False accusations about the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia have cost a journalist more than $300,000.

Alkis Morelas was found on Friday to have defamed Archbishop Makarios Griniezakis in four online articles he wrote for a Greek-language website called Greek Flash News.

The archbishop has overseen the church throughout Australia and Oceania since 2019.

Morelas falsely accused the archbishop of stealing money from a Black Summer bushfire charity appeal, spending church money on personal holidays and failing to take action against a priest accused of child sexual abuse.

Federal Court Justice Wendy Abraham found Morelas, a veteran Greek Australian journalist who largely represented himself in the case, made up evidence and distorted information.

As a result of the false information, Archbishop Makarios testified he was humiliated and offended by the articles.

He was contacted by the global leader of the church, Patriarch Bartholomew, and regularly asked by his community about the allegations.

Witnesses testified seeing him cry on several occasions.

The Greek-language website had about 2000 monthly visitors over the relevant times in 2021 and 2022.

Morelas attempted to defend the accusations saying the articles were his honest opinion and he had qualified privilege to make the claims.

But Justice Abraham dismissed the defences, saying there was no reasonable justification for publishing the falsehoods.

“Mr Morelas accepted in cross-examination that he had no personal knowledge about what was happening,” she wrote in her judgment.

“There is no reliable evidence of appropriate fact-checking before publication.”

The court found Morales did not contact the media unit for the archdiocese to give the archbishop a chance to respond to his false claims.

The reporter used “florid and offensive language” in the four pieces, Justice Abraham said.

“Pervert”, “representative of Satan” and “whore of the Archdiocese” were terms used to refer to the archbishop.

Morales also said Archbishop Makarios executed “contracts of death” against those who went against him.

He refused to use the spiritual leader’s correct title during cross-examination and his justification for the insult was “ridiculous”, the judge found.

The archbishop, who the judge found was a credible and reliable witness, gave evidence he spent between $60,000 and $80,000 annually, mostly on travelling around Australia attending to his duties. 

“His evidence was that his strictly personal expenses were modest. There is no evidence to the contrary,” the judge found.

Aggravated damages were awarded to the archbishop, in part because Morales continued to publish the defamatory allegations after being told to stop by the court.

“(Morales) has not apologised, but rather took the opportunity to make further allegations,” Justice Abraham wrote.

Morales was ordered to pay $300,000 in damages including $50,000 in aggravated damages.

The career journalist with 55 years under his belt was also ordered to pay the archbishop’s costs in the case.

Tens of thousands of Budget Direct customers lost promised insurance discounts worth a total of $3.3 million in savings, the corporate regulator claims.

ASIC has launched legal action against Auto & General Services Pty Ltd, the insurer managing Budget Direct products, after 39,000 customers were alleged to have been overcharged for premiums over several years.

The misconduct occurred between March 2020 and July 2024, the regulator says.

It is seeking declarations and fines from the court. 

Significant discounts of up to 30 per cent for Budget Direct customers who purchased car, home or motorbike insurance policies online were promoted.

It is alleged the advertising was misleading because customers were not told the online discounts would be removed following any changes made to their policies, such as a change in address.

The average premium discount loss amounted to almost $100.

It is alleged Auto & General first became aware of the problem as early as 2016, but failed to inform affected customers for years.

Staff did not immediately try to fix the problem.

ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said the case highlighted the importance of the regulator’s prioritisation of enforcement on misleading pricing practices.

“Australians should be able to take insurers at their word, especially when it comes to discounts that influence their decision to take up a policy and compare it to other products in the market,” she said.

“We allege Budget Direct’s conduct was misleading and deprived tens of thousands of Australians millions of dollars in savings they were promised.”

Auto & General has since paid more than $3.8 million in remediation inclusive of interest to the 39,000 customers impacted during the almost four-year period.

The company named after beloved Australian chef Maggie Beer is still considering the possible sale of its popular hampers business, after turning around its earnings.

Maggie Beer Holdings was back in the black on Friday after reporting a net profit of $398,000.

The result for the six months ended December was a stunning turnaround from the previous corresponding period, when it made a loss of more than $4 million.

Chair Mark Lindh said the group had taken more than $2 million in costs out of the business, renewed its board and completed a shareholder placement to improve its cashflow.

“Pleasingly, some of the most iconic Maggie Beer products have continued to deliver significant improvement in … in-store sales and through a burgeoning export channel,” he said in a statement.

Its Hampers and Gifts Australia arm – which is the biggest segment – had a difficult half in the run-up to Christmas, after losing website traffic due to technology changes and speed issues.

The company, of which Ms Beer is a director with a holding of two per cent, increased its advertising to offset that loss and was “partly successful” but still faced competition headwinds.

“The second quarter, from October to December 2025, was difficult to negotiate due to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales cycles running over an extended period,” it said.

Hamper goods sales fell 4.8 per cent to $34.1 million, along with gross margins, leading to a 36 per cent fall in division underlying earnings – before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – to $3.1 million.

The company revealed earlier in February it had received “a number” of unsolicited and non-binding offers for the business, which it was “evaluating as part of a wider review”.

The review is considering potential alliances, mergers or a change in ownership.

“The company expects to be able to update the market and shareholders on or prior to its full year results … as to the outcome of the view,” it said.

The Maggie Beer Products arm lifted net sales by five per cent to $18.8 million, driven by products such as cheeses and stocks.

Sales of the iconic Maggie Beer Verjuice rose more than 52 per cent, mainly due to higher exports.

“Increasing export sales in key markets where the Maggie Beer name has strong brand equity will continue to be a key focus of the team in the second half,” the company said.

Underlying earnings for the products division fell 63 per cent to $404,000.

The company believes it’s “well placed” ahead of its full-year results announcement on August 27.

In 2024/25, it reported a statutory net loss of $24.3 million.

Maggie Beer Holdings shares were trading flat at 8.1 cents, in very low volume, in the morning session.

Ms Beer established the Maggie Beer Foundation in 2014 to improve food for older Australians, particularly those living within aged care homes.

Posties delivered a record 3075 parcels every minute during their Christmas run, driving a modest profit for the nation’s mail service as Australians send fewer letters.

Australia Post delivered 111 million parcels during the November and December 2025 peak, with the record haul pushing a $50.4 million pre-tax half-year profit.

More than 283 million parcels were delivered in the six months to December 31, an increase of 5.1 per cent compared to the half-year to December 2024.

With $5.06 billion in revenue, profit was down $198.7 million from its previous half-year results, which the company said reflected strategic investment decisions to remain competitive in a tight market.

The business may be set to record a loss in 2025/26, group chief executive and managing director Paul Graham warned.

Australia Post was investing in the future by streamlining operations, upgrading legacy facilities and technology.

The business spent $219.9 million on facilities, retail formatting, fleet, technology and regional expansion.

“These are conscious choices,” Mr Graham said in a statement.

“By fighting hard and planning for the future now, we’re building a modern, sustainable Australia Post that will continue to serve all Australians for generations to come.”

The letters service posted a loss of $2.1 million, a slightly improved outcome due to a 20c increase on stamps from July 2025.

Letters have long been declining, with volumes at the lowest level in nearly a century.

Australia Post lodged a draft price notification with the consumer watchdog in January to raise the price of stamps from $1.70 to $1.85.

The proposed increase would take effect from mid to late-2026 to offset the ongoing losses.

Fewer than three per cent of letters were sent by individuals, with most mailed by government agencies and businesses.

Australia Post estimated the price rise would equate to less than $1 per year for households.

Sussan Ley has formally quit parliament two weeks after being ousted from the Liberal Party’s top job.

Her resignation as the member for Farrer will trigger a by-election in her regional NSW electorate, which is expected to be a hotly contested four-way race.

“This morning, I wrote to the Speaker of the House of Representatives to advise of my immediate resignation from the parliament as the Federal Member for Farrer,” Ms Ley said in a statement.

“I shall not be returning for a valedictory speech. I am confident that my efforts and achievements over 25 years will speak for themselves.”

Ms Ley said she was proud of her work establishing a federal royal commission into anti-Semitism and setting clear policy directions on tax, industrial relations, energy, national security and families.

She was rolled as opposition leader on February 13, with Angus Taylor taking over after a series of dire opinion polls.

The Liberals, Nationals, One Nation and independent Michelle Milthorpe hope to win Ms Ley’s seat once a by-election is called.

Among coalition ranks, the vote is viewed as the first major test of Mr Taylor’s leadership.

Fellow independents David Pocock and Helen Haines will publicly endorse Ms Milthorpe on Friday, effectively kicking off the campaign for Farrer even though a by-election date is yet to be set.

Ms Milthorpe has previously been in the public eye as an advocate for victims of child sexual assault, after her two daughters were abused by a family friend.

She ran against Ms Ley in the 2025 federal election, losing 56.2 to 43.8 per cent after preferences.

After being deposed as opposition leader, Ms Ley said she would spend the following weeks thanking her constituents before tendering her resignation.

But one senior Liberal source said Ms Ley had not been heard from since the day of the leadership spill and had not reached out to any of the local party membership.

Ms Ley’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Liberals, Nationals and One Nation are all yet to announce candidates for the upcoming vote.

State Liberal MP for Albury Justin Clancy had been considering a run but ruled himself out on Friday morning, citing family commitments.

Party insiders feared losing Farrer and the state seat of Albury if Mr Clancy wasn’t successful in the by-election.

One Nation plans to reveal its final three or four nominations next week, with a pre-selection event scheduled for March 7 to choose the official candidate.

Helen Dalton, an independent NSW MP whose electorate of Murray overlaps with Farrer, has left the door open to running for the anti-immigration party.

Local Nationals party members will also vote on their candidate in the coming weeks.

Virgin Australia is back-paying tax after exiting administration more than five years ago and returning to the stock exchange.

The carrier’s bottom-line interim net profit – the first reported since it re-listed in June – fell almost 28 per cent to $341 million.

The first-half decline was the result of a 30 per cent effective tax rate incurred after getting out of administration in late 2020.

“Due to sustained profit delivery since exiting administration, all tax losses have been fully utilised and Virgin Australia is now in a tax-paying position,” it said in a statement on Friday.

The airline’s underlying earnings – before interest and tax – for the first half of 2025/26 rose almost 12 per cent to $490 million. 

The result was driven by revenue growth of 9.3 per cent in the six months ended December, supported by strong demand, especially in the leisure market.

It booked revenue per available seat kilometre growth of 6.4 per cent.

Virgin transported more than 11 million passengers across Australia and to international destinations during the half, which was a 3.4 per cent improvement on the same period last year.

“However, cost pressures persist across the industry with costs growing above inflation in several areas of the aviation supply chain, including airport charges and aircraft maintenance,” CEO Dave Emerson said.

“The broader aviation industry must remain vigilant on costs so aviation doesn’t become unaffordable for Australians.”

Mr Emerson’s remarks mirrored those made on Thursday by Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson.

Looking ahead, Virgin is forecasting continued growth underlying earnings before interest and tax in the second half of the financial year.

Warner Bros Discovery says Paramount Skydance’s revised $31-a-share offer is superior to its existing deal with Netflix, giving the streaming giant four business days ‌to respond or walk away from the bidding war for the coveted Hollywood studio.

The high-stakes battle could be in ‌its final stretch after the announcement on Thursday.

Netflix had earlier this month granted Warner Bros a seven-day waiver to seek a “best ‌and final offer” from Paramount for the company.

Pursuant to the terms of the Netflix merger agreement, this notice initiates a four-business-day period during which Netflix may propose revisions to the agreement, Warner Bros said.

Shares of Paramount Skydance were up more than 1.5 per cent in extended trading.

Netflix, which is looking to buy Warner Bros’ streaming and studio businesses, agreed in December to ‌pay $27.75 a share, saying ‌the offer, along ⁠with a planned spin-off of Warner Bros’ cable assets, would deliver a greater ​shareholder value.

The bid partly depends on the debt level of those assets, which would be separately listed as Discovery Global, as well as the company’s equity value once it starts trading.

In its revised ‌bid, ​Paramount also raised the termination fee it would pay should the deal fail to gain regulatory approval, to $7 billion from $5.8 billion.

With about $9.03 ‌billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of December, Netflix has ample financial muscle ​to raise its offer.

Either deal will reshape the power structure of Hollywood by handing the suitor one of the industry’s most-coveted studios and an extensive content library, as well as lucrative entertainment franchises such as Game of ​Thrones ​and DC Comics.

Paramount has argued it has a ​clearer path to US regulatory approval than Netflix and had indicated ‌that if Warner Bros rejects the new bid, it would be ready to launch a board challenge at this year’s annual meeting.

An index of global equity markets eased ‌after hitting a fresh record high on Thursday as concerns about lofty valuations of leading technology companies weighed on markets after artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia reported strong quarterly results.

Shares on Wall Street and ‌in Europe ‌traded ⁠down as investors digested another blowout quarter from Nvidia, ​the world’s most valuable company, but worried about its market value even as it forecast that first-quarter revenue would come in at a whopping $78 billion ($A110 bn).

On Wall Street, technology and communication services were the ⁠biggest losers, with Nvidia’s shares ‌down ​4 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11 per cent, the S&P 500 ​fell 0.70 per cent, and ‌the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.37 per cent.

“People are getting concerned about lofty ​valuations even though when you look at a company like Nvidia, the estimates, cash flow, and everything else are ​dramatically ​higher,” said Thomas Plumb, chief ​executive and portfolio manager at Plumb Funds ‌in Madison, Wisconsin.

“But I think the sentiment will eventually match up with the realities,” said Plumb, who has Nvidia as his largest investment holding.

In Europe, the broad STOXX 600 index fell ​0.11 per cent. MSCI’s All Share Index was down 0.30 per cent after rising to ​a record high ⁠of 1,063.86.

Australian supermarket giant Coles is under the spotlight again as it reveals its next set of profit results after spending the week defending allegations it misled shoppers during a marketing campaign.

The group, which has more than 850 shops across the country, is due to report its earnings for the first half of 2025/26 on Friday.

According to a consensus of market forecasts, Coles is again expected to produce a bumper net profit of between $689 and $709 million, well above the $576 million result for the previous corresponding period.

Its underlying earnings could come in about $2.2 billion, above 2024/25’s $2 billion half-year result.

Early signs pointed to solid sales, but the strength of the results would hinge on whether margins had improved, eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert told AAP. 

Investors wanted to see benefits flowing through from automated distribution centres and growth in high-margin areas such as e-commerce, he said.

“If we can start to see that coming through on the bottom line, that’s what we’re really looking for,” Mr Gilbert said. 

Coles has spent the week defending Australian Competition and Consumer Commission claims it misled customers with fake discounts on thousands of products. 

The retail giant inflated prices before lowering them to above their original levels under its “down down” campaign, launched in 2021, the consumer watchdog alleged. 

Coles maintained the discounts were genuine during the week-long trial. 

It remained to be seen whether the controversy would affect where customers shopped, Mr Gilbert said. 

Woolworths could face similar headwinds as the consumer watchdog prepares to launch proceedings against the nation’s other big chain from April. 

The group’s stronger-than-expected half-yearly results released on Wednesday have put additional pressure on Coles to maintain its seven-quarter strong growth lead. 

Excluding one-off costs, Woolworths posted a net profit of $859 million for the period, up 16 per cent.

Shares in the country’s largest supermarket giant surged 13 per cent on Wednesday following the release of the results – its biggest single-day gain on record. 

Mr Gilbert said Woolworths’ results were not the “smoking gun” showing it was closing ground on Coles, but suggested its promotional spend was paying off. 

“They’ve gone back to winning back customers,” he said.

“Ultimately, they’re coming back and, more importantly, they’re shopping more frequently across the channels.”

While feedback suggests Woolworths is gaining market share, Macquarie analysts believe Coles remains the preferred option for investors. 

“We are attracted to a stronger margin and earnings outlook for (Coles), with ongoing benefits via scaling of supply chain assets,” a research note shared with AAP said. 

Given the strength of Woolworths’ results, anything less than a strong performance for Coles would have share price consequences, Mr Gilbert said. 

“Woolworths have really put them under pressure,” he said.

“If Coles’ performance is just standard or in-line, I think we’ll see shares trade lower.”

Australia’s share market has broken multiple records as it nears the end of a solid earnings season that delivered outsized returns for bigger miners, banks and consumer staples stocks.

The S&P/ASX200 gained 47 points on Thursday, up 0.51 per cent, to 9,175.3, as the broader All Ordinaries rose 49.7 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 9,408.7.

Both indices notched fresh intraday peaks during the session and ended the day at their highest-ever closing values, with an extra $85 billion added to the top-500’s combined value in February, taking it to $3.2 trillion.

“Financials are up nine per cent for the month and raw materials up almost eight per cent, so you’ve got those two big locomotives of the Australian stock market really chiming in,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.

The Australian dollar is buying 71.25 US cents, up from 71.09 US cents at 5pm on Thursday and creeping higher since January inflation came in higher-than-expected, raising the odds of more interest rate hikes.