🗞️ LinkedIn top company rankings

Good morning. LinkedIn's Top Companies list for 2026 is out and CommBank took the top spot.

The ranking uses 8 pillars of LinkedIn platform data. It sounds rigorous until you realise it rewards large, structured companies almost by default.

The list signals brand strength and internal mobility. As a guide to where you actually want to work, it tells you almost nothing.

All the headlines and more below...

BEGA'S YOGHURT SALES UP 8.5% A YEAR AS PROTEIN POUCHES BECOME COMMUTER STAPLES

Bega Group says yoghurt is now the fastest-growing category in Australia's $2.3B dairy sector, driven by young people chasing extra protein and eating breakfast on public transport. The company expects the surge to help lift overall profit by nearly 40% by 2031.

Bega's 15g protein pouches from Farmers Union and bottled Dairy Farmers protein smoothies are selling particularly well. TikTok trends showing people on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs using yoghurt to hit protein targets are amplifying demand. One market accelerator founder says it's now common to see commuters drinking high-protein yoghurt pouches on trams.

The spreads market is growing at just 1% a year. Bega signed 18-year-old sprinter Gout Gout as a Vegemite ambassador in February and released jars with his name repeated twice on the label in an attempt to make a 102-year-old yeast paste relevant to Gen Z.

Analysts say the profit outlook doesn't include acquisitions, which seems likely given Bega spent $560M buying Lion's dairy business in 2020.

AUSTRALIAN & GLOBAL NEWS

• The RBA is under pressure to lift rates again as March quarter headline inflation jumps 1.1% to 4.6% annually, driven by a 32.8% petrol price surge. LINK

• Australian consumers face new inflationary pressure as plastic resin prices surge due to Middle East supply shocks and Strait of Hormuz disruption, hitting packaging for milk and cosmetics. LINK

• The United Arab Emirates has announced it will leave OPEC and OPEC+ from 1 May after nearly 6 decades in the cartel, citing a long-term strategic energy shift. LINK

• Headline inflation in Australia has surged to 4.6% in March from 3.7% in February as CPI rose 1.1%, driven by a 32.8% jump in automotive fuel prices. LINK

• A report from the John Curtin Research Centre, backed by the SDA, has warned that Australia lacks a national workplace AI strategy, risking intensified surveillance, unsafe workloads and job insecurity. LINK

• Visa has beaten Wall Street quarterly profit estimates as resilient US consumer spending lifted its payments volume by 9% in the second quarter despite macroeconomic uncertainty. LINK

ALDI'S PROFIT DROPPED 19% AS WOOLWORTHS AND COLES TOOK BACK MARKET SHARE

Aldi posted $337M in profit for 2025, down from $417M the year before. Sales grew 4.8%, the slowest pace since the German discounter entered Australia in 2001. Two years ago it was posting double-digit growth. Now it's losing ground in bakery, fresh food, beauty and snacking.

Circana data from the 8 weeks to late December showed unit sales down 4.2%. Bakery fell 7%, fresh food 4%, beauty 8.9%. Woolworths and Coles both reported grocery sales growing faster than the market, analysts say that's share taken from Aldi, not from each other.

JPMorgan found Coles now sits 10.4% more expensive than Aldi, the widest margin since mid-2023. Woolworths held steady at 9.1% above. Aldi cut prices on bakery in response and says it won't be beaten on the weekly shop.

Despite the profit drop, the Albrecht family pulled $400M in dividends from the Australian business. Since 2022, they've taken more than $2B out of the local operation while the business contracts.

COMPANY NEWS

• Tabcorp has permanently banned at least 8 high-profile professional gamblers including Stephen Fletcher from using its app and venues as it says they fall outside its risk appetite. LINK

• Bega Group reported that Australia’s US$2.3B yoghurt category is growing at 8.5% annually, driven by protein-focused young consumers and social media GLP-1 weight-loss trends. LINK

• G8 Education is suspending operations at 40 underperforming childcare centres, about 10% of its 395-site network, as occupancy slumps to 56.1% amid affordability pressures and abuse scandal fallout. LINK

• Aldi has reported FY25 Australian sales of $13.94B, up 4.8%, while profit fell 19% to $337.4m as it lost market share to Woolworths and Coles. LINK

• Sydney’s Northern Beaches hospital has been transferred from Healthscope to NSW Health after an 8-year troubled public-private partnership highlighted by a 2024 child death in its emergency department. LINK

• Woodside reported a 7% rise in March quarter operating revenue to US$3.26B as average realised prices climbed 11% to US$63 per barrel of oil equivalent despite cyclone-hit production. LINK

• Kmart has launched the viral Sheglam beauty brand in all its Australian stores with a 197-product, low-priced collection, as the Shein-owned label reports 100M 2024 sales. LINK

SHEIN'S BEAUTY BRAND JUST DROPPED 197 PRODUCTS IN EVERY KMART

Sheglam, the cosmetics arm of fast fashion giant Shein, has rolled out a 197-product range exclusively through Kmart stores nationwide. The brand racked up over 20B views on TikTok under #Sheglam and sold more than 100M products globally in 2024.

Prices sit in the single digits to low teens, putting it below MCoBeauty and well under department store labels. The range includes everything from lip products to eyeshadow palettes, aimed squarely at Gen Z shoppers already buying Shein clothing online.

The timing follows Myer and David Jones both signing deals with premium beauty labels, a move economists attribute to the "Lipstick Effect", shoppers trading down from big-ticket luxury to small indulgences during downturns. Kmart appears to be betting the same psychology works in reverse at the budget end.

Shein now has physical shelf space in Australia's highest-traffic discount retailer without needing its own stores.

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Editor’s Pick: Our favourite geography game for your entertainment.

Draft Pick: FIFA allows Afghan women's football team to return to international competition.

Odd Pick: Florida bill to ban marrying first cousins fails to pass.

TRIVIA

How many eyes do honeybees have?

Answer below

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ANSWER

They have 2 compound eyes made up of thousands of tiny lenses and 3 ocelli, which are more like light sensors but still count as eyes.

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