ACCC warns of gas shortfall from next year
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said while southern states were benefiting from extra gas reserves from Queensland, it was not enough to meet demand.
- Exclusive
- Leadership lessons
Public trust falls as division and conspiracies take hold
Public trust in government and media has collapsed as people increasingly turn to their employers, co-workers and neighbours for information.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
BHP rides the new super cycle
The last time BHP experienced such high profits was during the commodities super cycle when it was lured into failed M&A. It won’t happen this time.
PM pleads one last time for unity, no decision yet on Tudge
The Morrison government is some weeks away from deciding whether to dump stood-aside education minister Alan Tudge.
BHP primed for a decade of inflation
Australian commodity exporters could be the beneficiary of what BHP expects will be a decade of inflationary pressures.
McGowan-Palmer court feud delves into questions of ‘selfishness’
Justice Michael Lee has queried whether the WA Premier implied Palmer intended to harm, while pondering the definition of what is selfish.
- Exclusive
- Super wars
Government open to forcing super funds to merge
APRA’s superannuation tsar Margaret Cole said being able to force super fund mergers was at the ‘top of my list’ when it came to additional powers she wanted.
How foreign accountants are bypassing visa delays and why some firms are resisting demands for pay bumps. In your inbox on Wednesday.
results season
BHP willing to breach debt limit for the right deal
A new debt target won’t prevent BHP from making big acquisitions, but Mike Henry says he won’t squander the company’s repaired reputation for fiscal discipline
Adore Beauty says sentiment will recover from omicron hit
The online beauty retailer painted an upbeat outlook, but investors heavily sold down the stock, landing it in the top five worst performers on Tuesday.
Ansell shares firm, warns margins to slide for another year
CEO Neil Salmon says freight costs are starting to stabilise but the pain of having to sell high-priced stock will continue until late this year.
Sims Metal shows how car wrecks are hot in green steel race
The metal recycler is a big winner for investors as the global steel industry tries to reduce carbon emissions.
Seek declares highest dividend in three years
The online employment marketplace had a strong jump in sales and profit as the so-called “great resignation” drove candidate activity on its sites.
smart investor
- Opinion
- Inflation
Prepare your SMSF for inflation
There is a good chance that rising prices are a symptom of the global recovery, not the start of run-away inflation that will leave us all trillionaire paupers.
- Opinion
- Earnings season
How to navigate reporting season
Buy companies and sectors likely to benefit from post-pandemic reopening but stay away from beaten-up, but still expensive, companies challenged by rising rates.
Ready yourself for the next investment cycle
Understanding the real correlations between investments and adding true diversification will be important.
Baby Boomers downsizing faster in pandemic
Rising home values in some established communities are boosting equity that some residents are cashing in, the operator of affordable villages says.
- Opinion
- Cryptocurrencies
Questions to ask when considering crypto investment
Why Vanguard is not including it in its standard asset allocation models.
Companies
KPMG boss denies allegations he ignored TAHE issues
Andrew Yates rejected claims he ignored concerns repeatedly raised by the firm’s ex-partner Brendan Lyon of conflicting work for two NSW government departments.
Top investor questions Blackstone’s $8.9b bid
One of the country’s leading investors thinks Blackstone’s $13.10 per share offer undervalues Crown Resorts
UK tells buy now, pay later firms to give refunds, rewrite contracts
The Financial Conduct Authority tells Afterpay, Openpay, Laybuy and Klarna to make their terms clearer, and to refund late-payment fees in some cases.
Pace of power grid transition in dispute
Coal power generator and renewables advocates, including Fortescue Future Industries, have clashed on the likely pace of transition in the power grid.
How Berejiklian fits into Optus’ structure
The new managing director enterprise, business and institutional role gives Ms Berejiklian oversight of four executives at Optus.
Woodside CEO taps BHP expertise for new team
Several executives named for top positions in the enlarged Woodside currently work at BHP Petroleum, but not the head of the business, Geraldine Slattery.
BHP willing to breach debt limit for the right deal
A new debt target won’t prevent BHP from making big acquisitions, but Mike Henry says he won’t squander the company’s repaired reputation for fiscal discipline
Companies in the News
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Markets
Sims stirs bulls, Adore disappoints in topsy-turvy trading
The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 0.5 per cent lower to 7206.9; Adore Beauty dropped 8.1 per cent to $2.48 but Sims surged 13.7 per cent to $17.04.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
What we learnt: The great juggle between costs and growth has begun
Whether you’re selling toilets (GWA), salmon (Tassal), advertising (Seven West Media and Seek) or scrap metals (Sims) demand is rising. But so are costs.
Value funds fail to attract investors despite outperformance
Investors remain shy despite healthy run for value funds since the year began.
- Analysis
- Sharemarket
Investors flee buy now, pay later as rate hikes loom
Affirm, Zip Co, Sezzle, Laybuy, Zebit and others are down 45 to 95 per cent over 12 months as investors fear the impact of rising borrowing rates.
ASX dips; energy stocks hardest-hit
ASX down; SGX March iron ore futures dive 11pc; BHP profit up 77pc; SEEK highest dividend in three years; S&P flags Crown’s ratings risk; Ansell earnings fall; Sims lifts dividends; RBA reaffirms patience.
Opinion
Mike Henry plays a blinder
The BHP boss thrilled the market with a bumper profit and a better-than-expected dividend for shareholders, writes Jennifer Hewett. What could possibly go wrong?
Columnist
LMITO extension rolls over genuine tax reform
The baking in of politicised anomalies and complexities underlines the lack of a genuine plan for incentive-sharpening structural tax reform based on sound taxation principles.
Editorial
No chance of tax reform no matter who wins in May
More than any other country Australia relies on personal and company income tax to raise government revenue. This looks unlikely to change no matter who wins government in May, writes Jennifer Hewett.
Columnist
Super funds are offering obfuscation instead of clarity
In 20 years, super funds have failed to create common standards and definitions to compare like with like. That is going to take industry leadership to change.
Contributor
An uncompetitive tax system is now holding Australia back
The country is going to rely on the private sector to drag it out of post-pandemic debt. But it’s hard to create that growth with the tax system that we have.
Contributor
Putin, US intelligence and the global fight for the Ukraine narrative
The Iraq war casts a shadow over the credibility of US warnings amid eroding public faith in politicians.
Columnist
Politics
Tax drags on business and wages, Allegra Spender says
Independent candidate Allegra Spender says business taxes are ‘high’, as she pushes for a broad review of the tax system to lift people’s wages and productivity.
Australia Post denies incentive payments are bonuses
Board chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo says executives receive additional salary based on their performance.
- Analysis
- Federal election
In a crowded field, it’s not easy being Green
The party is not cashing in on discontent with politics because it is regarded as part of the problem, writes Phillip Coorey.
Labor hits Liberal MP’s tax-free inheritance remarks
Jason Falinski on Tuesday said he never had and never would support such an impost, saying it would be “double taxation”.
Chinese businessman denies he is ‘puppeteer’ named in Parliament
Chau Chak Wing has challenged Senator Kimberley Kitching to repeat her claims he tried to interfere in election without the cover of parliamentary privilege.
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World
Can Saudi Arabia become the world’s biggest hydrogen producer?
The world’s biggest oil exporter hopes to become a leader in clean fuel in coming decades, but sceptics question its prospects.
Pentagon says China’s support for Russia ‘deeply alarming’
Xi Jinping last week backed Moscow’s stand-off with the West over Ukraine and accused the US of increasing the risk of an arms race.
- Analysis
- Ukraine crisis
How Biden is using Putin’s playbook against him
Washington’s dire warnings of war could be at least partly tactical, designed to rob Russia of any legitimising pretext to send the tanks in.
Trudeau enlists banks to stop protests
Canada’s financial institutions will be required to review their relationships with anyone involved in an illegal blockade and report them.
Sliver of hope: Russia ready to keep talking on Ukraine
The Kremlin says there’s ‘always a chance’ for progress on talks with the West, and claims to be standing down some troops. But tensions remain white-hot.
Property
Aerotropolis take-off stalled by NSW govt delays, says key stakeholder
There are fears the state government is falling behind the Aerotropolis infrastructure curve with the new airport due to open in 2026.
Dexus urges speedier return to the office in Melbourne
The nation’s biggest office landlord warns that slow progress in returning to CBD workplaces in Melbourne will hurt the city’s small and medium businesses.
Baby Boomers downsizing faster in pandemic
Rising home values in some established communities are boosting equity that some residents are cashing in, the operator of affordable villages says.
Royal Melbourne Hospital completes PDG’s biotech precinct
The hospital is taking up the space which Trinity College initially committed to but didn’t proceed with after COVID-19 disrupted the higher education sector.
Court orders winding up of Melbourne fund manager PE Capital
Among PE Capital’s projects was a 200-room Hyatt Place Hotel in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs, which never got off the ground.
Wealth
Musk donates $8b of Tesla shares to charity
A large gift to charity last year would help reduce what Elon Musk claimed would be the biggest tax bill in US history.
Murdoch’s son-in-law adds $22m farm to cattle empire
Alasdair MacLeod, the son-in-law of Rupert Murdoch, has acquired a fourth property, Paradise Creek Station near Inverell for his Wilton Cattle Company.
Top hedge fund managers made $15.8b riding volatile markets
The top 15 fund managers took home a combined $US23 billion in 2020 compared with a more modest $US15.8 billion in 2021.
Technology
- Exclusive
- Techno-nationalism
Intel boss has a stark warning for governments around the world
CEO Pat Gelsinger is taking an unexpected but key role in the geopolitical realm, as the world’s supply of vital semiconductor chips hits worryingly low levels.
- Exclusive
- Funding
Subscribe to a Tesla? Carbar raises $28.9m
Carbar is trying to encourage Aussies to ditch car ownership and subscribe to them instead, with easy access to electric vehicles a big selling point.
At last, your PC can run your favourite phone apps
Windows 11 users will now be able to install phone apps like Tinder, UberEats and video games on their PC, and use them almost as if they were regular PC apps.
Work & Careers
National accounting firms begin to baulk at pay rises
A recruiter says about 90 per cent of companies are hiring now, against the long-run average of about 30 per cent.
NSW considers ‘further’ compensation as overworked nurses strike
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says the government is considering “further recognition” for nurses as thousands walk off the job in the face of 18-hour shifts and real wage cuts.
Life & Luxury
Travel from Australia to Bali is about to restart
Flights from Melbourne and Sydney to the Land of the Gods are due to take off in under a month – pending what omicron does there.
First came the dream tote bag, but there’s more in store from Haulier
What’s next for Jeremy Hershan, whose rugged yet stylish Utility carryall quickly became a must-have travel accessory?
- Opinion
- Review
Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra is too much like a Note
Despite having overhauled the rest of the Galaxy S22 family, Samsung brought back the old look and the old feel of the Note to the S22 Ultra.
- Opinion
- Cars
Volvo’s new electric SUV is fast (but there’s a catch)
The XC40 is more stylish than the Ford Mustang Mach-E SUV, superior inside to the Tesla Model Y and better value than the Jaguar I-Pace. But it’s not perfect.
Super Bowl ads go heavy on nostalgia and star power
On the field, the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals played a nail biter during Super Bowl 56, with the Rams emerging victorious.
