Commercial lending falls in July: Midday roundup

Commercial finance dropped in July, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figures show total business finance commitments dropped by a seasonally adjusted 5% to $28.819 billion.

Total personal lending commitments rose 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted $7.522 million, while housing finance for owner-occupiers fell 1.4% to $13.386 billion.

Leasing finance grew 3.4% to $569 million, up from $550 million in June.

Passenger numbers lift at Virgin

Virgin has recorded an increase in the number of passengers using its services, up 1.9% for the year to August.

Revenue for passenger kilometres grew 3.7%, according to the company. Available seat kilometres (ASK) rose 9.3% due to lower “load factors”.

“In this new operating environment, growth in ASKs will be higher than forecast passenger growth to account for lower loads.”

International operations recorded passenger growth of 5.1% and ASK growth of 3.1%.

Shares fall on weak offshore markets

The Australian sharemarket has opened lower this morning following a weak lead from offshore markets on concerns over Greek debt.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down six points or 0.1% to 4324.1 at 12.00 AEST, while the Australian dollar remained flat at $US1.03.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 9.7 points or 0.2% to 4324.1.

Queensland budget to encourage prosperity: Treasurer

Queensland treasurer Tim Nicholls said today his budget will return the state to economic prosperity.

“While we do have the job of fiscal repair, we also have the job of charting the future prosperity of the state of Queensland,” he told ABC Radio this morning.

“I’ll be outlining how we’ll be doing some of that in the budget.”