Raising money for a new business venture or product development can be a challenge, but East Perth-based software developer Firmware Technologies took a different approach to raising the $3 million it needed to develop and commercialise its new product.
Electricity retailer Synergy has emerged as the only one of the four disaggregated electricity corporations to exceed budget forecasts, reporting earnings before interest and tax of $64.9 million for the 2006-07 financial year.
WA Business News’ third annual State Economic Review comes during a continuing period of prosperity for Western Australia, courtesy to a large extent of China’s accelerating economic growth.
The state government posted another record budget surplus in 2006-07, of $2.3 billion, fuelled by strong growth in mining royalties and taxation revenues.
Strong overseas demand for minerals and petroleum, particularly from China, and strengthening commodity prices pushed the value of Western Australia’s resources industry up 25 per cent to a record $53.4 billion in 2006-07.
Global economic growth, particularly from China, resulted in price rises for many mineral commodities and continued historical highs for others in 2007, a trend that will continue into 2008, according to ABARE.
Western Australia’s economic growth remains strong, with key measures of economic activity remaining well above historical trends and outstripping national growth.
The state’s buoyant economic conditions have resulted in increases in consumer spending, with low unemployment and rising personal incomes leading to strong consumer confidence.
The Western Australian grain industry had its worst season since the 2002-03 drought, with poor conditions in most parts of the state forcing harvest receivals down.
Strong growth in interstate and overseas migration helped lift Western Australia’s population by 2.1 per cent to 2,094,549 in the year to March 2007, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The founders of Midland-based care services provider We Can Community Services, Liz Offer and Judith Monteath, are in the midst of expanding their business to cater for a huge increase in demand for respite care services.
West Perth-based clean energy developer Carnegie Corporation Ltd has launched a $10 million capital raising ahead of the development of its first large-scale commercial wave energy demonstration plant in Australia.
The $303 million initial public offering by earthmoving company NRW Holdings Ltd has led Western Australia’s strong resources-driven growth in IPO activity for the September quarter.
Nedlands-based wood pellet manufacturer Plantation Energy has deferred its initial public offering ahead of construction of its Albany wood pellet facility, opting instead to raise up to $24 million through private equity.
Mining companies are urging the state government not to squander the current resources boom, as mineral exploration expenditure in WA hits a 20-year high.
While the gold sector in Western Australia has long led the way in exploration spending, iron ore exploration expenditure has jumped significantly in recent years to be to almost level pegging.
