Content about Australia

Royal Dutch Shell reported results for Q1 2012 today, with profits up through a combination of improvements in performance and volumes, as well as strong oil prices.

Shell’s first quarter 2012 earnings were $7.7 billion compared with $6.9 billion in the same quarter a year ago – an increase of 11 percent.

“We are making good progress against our targets to deliver a more competitive performance,” said chief executive officer Peter Voser.

As hardware merchants in the California gold rush discovered, you can make money from mining either by discovering the mother lode or by selling picks and shovels. Jeff Daniel talks to a modern-day version of the hardware merchant.

Western Australia’s Water Corporation has commenced the expansion of its second major water desalination plant to end dependency on climate sensitive rainfall. Project director Nick Churchill updates Gay Sutton about project managing for a speedy and cost-effective outcome.

acQuire Technology Solutions has ambitious plans for diversification and growth. CEO Warren Cook talks to Gay Sutton about product innovation and building a management structure that can be replicated across new marketplaces.

Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International has agreed to acquire Australia-based iNova, a private pharmaceutical group.

iNova owns, develops and markets a portfolio of prescription and OTC pharmaceutical products in the Asia-Pacific region and South Africa, including therapeutic weight management brands such as Duromine and OTC brands in the cold and cough market such as Difflam and Duro Tuss.

Exxaro Resources is South Africa’s largest listed empowerment enterprise by a long way, a position it has consolidated in just five years of operations; and its mid to long term strategy is nothing short of visionary.

Dubai-based Dragon Oil has announced the signing of a deal through which it will earn a 55 per cent interest in the Bargou Exploration Permit offshore Tunisia.

The farm-in agreement, which has been signed with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Perth, Australia-based Cooper Energy, will also give Dragon Oil operatorship of the permit in any development phase.

The Bargou Exploration Permit is located in the Gulf of Hammamet in the Mediterranean Sea, covering an area of 4,616 square kilometres with predominantly offshore exploration prospects.

SABMiller has agreed to acquire Australia’s Foster's Group for approximately A$9.9 billion (£6.5 billion).

London, UK-based SABMiller said the acquisition is consistent with its strategic priorities and will provide it with exposure to Australia's strong economic growth prospects, as well as cementing its position in the Australian beer industry.

Melbourne-based Foster’s is Australia’s biggest brewer; and acquiring it will give SABMiller access to roughly half of the Australian beer market.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 to be the International Year of Co-operatives (IYC) and Trent Bartlett, for the last 10 years CEO of Capricorn Society Ltd and a founder of Social Business Australia,has taken on the job of chairing the IYC 2012’s Australian Secretariat. We talk to him about Capricorn, IYC, and his vision for the co-operative movement.

Pascal Mittermaier, head of sustainability EMEA for leading global property solutions provider Lend Lease, talks to Gay Sutton about the challenges of sustainable construction.

Wood Group PSN’s Australian operations form the company’s largest international business unit, with more than 2,100 personnel now working across five Australian regions: Victoria (Melbourne), Queensland (Brisbane), New South Wales (Sydney), Western Australia (Perth) and Northern Territory (Darwin).

Sandalwood is possibly the most valuable wood on the planet; and in Australia the first commercial and sustainable harvesting programme ever devised is just a couple of years away, as Alan Swaby discovers.