ASX to rise; AGL beats forecasts, CSL profit falls
Futures point to 0.4 per cent rise; CBA to pay $2.35 dividend; CSL earnings slide; SGH lifts dividend. AGL profit dips, sells telco unit to Aussie Broadband. Follow live.
CBA nabs $5.4b profit on strong loan growth as economy strengthens
Commonwealth Bank says lending and deposits grew at a healthy pace in the first half, but chief executive Matt Comyn is wary of further RBA cash rate increases.
CSL dumps CEO after horror year, triggering market sell-down
Paul McKenzie is retiring effective immediately after a series of setbacks for the biotech, just days before the company was due to release financial results.
‘This is a real problem’: Australia’s $1trn debt office in chaos
Treasury’s Australian Office of Financial Management has been rocked by a series of senior staff departures, the loss of 22 of 48 staff and shocking employee-survey results.
Trump told police ‘everybody’ knew of Epstein, Lutnick visited island
The president allegedly told a police chief Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of girls was widely known as the commerce secretary hit back over his ties to the financier.
Turnbull weighs in on Liberal leadership; protester charged after rally
Former PM says if Angus Taylor wants to be leader, he should stand up and say so; 18-year-old arrested at protest; Isaac Herzog’s tour continues. Follow live.
Blackbird, Skip buy in as ex-Canva exec’s start-up hits $50m
Adora, founded by a former Canva executive and Amazon software developer to help companies build better apps, has defied the AI sell-off to attract funding.
ASX chief executive Helen Lofthouse to step down amid ASIC pressure
The sharemarket operator’s board ramped up its search for a replacement but is yet to identify a successor. It confirmed the exit late on Tuesday.
ASIO commissioned internal probe in Bondi aftermath
Spy chief Mike Burgess said an independent investigator has probed ASIO’s decision-making in the years leading up to the Bondi attack.
Top director accused of ignoring legal advice in airport spat
Dexus has claimed in a court case that APAC chair Christine O’Reilly ignored the advice of a top law firm concerning a shareholder dispute.
EDITOR'S PICKS
Greens demand Chalmers squeeze more from mega super accounts
The Liberals and Nationals are opposed to Labor’s superannuation tax changes, so Labor will need the Greens’ support to get the legislation through the Senate.
NSW yields on back-to-office rule for thousands of public servants
Already a laggard on Premier Chris Minns’ workplace presence directive, Transport for NSW will delay further after the rail union made mental health complaints.
Shouting match over Higgins doco at Senate hearing
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson and Labor’s Michelle Ananda-Rajah traded verbal blows during a chaotic late-night estimates hearing.
The $135b ‘government boom’ reshaping the economy
Australia traded iron ore pits for the public purse, swapping the mining boom of the 2000s with a $135 billion public demand surge that’s reshaping our economy.
Cut popular EV tax breaks for rich drivers: climate think tank
Government urged to means test electric vehicle discount – taken up by 100,000 drivers – to limit spiralling cost to the budget.
Nominate the Financial Review as a preferred source on Google to prioritise the news and analysis you trust most.
Companies
Macquarie outlines plan to grab more market share in deposits
After expanding home loans and savings accounts, the bank says term deposits are next as it ratchets up competitive tension before results from major lenders.
Qld’s Taroom Trough emerges as Australia’s new oil frontier
The area quietly attracted energy giant Shell years ago and is now drawing a growing crowd of local explorers.
G8 Education slashes goodwill citing fewer enrolments, lower fees
The country’s largest listed childcare business has had a torrid year after a former employee was charged with child sexual abuse at its centres.
Westpac executive departures put transformation under scrutiny
Australia’s two largest banks are on the hunt for new chief information officers as the industry plays musical chairs with top tech talent.
KPMG demanded a discount from its auditor for AI cost savings
The big four accounting company’s move to cut fees for its own audit comes amid debate over pricing models now that artificial intelligence is being used.
AFR interim profit season calendar and results 2026
Follow the February reporting season as it unfolds here, with dates for all the major ASX companies on the schedule and links to our expert coverage.
Lithium boss urges West to instate price floor after landmark deal
Lithium miners have been buoyed by a deal with a guaranteed price of US$1000 per tonne, the first agreement of its kind by a local critical minerals producer.
SPONSORED
Markets
Hedge funds finally cash in on their bets against Corporate Travel
Totus Capital and Solaris are enjoying huge paydays after buying back borrowed shares in the beleaguered company significantly below its latest traded price.
The hidden ASX winners of the AI data centre boom
While the push to house the technology behind ChatGPT and Gemini is creating a “digital gold rush”, investors are getting creative on how best to profit.
VanEck’s global boss says gold’s bull run is only just getting started
Investors pulled money from gold ETFs this month after the yellow metal’s historic price rise hit a speed bump. But Jan van Eck says all the drivers are still in place.
Alphabet’s dollar bond sale draws over $140b of demand
The number of orders is among the strongest ever seen for a corporate bond offering, showing investor hunger to buy debt tied to the artificial intelligence boom.
CSL CEO announcement drags down market, leaving investors furious
Shares turn lower in to the close; CSL names Naylor as interim CEO; CBA warns on tight labour market; Electro Optic soars on trading return; insurers hit by new AI tool. Follow live.
Opinion
Sydney protests were a failure of all sides
The only way out of the valley of tribal echo-chambers is by upholding the Enlightenment principles of open inquiry and debate in a tolerant, pluralistic public square.
Editorial
Want lower income taxes? Start with the GST
The last comprehensive review of tax in Australia, the Henry review, was specifically excluded from considering the GST.
Economist
An ugly clash of protesters, police and politics
The demonstrations on Sydney streets have forced a reckoning from politicians and police about what is acceptable public speech.
Columnist
Ley and Hume clash but Taylor yet to make his case
Angus Taylor may be a reluctant conscript for a leadership battle this early in the year, but if he wants the job he can’t wait for someone to hand it to him.
Political editor
Australia thought it had solved immigration. It hadn’t
The hard-won “Tampa settlement” of the Howard era has now all but fallen apart. It’s no longer enough to be tough on borders.
Former public servant
A genuine anti-Trump backlash is finally under way
As the president’s behaviour becomes more and more indefensible, from ICE shootings to posting racist memes, a resistance is gathering some steam.
Columnist
Politics
‘Get their names’: Taylor may have to gather petition to force spill
Sussan Ley’s supporters want her to hold her ground and force those looking to knife her politically to out themselves to force a Liberal leadership spill.
NSW Police blasted over treatment of praying protesters at rally
The government’s Islamophobia envoy says police behaved unacceptably towards protesters who prayed on the streets during a rally against the Israeli president.
AFP warns MPs and Jewish community in extremists’ sights
Religiously motivated violent extremism remains the biggest terrorism challenge, Australian Federal Police commissioner Krissy Barrett has warned.
Telstra warns of higher mobile bills over $7.2b fee
The country’s biggest telco said it would be forced to pay $1.3b more than was fair under new a new pricing system, which would likely be passed on to consumers.
There is no precedent for the WFH right unions want for 2m office staff
A push by unions to install a presumption for Australian office workers to work from home has few international comparisons, a landmark hearing has revealed.
World
FBI releases images of masked intruder at door of TV host’s mother
The chilling video is the first major breakthrough in the search for the kidnapped 84-year-old mother of Today host Savannah Guthrie, which has gripped the US.
Jimmy Lai’s 20-year sentence follows Beijing’s playbook on dissent
The sentence for the media mogul, along with long prison terms for his editors, shows how Hong Kong enforces Xi Jinping’s red lines with a new severity.
Epstein’s long ties extended to Mongolia, and its Rio Tinto stoush
The disgraced financier was on an advisory committee with former Australian PM Kevin Rudd, who warned of mining’s “ruthless approach”, emails show.
‘Like a slow-motion car crash’: Starmer vows to fight Epstein crisis
The leader of the Labour Party in Scotland has called on him to resign, but the prime minister says he is determined to fight on.
Brotherly shove: King backs police probe into Andrew over Epstein
Charles says he has “profound concerns” about his younger brother’s conduct after claims Mountbatten-Windsor leaked trade documents to the sex offender.
Property
$75m sale shows the opportunity of Sydney Metro for downsizers
The harbour city’s new rail infrastructure is reshaping housing in the city and creating new spaces for wealthier owner-occupiers to live in.
Two years in, Housing Australia has completed 2pc of its total target
The federal government agency tasked with developing 40,000 social and affordable rentals in five years had just 895 completions in its first two years.
Why higher rates didn’t touch this $5.618m sale
In Sydney’s eastern suburbs, there are extra sources of wealth that are not affected by an extra quarter of a percentage point on the cash rate.
Long-time publican back in the game with near-$15m coastal pub buy
Rod “Ned” Kelly, who once worked with prolific investors like John Singleton and Mark Carnegie, is jumping back into the pub space with his latest seaside buy.
Sydney home sells for $1m above guide as buyers shrug off rate hike
Weekend auctions had a strong turn-out despite last week’s RBA rate increase, but experts are unsure if the momentum will last.
Wealth
The life-changing effect of $10,000 super top-ups in your 30s, 40s or 50s
Lower fees, a pivot to growth assets and modest additional contributions could lift your retirement balance by thousands – or even millions.
How can we gift $250,000 for a home without fuelling family feuds?
Giving money to children raises questions around a gift versus a loan and how to best protect assets if relationships sour.
There’s no gold bubble – this is the start of a regime change
When a core asset adds more than $US20 trillion in market capitalisation over three years and most portfolios have next to no exposure, something has gone wrong.
Technology
This laptop was designed for schoolkids – then things got complicated
Lenovo’s top-of-the-range Chromebook has not one but three operating systems – which comes with pros and cons.
Minister to grill Roblox over child grooming fears
The Minister for Communications has written to the leadership of the popular gaming platform Roblox following reports predators are exploiting the platform.
Australian start-up fighting call centre scams valued at $100m
Operata is used by some of the world’s largest companies from Salesforce and Adobe to Barclays, and a recent capital raise valued it at $100 million.
Work & Careers
3 things these bosses plan to do differently this year
As technostress peaks, leaders are ditching back-to-back meetings to focus on the “human dimension” of high performance.
How this four-time Olympian and CEO handles high-stress situations
From injury heartbreak to Earthletica co-founder, Bronte Campbell shares the shift in goal-setting that fuelled her transition from elite sport to start-up.
Life & Luxury
The metric that reveals if your body is primed for a hard workout
Heart rate variability can tell you whether to take it easy or aim for maximum intensity to achieve optimal results – but only if you measure and interpret it properly.
Forget Google maps – this WA founder knows the real lie of the land
Each songline acts like the metadata for an internal biological GPS system, says Kado Muir of Dilji Corporation.
At $11,000 a day, these cruises are testing travellers’ limits
Luxury brand Aman’s yacht-like voyages have become a new status symbol and a litmus test for ultra-high-end cruising.
Be one of the first to stay at this ultra-luxury safari lodge
&Beyond’s new camp – the first to open in the 18,000-hectare Suyian Conservancy in Kenya – combines refinement with open-hearted hospitality.
Winemakers shed ‘cheap and cheerful’ image in tough UK market
Australian wine sales went backwards in one of its biggest markets thanks to taxes and pub closures. But some producers aren’t giving up on making it in the UK.
