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By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer
53 minutes ago
 
NEW YORK - Wall Street headed for a lower open Monday, with investors downbeat about Microsoft Corp. withdrawing its bid for Yahoo Inc. over the weekend.

Microsoft had offered $42.3 billion to buy Yahoo Inc., but scrapped the bid late Saturday after the software maker and the Internet provider could not agree on a sale price.

The failed deal came as a disappointment to Wall Street, as merger-and-acquisition activity tends to boost shareholder value, and also signals to the broader market that corporate America is optimistic about the future.

Investors were awaiting a key reading on the U.S. service sector. The Institute for Supply Management is expected to say its April index of nonmanufacturing activity came in at 49.3, indicating a small contraction, after March’s similar reading of 49.6, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Financial/IFR.

Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 54, or 0.41 percent, to 13,006. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 7.40, or 0.52 percent, to 1,408.40, and Nasdaq composite futures fell 9.50, or 0.48 percent, to 1,980.75.

On Friday, the stock market finished mixed, with Wall Street cheered by a stronger-than-expected report on the job market in April, but anxious about a surprising quarterly loss from Sun Microsystems Inc. and a rebound in oil prices.

Light, sweet crude oil futures on Monday rose 31 cents to $116.63 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude oil had spiked more than $3 a barrel on Friday, and some analysts are concerned the commodity will surge back above its record near the $120-a-barrel level.

Gold prices also climbed Monday, while the dollar traded mixed against other major currencies.

In other corporate news, The Wall Street Journal reported Deutsche Telekom AG is considering a bid to buy Sprint Nextel Corp., citing people familiar with the discussions.

Overseas, Japan’s and Great Britain’s stock markets were closed. By midday trading, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.04 percent, and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.20 percent.

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On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

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By DEE-ANN DURBIN and TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writers
Sat Apr 26, 10:22 AM ET
DETROIT - Scott Piechocinski roamed the rows of a CarMax dealership in Charlotte, N.C., on a recent afternoon, searching for something small to replace his son’s 2001 Nissan Pathfinder sport utility vehicle.

He’s not alone: As gas prices marched higher and now top $3.50 per gallon across the nation, car buyers across the country increasingly are abandoning SUVs and pickups in favor of smaller crossovers and cars.

“Fuel is money,” Piechocinski said. “You have to be realistic.”

The trend also is showing up globally and could rival the industry upheaval that followed the last big oil price shock in 1980. That earthquake caught Detroit automakers lacking in fuel-efficient models buyers were demanding and set the stage for the rise of Asian competitors such as Toyota and Honda Motor Co.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC rebounded in the 1990s when fuel was relatively cheap and they piled up big profits selling SUVs and pickups. But now history is repeating itself — with a vengeance.

Sales of large SUVs plummeted 28 percent in the first quarter this year, while subcompact sales rose 32 percent, according to Autodata Corp. Thriftier four-cylinder engines, once despised by Americans for their perceived lack of power, are selling in record numbers.

April sales results to be released on May 1 are likely to show an even more pronounced shift, predicted Jesse Toprak, chief industry analyst for the auto information site Edmunds.com. “That’s simply a function of the dramatic increase in oil prices that we’ve seen in the last few weeks.”

The trend away from SUVs started well before gas prices began climbing in 2005, in part because of the introduction of “crossover” vehicles — those with SUV styling but built on the more nimble and fuel efficient car chassis. SUV sales peaked at 3 million in 2003; they’re expected to fall to half that number this year, and the change caught Detroit unprepared.

“It happened too rapidly for the American automakers to take sufficient action,” said Aaron Bragman, an auto analyst for the Waltham, Mass.-based consulting firm Global Insight. For example, 74 percent of the vehicles Chrysler sold in the U.S. last year were trucks and SUVs, compared to 42 percent at Toyota Motor Corp.

Now owners of SUVs and other gas guzzlers who’ve seen the price of a fill-up climb sharply are getting a second shock when they try to trade ins their behemoths. Used car dealers don’t want the big vehicles on their lots anymore because hardly anyone is buying them. Some won’t take them at any price.

Small cars are now the largest segment of the U.S. auto market, accounting for 18 percent of new car sales. Last year U.S. consumers bought a record 2.8 million of them, and with sales up 4 percent in the first quarter this year, the record almost surely will be shattered.

In the U.S., gasoline prices are driving the small car boom, but worldwide, it’s people in emerging economies gaining wealth, said Mike DiGiovanni, GM’s executive director of global markets and industry analysis.

“A middle class is starting to develop, and they’re trying to move up scale from smaller cars to the larger compact-size cars,” he said.

U.S. buyers, even when they pick larger cars, are going for more fuel-efficient engines.

Six-cylinder engines used to command the lion’s share of the market, but 38 percent of buyers sought four-cylinder engines in the first quarter, the highest since Westlake Village, Calif.-based marketing and consulting firm J.D. Power and Associates began collecting such data in 2002.

That directly affects automakers’ bottom lines: A large vehicle with a V-8 engine can command $8,000 more than one with a 6-cylinder, in part because additional luxury features are often packaged with the larger engine, according to J.D. Power auto analyst Jason Rothkop. By comparison, there is a discount of $4,000 when a buyer moves down from a 6-cylinder to a 4-cylinder.

Demographics also play a role. Baby boomers are trading in larger vehicles as their nests empty, and their children are now of car-buying age. Half of the next generation will pick small cars for their first set of wheels, said George Pipas, Ford’s top sales analyst.

“Gas prices are important because they’ve accelerated these shifts, but the shifts were going to happen anyway,” Pipas said. “SUVs were not going to roam the Earth in this decade as they did in the 90s.”

Pickup sales also tumbled with the recent downturn in home construction, since they are often used as work vehicles. The weakened economy and falling home values have played a role in the decline of SUVs and pickups.

“We see our consumers coming into our dealerships and wanting to trade down into a lower monthly payment,” said Steven Landry, Chrysler’s vice president of sales.

A growing number of SUV owners, like Yumberto Menicocci, are leaving the segment altogether. According to J.D. Power, nearly a third of buyers who traded in a mid-sized SUV picked a small crossover or compact car in the first quarter of this year. Just 5 percent upgraded to a larger SUV.

Menicocci, a resident of the upscale Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay, recently placed his 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe with leather seats and 39,000 miles for sale on Craigslist for $16,000 — roughly $2,000 less than what his research determined was the Kelley Blue Book value.

He bought a 2003 Kia Spectra for $5,000 because he was tired of paying so much for gas with his heavy Tahoe. “I was wasting $30 a day compared to $10 a day,” he said.

“Everybody is like, `What is that? Is that the maid’s car?’” said Menicocci, who sells marble and granite for a living. “But I don’t care. At this point, I’m way past looks and appearances.”

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AP business writers Ieva M. Augstums in Charlotte, N.C., and Adrian Sainz in Miami contributed to this report.

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By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press Writer
Sat Apr 26, 10:19 AM ET
ALBANY, N.Y. - Angry about the price of gas? Just imagine paying for gas you don’t get. Some alert consumers have noticed it over the years: A pump that seems to hesitate a second when the lever is squeezed. Anywhere from 2 to 6 cents tick off before the rush of gasoline starts. That’s what happens with a common, hard to diagnose and mostly ignored problem with the “check valve,” which is supposed to make sure gas flows at the same time the price meter starts.

But even if your gas pump works, it can still be off as much as $5 for every fill up. Tests by local regulators allow a pump to charge as much as 6 cents more than the gas delivered in a five-gallon test.

Don’t blame the gas guys. Even consumer advocates say retailers may be losing as often as consumers and no one appears able to rig the meters. But the small “check valve” at the end of the multibillion dollar industry just wears out, and often goes unnoticed for months.

Regulators’ records show short staffing, particularly for financially struggling counties that try to inspect pumps every six months, but too often don’t even meet the one-year requirement in states like New York.

Federal standards require all gas pumps to start pumping gas as soon as the price meter starts, said Ken Butcher of the National Institute of Standards of Technology, part of the U.S. Commerce Department.

Bob Wolfram knew something was wrong when the pump he used in Davenport, Iowa, showed he put two more gallons of gas into his tank than the tank holds.

“I was low, but it wasn’t negative,” said Wolfram, a 54-year-old engineer.

He reported it to a consumer Web site then took it to the government regulators, who acted promptly. But even then, the test showed the pump was only off a quart.

“I just kind of said, `What will they do next?’” Wolfram said.

Correcting the problem depends on alert, well-informed consumers like Wolfram. It also depends on honest retailers who choose to pass along reports to regulators who must confirm the problem before an authorized repair company is called to fix it.

“There’s one Mobil owner, he tells clerks that if there’s a discrepancy within $5 to reimburse the customer,” said C. Todd Godlewski, director of the Schenectady County Bureau of Weights and Measures in upstate New York, the agency that inspects pumps.

“Yes, it can be that much,” he said.

A bad valve can also work against retailers, freezing the price gauge for an instant after gas starts. No one’s sure who gets gored more, or how deeply.

“Even one penny on the amount of petroleum pumped annually or weekly at a station would be several thousand gallons of fuel, and add that up,” Godlewski said. “If you have a meter that is costing a customer, it adds up quite a bit.”

The problem compounds the aggravation of record high gas prices. On Tuesday, the national average hit a record $3.51 per gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That’s nearly 66 cents higher than last year, and rising.

“We’ll hear complaints about this quite regularly, usually several each week,” said Jason Toews, co-founder of the independent nationwide Web site GasBuddy.com that tracks prices and complaints.

“It’s mostly about the principle of it,” he said. He said the problem usually only costs a consumer pennies per fill-up, but that’s more than enough these days.

Toews discounts the conspiracy theories that blame the problem on retailers or the oil industry. Most retailers, he said, wouldn’t know how to alter the pumps to their benefit.

A New York Comptroller’s Office audit in 2000 found “many municipalities” statewide failed to inspect their pumps once a year as required (the best practice is two inspections every year) and that meters were corrected during testing, which could mask overcharging. Four years later, a follow-up audit found only partial resolution, partly because of too little staffing.

Bob Renkes of the Petroleum Equipment Institute based in Tulsa, Okla., has heard about complaints, “mostly when gas prices are high.” He said meters “get looser over time,” which could make them malfunction and start to count pennies before fuel starts pumping.

“I think our industry would love to replace anything that wears down,” Renkes said. But the check valves aren’t a high priority when the industry is dealing with issues such as preventing identity theft when swipe cards are used, static electricity discharges and the 5 percent of retailers whose old mechanical equipment can’t register a price of $4 a gallon.

State and local regulators doubt any but the most ambitious consumers would contact them in case of a problem, even though the phone numbers are on inspection stickers. More likely, consumers fume and wonder if they were cheated, or report it to the manager of the gas station or convenience store.

“That’s what’s tough about this,” said Jessica Chittenden, spokeswoman for New York’s weights and measures office that oversees local inspectors. “The two cents or whatever would go to the retailer.”

Even when a report is made, and a local inspector is dispatched, the problem might not be fixed.

Chittenden said a faulty valve would likely work sporadically: “It’s very difficult to find it unless you are there every day several times a day.”

Godlewski, the upstate New York inspector, said he’s found pumps off by as much as three times the 6-cent threshold. Because of it, his county this year is tracking pump problems and hopes to quantify it for the first time.

“You ask yourself,” he said, “`If nobody said anything … and it’s run like that for six months, how many were taken?’”

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By KARIN LAUB, Associated Writer
Sun Apr 27, 4:31 AM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Palestinian economy won’t grow this year, largely due to Israeli restrictions on movement and despite billions of dollars in aid meant to shore up support for peace talks, the World Bank predicted Sunday.

The bleak prognosis stands in contrast to the bank’s initial assessment that double-digit economic growth would be possible if Israel, the Palestinian government and the donors did their part.

The bank now estimates that the Gross Domestic Product — currently at about $4 billion — will grow by only 3 percent in 2008.

“That, taking into account population growth, leaves per capita income static, if not lower than the previous year,” the report said.

The bank noted that the Gaza economy has sharply contracted because of the virtually complete closure of the Gaza strip by Israel and Egypt after the violent Hamas takeover there last year. In the West Bank, where Israel maintains a network of hundreds of checkpoints, gates and earthen barriers, GDP growth was only modest, the bank said.

In December, donor countries pledged $7.7 billion over three years to help fund a Palestinian reform and development plan.

The idea was to gradually cut government spending and revive the private sector, which has been hit hard during Israeli-Palestinian fighting and stifling Israeli restrictions on Palestinian trade and movement. This would eventually make the Palestinians less dependent on international aid.

The international community also hoped that an economic recovery would lend support to peace negotiations, which have yielded little tangible progress so far.

However, the bank said that “the private sector revival required for a virtuous cycle of growth has not been realized due to the continued restrictions on movement and access.”

The Palestinian reform and development plan is largely implemented in the West Bank, though Gaza does see some of the foreign aid, in the form of salaries paid to thousands of civil servants there.

On Friday, said the Palestinian government in the West Bank has made “significant strides” toward reducing its huge budget deficit of 27 percent of the GDP, but that international donors need to transfer an additional $400 million to close the deficit in 2008. Much of international aid is currently earmarked for development projects, not budget support.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel is working closely with the donor community, and that it is in Israel’s interest to see the Palestinian economy recover.

However, he said Palestinian militants continue to pose a threat, and a hasty removal of roadblocks, if followed by attacks on Israel, could set back peace efforts.

“We are ready for calculated risks. We are not ready for irresponsible risks,” he said. “We will continue to work with the Palestinians and the international community in taking down roadblocks.”

In recent weeks, Israel removed some obstacles to movement in the West Bank, mainly dirt mounds. However, the report, citing U.N. figures, said in March that the overall number of obstacles had increased.

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Sun Apr 27, 1:50 AM ET
PURCHASE, N.Y. - Eos Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will cease operations by Monday, it said Sunday.
The business class-only airline is planning to operate its final flights between London’s Stansted Airport and New York’s Kennedy Airport on Sunday. The Purchase-based company intends to eliminate most of its work force.

Chief Executive Officer Jack Williams said in a statement that the “challenging economic and credit environment” forced the company to file a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The airline launched round-trip service for business travelers from New York to London in 2005. It was named after the Greek goddess of the dawn.

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By BEN McCONVILLE, Associated Press Writer
18 minutes ago
EDINBURGH, Scotland - Hundreds of workers at Scotland’s only oil refinery on Sunday began a 48-hour strike that has forced BP PLC to shut a pipeline system that delivers almost a third of Britain’s North Sea oil.

BP said it had completed the closure of the Forties Pipeline System by 6 a.m., when 1,200 workers at the Grangemouth refinery in central Scotland walked off the job. The pipeline brings in 700,000 barrels of oil a day from the North Sea to BP’s Kinneil plant, which is powered from the Grangemouth site.

Energy industry group Oil & Gas U.K. said the strike, over pension issues, could cost $100 million a day in lost production.

The main effect of the walkout was likely to be felt by the British Treasury — which relies heavily on taxes from oil production — and at gas stations in Scotland, some of which limited purchases in anticipation of the strike.

The government urged motorists not to hoard fuel, saying there would be enough to go around. It wants to avoid a repeat of scenes in 2000 when motorists were forced to line up at gas stations as truckers angry at heavily taxed fuel brought Britain to a standstill by blockading refineries.

“There is plenty of petrol and diesel in Scotland to meet demand during this period of time,” the government’s business secretary, John Hutton, told the British Broadcasting Corp. “But of course there is going to be a challenge if people change the way that they consume fuel.”

Gas stations in and around Edinburgh were limiting purchases to 20 pounds — equivalent to $40 — per visit Saturday, and lines of cars formed beside some pumps. A number of stations reported they had run out of gas and diesel.

Some Scottish gas stations were charging 1.25 pounds — $2.47 — Saturday for a liter of unleaded, up from about 1.08 pounds — $2.14 — on Monday.

The Scottish government said 72,000 tons of extra fuel was being imported from Europe to help keep the country running.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the strike was unnecessary and called for new negotiations between Grangemouth’s owner, the chemical company Ineos, and the workers’ union, Unite. Talks to avert a strike broke down earlier this week.

The refinery strike is one of a series of labor disputes to hit Britain as the global economy weakens.

A nationwide teachers’ strike over pay issues shut about a third of schools across Britain on Thursday as the government tries to clamp down on public sector wage increases due to inflation fears

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Converting accounts receivable into cash is a critical process in the development of a healthy cash flow. While booking a receivable is accomplished by a simple accounting transaction, the process of maintaining and collecting payments from your customers requires a steadfast commitment to a systematic process of Accounts Receivable Management. To more effectively convert accounts receivable into cash it’s essential that the credit and collection process be highly efficient in order for you to shorten the accounts receivable cycle time.

The accounts receivable cycle starts with a sale (credit sales) which in turn creates a receivable (monies due your company), and then, ultimately converts into cash. The length of time that it takes your company to complete this cycle, from sale to accounts receivable to cash, is the collection period. The shorter the collection period, the less time cash (capital) is tied up in the business process, and thus the better for your company’s cash flow.

Try to limit outstanding accounts receivable to no more than 10 to 15 days beyond your credit terms. If your credit terms are net 30 days, then the collection period should not extend beyond 45 days. Keep in mind that average collection periods do vary because of industry standards, company policies, or financial conditions of the customer. Comparing your company’s actual days of collection to the average days of collection within your industry is a wise business practice. Benchmarking your actual days of collection to that of your target days of collection (no more than 10-15 days over credit terms) is also advisable.

Your company’s average collection period is calculated by using an Average Collection Period Ratio. The ratio is referred to as an Activity Ratio; it measures how quickly your company converts non-cash assets to cash assets.

Average Collection Period (ACP): ACP = Accounts Receivable / (Credit Sales/365))

A high Average Collection Period implies that your company may be too liberal in extending credit to your customers and too lax in the collection process. A low number of days in your collection period could imply that your credit and collection policies are too restrictive. This restrictive position may be repressing your sales.

Accounts Receivable Turnover Ratio (ART) is an accounting measure used to quantify your company’s effectiveness in extending credit, as well as, collecting its debts. This ART Ratio is considered a Liquidity Ratio; it measures the availability of cash to pay debt.

Accounts Receivable Turnover (ART): ART = Net Credit Sales / Average Accounts Receivable

A high Accounts Receivable Turnover Ratio implies that, either your company operates on a cash basis, or that its extension of credit and collection of accounts receivable is efficient. A low ART Ratio implies that your company should re-assess its credit policies in order to ensure the timely collection of monies due from the accounts receivable ledger.

A key requirement for effective Sales and Accounts Receivables management is the ability to intelligently and efficiently manage your entire credit and collection process. Greater insight into a customer’s financial strength, credit history, and trends in payment patterns is paramount in reducing your exposure to bad debt. While a comprehensive collection process greatly improves your cash flow, your ability to penetrate new markets and to develop a broader customer base hinges on the ability to quickly and easily make well informed credit decisions and, to set appropriate lines of credit. Your ability to quickly convert your accounts receivable into cash is possible if you execute well- defined collection strategies.

Credit Process:

The initial requirement of an effective credit management process is to have each company that you plan to do business with, complete and sign an Application for Credit form. Your Application for Credit form should include, the “terms and conditions of sale,” space for the prospective customer to provide information on company background, a list of principal owners with their percent of ownership, three to five trade credit references, and the name of their bank(s).

It is important to personally review with the prospective customer their projected product purchases - in both dollars and in units. This review helps to initially assess the amount of credit necessary to purchase the projected products. This review also helps to determine inventory requirements based on a projected sales forecast

Collection Process:

An efficient and effective collection management process includes well defined policies and procedures that facilitate a more expedient, sale–to-cash cycle. The collection procedures require “attention to detail” and should include:

• Billing: Preparation, recording, and delivery of invoices as soon as the product/service is delivered or installed.

• Statements: Preparation, recording, and delivery of follow-up statements that indicate aging of outstanding balances.

• Accounts Receivable Aging Schedule: Preparation and distribution of an Aging Schedule that lists all of the customer accounts that have outstanding balances. These outstanding balances are then categorized into 4 categories of time: 1 to 30 days, 30 to 60 days, 60 to 90 days, and over 90 days.

• Telephone Calls: Placement of courteous and professional telephone follow-up calls to customers with past due, outstanding balances for the purpose of establishing a date of payment.

• Collection Letters: Preparation, recording, and delivery of collection letters with an urgent message that demands payment and provides details of the action that will be taken if payment is not received by a certain date.

• Recording Payments: Posting of the amount of payment to the appropriate customer account. If possible, it is advisable that the person performing the collection duties not be involved with the posting of payments.

• Deposits of Collected Funds: Preparation of the deposit ticket, along with accompanying funds, should be deposited in the bank on a timely basis.

Factoring as an Option

Very simply, factoring is short-term financing that is obtained by selling or transferring your Accounts Receivable to a third party - at a discount - in exchange for immediate cash. In most cases, the third party, a factoring company, audits your accounts receivable to determine their collect-ability. If the factoring company feels that your receivables are bona fide then, they will offer to purchase the current ones at a discount. A factoring company may also, under the right circumstances, purchase your future receivables at discount off the face value of the receivables. The percentage discount depends upon the age of the receivables, how complex the collection process will be, and how collectible they are.

Once the factoring company collects a particular receivable, they will pay you the remaining balance of that receivable’s face value, less their fee. Fees vary widely from one factoring company to another. So, it is recommended that you do your due diligence before engaging the services of any particular company. Factoring fees are not insignificant when compared to the amount of interest you might pay to a commercial lender. For this reason alone, you should view factoring only as a short-term solution rather than a regular outlet for collecting your receivables.

Many businesses, that need an immediate infusion of cash in order to survive and/or to bridge their cash flow gap, could benefit from the process of factoring accounts receivable. Since failing businesses regularly turn to factoring as a last resort, factoring may be viewed by many people as a negative. Although factoring may be a great way to generate cash quickly, you should consider the perception that factoring may convey to your customers and to others in your industry. Your good judgment here should dictate if your company could benefit from the quick cash flow that factoring provides, or whether or not it would be just adding to your company’s financial burdens.

Shortening the accounts receivable cycle time generates the healthy cash flow that is required to sustain your company’s growth and prosperity.

Copyright 2008 Terry H. Hill:

Terry H. Hill is the founder and managing partner of Legacy Associates, Inc, a business consulting and advisory services firm. A veteran chief executive, Terry works directly with business owners of privately held companies on the issues and challenges that they face in each stage of their business life cycle. To find out how he can help you take your business to the next level, visit his site at http://www.legacyai.com

To download a copy of this article, click on this link:. http://www.legacyai.com/Article_Convert_A_R.html

source: articlescity

Just when his Crown Macau casino is coming good, James Packer’s US gaming plans have suffered a setback with the site for the $US5 billion resort project dubbed Las Vegas Towers being put up for sale.
 
Crown chairman Packer and his US partner in the project Chris Milam had already made around $A100 million in payments to Archon Corp which owns the site on the famous Las Vegas “Strip.”

But now CBRE confirms the site is up for sale. Some $US63 million has been reported to be non-refundable and some $US30 million was not going to the purchase price.
 
A spokesman for Crown said he was not aware of the site being up for sale. He said a strategic review of all Crown’s assets is now underway.

The setback comes at a time when Crown has reported an impressive rise in market share and revenue at its Crown Macau casino after hiring a junket operator to get more Chinese gamblers into the venue.

However, concerns about subsidiaries’ debt levels in a rising interest rate environment, the impact of housing market distress on Las Vegas, and development costs at Crown’s second casino City of Dreams have left the market cautious on the stock.

Crown’s shares are down 17% in 2008, worse than the 16% slide in the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark share index.

Packer had originally been proposing to build one of the world’s tallest buildings on the old Waterworks site in Las Vegas at some 1,800 feet but local concerns over the site’s proximity to the airport saw the plans scaled back to a height of 1,063 feet.
 
Packer’s partner in the venture Chris Milam had taken an option over the site in June 2006. Packer tipped in $US22.5 million for a 37.5% interest in the project.

Crown is also funding the Fontainebleau Hotel Casino in Vegas with US group Turnberry. The Fontainebleau is under construction next door to the site Packer has with Milam.
source:smh

The founder and chief executive of Fortescue Metals Group, Andrew Forrest, has passed Rupert Murdoch and James Packer to be Australia’s richest executive, according to BRW.

Forrest, who was last month ranked as Australia’s richest man by Forbes Magazine, has increased his wealth thanks to the commodities boom, with his stake in Fortescue soaring to $8.4 billion, according to BRW’s Executive Rich list, which ranks Australia’s 200 wealthiest managers by the value of their shareholdings. The list has 71 executives from the resources sector - up from 39 a year ago.

Media mogul Mr Murdoch comes in second with $7.9 billion in News Corp shares, and Mr Packer, who replaced his late father Kerry as Australia’s richest man on the BRW Rich 200 list in 2006, trails in third spot with his $3.6 billion holding in Crown and Consolidated Media Holdings.

The top-ranked woman on the list is Computershare’s executive director, Penelope Maclagan, ranked 37th with a total shareholding worth $128 million. Only two other women make the top 200: Harvey Norman CEO Katie Page with $69.4 million and ranked 65. Paladin Energy company secretary Gillian Swaby is 74th overall with $62.1 million.

Other high-flying entrants include Westfield Group co-founder Frank Lowy, fourth with $2.8 billion, and Reece Australia chief executive Alan Wilson, ranked fifth with $1.5 billion.

”The most surprising aspect of the list was the the number of mining executives,” Rich List editor John Stensholt said.

”There’s also the high-profile casualties from the financial services sector.”

Forrest’s holding surged by $6.5 billion in the past year alone, as China’s hunger for iron ore sent prices rocketing.

On the slide, though, are the dwindling fortunes of former Allco Finance Group executive chairman David Coe, ABC Learning Centres founder Eddy Groves and MFS co-founders Michael King and Phillip Adams - all three tumbling out of the top 200.

Newcomers to the list include Joseph Butta, general manager of marketing at clean coal company Felix Resources, whose shareholding is worth $104.3 million. The Brisbane-based coal miner’s market capitalisation is about $2.2 billion and the company’s share price has gained 40% this year alone while the overall market slumped more than 15%. 

Total wealth on the list is down $2.6 billion to $44 billion on last year’s inaugural list, tracking the overall sharemarket’s decline.
source:smh