BRIEFS

C&A bid raised

Rio Tinto and Mitsubishi have bowed to shareholder pressure and improved their takeover offer for Rio's Hunter Valley subsidiary Coal & Allied. They had flagged plans to pay $122 per share jointly for the approximately 14 per cent of C&A they don't already own. The offer has been improved to $125, with a special dividend of $8.

FINANCE

Kinghorn to quit

John Kinghorn will not stand for

re-election to the board of RHG, the remnants of RAMS Home Loans, following the sale of his remaining stake. RHG reported a $74 million full-year net profit, down 21 per cent, with a fully franked, 10? dividend.

RETAILING

Woolies insurance

Woolworths will launch a bundle of insurance products, including life and pet insurance. The supermarket giant says its research shows 95 per cent of families don't have enough cover.

MINING

Ramelius soars

Gold miner Ramelius Resources has tripled its full-year net profit to $62.4 million due to high prices for the precious metal and increased production.

INFRASTRUCTURE

CIF trims losses

The Challenger Infrastructure Fund has posted a full-year net loss of $808,000, partly due to the adverse effects of the strengthening dollar. The result was an improvement on last year's loss of $210.7 million.

TRINKET

Head

Utility owner Spark Infrastructure Group has reported an 83 per cent drop in its first-half profit to $8.9 million but expects a better performance in the second half. It declared a first-half distribution of 4.75? per security and expects a full-year 9.5?.

IRON ORE

Scrimshaw goes

Fortescue Metals founding director Russell Scrimshaw has stepped down from the iron ore miner's board to focus on other projects. His replacement is Herbert "Bud" Scruggs.