BRIEFS

BRISCONNECTIONS

Board resigns

The entire board of directors at BrisConnections, including chairman Trevor Rowe, resigned on Monday, just days after appointing voluntary administrators. Their departure has no impact on the administration process, but suggests the directors will not propose a rescue package and that BrisConnections is heading for liquidation.

ENERGY

Bright Spark

Power sector investor Spark Infrastructure has signalled a higher dividend this year as it searches for expansion opportunities. The dividend forecast has been raised to 11¢ a share, from 10.5¢ last year, with the final dividend of 5.25¢ to be paid next month. Spark declared a net profit of $185 million for last year, up from a loss of $47.9 million in 2011, which reflected hedging and actuarial losses.

PETROL

Prices soar

The average price of petrol is at a 10-month high. The national unleaded fuel price rose by an average of 3.4¢ a litre to 152¢ last week, the Australian Institute of Petroleum said. "The national average price has risen by a staggering 13.4¢ a litre in just the past seven weeks" and was unlikely to fall soon, said a CommSec economist, Savanth Sebastian.

VODAFONE

Class action

A class action against Vodafone will be launched on Tuesday, more than two years after it was first proposed by the legal firm Piper Alderman. The proposed action stalled due to a lack of litigation funding, but the funder LCM is expected to announce it will cover legal costs. Customers have complained about unsatisfactory reception and service on Vodafone's network in late 2010 and early 2011.

BANKING

Westpac glitch

Westpac's online and phone banking system has been hit by a glitch preventing some users from accessing their accounts. Soon after 5pm on Monday, the bank's website and mobile app were telling users that online banking was "currently unavailable" and that the bank was trying to fix the problem.