Mark Beyer

Medical marijuana company Phytotech Medical is set to be the year’s first listing in Western Australia, after taking special steps to deal with last-minute legal concerns by the ASX and keen demand from investors.

Perth finance house Euroz has reported a first-half loss as a result of weak conditions in its core stockbroking business and write-downs in the value of its listed investment companies.

Western Australia’s newest gold producer, Hanking Gold Mining, expects to lift production to 100,000 ounces in 2015 after approving development of a new underground mine in partnership with local company Pit N Portal Group.

Mining services company ADG Global Supply has been placed in the hands of administrators, after struggling to deal with the collapse of major client African Minerals.

Mineral sands miner Base Resources is pushing on with its takeover bid for World Titanium Resources, despite the target declaring yesterday the bid is not capable of succeeding.

Rob Ferguson has resigned as chairman of litigation funder IMF Bentham after failing in a push for the company’s three executive directors, including founder Hugh McLernon, to retire from the board.

Perth law firm Rockwell Olivier has been placed in the hands of administrators, after its sole director concluded the business was insolvent.

Asciano subsidiary Patrick is looking to expand its operations at the port of Dampier, after announcing the purchase of a floating wharf that US company Apache Energy is close to completing.

Atlas Iron plans to write-down the value of its Pilbara assets by between $700 million and $900 million, after telling the market it is operating just at break-even before restructuring costs.

Perth-based Mineral sands miner Base Resources has launched a scrip takeover offer for ASX-listed World Titanium Resources, which owns the Toliara Sands project in Madagascar, after securing extra funds for its Kwale project.

US company Hess Corporation has moved closer to developing its large Equus gas field off the WA coast, after striking an agreement to process the gas through the North West Shelf venture’s Karratha plant.

Iron ore magnate Gina Rinehart has agreed to invest in WA business Bannister Downs Dairy, to support a planned $20 million-plus expansion of the niche dairy producer.

The state government will hit the business sector with increased payroll tax bills and make further cuts in public sector spending after confirming that its annual budget will plunge to a $1.29 billion deficit in the current financial year.

There are not many mining projects on the cards for WA, but there are still opportunities in the sector for engineers and contractors.

The ASX-listed parent company of law firm Rockwell Olivier has been placed in administration, opening up the possibility of its partners buying back the business.

Monadelphous Group has disclosed that its MMM joint venture in Queensland is embroiled in a contractual dispute with major client, Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal.

Plans to upgrade a major Perth highway using proceeds from a trucking toll have drawn widespread criticism, with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Labor Party and the Greens all finding fault with the project and its funding.

Kerman Contracting has continued its run of success this year, securing a contract to develop new infrastructure at Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore operations and in the process lifting its work in hand to $290 million.

Woodside Petroleum has substantially reshaped its project portfolio after buying a minority interest in Chevron’s half-built Wheatstone LNG plant, postponing its planned Browse LNG project and acquiring a stake in a Canadian LNG development.

Mining contractor Barminco Holdings has taken advantage of the falling Australian dollar to repurchase $US36.9 million of its US high-yield bonds, through a transaction that did not require the use of cash reserves.

After two weeks of controversy over Transport Minister Dean Nalder’s “perceived” conflicts of interest, a government report released today made it clear why Premier Colin Barnett stripped Mr Nalder of the finance ministry.

West Perth-based Red Fork Energy, which has raised $125 million from investors over the past three years to support its shale drilling program in the US, has collapsed after losing the support of its major lender.

Australia’s free trade agreement with China is likely to deliver significant benefits to agricultural exporters but the gains will be mainly indirect and apparent over the longer term, a report by Rabobank has concluded.

Energy infrastructure business APA Group has announced the purchase of the QCLNG pipeline in Queensland for $US5 billion ($A5.41 billion).

There is very weak correlation between remuneration levels at WA’s major contractors and the performance of their underlying businesses.

The tougher business climate has prompted some WA companies to cut executive salaries, but most have held the line and some have even awarded pay rises.

Clive Palmer’s private company, Mineralogy, has backed off from threats to terminate its agreements with China’s Citic Pacific, after Citic went to court seeking injunctions against its estranged business partner.

Shares in Bradken have soared to a two-month high on the back of a conditional takeover proposal, as the heavy equipment manufacturer continues to close its factories and shed jobs across Perth.

Indian-owned miner Griffin Coal has resumed operations at Collie, two days after its main contractor walked off the job, but there is uncertainty about how many people will be employed at the mine.

Collie coal miner Griffin Coal is endeavouring to hang onto its staff and satisfy its customer commitments after its main contractor Carna Civil & Mining walked off the site late yesterday.

Mid-tier accounting firm ROCG Perth has expanded with the acquisition of specialist research and development tax consultants Insight Business.

Some of Perth’s top company directors and dealmakers, including Michael Smith, Ian Cochrane, Michael Ashforth and Tony Iannello have been recruited to help run prominent family companies.