Putin moves troops into breakaway Ukraine regions
Russia begins a ‘peacekeeping’ operation after recognising the independence of Ukraine’s breakaway eastern regions. The UK and EU say it’s time for sanctions.
- Live
- Markets Live
Ukraine to sink shares; Cochlear lifts dividend, maintains guidance
Shares futures down 1.1pc, US equity futures sink. COVID-19 costs hit Coles profit. Hub24 lifts dividend 67pc. Seven lifts profit 22pc. Oil up, bonds fall. Follow the latest here.
- Live
- Need to Know
Coalition, Labor condemn Russian troops in Ukraine
Coalition, Labor condemn Russia moving troops into eastern Ukraine; Victoria flags further easing of COVID-19 restrictions; Sydney commuters told to avoid trains for second day as industrial dispute drags on. Follow updates here.
Coles’ sales rise 1pc thanks to lockdowns, Christmas
Sales at supermarket chain Coles rose a modest 1 per cent to $20.7 billion in the first half of 2022, helped by elevated sales due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
Cannon-Brookes’ AGL bid faces Morrison veto
Mike Cannon-Brookes has hit back at the Morrison government, saying a faster switch from coal to renewables would cut power prices and not destabilise the grid.
Nanosonics lifts revenue 41pc, profit climbs
Medical device business Nanosonics shrugged off COVID-19 difficulties in hospitals to book a sharp jump in profits over the last year.
Executives are switching jobs even more than their subordinates are
Executive search firms are reporting increased levels of job switching in the C-suite as companies revamp leadership teams to drive transformation and growth.
How to negotiate the new world of work. Expert advice in your inbox every Thursday.
Energy transition
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Cannon-Brookes has economics on his side in AGL bid
The government is apprehensive about more early closures of coal-fired power stations, but it will be the economics, not politics that determines the timing.
- Opinion
- The AFR View
FIRB not right lever to manage energy transition
The Foreign Investment Review Board process should not be retrofitted to justify politicised government intervention that forces electricity companies to keep their coal-fired power plants burning.
- Analysis
- Energy transition
The question at the heart of the AGL deal
How long does Australia need coal-fired power? Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and Brookfield want to buy AGL and kick coal out of the energy grid by 2030. AGL wants more time.
Investors will be worse off in AGL demerger, says Cannon-Brookes
Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon Brookes said the $5 billion joint bid with Brookfield would be better for AGL shareholders.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
AGL bid is a Cannon-Brookes special
The consortium bidding for AGL gets the market message that its bid is too low, but there is no sign yet of a higher offer.
Companies
Judo poised to benefit from rising interest rates, reports loss
Judo says underlying margins are expanding, and it’s on track to achieve full-year targets as an impairment charge drags on its first-half earnings.
Open WA border won’t solve labour crisis, says Monadelphous
Monadelphous has warned it will continue to struggle to find enough workers for projects as the engineering group delivered a 4 per cent drop in interim net profit to $30.8 million.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Ampol’s survival plan for the EV era
Fuel distributor Ampol is forecasting long lead times for the death of petrol engine cars. But those predictions could change with a new government.
Uniti profits soar as order book grows
Infrastructure-focused telco Uniti Group has quadrupled first-half earnings and posted an interim after-tax profit nearly ten times higher than the prior period.
Seven ups Coates guidance as profit jumps 22pc
Seven Group posted a 21.5 per cent rise in first-half underlying profit to $302 million and upped full-year guidance for its Coates division.
OZ doubles profit and doubles down on decarbonisation
Strong copper prices drove OZ Minerals profits to an 11-year-high and has given the company the firepower to decarbonise aggressively.
Oil refineries roar back with bumper profits
Australia’s two oil refiners have swung back to profit as both Viva Energy and Ampol completed a stunning comeback after struggling in recent years.
Companies in the News
Search companies
View stories and data from an ASX listed company
Markets
How Mike Cannon-Brookes invests
The Atlassian founder’s portfolio has morphed from helping software developers to saving the world, including stakes in Sun Cable, Genex, Brighte and Melior.
- Opinion
- Inflation
The risk in RBA’s wages gamble
The Reserve Bank expects that wages growth will remain subdued even as demand for labour is booming. Figures out this week will be a critical test of that theory.
What happened in markets overnight
Australian shares are set to drop as markets continued to be shaken by the tensions in Ukraine, sending gold whipsawing and European stocks plunging.
Criminal crypto-whales play the long game
Criminals have investment strategies too, and holding on to bitcoin is a lucrative business.
- Opinion
- Commodities
Gold regains safe haven lustre while bitcoin struggles
Growing nervousness over the crisis in Ukraine has propelled the gold price up by more than 5 per cent this month, but digital currencies are not being used as safe havens.
Opinion
How Putin took Europe to the brink of war
There is incredulity among Western leaders as they debate the threat of a major conflict within days.
Columnist
Gold regains safe haven lustre while bitcoin struggles
Growing nervousness over the crisis in Ukraine has propelled the gold price up by more than 5 per cent this month, but digital currencies are not being used as safe havens.
Columnist
FIRB not right lever to manage energy transition
The Foreign Investment Review Board process should not be retrofitted to justify politicised government intervention that forces electricity companies to keep their coal-fired power plants burning.
Editorial
Consumers caught in the AGL crossfire
Brookfield and Mike Cannon-Brookes have yet to explain how AGL’s great leap from carbon to clean power will be accomplished. Just blame the political class for creating such a wild west of an electricity market.
Contributor
Index personal tax brackets to CPI to starve the spending beast
Governments that could no longer rely on bracket creep would have to make better decisions on how to raise and spend revenue.
Contributor
Why the US can’t let Russia create a sphere of influence
American foreign policy since the 19th century has been geared to avoiding a world sliced and diced into blocks of great power control.
Contributor
Politics
PM says industrial unrest a sign of life under Labor
Scott Morrison used the Sydney train shutdown, ordered by the NSW government, to claim a Labor government would be soft on unions.
PM pledges $804m to fight cold war in Antarctica
The government will expand Australia’s footprint in Antarctica with both the election and China in mind.
Independent Kate Chaney says tax system leaning on workers’ incomes
Independent candidate Kate Chaney says the tax system is overly reliant on workers’ incomes and backs a fresh review after little reform from the major parties.
NSW Liberal sues Hawke, Ruddock, Olsen over pre-selections
State executive member Matthew Camenzuli has named the immigration minister, and state and federal presidents of the Liberal Party as defendants in a lawsuit.
Business interruption case: insurers win COVID-19 appeal
The Federal Court on Monday largely rejected key arguments from businesses ranging from casino giant Star to a laser cosmetics clinic in Sydney.
SPONSORED
World
- Opinion
- Review
I just tried using Trump’s new social media app. Here’s what happened.
It took me five attempts to sign up to Donald Trump’s Truth Social, then I received a string of error messages, got wait-listed and couldn’t even see posts.
Supercars lost in fire at sea may be worth $215m
The cargo ship was carrying luxury cars including Porsches, Lamborghinis, Audis and Bentleys worth hundreds of millions of dollars before it caught fire off Portugal.
Biden agrees in principle to Ukraine summit with Putin
Many details about the proposed summit, which was announced after a volley of phone calls between leaders, are unclear.
US companies add environmental, social targets to bonuses
Starbucks’ chief Kevin Johnson earned some of his $US20 million award by reducing the number of plastic straws.
Donald Trump’s new social media app launches
Mr Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube following the January 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters, after he was accused of posting messages inciting violence.
Property
Vendors and buyers ‘travelling on different tracks’ in new year market
The new year – with rate rises and an upcoming election – has buyers more cautious on price, while owners still have expectations at pre-Christmas levels.
Return of China, NZ travellers key to hotel rebound: Event
While Event reported a strong rebound in earnings over the six months to December, its hotel business suffered a 117 per cent fall in earnings.
McGrath says interest rate rises will normalise property market
Interest rate rises are not necessarily a bad thing, says one of Australia’s leading real estate agents.
Elanor Investors books interim loss as staff costs rise
The fund manager remains positive despite the impact of COVID-19 on its tourism and retail assets, targeting a $1bn annual lift in funds under management.
GDI homes in on $1.2 billion Perth exposure
The Perth-based fund manager’s tilt toward its home town was already well underway even before the announcement WA’s borders would reopen on March 3.
Wealth
- Opinion
- Investing
Investments to avoid in 2022
Rising rates make the “boring” profits of companies such as Amcor, Ampol and Transurban look more attractive than tech companies promising “blue sky” cash flow in 20 years.
- Opinion
- Sharemarket
Time to look beyond US to Europe and Japan
With the case for S&P500 domination no longer clear-cut, macro factors favour European and Japanese equities.
Super balances could get a boost from $5000 baby bonus
The top-up would significantly reduce the gender gap in super balances, says the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia.
Technology
- Exclusive
- Skills shortage
From wedding planner to cloud engineer
NAB will bring in more than 500 new tech interns this year from a variety of backgrounds as it tackles a growing list of digital projects.
- Opinion
- Billionaires
New book on PayPal recalls Elon Musk and Peter Thiel’s wild early days
Ambitions and emotions run hot in ‘The Founders’, Jimmy Soni’s intensely magnetic story of how an ensemble of entrepreneurs launched the online payment giant.
How (and why) to run your phone apps on your PC
Why on earth would you want to run Android apps on your PC, given the near certainty that you have a perfectly decent phone somewhere in the vicinity?
Work & Careers
- Analysis
- Workplace
Hybrid working enters a third dimension
Bored with WFH? Try the ‘third space’: not the office, not the home but somewhere in between.
La Trobe University hit with second underpayments claim
Half of Australian universities have been caught – or accused – of systemic underpaying. La Trobe has just been hit for a second time.
Life & Luxury
Sidney Nolan, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, come out of the blue
Get in quick: A selling exhibition of works by some of Australia’s most acclaimed artists is set to surprise when it opens in Melbourne next month.
This data-driven coffee machine brews a perfect shot
It’s the miraculous confluence of water temperature, pressure and flow that, when combined with the right bean blend, produces the ideal cup of espresso.
The Aussie woman who invented BMW’s colour-changing car
Stella Clarke’s bicycle commute in Munich provided the perfect isolation to generate ideas and create a chameleon for the German vehicle maker.
Interior designer Tamsin Johnson finds a spiritual home
The Australian creative has won acclaim overseas. But Sydney is the location of her practice and a whole new venture: antiques.
Heading to Europe this summer? Here’s what you need to know
Some countries are more Australian-friendly than others. Just be sure to do your homework before you leave home.
