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The Australian
 

Good afternoon,

A bombshell in court has unmasked United Petroleum as the mystery antagonist that paid for a smear campaign in a bid to thwart rival OTR muscling in on the Victorian fuel market, Margin Call reveals.

The incoming Perpetual chief executive Bernard Reilly has form in bringing big lumbering organisations together, but he'll need to also be adept at pulling them apart, writes Eric Johnston.

Santos’ decision to pay a record dividend is indicative of the company’s bright future with new growth projects close to coming to fruition, chief executive Kevin Gallagher has declared.

For full company results coverage, our live Trading Day blog covered all the big winners and losers on the busiest day of the reporting calendar.

Perry Williams
Business editor
The markets


Commentary
A nation divided by east and west coast prosperity
By ROBERT GOTTLIEBSEN
Business Columnist
In business prosperity, Australia’s east and west coasts are diverging. And, at the same time, there is an increasing divide between the private and public sectors.
Latest news
WiseTech founder $2.1bn richer after avoiding ‘silly’ wage rises
Nearly all the staff that left WiseTech for higher wages in the tech boom have returned, vindicating founder Andrew White’s strategy that led to bumper profits and share rises while others imploded.
By JARED LYNCH
Pratt siblings fight for love child case to be scrapped
Visy magnate Richard Pratt’s children Anthony, Fiona and Heloise say their half siblings’ legal claim for a slice of the family fortune should not go ahead in their latest court filings.
By ANGELICA SNOWDEN
Aussies’ lotto dreams resilient to cost of living crisis
The Lottery Corporation says a planned price hike for its popular Saturday Lotto is unlikely to dampen cash-strapped Australians’ willingness to take part in the weekly draw.
By GLEN NORRIS
Virgin, Qantas quibble over on-time status
Weather, ground delays and the Crowdstrike outage have undermined airlines’ on time performance in July, with almost 30 per cent of flights arriving late.
By ROBYN IRONSIDE
Reilly named new Perpetual CEO ahead of sale
Former Australian Retirement Trust CEO Bernard Reilly has been tapped to head up Perpetual as it prepares to be carved up in a $2.2bn deal with KKR.
By CLIONA O’DOWD