Wesfarmers’ annual profit halved as a result of more than A$1bn in write-offs linked to the sale of Homebase, the Australian retail-to-industrials conglomerate’s disastrous foray into the UK DIY market, the Financial Times reported. The company said on Wednesday that full-year profit for the 12 months through June fell 58 per cent to A$1.2bn (US$861.4m). But it posted strong results from its core Australia and New Zealand businesses, with profit at its continuing operations rising 5.2 per cent to A$2.9bn, slightly ahead of consensus forecasts.

Arnaud Vagner has been a mystery for more than three years. Noble Group, once one of the world’s biggest commodity trading houses, characterized him as a disgruntled former junior employee behind a series of reports by Iceberg Research, an anonymous group that began attacking its accounting practices in 2015, Bloomberg News reported. Even as the combined value of Noble’s equity and debt plunged by about $10 billion since then, Vagner declined to comment publicly or even confirm he was behind Iceberg. With the company now on the brink of a restructuring, he’s ready to talk.

A rally in bonds from China’s local government finance vehicles, sparked by the recent easing measures, may be at risk of losing momentum after a surprise bond default by a state-owned firm on Monday, Bloomberg News reported. Xinjiang Production Construction 6th Shi State-owned Assets Management, a cotton trader owned by the local government, missed interest and principal on a 500 million yuan ($72.6 million) note on Monday. The company has features similar to an LGFV, which raises funds for local authorities and carries out infrastructure investments, according to analysts.

As China girds for an escalating trade fight with the U.S., it is facing increasing trouble on the home front from a slowing economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. Spending on so-called fixed assets such as factory machinery and public works projects cooled to the lowest point in nearly two decades, the government reported Tuesday. Other data also pointed to economic challenges. Retail sales grew, but not as sharply as analysts had expected. And unemployment ticked up to 5.1% last month, from 4.8% in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

An investment arm of western China’s Xinjiang region has failed to repay a Rmb500m ($73m) bond, marking the first public default by a Chinese government-linked holding company, the Financial Times reported. The default by the Sixth Agriculture State-Owned Assets Management Co is the first by an investment holding company and a signal to investors that even state-owned groups that are agents of fiscal policy — considered closer to Beijing than commercially operated state-owned enterprises— are not guaranteed to be bailed out by the state. Sixth Agricultural is a holding compa

Jet Airways India Ltd.’s lenders are reluctant to extend additional loans to the cash-strapped airline ahead of a key report by the company’s financial auditor, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. India’s biggest full-service carrier, part-owned by Etihad Airways PJSC, had approached banks for emergency funding but the lenders prefer that the company raises money from a share sale before they would commit to any fresh credit, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the matter is confidential, Bloomberg News reported.

Struggling commodity trader Noble Group, which is trying to push through a debt-for-equity restructuring in a bid to secure its survival, slumped to another quarterly loss in the second quarter of this year as the Asia-focused commodity house paid out bumper fees to its advisers, banks and creditors, the Financial Times reported.

Investors are fretting about emerging markets again. Turkey is the front-burner concern at the moment, but what really is getting people’s attention is the prospect that the financial problems there could spread to other fast-growing but risky countries, the International New York Times reported. If history is any indication, that has the potential to quickly turn a local crisis into a global one. Or maybe not. Over the last week the value of the Turkish lira collapsed by more than 20 percent, shocking financial markets.

The worst of the plunge in China’s yuan should be behind us. That’s the view of Charles Feng, head of macro trading for Greater China at Standard Chartered Plc., even as drama in Turkey rattles markets worldwide, Bloomberg News reported. Factors pressuring the yuan -- such as trade tension and easing China monetary policy -- are almost priced in, while there’s limited room for the dollar to rise further, he said. Investors could also start seeing a bottom for mainland stocks, which are down more than 20 percent from this year’s peak.

In a related story, The Irish Times reported that Turkey’s economic crisis poses a threat to European banks with business in the country. Spain’s BBVA, Italy’s UniCredit, France’s BNP Paribas, Dutch bank ING and Britain’s HSBC are the most exposed to Turkey and vulnerable to its free-falling currency. Analysts see as manageable even a worst case scenario which they deem unlikely at present – under which these banks would be forced to write off completely their local operations or exit the country.