National Australia Bank Ltd.'s restructuring of its U.K. operations is on track and the unit is now profitable, however it continues to face challenges in a difficult U.K. market, its chief executive said, The Wall Street Journal MarketWatch reported. Consumer and business confidence in Australia also remains "fragile," and both companies and individuals here will likely remain reluctant to commit to major investments until sentiment regarding the economic outlook improves, Cameron Clyne said Sunday in an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corp.'s Inside Business program. Mr.

Nathan Tinkler became Australia's youngest billionaire in record time thanks to a series of aggressive bets on the country's coal mining sector, Reuters reported. But the man who started his career as a pit electrician acknowledged on Thursday he may have attempted one risky deal too many, leaving him with an undiversified portfolio that was heavily exposed to plummeting coal prices. "I got left holding the can," Tinkler told an Australian court during a grilling about his failure to pay junior coal explorer Blackwood Corp Ltd A$28.4 million ($29.1 million) for an agreed share placement deal.

Embattled Australian coal tycoon Nathan Tinkler appeared in a Sydney court on Thursday to face a public grilling for the first time over the state of his finances, as creditors seek to recover millions of dollars in unpaid debts, Reuters reported. Tinkler, 37, flew in from his home in Singapore having been threatened with arrest if he failed to present himself in the New South Wales Supreme Court. He lost a last-minute bid to avoid questioning over a A$28.4 million ($29.1 million) debt to junior coal explorer Blackwood Corp Ltd.

Receivers have been appointed to Becton Property Group after the company failed to reach an agreement with its consortium of bankers led by Goldman Sachs, The Australian reported. Goldman Sachs and consortium partner Fortress Investment Group have called in two major loans to Becton totalling $200 million. That move has placed the listed headstock Becton Property Group Ltd and associated entities Becton Pty Ltd, Becton Group Holdings Pty and Becton Construction Group Pty Ltd into receivership.

Debtholders of Australian and New Zealand print and logistics provider Geon Group — KKR & Co. and Australia’s Allegro Funds — have placed the company into administration and subsequently made an offer to buy the business out of receivership, according to an internal memorandum seen by Deal Journal Australia. In a note to all Geon staff, Chief Executive Graham Morgan said offers for the business will be taken by receiver McGrathNicol. “I have been advised that KKR and Allegro, collectively known as KKRM, have already submitted an offer for the business,” Mr. Morgan said in the memo.

More than 450 workers are not returning to their jobs today, as transport and logistics company Wettenhalls collapsed on Friday afternoon, SmartCompany.au reported. The business has been operating for almost 90 years and has a turnover of approximately $120 million per annum and has 14 sites nationally. BDO administrators Luke Targett, Rachel Burdett-Baker and Dennis Turner have been appointed as voluntary administrators. Independently, Ferrier Hodgson partners Brendan Richards and George Georges were appointed receivers and managers of the Wettenhalls business on Friday, January 25.

The 80 shareholders of Australian Sugar Cane Feeds are meeting today after the farming feed and mulch business collapsed, leaving them $13 million in the red, SmartCompany.au reported. ASCF is based on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and produces a feed product made from sugarcane called Cow Candy and a mulch product called Hydrocane. The business had 12 employees and customers across Asia and Australia.

Auckland-based organic food company Pitango has been placed into receivership along with its Australian parent company, which is understood to owe millions of dollars to its creditors, Stuff.co.nz reported. Pitango, with around 25 staff, makes a range of soups, curries, risottos, sauces and pastas which are sold in supermarkets. Receivers Ferrier Hodgson said in a statement that Pitango's parent company, Gourmet Food Holdings, had been placed into receivership and that included Pitango, Australian tomato sauce firm Rosella, and Australian biscuit firm Waterwheel.

The Australian government was granted permission by a court on Friday to prepare legal action against coal baron Nathan Tinkler as creditors close in on the former billionaire, Reuters reported on Saturday. The New South Wales Supreme Court gave the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation leave to prepare a case against Tinkler's holding company, the latest of a series of legal actions over unpaid bills and commercial disputes.

Liquidators have been appointed to a private company owned by struggling Australian mining magnate Nathan Tinkler over a A$28.4 million ($29.6 million) debt, exposing the coal baron to extensive scrutiny of his finances, Reuters reported. The New South Wales Supreme Court ordered on Tuesday that Mulsanne Resources Pty Ltd be wound up, suspending Tinkler's powers as a director of the company and giving liquidators access to its books to recover the money owed to junior coal company Blackwood Corp Ltd.