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Business news from Australia and around the world: companies, deals, earnings, regulation and the people running them.

1818 articles · page 12 of 38

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Business

Unemployment Falls to 4.7%, but UK Job Vacancies Hit Five-Year Low Ahead of Budget

The UK's unemployment rate dropped to 4.7% in the three months to August, its lowest in over a year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Tuesday. But the positive headline masks a fractured labour market: job vacancies fell by 21,000 to a five-year low of 691,000, driven largely by smaller businesses scaling back recruitment. With nearly one million young people classified as NEET, not in education, employment or training, and the Budget due next week, the data presents a stark picture of the trade-offs facing policymakers.

·3 min·4 sources
Business

Big Oil returns to Iraq as US-Iran war rages, drawn by better contract terms

While the United States and Iran are at war, major oil companies are heading into neighbouring Iraq, attracted by contract terms that for the first time in decades offer the kind of returns the industry aspires to. Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips and TotalEnergies are among those investing, with Chevron CEO Mike Wirth telling a recent industry gathering: 'Look, returns follow risk; and you know, we're not afraid of risk.'

·2 min·3 sources
Business

Burnham pledges new driver protections against 'rip-off' parking fines

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced new rules giving drivers the right to challenge 'rip-off' private parking charges, including a 10-minute grace period to leave without penalty and a £20 maximum charge for minor slip-ups such as entering the wrong vehicle registration. The changes, which will apply in England, Scotland and Wales, come after a record 17 million private parking tickets were issued in 2025/2026, up 17% from the previous year.

·2 min·4 sources
Business

Main Group FX: Scam claims, terrorism links emerge after investment firm vanishes

A licensed Australian investment company allegedly scammed customers out of their life savings and then disappeared, and now its former chief executive may have links to terrorism. An ABC investigation has found Main Group FX left at least 13 investors collectively $2 million out of pocket after the company vanished three years ago, with its CEO Karim Farag alleged to have connections to an organisation accused of funding terrorism. Mr Farag has said he has nothing to hide and is willing to cooperate with authorities.

·3 min·2 sources
Business

PNG Chiefs welcome High Court ruling; name dispute in holding pattern

The New Zealand High Court has declined New Zealand Rugby's (NZR) application for an interim injunction to prevent the newly formed PNG Chiefs rugby league franchise from using the 'Chiefs' name. The PNG Chiefs, who are preparing to enter the NRL in 2028, welcomed the ruling, while NZR indicated the decision merely delays the matter until a full hearing. The dispute now enters a holding pattern, with a substantive trial expected next year.

·2 min·2 sources
Startups

AI assistant startup Town reaches unicorn valuation four months after public launch

Town, a two-year-old San Francisco startup building AI assistants for businesses, has secured a $108 million Series B funding round that pushes its valuation past the $1 billion unicorn threshold, just four months after its public launch. The round was co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Menlo Ventures, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Serena Ventures, and First Round Capital.

·1 min·2 sources
Business

Strategy adds $22M in Bitcoin, boosts share buyback program

Strategy, the digital asset treasury company, disclosed Monday that it purchased more than $22 million worth of Bitcoin last week, adding 267 Bitcoin to its holdings amid sharp price swings. The company also spent approximately $193 million buying back shares of its preferred stock and authorized an additional $1 billion for further buybacks, bringing the total program to $3 billion. The acquisition marks the sixth Bitcoin purchase since August, renewing an aggressive accumulation strategy under executive chairman Michael Saylor.

·2 min
Business

North Sea oil workers to strike, union warns of fuel supply disruption

More than 160 North Sea oil rig workers are set to walk out on Wednesday in a 24-hour strike that the Unite union warns could severely disrupt UK fuel supplies, as tensions escalate between trade unions and oil companies over pay and the sector's tax regime. The industrial action targets five Apache-operated platforms linked to the Forties Pipeline System, which handles about 30% of the UK's oil output.

·2 min·3 sources
Business

Whistleblower inquiry finds ‘concerning’ culture at GB grid operator but no evidence of cover-up

An independent inquiry into whistleblower allegations of a cover-up at Great Britain’s electricity grid operator has found significant “cultural, governance and control issues” but no evidence that executives improperly interfered with operational decisions. The report, published Monday, follows a revolt by control room engineers who accused senior management of hiding the risk of blackouts during June’s heatwave.

·2 min·3 sources
Business

JPMorgan Chase invests $5 billion in defense startups in first year of security initiative

JPMorgan Chase announced it has invested $5 billion in startup companies during the first year of its U.S. security and resiliency initiative, a faster pace than expected. The bank, which initially committed $10 billion over a decade, may expand the program further. Co-president Doug Petno said the group, led by former Berkshire Hathaway executive Todd Combs, has "hit the ground running" and placed the bank in "some really interesting companies."

·2 min·4 sources
Business

Majority of UK first-time buyers now pay more on mortgage than they did on rent

More than half of first-time buyers in the UK are now paying more each month toward their mortgage than they previously paid in rent, according to a report from the estate agent Hamptons. The figure, the highest in at least a decade, comes as the average cost of a five-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 6% for the first time in three years, driven by bond market volatility linked to the conflict in the Middle East.

·2 min
Business

France imposes partial curfews after weekend of violence; markets slide as debt fears mount

France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has given local mayors the power to impose partial curfews in some parts of the country following a weekend of violent protests that saw iconic landmarks damaged, shops looted and city halls set ablaze. The unrest, which began as student demonstrations over school conditions and swelled to include broader cost-of-living grievances, has sent shockwaves through financial markets, with the CAC 40 index falling 1.34% and French bond yields jumping to their highest levels in decades.

·2 min·11 sources
Business

Further rate rises risk tipping economy ‘over the edge’, Commonwealth Bank chief economist warns

The chief economist of Australia’s biggest bank has warned the Reserve Bank could crash the economy if it pushes up interest rates much further, as oil prices remain elevated and the full impact of this year’s four rate hikes has yet to be felt. Commonwealth Bank chief economist Luke Yeaman said the RBA risked tipping the country into a recession by tightening policy further, arguing for a conservative approach as households come under increasing pressure.

·3 min·2 sources
Business

Rare earths discovery extends Barkly project footprint to 23 kilometres

Barkly Rare Earths has reported continued exploration success at its Northern Territory project, with new drilling intercepting significant rare earth mineralisation across a footprint that now stretches 23 kilometres. The latest results from the company's phase-one campaign extend the known mineralisation eight kilometres into previously untested ground and reinforce the project's potential as a major supplier of magnet rare earths.

·3 min·3 sources
Business

NextDC shares plunge 40 per cent as power row delays flagship Melbourne data centre

NextDC's shares dived 40 per cent on Wednesday after the data centre giant warned that delays to electricity network upgrades in Melbourne's inner-west would push back its flagship M3 expansion until at least 2028 and slash revenue forecasts by roughly a third, in the most dramatic sign yet that community resistance and grid constraints are hitting Australia's AI infrastructure boom.

·3 min·6 sources
Business

Great Southern Mining Reports High-Grade Gold Hits at Amy Clarke Prospect

Great Southern Mining has reported high-grade gold intercepts from maiden reverse circulation drilling at its Amy Clarke prospect within the Duketon gold project near Laverton in Western Australia. The best result returned 5 metres grading 6.71 grams per tonne gold from 51 metres, including a 3-metre section at 10.4 g/t gold. The drilling tested zones along a 4.7-kilometre mineralised corridor and extended known mineralisation down-dip by up to 50 metres.

·3 min·2 sources
Business

China's Q3 GDP Accelerates to 4.5% Powered by Export Demand, Beating Forecasts

China's economy expanded at a faster pace in the third quarter, growing 4.5 per cent from a year earlier, as surging exports of technological goods outweighed a deepening property slump and sluggish consumer spending. The figure, which beat the 4.4 per cent average forecast from a Reuters poll of economists, marks an improvement from the 4.3 per cent recorded in the second quarter, the weakest reading in three years.

·2 min·4 sources
Business

UK steelmakers hit by three-year high electricity cost gap with EU rivals as gas prices surge

British steelmakers are facing their widest electricity cost disadvantage against EU competitors in three years, with the gap against French rivals reaching nearly £30 per megawatt hour, according to an analysis by the industry lobby group UK Steel. The surge follows a sharp rise in global gas prices triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

·3 min·3 sources
Business

Suncorp borrowers face higher minimum mortgage repayments as loans shift to ANZ

Suncorp mortgage customers are being warned that their minimum monthly repayments could rise by hundreds of dollars, or in some cases more than $1,000, as their loans are transferred to ANZ Bank, because the two banks calculate minimum repayments differently. Suncorp emailed customers on October 13 advising that borrowers with extra payments or funds in redraw may see their minimum repayment increase when the changeover occurs in June next year.

·3 min