Sydney, Oct 2, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - It's been revealed BHP Billiton will likely come under pressure from its shareholders at its next annual general meeting to stop excavating uranium. A group of shareholders is calling on the world's biggest miner to take a moral stand on the issue. The group ? known as Shareholders for Social Responsibilities ? have gathered 60 of the 100 signatures they needs to get the issue on the agenda at the AGM. The group's spokesman told The Guardian newspaper that BHP's outstanding commercial success carries an equally large moral obligation to provide leadership on the issue. BHP Billiton produced record earnings in 2007.

Wesfarmers $19 billion takeover of the Coles Group is expected to leave chief executive John Fletcher without a job but with millions of dollars in departure gifts. If the takeover is successful, Mr Fletcher is expected to receive a payout of around $4.57 million. But the retail boss told the board it wouldn't be right to accept the 1 million dollars worth of shares to which he was entitled because ultimately he was responsible for the ailing supermarket division. Last month Mr Fletcher reported a lackluster 1.4 per cent increase in earnings to $747.8 million. The Coles Group experienced its earnings highlight in 2006.

And the National Australia Bank is expected to take a slice of the UK's Northern Rock following a possible break-up of the firm. According to analysts the bank is looking at some of the assets, but given the lender's focus on small to mid-sized businesses, a full buyout of the mortgage business had limited appeal. According to Fairfax, the NAB has around $1.2 billion in surplus capital to make an acquisition. The Bank refused to comment on the news saying it doesn't respond to market speculation. The National Australia Bank's earnings have been increasing since 2004.

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

Video Link

http://abnnewswire.net/fnnlnk/GFX72347


Audio Link

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/43L2EP5L



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

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