News without the noise
Business news from Australia and around the world: companies, deals, earnings, regulation and the people running them.
1820 articles · page 12 of 38
Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani is launching what could be the country's biggest-ever initial public offering, with telecoms giant Jio Platforms aiming to raise up to 302bn rupees (£2.4bn) and targeting a valuation of 10.3tn rupees (£81bn) when it lists on the stock exchange from Wednesday.
· 2 sources
Revolut suffered a major service disruption on Tuesday morning (20 October), leaving some customers unable to access the banking app or make payments with their physical cards. The digital bank confirmed it was experiencing an outage affecting multiple features and said its engineering team was working to restore full service.
· 10 sources
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.
· 4 sources
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.'
· 3 sourcesUK unemployment fell unexpectedly to 4.7% in the three months to August, down from 4.9%, according to Office for National Statistics figures released today, providing a brighter backdrop to the 28 October budget.
· 3 sources
The Nasdaq rose on Monday as investors rotated back into chip stocks, steadying a market that fell last week on fears the AI boom may not be sustainable. The rebound sets up a key test on Wednesday, when Meta reports earnings.
Anthropic may be the AI trade's last major initial public offering of 2026, as market jitters push other companies to shelve their float plans and questions mount over the startup's revenue growth.
Waymo plans to grow its self-driving fleet from about 4,000 cars to 20,000 by the end of next year, using a recently borrowed $5 billion, Semafor reported, citing people familiar with the plans. The company is expanding across US cities and preparing to enter Toronto.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday announced a $6 million settlement resolving state legal claims against bankrupt genetic testing firm 23andMe, stemming from a 2023 data breach that exposed the personal and genetic data of 6.9 million customers.
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.
· 4 sourcesThe National Australia Bank has announced plans to eliminate up to 2500 positions, approximately 6 per cent of its workforce, over the next financial year as part of a push to become a simpler and more efficient organisation.
· 6 sourcesNEXTDC, the ASX 100 data centre operator valued at nearly $7 billion, has been suspended from trading pending a material update on power supply delays to its M3 Melbourne data centre, a disruption the company appears to link to a local dispute over 15-metre concrete power poles in the Melbourne suburb of Yarraville.
The NSW government has selected a former coalmine site at Teralba in Lake Macquarie as the preferred location for a state-owned train factory that will build the next generation of passenger trains under its $12 billion Future Fleet Program, promising to revive local rail manufacturing.
· 2 sources
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.
· 2 sourcesThe 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 sourcesPrime Minister Andy Burnham has ordered officials to present more radical options for dealing with stricken utility Thames Water, including converting around £100m in outstanding environmental fines into a government stake in the company. The move is an early test of Burnham's promise to bring 'the essentials of life' under public control.
· 2 sources
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.
· 2 sources
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.
A High Court judge has dismissed the £340 million legal battle brought by more than 13,000 London black cab drivers against Uber, ruling that the claims were lodged too late and were time-barred. Mr Justice Birt said the drivers could have discovered the alleged deception before 2018, meaning the cases were brought after the six-year limitation period.
· 3 sources
Netflix film chair Dan Lin has been ousted after two years in the role, the latest senior executive to depart following the streamer's biggest round of layoffs since 2022, which saw 1,000 employees or about 6 percent of the global workforce cut last week.
Pakistan's economic recovery has hit a snag as the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis drives up energy costs and disrupts LNG supplies from Qatar, causing GDP growth to slow to 2.0% in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, official data showed Monday. The figure was well below analyst expectations and less than half the 4.42% growth recorded in the previous quarter.
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.
· 3 sources
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.
· 3 sourcesAmazon announced Monday it will fund the development of a 960-megawatt nuclear power plant in Indiana, becoming the first customer to buy power from the facility. The company is working with utility American Electric Power (AEP), which would operate the plant, and reactor designer X-energy, which went public in April.
· 2 sources
Elon Musk has announced he will give one SpaceX share to every child in the United States next year, a pledge worth about $10.5 billion that drew a public endorsement from President Donald Trump, who said it fulfilled the purpose of his administration's Trump Accounts savings program.
· 11 sourcesJPMorgan 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."
· 4 sources
Microsoft has terminated its involvement in what was set to be the UK's largest AI data centre in Loughton, Essex, leaving developer Nscale to proceed alone. Nscale says it is exploring alternative power sources and that its wider partnership with Microsoft remains intact.
· 2 sourcesThe Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority is investigating whether Barclays traders misrepresented illiquid private credit loans as tradeable instruments to reduce the bank's regulatory capital requirements, following a complaint lodged earlier this year, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
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.
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.
· 11 sourcesThe Whyalla Steelworks in South Australia has ceased steel production after its 60‑year‑old blast furnace failed, resulting in the redundancy of approximately 500 employees and 100 contractors. Australia now faces the prospect of being without domestic structural and rail steel for up to five years, the Australian Workers' Union warns.
· 2 sources
A pilot for Dubai-based carrier flydubai has spoken from hospital, according to a report published across Australian news sites on 18 October 2026. The syndicated articles carry the headline “Hero flydubai pilot speaks from hospital” but at this stage contain no further reporting.
· 4 sourcesMulti-asset gold producer Kaiser Reef has repaid its senior secured gold loan from Auramet International, freeing $600,000 a month in operating cash flow as it pushes growth at its mines in Tasmania and Victoria. The company said the facility was funded entirely by cash flow from its Henty gold mine in Tasmania.
· 2 sourcesAustralia's corporate sector is showing an increasing willingness to reappoint executives who left their last jobs under a cloud, with the latest test being Anthony Heraghty, who is running appliance retailer Winning Group while facing a civil claim from the corporate regulator over his conduct at Super Retail Group.
· 3 sourcesProfit warnings from UK-listed companies have reached their highest level in two years, with 65 issued in the three months to September, as the Middle East conflict drives up costs and uncertainty ahead of the 28 October budget. Housebuilders are among the worst affected, having already issued more warnings this year than during the 2008 financial crisis.
· 3 sources
Bitcoin extended its rebound above $82,000 on Monday and DeFi tokens led gains across the crypto market, as stronger-than-expected Chinese growth data and lower oil prices revived risk appetite globally after last week's technology-led selloff.
· 3 sourcesThe 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.
· 2 sources
The Jakarta Composite Index plunged over 5 percent on October 19 to its lowest level since early October 2020, as the MSCI proposal to reclassify Indonesia from an emerging market to stand-alone status intensified a bruising sell-off in Indonesian equities. The index provider made the proposal on Friday, with a final decision expected by June.
· 3 sources
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 sourcesNextDC'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.
· 6 sourcesGreat 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.
· 2 sourcesChina'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.
· 4 sourcesBritish home sellers are cutting asking prices on more than 3,000 properties a day, the highest monthly total in 15 years, according to data from property website Rightmove shared with the BBC. The market is shifting firmly in favour of buyers, who are becoming increasingly selective as they grapple with tight budgets and the highest mortgage rates in three years.
The low-cost carrier VietJet has been dealt a blow to its plans to launch domestic flights in Australia after the UK High Court ordered a worldwide freeze of its assets, as part of a debt recovery battle with aircraft leasing company FW Aviation.
· 3 sourcesThe financial foundations of the artificial intelligence boom are showing strain, with neocloud operator CoreWeave's shares falling 15 per cent last week and its bonds trading at distressed levels, as investors begin to price in doubts about the economics of the AI infrastructure build-out.
· 4 sourcesBritish 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 sourcesCollapsed Australian activewear brand Stax has been saved in a rescue deal led by Justin Truong and Sandy Li-Truong, the married founders of sneaker marketplace Pushas, who say they want to give the label a fresh start rather than see it sold off and stripped for parts.
· 3 sourcesOil prices stayed near their recent highs on Sunday, with Brent crude futures shedding $1.04 to $108.82 per barrel, as traders weighed a Ukrainian drone strike on a fuel export terminal in St. Petersburg and attacks on two tankers in the Persian Gulf.
· 2 sources