the local market due to the global credit squeeze.

The state's business lobby group is urging the federal government to come to Western Australia to discuss the impact of the global turmoil on local business and industry.

The decision to freeze customer funds was not easy but prudent due to current economic conditions, AXA Asia Pacific chief executive Andrew Penn says.

Heat on Rudd as billions are frozen; Treasurer approves Westpac merger; ANZ's profit slumps 23 per cent on bad loans; Clough faces 'please explain' on $23m coal loss; GMAC pull-out hits car dealers

BHP Billiton Plc, the world's biggest miner, is poised to snap up smaller players struggling amid the gloom affecting the global economy.

Austal Ltd managing director Bob Browning said there are no plans for further staff cuts after the company laid off over 100 workers at its Henderson shipbuilding facility.

Treasurer Troy Buswell is considering an overhaul of the Department of Housing and Works after the agency revealed it will have a shortfall of $235 million this financial year.

Handini Resources Ltd has followed the downward trend of the overall market, debuting on the local bourse at an 8 per cent discount to its issue price.

Falling lead prices and costs associated with maintenance works at its suspended Wiluna operation in Western Australia have prompted miner Magellan Metals to lay off 18 people.

Analysts at brokerage Hartleys have downgraded its recommendation for Perth-based engineering firm Clough Ltd, saying the stock had one too many risks.

Melbourne-based St Barbara Ltd has poured first gold from its Leonora operation in Western Australia.

Premier Colin Barnett has today insisted that there is no disagreement with Nationals Leader Brendon Grylls over the royalties for regions policy, as the opposition steps up calls for more clarity on the funding program.

SunPower Corporation Australia Pty Ltd managing director Bob Blakiston has been elected as the new chair of the Western Australian Sustainable Energy Association Inc.

Mining services company NRW Holdings Ltd has been awarded a three-year contract, valued at $180 million, for works at OM Holdings Ltd's Bootu Creek manganese mine in the Northern Territory.

Oil and gas producer Santos Ltd has delivered a rise in revenue in the third quarter despite the Varanus Island gas explosion impacting production.

Investment group Babcock & Brown Ltd says it has received expressions of interest from a number of parties about setting up strategic relationships.

Revealed: secret RBA advice; 1 million 'to be out of work by 2010'; Inflation no longer rules Swan's day; China fears drive BHP, market down; GPT in $1.6b raising as chief goes

OUTDATED regulatory and pricing arrangements in Western Australia's aged care industry is threatening the vulnerable sector, with industry groups warning that an ageing population will exacerbate the state's already strained health resources.

The Western Australian Trade Enquiry Service is operated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia (CCI) with the support of the WA Government's Department of Industry and Resources.

THE odds are very much against the survival of the BankWest brand now that the bank has been bought by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

RISING office rents in the Perth CBD are prompting a change in the city's tenant profile, with a number of companies relocating after rent reviews, and others pushed out of the city into fringe suburbs.

WA Business News' fourth annual State Economic Review comes at a time when the world economic system is facing its greatest challenge for decades.

THE corner of Bulwer and Lake streets in North Perth is becoming a Mecca of upmarket Asian food, with venues such as Nahm Thai and Nine Fine Food taking the offering to a new level.

DESPITE the global credit crunch, which has wiped trillions of dollars off international share markets and made it more difficult for business to borrow money, Western Australia has again recorded another stellar year of growth, and the outlook remains st

HAS the growing metrosexual culture changed the way we make beers? Low carbohydrate beers haven't exactly taken Australia's beer market by storm; in fact it's hard to think of a low-carb brew that's made much of a mark in the past couple of years beyond F

WESTERN Australia's insulation from the global financial market turmoil is getting thinner by the day, as the risk of a significant and broadly based decline in commodity prices rises with each disturbing escalation of the credit crunch.

IT'S probably because State Scene, long ago, spent several months in the advertising industry that the ploys and proclivities of those in that sector continue to intrigue.

PERTH'S housing market has been through a difficult few years.

LAST week, global stock markets experienced possibly the worst days of trading that will be seen during the current bear phase.

A LOW-PROFILE fibre network born out of a failed state government investment has emerged as the backbone of Leighton Holdings Ltd's efforts to extend its national high-speed data network to the Perth marketplace.

WHAT a roller coaster ride it's been in the past week or so.