☕️How-to: Email Recall

Good morning.

ANZ has apologised after it inadvertently sent around an automated email to individual senior staff informing them their jobs would be terminated as part of a broad restructure of its retail bank under new CEO Nuno Matos.

First reported by Capital Brief, impacted staff – senior managers and 'heads of' roles – were told they’d be sacked and were handed an exit date from an administrative message, without so much as a heads-up from the bank before it landed in their inbox.

While interim retail bank chief Bruce Rush took up the honourable but mortifying mantle of apologising for the fiasco rather than just blame the fumble on an intern, “sorry” only goes so far when followed by “you’re still fired.”

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in IDP Education skyrocketed on Thursday, defying a 58% slide in profit as investors embraced firmer-than-expected revenue, a surprise dividend and guidance that signalled resilience in a battered international student market. That headlined a day of more outsized moves across the ASX in what’s become a hallmark of this reporting season.

Lifestyle Communities, Eagers Automotive, Tabcorp and Nuix, all rallied roughly between 10% and 15%, while on the downside, Telix Pharmaceuticals tumbled almost 19%, Nine Entertainment fell 12% and Ramsay Health Care sank 10.5%

The quick sync

• The Tech Council’s AI copyright lobbying has reignited tensions over whether it speaks for Australia’s startup sector or Big Tech. (Capital Brief)

• Backed by CBA and courted by Labor, OpenAI lands in Sydney after months of quiet manoeuvring and policy promises. (Capital Brief)

• ASX failures are stacking up, but without regulator action, Australia’s market credibility keeps eroding, writes Dimitri Burshtein and Patrick Young. (Capital Brief)

• A powerful court precedent shows the new public interest defence has legs, letting media defend defamation claims without proving perfection. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• TagEnergy buys ACE Power, boosting Australian renewable portfolio to 10 GW. (Capital Brief)

• Gemi Investments up for sale despite $400m Adgemis debt. (AFR)

• Macquarie buys $481m Sigma stake after Chemist Warehouse sell-down. (AFR)

• MIXI likely to control PointsBet despite higher Betr bid. (Capital Brief)

• Perennial takes 50% stake in Joseph Ziller’s new fund. (AFR)

• Zurich drops out of $200m NIB travel insurance sale. (The Australian)

• FTI Consulting launches sale process for Bowen Coking Coal out of receivership. (AFR)

Capital Markets

• IGO posts $955m loss, hit by Kwinana refinery closure and weak nickel sales. (Capital Brief)

• Air NZ profit drops 14% to NZ$126m on engine disruptions and cost inflation. (Capital Brief)

• MinRes posts $896m loss on impairments, weak lithium and iron ore. (Capital Brief)

• OpenAI to launch Sydney office as ChatGPT use surges in Australia. (Capital Brief)

• FlyOne launches $3m pre-IPO before planned 2026 ASX listing. (AFR)

• Medibank profit rises modestly, outlook softens. (Capital Brief)

• Atlas Arteria profit drops on French tax. (Capital Brief)

• Qantas profit surges on booming travel demand. (Capital Brief)

• TPG profit surges on mobile growth and cost savings. (Capital Brief)

• Eagers’ profit and revenue hit records, boosted by acquisitions and pre-owned car growth. (Capital Brief)

• Frasé Skin seeks $3–5m to expand into US at $10–12m valuation. (AFR)

• South32 swings to profit on higher metals output, offset by smelter impairment. (Capital Brief)

• Sandfire swings to profit as copper sales hit record levels. (Capital Brief)

• Perpetual trims losses as assets under management grow. (Capital Brief)

• Grill’d lifts executive pay despite profit drop and union scrutiny. (AFR)

• IDP profit plunges on lower student volumes, triggers cost and AI initiatives. (Capital Brief)

• Lynas profit plunges; $750m raise to fund rare earth expansion. (Capital Brief)(The Australian)

• Ramsay profit collapses on UK write-down; Australia business strengthens. (Capital Brief)

• GDG profit soars on acquisitions and investment bond growth. (Capital Brief)

• Cromwell Property trims FY25 loss as investment losses ease. (Capital Brief)

• Eagers Auto profit jumps on BYD boom, eyes more Chinese EVs. (AFR)

• Lifestyle Communities loses $195m after property write-down, shares rally on appeal plans. (Capital Brief)

• RBA flags ASX for limited progress on resilience and risk after CHESS failure. (Capital Brief)

• BOQ to sell loan book and cut jobs as shares tumble 7.7%. (AFR)

• NextDC hits record sales, revenue up 14% amid expansion, posts $60.5  loss. (Capital Brief)

• Steadfast profit up 17% in FY25; dividend rises, driven by growth and acquisitions. (Capital Brief)

• McMillan Shakespeare profit up 14% on lease growth, investments weigh on EBITDA. (Capital Brief)

• AMP, Insignia to be named and shamed in superannuation performance test. (The Australian)

• NY hedge fund expands bet on Orsted after Trump’s wind farm halt triggers record low. (Bloomberg)

• Top-paid partner at Al Gore fund got US$19.5m bonus in 2024. (Bloomberg)

• Desjardins buys Guardian to create US$203b Canada fund manager. (Bloomberg)

• 35-year-old Microsoft software engineer dies at company’s Silicon Valley campus. (Bloomberg)

• World’s best performing sovereign wealth fund, NZ’s Super Fund, bets on Europe over US. (FT)

• Dion Lee, once hailed as the saviour of Australian fashion, opens up about the business collapse that brought him undone and the revival he’s now staging in Paris. (AFR)

• Trump administration launches blockchain distribution of official US GDP figures. (Capital Brief)

VC 

• Peco Pet Food wins $30k NT grant for buffalo dog treats. (Startup Daily)

• TCA’s AI copyright push sparks rift between startups and Big Tech. (Capital Brief)

• Q-CTRL wins $38m DARPA deals for GPS-alternative quantum sensors. (Startup Daily)

• Health tech startup Heidi Health brings AI scribe to Greencross vet clinics. (Smart Company)

People moves

• Wesfarmers profit rises 14% to $2.93b, names Ken MacKenzie new chair. (Capital Brief)

• Nine Entertainment names Martyn Roberts as CFO. (Capital Brief)

• Three more dealmakers quit Potentia as staff exodus continues. (AFR)

• Deloitte appoints first independent directors, Rufus Black and Kee Wong, after PwC scandal. (AFR)

The watercooler