Senior staff at the country’s biggest home builder Metricon have been ordered to sit a three-day training course by the building watchdog.

NSW executives required to attend include Metricon’s state director, chief legal officer, chief customer experience officer, general manager, building manager and operations manager.

The beginner-friendly course, which costs $2,250 per person, teaches students how to implement a quality management system to boost customer experiences.

It is one of five conditions the NSW Building Commission placed on Metricon Homes’ licence in August in response to concerns over the company’s handling of complaints, contracting practices and how it assesses quality standards.

It comes amid a 15-month investigation into the company, after the ABC in 2023 revealed the builder had been terminating dozens of fixed-price contracts and the regulator received a surge in complaints.

In an interview with the Business last night, Metricon CEO Brad Duggan denied it was embarrassing for Australia’s largest home builder to have the stringent conditions imposed, and said he supported the Building Commission’s decision.

“We have a very close relationship with the team there and we’re doing everything we can to rebuild our reputation in the NSW environment,” he said.

His full interview with The Business is included below or you can read more on the story here.

Loading…

A strike in the United States by 45,000 dockworkers, which is halting shipments at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports, has entered its second day.

Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) walked off the job on Tuesday after failing to reach an agreement with port owners over a new pay contract.

The industrial action reaches from New York to Texas and is throwing global supply chains into disarray.

Reuters is reporting that the two sides are no closer to reaching a deal, with sources telling the news agency that no negotiations have been scheduled yet.

If the strike drags on, Australians’ weekly shop will not be immune.

“If it’s a one-week strike, [it] has about a six-week flow-on impact,” said Andrew Coldrey, the Asia-Pacific vice-president of mega-shipper CH Robinson.

“The longer the strike, obviously the longer the impacts.”

You can read more about the industrial action and how it will impact your shop in this piece by my colleague Dan Ziffer or watch his  story on The Business here.

Loading…

I couldn’t find a coffee option that worked but here you go Natty

Not a lot of economic news expected today, besides the international trade balance with new vehicle sales and the services PMI.

Companies going ex-dividend include ARB, New Hope and Myer.

As we saw yesterday, markets declined slightly after major escalations in the conflict between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah left investors feeling wary.

But the analysts over at NAB have noted those feelings slightly eased in the last 12 hours or so.

“Risk sentiment has stabilised overnight after Tuesday’s slump on news of Iran’s missile attacks into Tel Aviv,” they wrote in an analyst note.

Oil prices, however, are still trending higher, up another 1.5% or so.

“Now that we’re seeing more direct conflict between Israel and Iran, this changes the equation,” senior energy analyst with MST Marquee, Saul Kavonic, told The Business last night.

“What we need to realise is to date the supply of oil globally has not been impacted by what we’ve seen in the Middle East. But what could happen is we could start to see scenarios where that does happen.”

You can watch his interview below

Loading…

Good morning and welcome to the ABC’s business and finance blog.

The Australian share market is likely to edge higher when trading begins in a few hours, with ASX futures pointing to a 0.1% rise.

It follows a flat session for US markets as investors continued to monitor developments in the Middle East after Israel and the US vowed to strike back following Iran’s attack.

You can read more on the situation as it unfolds on the live blog here.

Analysts say investors are also on the look out for the US jobs report due on Friday, and earnings season starting at the end of next week.

“We’re near all-time highs, and we know we have a friendly Fed out there,” Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Stamford, told Reuters.

“Before they push stocks to another round of new highs, investors want to hear some positive commentary from companies.

“People like that the Fed is very dovish and they are just waiting for another reason to push prices higher.”

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones were both flat, while the Nasdaq gained almost 0.1%.

Let’s get to it.