Business
Corporate Travel Management Shares Crash 82% As Trading Resumes After Yearlong UK Scandal Suspension
BRISBANE, Australia — Shares of Corporate Travel Management Ltd. plummeted more than 82% Thursday, falling to $2.87, as the travel management company resumed trading on the Australian Securities Exchange for the first time in more than a year following a UK accounting scandal that forced an extended trading suspension.
The stock’s collapse came after the ASX lifted its suspension on Corporate Travel Management following the company’s lodgment of its Preliminary Final Report for the financial year ended June 30, 2026. The shares had last traded on the exchange in August 2025 at roughly $16, meaning Thursday’s price represented a steep repricing of the business after more than a year of uncertainty over its financial position.
The trading halt had been in place since Aug. 26, 2025, triggered by an independent investigation that found the company’s former United Kingdom chief executive had forged customer agreements, overcharged clients and retained funds that were owed back to those customers. The revelations forced Corporate Travel Management to undertake an extensive review of its UK operations and delayed the release of its audited financial statements for well over a year.
As part of that review, the company identified an estimated revenue reversal of roughly 118 million British pounds tied to the UK overbilling issue. Corporate Travel Management has since reached binding agreements with customers covering 86% of that estimated reversal, resulting in agreed refunds totaling approximately 87 million pounds to be paid in stages through September 2027. The company also separately agreed to pay 12 million pounds to resolve contractual uncertainty tied to a limited number of additional UK contracts.
The scale of the accounting cleanup required substantial write-downs across the business. Corporate Travel Management flagged that it expected to impair the entirety of its Europe segment goodwill, valued at roughly 92 million pounds, or about $175.7 million Australian dollars. The company also disclosed further expected goodwill impairments of $77 million in its Australia and New Zealand segment and $49 million U.S. dollars, or roughly $71.1 million Australian dollars, in its North America segment.
In its delayed financial results, Corporate Travel Management reported a statutory net loss after tax of $346.7 million for the 2025 financial year, alongside underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $83.6 million for the same period. The company’s more recently completed 2026 financial year, by contrast, showed a swing back to statutory net profit, with the company pointing to rising underlying earnings and continued progress on its UK customer remediation program as key drivers of the improvement.
The scandal also triggered significant leadership change at the company. Founder Jamie Pherous, who built Corporate Travel Management from its founding in 1994 into one of the world’s largest corporate travel management firms, retired from his role during the crisis, with Ana Pedersen stepping in as acting chief executive to lead the company’s efforts to resolve its accounting matters and stabilize the business through the remediation process.
Despite the turmoil, Corporate Travel Management has maintained that its underlying commercial operations have remained relatively resilient throughout the extended suspension. The company has repeatedly pointed to client retention levels at or above 97% during the crisis period, arguing that limited structural client loss had emerged as a consequence of the prolonged uncertainty, even as some industry figures have publicly questioned the strength of those retention claims.
The company also secured what it described as a rare operational bright spot during the crisis: a reported UK government travel contract worth approximately $53 million, which it said extended a long-standing relationship with the British public sector even as the broader UK investigation and remediation process continued in the background.
Corporate Travel Management operates as one of the world’s five largest corporate travel management companies, providing business, events, leisure, loyalty and wholesale travel services across the Americas, Australia and New Zealand, Europe and Asia. The company derives the vast majority of its revenue from its North American segment, and has said its overall business has grown significantly larger than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global travel demand.
Thursday’s steep share price decline came even as the broader Australian share market traded modestly higher, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index gaining ground in a session largely driven by strength in banking and mining stocks. The muted broader market backdrop offered little cushion for Corporate Travel Management shareholders navigating the stock’s first day back on the exchange.
Analysts covering the stock have generally maintained a cautious stance heading into the relisting, with some pointing to ongoing questions about the true state of the company’s finances, the pace of its remaining UK remediation obligations, and the durability of its client base following such an extended period of uncertainty and reputational damage. At least one major broker maintained a “sell” rating on the stock ahead of Thursday’s resumption of trade, with a price target well below the level at which shares had last traded prior to the suspension.
The dramatic repricing of Corporate Travel Management’s shares illustrates the scale of value destruction that can follow a prolonged trading halt driven by serious accounting irregularities, particularly when a company’s suspension stretches beyond a year and involves substantial goodwill impairments, customer refund obligations and leadership upheaval. For long-term shareholders who held the stock through the suspension, Thursday’s reopening price represents a significant realized loss on paper, even as the company has sought to frame its return to trading as the close of a difficult chapter and the beginning of a more stable period focused on operational recovery.
Corporate Travel Management has said it will continue working with lenders, customers and regulators to finalize the remaining elements of its UK remediation program in the months ahead, while seeking to rebuild investor confidence following one of the more prolonged and costly corporate governance episodes to affect an ASX-listed company in recent years.
According to the Washington Post, US authorities urged Switzerland to drop its extradition request against the businessman before the British courts.
The request was granted by the Swiss authorities, and last May a London court lifted the travel ban placed upon him.
“Switzerland did not present the evidence requested by the English judges to support its extradition request, and therefore the travel ban was lifted,” Betancourt’s lawyer told BBC News Mundo, while acknowledging this does not necessarily mean the end of the Swiss investigations.
According to Axios, in the first minutes after the military operation on 3 January that concluded with US forces seizing Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, Betancourt spoke with then-Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez and convinced her to speak with Rubio.
This version was corroborated by his lawyer.
“He acted as an intermediary,” said Sale. “He had nothing to do with Maduro’s departure, but since he had everyone’s trust, he became an intermediary.”
On Wednesday, Delcy Rodríguez, now interim president of Venezuela, defended Betancourt, saying he has no pending cases in that country or the US.
“Often a person is judged in the media before in the courts,” she said in the oil baron’s defence.
For those who have followed Betancourt’s career for years, one thing is clear.
“He’s very skillful,” Boyd concluded.
“He always manages to be where he needs to be to avoid problems and make money.”
Business
Australian Shares Rebound As ASX 200 Snaps Losing Streak On Wall Street Rally And Falling Bond Yields
SYDNEY — Australian shares climbed Thursday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index on track to snap a three-day losing streak as banks and mining stocks led a broad-based rebound following a stronger session on Wall Street overnight and signs of stabilization in global bond markets.
The ASX 200 traded at 9,013.4 points, up 35 points, or 0.39%, as of 2:23 p.m. AEST, recovering some of the ground lost earlier this week when the index tumbled amid a global selloff tied to escalating Middle East tensions and surging bond yields.
The rebound followed a positive lead from U.S. markets, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%, the S&P 500 gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq finished 0.5% higher. The rally on Wall Street came as U.S. Treasury yields eased slightly, with the 10-year Treasury yield slipping to 4.79%, taking some pressure off equity markets that had been rattled in recent sessions by concerns over inflation and rising borrowing costs.
Expectations for further U.S. Federal Reserve tightening also moderated. Markets were pricing in a roughly 62% to 63% probability of a 25-basis-point interest rate increase at the Fed’s meeting later this month, down from about 67% a day earlier, according to interest rate futures data.
Locally, the improved sentiment came even as several ASX 200 companies traded ex-dividend Thursday morning, a factor that typically weighs mechanically on share prices. Packaging group Amcor, mining giant BHP Group, supermarket operator Coles Group, private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care and energy producer Woodside Energy Group were among the major names trading without entitlement to their most recent dividend payouts. BHP is set to pay shareholders a fully franked dividend of 139.2 cents per share on Sept. 23.
Despite the ex-dividend drag on some large-cap names, banks and miners provided the bulk of the market’s upward momentum Thursday, with the long-resources, short-financials trade that has characterized much of the market’s recent volatility continuing to play out in both directions depending on commodity price movements.
Energy stocks were among the session’s stronger performers after oil prices extended their recent climb overnight. According to Bloomberg data, West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.45% to $90.63 a barrel, while Brent crude gained 0.6% to $95.22 a barrel, as traders continued buying oil in response to an escalation in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The elevated crude prices offered support to ASX-listed energy producers Beach Energy and Santos, both of which were positioned for stronger sessions as a result.
Gold miners also found support after the precious metal’s price climbed overnight. Gold futures rose 0.9% to $4,435.80 an ounce, according to CNBC data, as traders bought the metal following a pullback in both the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields. The move higher in gold prices offered a tailwind for major producers including Newmont Corporation and Northern Star Resources, both of which were tipped for a stronger session on the back of the rally.
Thursday’s gains came as Australia’s corporate reporting season drew to a close, with the latest earnings results painting a broadly positive picture for the market despite the recent bout of volatility. Just under half of ASX 200 companies reported better-than-expected profits during the August reporting period, with earnings beats outnumbering misses by a ratio of roughly 1.5 to 1, the strongest such result in four years, according to data compiled from the reporting season.
The benchmark index touched a record high in early August before paring some of those gains to finish the month up 1.1%, with previously beaten-down sectors including residential property developers and discretionary retailers among the standout performers. Super Retail Group was among the companies posting notable earnings growth during the period, benefiting from a rebound in consumer-facing sectors that had lagged earlier in the year.
Thursday’s session also brought a steady flow of company-specific news across the resources sector. West African-focused gold explorer Many Peaks Minerals reported a high-grade intercept of 36 meters at 2.64 grams per tonne of gold from 600 meters depth at its Ouarigue project in Côte d’Ivoire, with assay results still pending from a further 27 diamond holes and 65 reverse-circulation holes ahead of an updated mineral resource estimate expected around the end of the third quarter.
Separately, Middle Island Resources reported new copper-in-soil anomalies at its Serbian exploration ground, identifying zones measuring 900 by 400 meters at its Jelaca prospect and 600 by 400 meters at Oglavak, with rock chip samples grading as high as 3.21% copper and 26 grams per tonne silver as the company continues testing the broader Priboj area for volcanogenic massive sulphide-style copper mineralization.
This week’s volatility has underscored just how sensitive Australian equities remain to swings in global bond markets and geopolitical developments, particularly the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has driven a marked increase in average daily volatility across the ASX 200 over the past several months compared with the prior year. Analysts tracking the index’s short-term correlations have noted that recent price action has been reactive and headline-driven rather than reflecting a stable underlying trend, with the market’s relationship to bond yields, the Australian dollar and gold prices all shifting noticeably in recent sessions.
Despite Thursday’s rebound, market watchers cautioned that downside risks remain for Australian shares in the near term, given the continued uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve’s policy path, the trajectory of the Middle East conflict and its impact on energy markets, and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s own deliberations over interest rates following recent domestic growth and inflation data. With the ASX 200 still trading below the record high it touched earlier in August, investors are likely to remain focused on how global bond yields and geopolitical developments evolve in the sessions ahead for further direction.
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Business
Power Grid shares gain 1.5% after firm wins Rs 3,244 crore inter-state transmission system project. Should you buy?
State-owned Power Grid, in an exchange filing, said it was declared as a successful bidder under the tariff-based competitive bidding process to establish the transmission system at quoted annual transmission charges of Rs 3,244 crore. The shares of the company rose to Rs 270.75 apiece on NSE on Thursday morning.
The project comprises establishment of 6,000 MW, ±800 kV HVDC terminals at Barmer in Rajasthan and South Kalamb in Maharashtra, along with augmentation of South Kalamb. The project also involves construction of a ±800 kV HVDC bipole line between Barmer-II and South Kalamb (1,000 km) traversing through the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, and construction of 400 kV transmission lines traversing through the state of Rajasthan along with the associated bays. Additionally, Power Grid will also install two SynCon units at Barmer-II PS along with the associated bays.
In late August, Power Grid announced that it acquired Fatehgarh II Transmission, the project SPV to establish an inter-state transmission system for installation of two synchronous condensers (SynCon) units at 765/400/220kV Fatehgarh-II PS, on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis.
Power Grid share price
Power Grid shares have gained nearly 1% over the past week but dropped more than 7% over the past month. The stock has fallen 7% over the past year.
In the longer term, the shares of the state-owned company have jumped more than 41% over three years and 103% over five years. The company has a market capitalisation of over Rs 2.48 lakh crore.
Also read | Which auto stocks should you buy after August sales? Here are Nomura, other brokerages’ top picks
Should you buy, sell or hold Power Grid shares?
Geojit Institutional Equities recently upgraded its rating on the shares of Power Grid to ‘Buy’ with a target price of Rs 303 apiece, implying more than 14.5% upside potential from the stock’s previous closing price of Rs 264.55 apiece. The brokerage, in a post-earnings note, said Power Grid remains the premier proxy on India’s structural transmission capex upcycle, with a multi-year runway underpinned by rising renewable integration, HVDC expansion, and emerging demand from data centres and green hydrogen.
The company’s dominant ISTS positioning, presence across both regulated and competitively-bid frameworks, and steady diversification into telecom, consultancy and grid-support solutions (BESS, synchronous condensers) reinforce long-term strategic relevance, it added.
Also read | Bigger market crash ahead? Analysts weigh how Sensex, Nifty may react if US 10-year bond yield touches 5%
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Former deputy prime minister Kim Beazley has delivered an unapologetic defence of the Aukus pact before an independent inquiry, arguing that acquiring nuclear-powered submarines was vital to Australia’s sovereignty.
Yes. Corporate subscriptions are available for teams and organisations, with discounted rates as user numbers increase. Pricing starts from $1,625 + GST per user.
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Business News subscriptions are used by executives, investors, consultants and professionals who need to stay informed and make better decisions about the WA market. When you subscribe you’ll get
- Unlimited access to WA’s most trusted business journalism
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- MyBN — a personalised feed based on the companies, people and sectors you follow
- Special publications and industry reports
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Data & Insights is a research tool built specifically for the WA market. It draws on more than 30 years of Business News reporting, updated regularly to reflect what’s happening now. Use it to:
- Look up detailed profiles of WA companies, including financials, directors and ownership
- Find decision-makers and track their career movements
- Research live and completed projects across WA industries
- Monitor deals, appointments and market activity
- Access industry rankings and league tables
Data & Insights is updated daily by our dedicated research team, which uses the latest announcements, ASX filings and editorial coverage to keep our person, company, list and project records up to date.
Business News welcome all opportunities to make our dataset accurate, complete and current, so if you have an update request, please email the team at
general@businessnews.com.au, and we’d be happy to assist.
MyBN
is part of every subscription. It’s your personalised view of Business News. You can follow the companies, people, sectors and projects that matter to you, and get a news feed and alerts tailored to your interests. You can save articles to read later and retain only what you need.
Only subscribers have full access to all content on the Business News website.
If staying informed about the WA economy is part of your job, and/or you’re looking for networking opportunities in WA, Business News is built for you.
Business News subscribers are:
- Executives and directors tracking competitors, clients and market movements
- Investors and advisers researching companies, deals and industry trends
- Consultants and professionals staying across sectors relevant to their clients
- Business owners looking for leads, context and market intelligence
Most Business News publications cover national or global markets. Business News is focused entirely on Western Australia, which means the journalism, the data and the intelligence are all built around WA companies, people and projects — not adapted from a national feed. Data & Insights, included with every subscription, combines more than 30 years of WA-specific editorial research with live business data. There’s no comparable product for the WA market.
The Morning Digest Email provides a comprehensive wrap of the major headlines, relevant to WA business, and includes with a snapshot of the overnight news covering oil, gold and ASX-listed companies.
The Afternoon Wrap Email focuses on the news covered by our team of journalists during the course of the working day, including exclusive stories and analysis, all of which relates to WA business and the local economy.
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We’re happy to help.
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Business
Sensex rises over 300 points, Nifty near 24,000 as US bonds yields slightly ease. Why is caution still warranted?
Sensex rose over 300 points, reaching 76,900 on its weekly expiry day, while Nifty 50 gained over 83 points to begin the session near 23,998 on Thursday. Broader markets also opened in the green, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 gaining up to 0.5%.
The market sentiment is likely to look up today following the slight easing of the US bond yields, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments. He noted that a big positive from the rupee perspective is the huge mobilisation of $136 billion under concessional swap facility. The $127 billion mobilised under the FCNR(B) scheme has come way above the consensus estimates. The implication of this from the market perspective is that the rupee will stabilise, imparting confidence to FIIs, according to the analyst.
What lies ahead for Dalal Street?
Despite the renewed optimism, caution is still warranted. US bond yields continue to remain elevated, with the benchmark US 10-year bond yield close to 5%. Oil prices continue to remain above $95 per barrel as uncertainty over US-Iran conflict continues to spook investors.
With improving growth and earnings prospects, FIIs are likely to continue buying in India, despite the elevated US bond yields, Vijayakumar however said. He added that the huge FCNR(B) mobilisation by banks will help improve their NIMs. This is positive for banking stocks.
“An interesting feature of yesterday’s market decline is that the 141 point dip in Nifty happened despite a Rs 9,500 crores of institutional buying, with FIIs buy figure of Rs 6,688 crores and DII buy figure of Rs 2,812 crores. So, it is obvious that the brunt of the selling came from retail investors, proprietary traders and bears who used the market weakness to hammer the stocks down. This is likely to reverse today,” according to the analyst.Technical view on Nifty
Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Investments, said Nifty’s swing higher from 23,800, supports hopes of a push higher, but he is not confident of chasing prices higher either.
The analyst said that the favoured view requires a break above 24,150-24,215 region to signal strength. Downside marker has been placed near 23,860.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
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