Sydney, Aug 2, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - Corporate Express has posted a modest rise in its first half profit. Earnings for the office products supplier rose 5 and a half per cent to $34.33 million. The company put the result down to increased revenues and added that it was focusing on increasing efficiency and new initiatives to grow revenue in the future. Corporate Express is majority owned by office products company Buhrmann. Corporate Express's earnings have been steadily increasing over the last four financial years.

Woodside has sweetened a proposal with the U.S. government for a liquefied natural gas project off the coast of Los Angeles. The energy giant says it will now use flagged re-gasification ships and American crews for the project. Under new laws passed in the U.S. last year, any new projects using American ships and crews are given priority consideration by federal regulators. The deal is said to be worth just under $1.2 billion and comes just months after an unsuccessful attempt by BHP to undertake a similar project. Woodside Petroleum has produced a positive earnings result over the last four financial years.

And Westfield has managed to convince luxury fashion house Louis Vutton to set up shop in its first mega mall in London. The 280 square metre shop will be a major feature of the Westfield London mall at White City. The shopping mall giant says it hopes its new White City mall will attract wealthy shoppers from the nearby up market suburbs of Notting Hill and Kensington. The new development is part of the company's desire to expand in the U.K. The shopping complex is due to open by Christmas in 2008. Westfield Group produced record earnings in 2006

The full report is available at the following video and audio links.

Video Link

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/8Y702000


Audio Link

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/Q09C1132

About Finance News Network

Finance News Network (FNN) has been producing up-to-date concise business and finance news tailored to traders and investors alike since 2002. FNN content reaches a diverse and constantly growing audience via online streaming video, Street Vision broadcasts and the Telstra 3G mobile phone network.
http://www.finnewsnetwork.com.au