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CSR CEO Julie Coates

French group Saint-Gobain wins over CSR board in $4.3b takeover

The CSR board is backing the $9 per share offer from the French group, which said it would explore options for CSR’s 25 per cent stake in the Tomago aluminium smelter.

Igor Cikes’ luxury penthouse in North Sydney.

Family of accused in alleged $180m tax fraud boasts $40m in property

The alleged “controlling mind” of what could be the country’s biggest tax fraud splashed cash on a luxury four-bedroom penthouse boasting Sydney harbour views.

Julie Coates has lifted CSR’s margins in recent years

CSR’s patient rebuild leads to a French revolution

Julie Coates restructured the company’s operations and rebuilt its supply chain. The lift in margins those moves created helped seal a big takeover deal. 

‘Betraying the bush’: Andrew Forrest lashes green energy go-slow

The billionaire appears to sense momentum around climate policy is being eroded by the cost-of-living crisis and some good old-fashioned wedge politics. 

Smaller minimum wage rise needed to fight inflation: business

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is preparing to argue for a smaller increase in the minimum wage than it was prepared to accept last year.

Superloop rejects Aussie Broadband’s $466m takeover bid

Superloop investors have backed the broadband internet group’s decision to turn down a $466 million approach from rival upstart telco Aussie Broadband.

Four ways the Ukraine war could end

The situation on the front is desperate and has prompted soul-searching among Ukrainians – and their Western allies – about how, if at all, the war can be brought to a close.

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MONDAY MEDIA

Anthony De Ceglie and Sarah-Jane Tasker reckon they can buck the trend and make free news profitable.

The three billionaires backing Kerry Stokes’ new free newspaper

Dominant in Western Australia, Kerry Stokes wants more of the east coast audience. The Nightly has backing from mining, energy, betting and property giants.

Australian media’s $70m lifeline ends in months. Meta isn’t picking up

Australian newsrooms face a $70 million-a-year hole in operations if Meta walks away from news bargaining code deals that start to expire in three months.

The Australian Financial Review’s editor-in-chief, Michael Stutchbury.

PwC, Qantas journalism boosts Financial Review

Editor-in-chief Michael Stutchbury says there’s no evidence of news fatigue after a strong end to 2023 and record readership in January and February.

Barnaby Joyce to be diagnosed with a sleep disorder on live TV

The former Nationals leader has insomnia and sleep apnoea; plus: former Oz editor Chris Dore’s first target; Tabcorp open to its own free-to-air TV channel.

‘Scandalous’: free-to-air networks lash TV makers for demanding a cut

Whether TV network apps appear on new TVs is an “existential” threat to broadcasters, CEOs told senators. Tech giants are demanding to clip the ticket.

GENDER PAY GAP

Emma Iacono is one of few jet refuellers at Vive Energy, but CEO Scott Wyatt is taking targeted steps to change that.

Emma fuels jets for the overtime, but she’s a gender pay gap exception

Traditionally male-dominated industries such as energy and construction have wider gender pay gaps, CEOs admit ahead of the historic release of national gender pay gap data.

10 easy steps to massage your gender pay gap

The labour of solving a problem that is not caused by them, and directly disadvantages them, again falls to women.

The time for empty promises on women’s pay is over

The release of gender pay gap data for individual companies this week has some limitations, but it will still be a historic moment that can be a force for good.

Why directors need to tackle gender pay gaps

They cannot simply ignore the rear-view data or brush it off as another reporting or compliance obligation.

Hours, travel contribute to Bain’s 31pc gender pay gap

Bain, a consulting firm that heavily promotes itself as being an employer of choice for women, has a gender pay gap of 31 per cent, higher than the industry gap of 26 per cent.

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Companies

Alcoa’s Matt Reed.

Alcoa in $3.3b bid for Australian partner Alumina

The deal would bring a global portfolio of bauxite mines, alumina refineries and aluminium smelters under one roof.

Suncorp pushes big premium increase in bid to grow profit margins

The Brisbane-based group says it has not seen an impact on customer numbers from the increased prices.

An earlier gas exploration well drilled in the Beetaloo Basin, about 500km south-east of Darwin.

Tamboran records better-than-expected fracking results at Beetaloo

The latest well drilled in the basin has proved the resource is commercial, with initial gas supplies targeted for NT buyers in early 2026, the company said.

EnergyAustralia MD Mark Collette at the Tallawarra B gas plant this month.

EnergyAustralia lauds ‘marked improvement’ as losses narrow

The electricity retailing and generation giant’s Hong Kong parent, CLP Group, said the company was on “a path to recovery” after several years of major losses.

Westpac to sell RAMS Home Loans, 16 years after saving it from GFC

Morgan Stanley has been appointed to sell what was once an iconic mortgage brand, but is now a small network of around 40 Westpac franchisees.

Dan Murphy’s owner Endeavour off to slower start in second half

Trading at its bottle shops in January softened, pinning hopes on a February turnaround and an outsized performance from Endeavour’s pubs.

McGuigan owner Australian Vintage considers merger with Accolade

The ASX-listed group told investors it was in “exploratory discussions” with the Bain-controlled owner of the Hardys, Banrock Station and Petaluma brands.

Companies in the News

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Markets

Reporting season enters its final week.

ASX edges up; TPG sinks 8pc; Alumina shares jump on takeover bid

Shares gain at the close; oil drops; TPG’s profit slumps; CSR enters into a trading halt; Alcoa in $3.3b bid for Alumina; Kogan brings back dividend but sales slips.

Stock winners: Block CEO Jack Dorsey, WiseTech’s Richard White, and Lovisa’s Victor Herrero.

Four ASX stocks up at least 50pc in the past three months

These ASX-listed companies have ridden months-long relief rallies to near-record highs, and some analysts think they may still have further to run.

Enthusiasm around the outlook for AI investment and adoption has fuelled stellar gains for megacap tech stocks.

Hedge funds sell Magnificent Seven in ‘frothy’ markets

Investors trimmed their positions in the US megacap stocks heading into the new year, while insiders have also been lowering their stakes.

This fundie says Domino’s Pizza is a better bet than the big four

Vertium Asset Management’s Jason Teh has an eye for companies in a turnaround phase – and his gaze is now firmly set on Domino’s and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.

Buffett admits Berkshire’s days of ‘eye-popping’ gains are over

In his latest letter to shareholders, the legendary investor says there are only a handful of companies capable of moving the needle at Berkshire.

Opinion

Reality check for critical minerals, and for Canberra

Australia’s critical minerals ambitions have hit the ground as prices collapse. As nickel and lithium miners head to Canberra seeking help, the Albanese government is trying to figure out what, if anything, it should do.

Keating’s strategic illusion dies hard

The former prime minister’s timid isolationism, leaving others to do the heavy lifting, has its roots deep in Labor’s history.

As budget bonanza flows, fiscal caution is the first casualty

The rivers of resources gold coming into the government’s coffers are turning into most expensive marginal seat strategy in the nation’s history.

The political failure of Bidenomics

Joe Biden has delivered in spades for ordinary American workers. But it is not enough to get past the gulf that separates them from educated Democrat elites.

David Brooks

Contributor

David Brooks

The real reason Nikki Haley is still running

The former South Carolina governor is boosting her brand by standing alone against Donald Trump in the Republican Party, writes Edward Luce.

Edward Luce

Columnist

Edward Luce

University success starts with fixing school performance first

The Universities Accord social equity aspiration depends on students being ready to study at a higher level after year 12.

The AFR View

Editorial

The AFR View

Reports

Thriving in the AI era

This series looks at how businesses can not just survive the AI era but grasp the opportunity of it and thrive.

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Politics

Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest during his National Press Club address on Monday.

Coalition selling false hope with nuclear power ‘bulldust’: Forrest

The Fortescue chief says advocating nuclear power is a ploy by the fossil fuel industry to delay for decades the required shift to clean energy.

The NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian in 2020 after she was called to give evidence at the anti-corruption inquiry into former MP Daryl Maguire

Berejiklian’s relationship with MP ‘not a conflict of interest’

Lawyers representing former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian argue she never acted out of a desire to advance her relationship as she appeals an ICAC corruption finding.

Wages growth is adding to pressure on consumer prices.

Smaller minimum wage rise needed to fight inflation: business

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is preparing to argue for a smaller increase in the minimum wage than it was prepared to accept last year.

Scramble to set up camp ahead of extreme fire danger

The Wimmera region is slated to have catastrophic fire danger on Wednesday, while extreme fire danger is predicted for five of Victoria’s nine weather districts.

Silos, sugarcoating and second guesses: Insiders on Defence’s problems

Defence officials are inclined to put a positive spin on issues at odds with reality, according to defence insiders.

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World

A Qatari LNG tanker loading up at Raslaffans Sea Port in northern Qatar.

Qatar bets big on LNG despite global price collapse

Doha is betting demand for liquefied natural gas will continue to grow in coming years as it embarks on a new multibillion-dollar project to expand exports.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a gathering of Jewish leaders at the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Netanyahu defiant amid Ramadan attacks warning

Amid signs of progress toward a pause in the fighting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces planned to keep pushing into Gaza.

Japan’s new entrepreneurs could save its economy

Today, talented young adults are more willing to risk leaving a big company, and good firms are more willing to make mid-career hires.

Zelensky says 31,000 troops killed as counteroffensive looms

The tally that President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed differs sharply from that given by US officials, who have said the number is closer to 70,000.

Four ways the Ukraine war could end

The situation on the front is desperate and has prompted soul-searching among Ukrainians – and their Western allies – about how, if at all, the war can be brought to a close.

Property

IFM Investors chair Cath Bowtell.

Super funds housing investment ‘not a subsidy’, IFM says

“When we invest in Australian companies that create jobs for Australians, no one says ’What are you doing investing in job-creating companies?” giant fund manager says.

The deceased estate home with shed on a site comprising three separate titles at 7 Churchill Street in the Ipswich,] Queensland suburb of Churchill sold at auction for $1,050,000.

First home buyers don’t get a look-in as investors swoop

Rate-sensitive aspiring home owners hoped to buy one of three lots put up for sale by one vendor, but they didn’t even get to bid.

Andrew Schwartz, co-founder of Qualitas.

Australia needs $115b to fund new housing, Qualitas says

The pick-up in private funding puts pressure on the federal government to clarify rules around inclusion of affordable rental housing in new developments.

Office values plunge as CBD market bottoms

Major CBD office towers are selling at 20 per cent discounts to their peak value, the best evidence yet that the correction in Australia’s office market is nearing the bottom.

House prices rebound in global turning point

Across the 37 industrialised OECD countries, nominal house prices grew 2.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2023.

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Wealth

Financial advisor Olivia Maragna helps her clients feel confident to spend their retirement savings.

‘Paradigm shift’: How to switch to spending in retirement

After decades spent saving, lean into the fear, plan obsessively and let go of the guilt, experts say.

Wealthy families are trying something new – ditching the secrecy

There’s a new breed of private investment vehicle for the super rich. And they’re less interested in managing money out of view than making more of it.

10 big ideas in the universities shake-up

From doubling the numbers of students to a ‘Robin Hood’ tax on rich institutions: Here are some of the biggest recommendations in the universities accord and what they mean.

Technology

Atlassian co-CEOs Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have agreed to pay the ATO an extra $US60.5 million.

Atlassian paid $284m tax before ATO deal

Over the past six years Atlassian’s Australian entity paid $283.8 million of tax locally before reaching an agreement to pay more tax.

Blackbird co-founders Niki Scevak and Rick Baker have plenty of investors’ money still to deploy.

Blackbird tours US hunting for Aussie deals abroad

Blackbird Ventures investment partners have picked up their search for the next Aussie-founded tech unicorns abroad, as bigger local deals dry up.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

‘Make peace’: How Microsoft remade its ruthless corporate image

Can Microsoft, on many days the most valuable company in the world, and with a history of squeezing competitors, truly claim to be more evolved than most?

Work & Careers

The University of Sydney would be the single largest contributor to the federal government’s proposed infrastructure fund.

Unis that would pay the most – and the least – under ‘envy tax’ plan

Just six of the country’s 41 universities would bankroll half of the annual contributions to the higher education future fund proposed in the Albanese government’s universities accord.

The rising menace of absurd job titles

From “global general counsel” to “chief growth officer”, terrible epithets confuse and infuriate, but they are also increasing.

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Life & Luxury

Church in Oia, on the northwestern tip of Santorini.

New player in market set to spark fare wars to Europe

Turkish Airlines will start flying direct into Melbourne (via Singapore) two weeks sooner than previously announced - igniting consumer hopes of better prices.

Flexibility delivered to workers able to do work from home has allowed a father to take daytime walks and collect his daughter from school, which he was unable to do before the pandemic.

The least amount of exercise you can get away with

What’s the solution if you don’t have time for exercise or find it boring?

Pelayo Diaz wears white shirt, beige striped tie, camel coat, black trousers, black shoes, black Hermes bag, outside Hermes, during the Menswear Fall/Winter 2024/2025 as part of  Paris Fashion Week

Why are men still expected to wear ties?

Once considered a necessity, ties are being cast off in favour of a more casual workplace. But can you really get away with ditching them?

Andrew Caillard

Wine history comes alive in this definitive magnum opus

For this author, Australia’s wine history is personal – so he wrote a lavishly illustrated, three-volume work on it that’s just come out in paperback.

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing prepares to sit in the car prior to F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 20, 2024 in Bahrain.

Who’s who on the grid for this year’s F1 season

The 2024 Formula 1 season will be the busiest ever. Here’s our guide to the teams and drivers – and their chances of success.

From the gallery