Business

News on companies, industries, and corporate developments.

Business
Azzet Unpacked: Dramatising the first FY26 business week
We're now halfway through 2025 and the financial world resembles a soap opera where the plot twists come faster than a Jerome Powell backflip on interest rates. This week's news served up enough drama to make TV producers rethink making another season of The Apprentice: currency collapses, tech billionaire punch-ups, and renewable energy dreams hitting the rocks like a poorly navigated yacht in Sydney Harbour. Welcome to a new financial year and another week in business, where sane planning and sensible communication took a holiday and market volatility once again became the centre of attention.GREENBACK GETS WALLOPEDThe U.S. dollar is having a midlife crisis of epic proportions, having plummeted an eye-whopping 10.8% in FY 2025 - its worst start since oil embargoes were all the rage (1973). Investors are fleeing USD assets faster than rats from a sinking ship, as Trump's tariff tantrums create the kind of uncertainty that makes Brexit negotiations look like a Sunday picnic. Bank of America's latest poll shows the biggest underweight greenback positioning since the Clinton administration, as over US$100 billion has stampeded into European equity funds this year. That's a threefold increase from last year. Federal
Business
Trading floor: Silk, Cleanaway up on ACCC news; MND gains
Azzet reports on three ASX stocks with notable trading updates today. Silk Logistics soars after ACCC clears takeoverSilk Logistics (ASX: SLH) share price was up 22% at the open after the door-to-door container logistic provider revealed that the regulator (the ACCC) will not stand in the way of plans by UAE-based multinational logistics company DP World to acquire the business for $174.5 million as announced to ASX on 11 November 2024. Today’s ACCC decision means the company will delist from the ASX on August 7, 2025. Despite initial vertical integration concerns, the regulator saw no issues with DP World Australia, a major container stevedore, owning a national container transport provider. The ACCC concluded that the deal – which reflects ongoing consolidation in the container logistics sector – is unlikely to substantially lessen competition. The ACCC found that incentives for harmful discrimination against competitors were limited, given DP World’s need to maintain terminal efficiency. The ACCC also cleared the deal of potentially resulting in below-cost transportation prices to importers and exporters if their containers are also picked up and dropped off at DP World Australia's stevedoring terminals. DP W
Business
Most reserve managers fear Fed's independence at risk
Most reserve managers surveyed believe the United States’ Federal Reserve’s independence is at risk, as U.S. President Donald Trump steps up his attacks on the Federal Reserve chair. Around two thirds of reserve managers fear for the Federal Reserve’s independence, according to a UBS Asset Management survey. Trump said that Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell “should resign immediately!!!” this week in a post on Truth Social. He has repeatedly criticised Powell for declining to cut interest rates, and has called for his resignation several times. Federal Housing Finance Agency head Bill Pulte also recommended a congressional investigation into Powell. "I am asking Congress to investigate Chairman Jerome Powell, his political bias, and his deceptive Senate testimony, which is enough to be removed 'for cause,’” Pulte wrote. According to Powell, the Federal Reserve is currently waiting to assess the effects of the U.S.’ new tariff policies on inflation before considering interest rate cuts. UBS has projected rate cuts of 25 bps in September, “as FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] participants have expressed the view that tariff-induced inflation should be a one-off price increase and not begin a pattern of higher pri
Business
Trading floor: Gold Hydrogen, WIA, PME come up roses
Azzet reports on three ASX stocks with notable trading updates today. Gold Hydrogen rallies on landmark buy-in by Japanese giantsShares in Gold Hydrogen (ASX: GHY) were up around 8% at the open after the junior explorer told the market that three Japanese giants have bought into the stock ahead of a drilling program in South Australia scheduled for later this year. What excited the market today were revelations that Toyota, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Eneos Holdings plan to invest $14.5 million in the stock through a placement of 20.7 million shares at 70¢ a share - a 22% premium to Wednesday’s closing price. Gold Hydrogen, which is chaired by former foreign minister Alexander Downer, wants to develop underground deposits of natural hydrogen and helium more economically than traditional production methods. Today’s funding follows strong hydrogen and helium results - up to 95% and 36.9% respectively - from the company’s maiden Ramsay Project drilling on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. The proceeds of this strategic investment will fund further drilling and focus on evaluating long-term opportunities across the natural hydrogen and helium value chain. Commenting on today's update, Gold Hydrogen managing director Ne
Business
Dr. Phil's TV network files for bankruptcy, sues partner
Merit Street Media, the television network owned by celebrity psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, has filed for bankruptcy just 15 months after its launch. The company owns the channel Merit TV, which carries talk shows, news, and true crime programs, as well as a streaming service. Merit Street Media is also suing Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), its broadcasting partner. “Trinity Broadcasting Network is being sued by Merit Street Media for failing to provide clearly agreed-upon national distribution and other significant foundational commitments critical to the network’s continuing success and viability,” said a Merit Street Media spokesperson. The suit alleges that TBN, the world’s largest Christian broadcasting network, “abused its position as the controlling shareholder of Merit Street to improperly and unilaterally burden Merit Street with unsustainable debt”. While TBN originally committed to finance Merit Street Media's distribution and production services, the network later refused, the suit said. “These failures by TBN were neither unintended nor inadvertent,” according to Merit Street Media’s lawsuit. “They were a conscious, intentional pattern of choices made with full awareness that the consequence of which w

Business
UTS staff report record strain amid widespread cuts
University of Technology Sydney (UTS) staff have reported experiencing high levels of psychological distress as they brace for 400 redundancies amid a broader cull of Australian university workers, according to a leaked survey. The survey, obtained by ABC News of 380 workers by the National Tertiary Education (NTEU) found 35% were experiencing high levels of psychological stress. "There's a lot of helplessness and uncertainty, and the thing that I want to draw out of here is people have this notion that's natural with change management," said Dr Hossai Gul, a UTS expert in change in complex systems. This comes as UTS plans a massive restructuring dubbed the Operational Sustainability Initiative (OSI). "The need to reduce expenditure is necessary because our revenue does not cover our ongoing operating costs. In 2024, revenue was A$1.3 billion against expenditure of $1.4 billion," a UTS spokesperson said. "We cannot continue to absorb these losses — we need to reduce spending and maintain it to protect our core teaching and research." Earlier this year, The Australian Financial Review revealed that while UTS has a revenue of $1.1 billion, the university plans to cut expenses by $100 million a year and make capita
Business
Paramount pays Trump US$16m in lawsuit settlement
United States media giant Paramount will pay President Donald Trump US$16 million (A$24 million) to settle a lawsuit regarding a 60 Minutes interview with former presidential rival Kamala Harris. In a suit filed by Trump, he alleged that the network deceitfully edited an interview aired on CBS’s 60 Minutes with Harris to tip the scales in favour of the Democratic Party in the November election. CBS is owned by parent company Paramount and aired two versions of the same interview, where it seems Harris is giving different answers to the same question about the Israel-Hamas war. However, both the network and some groups have stated that this is standard editing for TV interviews. Previously, CBS said the lawsuit was “completely without merit” and asked the judge to dismiss the case. Paramount said the settlement would be allocated to Trump’s future presidential library. "The settlement does not include a statement of apology or regret," the statement said. Paramount also agreed that 60 Minutes would release transcripts of interviews with future presidential candidates. A spokesperson from Trump’s media team claimed the settlement was a “win for the American people” against “fake news media”. "CBS and Param
Business
Mission Critical: Mining policy a double-edged sword
Treasurer Jim Chalmers' unprecedented Federal Court action against Chinese-linked investors could signal a new era of resource nationalism - but who's going to fund Australia's critical minerals boom as selective foreign capital gets the boot? Azzet’s Mission Critical is a weekly column that lays out the ebbs and flows around the critical minerals supply chains - from pricing, production, refinement and mergers & acquisitions, to manufacturing and consumer products. The Northern Minerals debacle isn't just about regulatory compliance. It's about the contradiction at the heart of Australia's critical minerals strategy: demanding supply chain diversification whilst simultaneously restricting the very capital needed to build it. As China tightens its stranglehold on critical mineral exports and investment momentum in critical mineral development weakens dramatically, Australia faces an uncomfortable question - is national security theatre undermining the economic reality of getting projects off the ground?Capital gap exposedWu Tao's proxy scheme through Yuxiao Fund and its network of British Virgin Islands and UAE entities revealed something more troubling than foreign interference - it exposed the chronic undercapitalisatio
Business
Brighter outlook the takeaway of retail analysis
Companies leveraged to the hardware and takeaway sales sectors are expected to outperform other retail stocks as the short-term prospects of Australian retailing improve, according to Morningstar. “The near-term outlook for the greater retailing sector is increasingly positive,” the research house wrote in its June 2025 Industry Pulse publication headlined: ‘Australian Retailing: 2025 Q2’. It said household incomes were growing in real terms and a continued easing of monetary policy would boost consumer sentiment and growth in retail spending in fiscal 2026. Recent headwinds to goods consumption were easing, as the reversal of the huge mix shift to goods from services during the COVID-19 lockdowns had been completed, and the savings rate was back to normal. "Although the overall outlook is positive, we expect some categories to fare relatively better. We forecast hardware and takeaway sales growth to outperform as the construction market and consumer sentiment improve, respectively,” Morningstar said. It said Wesfarmers (ASX: WES), Metcash (ASX: MTS), Guzman Y Gomez (ASX: GYG), Collins Foods (ASX: CKF) and Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (ASX: DMP) were well-placed. Morgans Financial listed Collins Foods and GYG among