ENERGY giant Santos has secured $1 billion in new debt ahead of a potential balance sheet shake up in the new year.

ENGINEERING group Downer EDI has secured a $2 billion contract for work on Adani’s massive Carmichael mine in Queensland.

AUSTRALIA’S small telco companies are set for more merger and acquisition activities in the year ahead, helped by low cost of debt.

WOODSIDE will spend around $4.6bn buying stakes in two future LNG developments in a major bet on a recovery in energy prices.

AUSTRALIA is withdrawing its membership from the World Tourism Organisation, which promotes the globe’s travel industry.

THE Reserve Bank believes the Australian dollar is still too high and that interest rates are best left on hold, rather than be cut further.

APA Group has made the second biggest Australian acquisition of the year, snaring BG Group’s Queensland coal-seam gas pipeline.

Billionaire Alex Waislitz stands to make millions after two financial services companies agreed to merge.

Queensland's books are expected be back in black within the next four years, with Treasurer Cameron Dick predicting the state will return to a $153 million surplus by mid-2025.

ANZ’s senior investment banker says the group is well placed to benefit from foreign interest in Australia.

The consumer watchdog has blocked freight shipping group Sea Swift’s $45m planned takeover of Toll Marine Logistics.

QANTAS executives have been surprised by how quickly the tide has turned.

CRUISE giant P&O is muscling in on the lucrative events sector for a share of the annual $13 billion-plus conference dollar.

SELFIE sticks and fitness wristbands are tipped to be among the top gifts this Christmas, amid warnings ASX-listed retailers may miss out on the spending rush.

Regulators’ efforts to curb a surge in lending to property investors appear to be having an effect, the RBA says.

Housing affordability experts say "painful" reforms and long-term planning are needed to make home ownership more accessible. In the meantime, some young Australians are turning to unconventional options like tiny houses.

THE frustration of wasted weekends spent searching in vain for the perfect home could be consigned to the past.

LISTED healthcare providers took a battering on the local bourse yesterday.

CLIVE Palmer has suffered another defeat in his ongoing legal war with China’s Citic.

TELSTRA is set to pick up more than 50 per cent of the design and planning work for the ­National Broadband Network.