Westpac hires Morgan Stanley for wealth sale
Westpac Banking Corporation has mandated Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for its wealth management businesses.
Holgate delivers Morrison government legal ultimatum
The former Australia Post boss wants an answer on mediation plans by 5pm on Wednesday, with her lawyers preparing to consider legal action.
For-profit super funds in the gun over high admin fees
A review of APRA’s latest superannuation heat map reveals a long tail of mostly for-profit funds charging high administration fees.
Hungry investors dive into record $2b mortgage bond
The Australian residential mortgage-backed securities market is heating up, with a run of deals meeting hot demand from yield-starved investors.
ASX closes flat in mixed session
Australian shares ended the day flat on Monday in a mixed session that included the best day for Westpac shares since November following strong March quarter results.
‘Sensible’ proxy changes will clear up claims
Outgoing Coca-Cola Amatil CEO Alison Watkins and director Arlene Tansey say improving dialogue between proxy advice firms and companies is a good thing.
- Live
- Need to Know
India records more than 368,000 new COVID-19 cases
There were also 3417 deaths, as a catastrophic surge ripples through the country; the Australia Post board is fronting the Senate inquiry into Christine Holgate’s departure; Greg Hunt defends India travel penalties as ‘very measured’. Follow updates here.
Companies
Costs in focus as Westpac braces for margin, competition pressures
Westpac’s CEO said ultra-low rates and digital competition is behind the move to take 21 per cent of the costs out of the bank in the next three years.
Freedom Foods says Q3 sales slide, pays $4.45m to Perich companies
The UHT milk and plant-based drinks maker backed by the wealthy farming clan is still aiming to have its complex recapitalisation finalised by May 27.
Truck driver who left school at 14 hits top gear with $148m listing
Murray Leahy worked behind the wheel before starting his own haulage business and turning it into a one-stop-shop for mining companies.
Westpac bounces back, 256pc rise in profit
Westpac has reported $3.5 billion cash earnings and will pay a 58 cents per share interim dividend, a sign of the speed of the economic recovery.
Lew’s Premier under scrutiny despite repaying $15.6m in JobKeeper
Solomon Lew faces new pressure to repay more than $100 million in JobKeeper subsidies despite agreeing to refund $15.6 million received in the January half.
Inflation creeping into ‘hot’ construction market
Transurban chief executive Scott Charlton has warned inflation is creeping into the infrastructure and construction markets because of a big project pipeline.
Aldi commits to zero waste to landfill
ALDI has upped the ante on Woolworths and Coles by committing to send zero food waste to landfill by 2023 and zero all waste by 2025.
Markets
- Live
- Markets Live
ASX ekes out gain; Nuix slides to record low
The Australian sharemarket has closed slightly higher; Westpac has climbed after beating expectations to report a first half cash profit of $3.54 billion; Premier to pay back $15.6m of JobKeeper. Follow the latest here.
Historic boom in spending will transform services too
American households have never seen as big a windfall as Joe Biden’s stimulus cheques. That spending will soon hit dining and theatres, predicts Macquarie’s Ric Deverell.
- Analysis
- Global economy
Pandemic’s third wave leaves European economies playing catch-up
Even as Australia, the US and China regain pre-COVID-19 levels of output, Europe is in a double-dip recession. Yet the markets still find reasons to be cheerful.
- Analysis
- Due diligence
Nuix calamity leaves investors dazed and confused
The Nuix honeymoon is over and investors are now wondering whether they are the victims of a well-orchestrated heist or a bumbling transition to public life. Jonathan Shapiro investigates.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger calls bitcoin ‘disgusting’
The right-hand man of legendary investor Warren Buffett told shareholders that the cryptocurrency’s rise has been ‘contrary to the interests of civilisation’.
Opinion
Why ‘McMansion’ is no longer a derogatory term
Lifestyle tastes have changed. Now no house in Australia can be considered too large no matter how many bedrooms on whatever size block it is.
Columnist
Childcare is reform, not welfare
It’s all about getting well-qualified women back into the workforce, not a means-tested handout.
Columnist
What Debra Hazelton didn’t tell AMP shareholders
Investors have been left in the dark as the chairman refuses to disclose what prompted the company’s latest strategic swerve.
Columnist
For Josh Frydenberg, red ink is the new black
The Treasurer is talking up new childcare subsidies as a boost to women’s participation in the workforce. But it’s also a way to boost the government’s political standing and part of a new approach to greater government spending.
Columnist
Abbott-Hockey sized savings needed to balance the budget
Fiscal repair isn’t as simple as just repairing the economy. Repaying the estimated bill of $40 billion a year from the pandemic will be a huge political challenge.
Contributor
The budget shouldn’t rewrite the fiscal rule book
Economic prosperity comes from productivity but this truth is being lost amid the alluring notion there is a free lunch in borrowing from the future.
Editorial
Politics
Vaccine rate needs to quadruple to reach herd immunity by Christmas
Leaked analysis shows Australia would need to administer 142,000 coronavirus vaccine doses daily to reach 70 per cent herd immunity by Christmas.
Growth alone won’t fix the budget
Savings similar to levels last seen in Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey’s politically toxic 2014 budget are needed to balance the books despite an expected $98 billion improvement to the bottomline, according to Deloitte.
Queensland uni gets $2m for mRNA research
University of Queensland researchers are working to better commercialise mRNA and DNA research in Australia.
Liberals’ new ‘Joe Lyons’ claims historic third-term win
But senior party members believe Premier Peter Gutwein will resign if he fails to win the last seat needed for majority government.
‘Can’t be a fortress forever’: vaccinated Aussies want to go overseas
Half of Australians aged 60 and over are in favour of allowing overseas travel by those vaccinated against COVID-19, a new poll has found.
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World
Border bribes, testing scams expose Indonesia to virus surge
Public health experts say the chinks in Indonesia’s COVID-19 armour could prove fatal for the world’s fourth-most populous country.
‘Every time the phone rings, my heart sinks’: Indians abroad despair
The Indian diaspora in Australia is in a state of shock – in constant fear and feeling helpless.
Tesla, under scrutiny in China, steps up engagement with regulators
The company’s change of strategy comes at a time when China is trying to regulate large and powerful private companies, especially in the technology sector.
Japan’s ambitious carbon target sparks bureaucratic panic
Yoshihide Suga has made climate change and the promise of ‘green growth’ a centrepiece of his government since he took office last September. Officials are now rushing to turn the new objective into concrete policy.
India ban sets dangerous precedent, business leaders overseas warn
Australians working overseas say the Morrison government’s ban on citizens returning from India sets a dangerous precedent for hundreds of thousands of others living offshore.
Property
Charter Hall ‘heading to $20b’ industrial portfolio, lifts guidance
Property investment and development company Charter Hall loves industrial property and has bought a 25-site portfolio from PFD Food Services for $269 million.
Major build-to-rent players circling inner Melbourne site
Developer UAG is hoping to make a profit of about $20 million on an inner Melbourne development site it bought in 2018, which is being pursed by build-to-rent players.
Australian Unity doesn’t fear housing subsidy cut under NDIS changes
The fund manager, which has just committed to developing a further 55 SDA dwellings in Queensland, says legal or regulatory changes won’t affect payments.
Sandhurst to turn Melbourne farm into $500m industrial estate
Hendon Park, a 252-hectare sheep farm on Melbourne’s northern outskirts, will be developed into a new logistics park by Sandhurst Retail & Logistics.
Orica carves off South Sydney site
The 39,950 sq m property in Banksmeadow is one of the last such large-scale development plays within the tightly held south Sydney industrial precinct.
Wealth
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Retirees should splash on themselves, and save the economy
There is a boost to the economy if cautious retirees could be encouraged to open their savings wallets more often.
- Opinion
- Property investment
Buyer tips in tightening city rental market
Prospective owner-occupiers and investors need to look beyond short-term dynamics because long-term capital growth potential is the main game.
- Wealth
- Investing
Buffett says Berkshire hit by inflation amid ‘red hot’ US recovery
The investor doyen admitted surprise at America’s economic rebound as the group reported a $US15.2 billion quarterly profit.
Technology
- Exclusive
- Business IT
SAP Australia back in black despite slump in services revenue
The software giant has returned to profitability in Australia for the first time since 2014, but revenue fell dramatically as projects were delayed by the pandemic.
- Exclusive
- IPO
LiveHire rival HireMii heads for the ASX in IPO
Unlike many tech companies with eye-watering valuations, HireMii will list this month with a trailing revenue multiple of just 2.25 times.
- Exclusive
- Software
Former Ten, Seven West CFO Dave Boorman joins Phocas
Dave Boorman will help business intelligence software company Phocas scale internationally, while getting it ready for a possible listing in the next few years.
Work & Careers
Why companies need to become more like soccer teams
The shift away from hierarchies towards networks is the most important cultural shift of the past 50 years, argues renowned author Malcolm Gladwell.
University of Newcastle sues over spoilt blood
Who plugged in – or didn’t plug in – a low-temperature freezer is at the centre of a court case involving Newcastle University.
Life & Luxury
Why taking a mini-break is good for your mind
More than ever, you need to remember to stop and smell the roses – preferably while firing up your neurotransmitters with a change of scenery.
This surfing property specialist had a scary encounter
Scott O’Neill, founder of Rethink Investing, says he likes ‘a random little surf on a nice day, somewhere not too crowded’, but it has got hairy in the past.
How gender politics became a hot potato for this playwright
A campaign to close a pay gap between men and women left a country town spitting chips, but provided rich pickings for Melanie Tait.
Oscars shine a light on films often lost to arthouse fringe
Politically and culturally Beijing scored an own goal banning news that Chloé Zhao won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director.
Tilden transforms everyday materials into the refined
The first major survey of the artist Blanche Tilden’s working of glass and metal into conceptually rich jewellery opens in Geelong next month.
