Sydney, Sept 26, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - BHP Billiton has upgraded the size of its total ore resource at the giant Australian Olympic Dam uranium, copper and gold mine by 75 per cent to 7.7 billion tonnes. After recent drilling to further define the size of the Olympic Dam orebody, BHP in its annual report nearly doubled the size of the measured ore to 1.3 billion tonnes from 680 million tonnes a year ago. However, the proved and probable ore reserve rose only 7 percent to 400 million tonnes. However there was a drop in expected gold reserves which drove shares lower in morning trade. BHP Billiton has been posting record profits in recent years.

Fosters Group chairman Frank Swan is retiring after eight years. Mr Swan will relinquish both his chairmanship and his board position after the company's annual general meeting on October 31. His replacement will be David Crawford, a non-executive director on Foster's board since 2001. Mr Crawford has stepped down from his role as director of Westpac Bank to take up the position and the appointment is effective from November 7. In other Foster's board movements, director Colin Carter is stepping down due to a conflicting position on the Wesfarmers Board once the Coles acquisition kicks in. His replacement is expected to be announced shortly. Foster profit result last financial year dipped slightly from the previous year.

Top-end retailer David Jones Ltd has posted 35 percent increase annual net profit and reconfirmed that it is well positioned for the 2008 financial year. Sales revenue rose by nearly nine percent and there was also strong growth in the financial services business. New stores opened in Burwood and Chermside were well received and trading strongly as the company continued to benefit from the decline of major competitor Myer. CEO Mark McInnes says the company is well positioned to continue to deliver growth for shareholders in 2008. David Jones has posted a strong turnaround in profit results since 2003.

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

Video Link

http://abnnewswire.net/fnnlnk/7WDFK668


Audio Link

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/Z9R63X6N



Source: Finance News Network © 2007 http://www.finnewsnetwork.com.au

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