Commonwealth Bank has posted a record cash profit while announcing it will cut off lending to coal companies without net zero emissions plans.
Australia’s biggest bank recorded $10.25bn in annual cash profits for the year to June – a 4% lift on the previous year – and delivered a bumper $2.60 payout per share to shareholders.
CBA announced the results in its 2025 annual report on Wednesday alongside its updated environment and social policies, where it revealed it would impose further climate requirements on coalmining clients.
Thermal coalminers will not be permitted to borrow from the bank unless they are aiming to reach net zero emissions by 2050, with CBA imposing further decarbonisation and transparency requirements.
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The industry had access to about $660m in lending facilities with CBA in 2023 and 2024, the bank said. About $1.2bn of CBA finance was exposed to the thermal coal industry at the end of June.
CBA has imposed energy transition plan requirements on oil and gas companies and producers of the other main black coal product, metallurgical coal, since 2023.
Heightened requirements for lending would make it much harder for coal companies to borrow from the bank, according to Morgan Pickett, an analyst at climate advocacy group Market Forces.
“Australia’s biggest bank has officially ended any new finance for coal, whether for power or making steel, unless it’s proven to be compatible with a safe and livable climate,” Pickett said.
“It’s another nail in the coffin for coal.”
Tighter restrictions on coal lending came after Australian households took out an additional $34bn in home loans, up 7% from June 2024 to June 2025. Personal loans also picked up by $400m and business lending rose $16bn over the year.
The share of customers behind on home loan payments by 90 days or more rose to 0.7% over the first half of 2025, but CBA said that had now stopped rising.
Easing pressure on mortgage holders helped the bank save $76m, with impaired or unpaid loans costing CBA $726m in the year to June, down from the previous year’s $802m.
More customers are ahead on their minimum monthly loan repayments, with the share rising to 85% in June compared with just under 80% the previous year.
“Pleasingly, many households have seen a rise in disposable incomes due to the recent relief from reduced interest rates, lower inflation and tax cuts,” CBA’s chief executive, Matt Comyn, said.
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Households deposited an additional $34bn in CBA accounts over the year to June, with savings deposits up 10% over the year and transaction account deposits, which do not receive interest, up 11%.
The gap between the interest CBA pays deposit holders and the interest it receives from borrowers widened to a net interest margin of 2.08%, supporting the record profits.
However, household and business customers saw the gap between loans and deposits narrow over the year, by 0.03 and 0.04 percentage points respectively, which the report attributed to increased competition with other banks to offer better mortgage and savings interest rates.
Alan Docherty, CBA’s chief financial officer, said nearly 90% of savers with conditional rate account were getting the full interest rate.
The bank delivered shareholders a dividend payout of $2.60 per share, to a total of $4.85 over the last 12 months, up from the $4.65 it paid in 2024, which will be paid to more than 800,000 direct shareholders.
Investors sold out of the bank after results were published, sending the price falling from nearly $178 to $169, which if sustained could be the stock’s biggest one-day fall since early 2023.
The value of CBA shares had risen greatly over the year to August, from $134 a year ago to a peak of $191 in June. Analysts have persistently said it is overvalued, UBS earlier in August saying the stock’s underlying value was closer to $120.
Sales of Swift’s albums drive the fortunes of the entire music industry, as her catalog continues to dominate streaming lists all over the world
The drop of a new Taylor Swift album is the equivalent of a market-moving event for the record industry.
A new album from Taylor Swift may excite her legion of fans, but no one is more thrilled by news of her upcoming release than the music industry itself.
The 12th release from the reigning queen of pop – titled “The Life of a Showgirl” and due later this year – represents an epic event for the music business, with sales and streams of the new songs expected to measurably drive profits across the industry.
The album comes amid a long period of transition for the music business as listeners have shifted to digital platforms, forcing the industry to find new ways to make profits. Gone are the days of regular multiplatinum albums, so sales like Swift’s have an outsize impact on the bottom line.
“With streaming turning dollars into pennies for a lot of artists, that Taylor Swift is able to drive the whole market like this is a genuine phenomenon,” said John Covach, the director of the Institute for Popular Music at the University of Rochester. “It’s like when the Dow takes off, but it’s really being driven by one stock.”
Details of the new album remain sparse, beyond the name and a rough target release date of later this year, announced by Swift herself on the podcast hosted by her boyfriend, football player Travis Kelce, and his brother, Jason.
Swift’s last album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” accounted for over 6% of all album sales last year, according to Luminate, a music industry data tracker. In all, the album sold 3.491 million physical and digital copies in 2024, more than seven times the sales of the next-best-selling artist.
That album dropped in the midst of Swift’s “Eras Tour,” which grossed an estimated $6.5 billion in ticket, merchandise, and food and drink sales.
Swifties, as her fans are known, also consistently push her catalog to the top of most streaming services around the world – with 26.6 billion streams on Spotify alone last year, the most of any artist.
Spotify (SPOT) said “The Tortured Poets Department” racked up a record 300 million streams the day it was released in April 2024.
All of that came despite mixed reviews from critics and the album’s lack of a singular major hit.
Since 2018, Swift’s music has been released by Republic Records, an imprint of Universal Music Group (NL:UMG). Universal reported a 9% spike in revenue in the second quarter of last year, compared with the same period in 2023, and 4.3% growth in the third quarter, largely driven by the release of Swift’s last album.
The pop star’s back catalog also continues to drive meaningful numbers, particularly on streaming. Luminate ranked Swift’s 2019 hit “Cruel Summer” from the album “Lover” as her top streaming song last year, besting songs from any of the four albums she has released since.
Earlier this year, Swift announced that she had bought back to rights to her first six albums, bringing to a close a lengthy fight over control of her earlier releases and making her catalog one of the most valuable of all time.
-Lukas I. Alpert
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
PPP parliamentary leader in the House Sherry Rehman speaking during the Senate session on June 18, 2025. — Facebook@Pakistansenate
ISLAMABAD: As the issue of perks and privileges of a state-owned enterprise’s CEO echoed in the House, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb Tuesday assured the Senate that accountability would be carried out and money recovered. PPP parliamentary leader in the House Sherry Rehman raised the matter on a point of public importance, citing the story by Ansar Abbasi published in The News in its Sunday edition and said while austerity was being observed, the CEO of a company enjoyed the perks and privileges of Rs335 million in less than three years.
She pointed out that the members of the boards in connivance with each other pocketed public money. Sherry said the colossal amount was spent on the CEO of Pakistan Reinsurance Company while politicians were jailed and held answerable.
“Being accountable is our duty, but I don’t want to create an environment where the civil servants are subjected to witch-hunt, as there are many who work with honesty. But again in bureaucracy, none is accountable and they also tar with one brush,” she contended.
She also talked of horrible audit and accounts details in the committee meetings and called for empowerment of parliament to audit the boards.
Responding to her, the finance minister said the prime minister had taken notice of the matter and formed a committee. “The name will surface and the recovery also be made. We want the government nominees in the related boards to come prepared and go through the documents,” he maintained.
Security forces are seen taking position during an operation in this undated image. — ISPR/File
RAWALPINDI/ QUETTA: Security forces neutralised three more terrorists in Balochistan’s Zhob district — bringing the total number of terrorists killed in the four-day anti-infiltration operation in the Sambaza area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to 50.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Tuesday that weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the militants belonging to Indian proxy Fitna al-Khwarij — outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — on the night between August 10 and August 11.
Security forces remain committed to securing the nation’s frontiers and thwart attempts at sabotaging peace, stability and progress of Pakistan, the military’s media wing added.
The development comes as the forces had successfully engaged and neutralised 33 terrorists attempting to infiltrate from Afghanistan into Pakistan on the night between August 7 and 8.
This was followed by another action where 14 more terrorists were gunned down on August 9, bringing the-then total to 47 killed terrorists.
Reacting to the development, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday commended the officers and personnel of the security forces for carrying out another successful operation against Khawarij.
Meanwhile, at least nine soldiers were martyred in a terrorist attack in Balochistan, government officials said on Tuesday.
A senior government official of Washuk district, where the terrorist attack took place, said dozens of terrorists attacked a police station and a border force compound. “The army was attacked by terrorists on their way to respond,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
“There were around 40 to 50 terrorists on motorbikes who attacked government buildings and ransacked them,” said a senior official from the province’s interior department who asked not to be named, confirming to AFP that nine soldiers were martyred. The officials said that six other soldiers were also wounded in the attack.
A senior official from the province’s interior department said the terrorists hurled hand grenades at the Frontier Corps compound in Basima city of Washuk district. No group has claimed the attack.
Mohammad Zafar Baloch adds: The Balochistan government has imposed a province-wide ban on night travel for public transport, prohibiting operations on provincial highways from 5 pm to 5 am. Violators will face cancellation of their route permits.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Provincial Secretary for Transport Muhammad Hayat Kakar, attended by transporters and their representatives. The meeting resolved to strictly enforce the Home Department’s directives restricting night operations.
Kakar said all deputy commissioners have been directed to ensure public transport services are halted during the restricted hours. Transporters must also install trackers in passenger coaches, deploy security guards and comply with anti-smuggling measures.
In-form Ireland all-rounder Orla Prendergast continues her rise up the latest rankings as impressive Australian seamer Annabel Sutherland becomes the No.1 ranked T20I bowler for the first time.
Ireland youngster Orla Prendergast has been rewarded for some strong performances against Pakistan by reaching new career-high ratings in the latest ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings.
Prendergast was in sublime form for Ireland during their recent 2-1 series triumph over Pakistan, with the 23-year-old making excellent contributions with bat and ball to deservedly claim the Player of the Series award.
The right-hander amassed 144 runs across the three matches at an average of 72 and chipped in with four valuable wickets with her more than handy medium pacers.
It saw Prendergast obtain a new career-high rating and climb eight spots to 19th overall on the list for T20I batters, while she also gained three places to improve to sixth on the rankings for T20I all-rounders.
Ireland teammates Laura Delany (up five spots to equal 50th) and Rebecca Stokell (up five rungs to 77th) also made some ground on the rankings for T20I batters, while Pakistan will be buoyed by the efforts of Muneeba Ali (up three places to equal 32nd) and Fatima Sana (up four spots to 59th) across the three-game series as they too made gains on the same list.
There was also a shake-up at the top of the rankings for T20I bowlers, with Australian all-rounder Annabel Sutherland claiming top spot in the category despite not playing an international fixture across the last week.
Sutherland hasn’t featured in the shortest format since she took a four-wicket haul against New Zealand in March, but her rating of 736 remains unchanged as a group of bowlers near the top of the rankings lost points across the last week.
Pakistan spinner Sadiq Iqbal was previously the No.1 ranked T20I bowler, but she dropped one spot to move to equal second alongside India’s Deepti Sharma after she picked up just three wickets across the series against Ireland.
It saw Iqbal lose rating points overall and relinquish top spot on the rankings, with Sutherland rising to claim the premier position for the first time in her fledgling career.
Google Home is testing a new automation editor that adds “flexibility and convenience to control your smart home with a refreshed look.”
On Android, go to Google Home’s Automations tab and tap the “Create” FAB for “New automation.” This takes you to a new editor that starts by letting you add a name and optional description.
Tapping the ‘plus’ (which is a limited touch target) next to Starters, Conditions (optional), and Actions slides up a sheet:
Starter: Device, Presence, “Hey Google,” Schedule
Conditions: Presence, Time, Days of the week, Device
Actions: Broadcast, Device, Notify, Time Delay, and Ask Google
Various Material 3 Expressive elements are leveraged throughout the redesigned editor. You can swipe to delete a starter, condition, or action, while there’s a high-level Activate/Deactivate switcher. It’s a much-needed modernization.
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Of note is the “new conditions section with device state and presence conditions to control when your automation runs.”
Google is “actively working to move all existing features to this new automation editor.” From the three-dot overflow menu in the corner, you can switch back to the “Previous household editor.” At the moment, it’s “only available for Household Routines.”
“For Personal Routines, follow the steps in Create and manage Routines in Google Home.”
“Other household members who use Android devices and are in the US can check and start the Household Routines you create with the new editor. They can also edit these Routines on Android devices if they’ve opted in to Public Preview.”
The new automations editor is currently available in the Google Home Public Preview program for Android users in the US.
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New “hearing glasses” are being created that use artificial intelligence to help people hear conversations more clearly in real-time.
Scientists in Scotland are developing a prototype set of glasses that combine lip-reading technology, artificial intelligence and cloud computing to clean up conversations in people’s hearing aids.
The smart glasses are fitted with a camera that records dialogue and uses visual cues to detect the main speaker.
The wearer’s phone then sends the recording to a cloud server, where the speaker’s voice is isolated and background noise removed.
The cleaned-up audio is then sent back to the listener’s hearing aid almost instantly, despite travelling to servers all the way over in Sweden and back.
“We’re not trying to reinvent hearing aids. We’re trying to give them superpowers,” said project leader Professor Mathini Sellathurai, of Heriot-Watt University.
“You simply point the camera or look at the person you want to hear.
“Even if two people are talking at once, the AI uses visual cues to extract the voice of the person you’re looking at.”
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Over 1.2 million UK adults struggle with ordinary conversation because of hearing loss, according to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People.
Although noise-cancelling technology does exist for hearing aids, it often struggles with voices overlapping in conversation or when there are lots of different background noises.
The researchers say that by using cloud servers to do the heavy lifting on cleaning up audio, the glasses can take advantage of powerful artificial intelligence while still being wearable.
They hope to have a working version of the glasses by 2026, and are already speaking to hearing aid manufacturers about ways to reduce costs and make the devices more widely available.
Scientists from Heriot-Watt University led the project and worked with researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Napier University and the University of Stirling.
Artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Perplexity has made a surprise $34.5bn (£25.6bn) takeover offer for Google’s Chrome internet browser.
Moving Chrome to an independent operator committed to user safety would benefit the public, Perplexity said in a letter to Sundar Pichai, the boss of Google’s owner Alphabet.
Google’s dominance of the search engine and online advertising market has come under intense scrutiny, with the technology giant facing a years-long antitrust case brought by the US Department of Justice.
The BBC has contacted Google for comment. The firm has not announced any plans to sell Chrome – the world’s most popular web browser with an estimated three billion-plus users.
A US federal judge is expected to issue a ruling this month that could see Google being ordered to break up its search business.
But some analysts have said the bid is unlikely to be successful as it is still unclear whether or not Google will be forced to sell Chrome.
Venture capitalist Tomasz Tunguz from Theory Ventures also told the BBC that the offer is a lot lower than the browser is worth “given the value of Chrome is likely significantly higher – maybe ten times more valuable than the bid or more.”
The company has said it would appeal such a ruling, saying the idea of spinning off Chrome was an “unprecedented proposal” that would harm consumers and security.
Perplexity’s app is among the rising players in the generative AI race, alongside more well-known platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Last month, Perplexity launched an AI-powered browser called Comet.
The bid marks an “important commitment to the open web, user choice, and continuity for everyone who has chosen Chrome,” a spokesman for Perplexity told the BBC.
As part of the proposed takeover, Perplexity said it would continue to have Google as the default search engine within Chrome, though users could adjust their settings.
The firm said it would also maintain and support Chromium, a widely-used open-source platform that supports Chrome and other browsers including Microsoft Edge and Opera.
Perplexity did not respond to queries on how the proposed deal would be funded. In July, it had an estimated value of $18bn.
The company made headlines earlier this year after offering to buy the American version of TikTok, which faces a deadline in September to be sold by its Chinese owner or be banned in the US.
Perplexity has reportedly drawn interest from technology giants including Apple and Facebook-owner Meta.
