The U.K. economy sank into a recession in the final six months of 2023, marking it out as one of the weakest performers among developed nations, hit by high inflation and interest rates that stifled household spending, official data confirmed Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.K. gross domestic product shrank 0.3% between October and December, matching prior data from the Office for National Statistics published in February.

Multiple bidders have put in offers to buy the business and assets of bankrupt Swedish textile recycler Renewcell, the company’s bankruptcy trustee said Thursday, BoF reported. The process has been closely watched by many in the industry, keen to see a business that represented one of fashion’s most advanced prospects to meet increasing demand for circular fibres revived. The nature of the bids and the names of the bidders were not disclosed. A final closing is expected mid-April following a review process.

The collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is likely to lead to a multi-billion dollar insurance loss, the chairperson of commercial insurance market Lloyd's of London said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The massive Singapore-flagged container ship Dali sailing out of Baltimore Harbor bound for Sri Lanka reported losing power and the ability to maneuver before plowing into a support pylon of the bridge on Tuesday.

Lawmakers with Poland’s ruling pro-European Union coalition launched a rare process Tuesday to bring the central bank chief before a special court on allegations of acting against the country’s financial interests, the Associated Press reported. The result could ban him from political life. Critics of the effort suggested that the ruling coalition was going too far in its attempts to reverse the actions of Poland’s previous right-wing government, which were widely seen as undemocratic, and hold those responsible to account.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal pledged more cuts to unemployment welfare, risking a backlash ahead of European elections as he seeks to tame a runaway budget deficit and press on with President Emmanuel Macron’s economic-reform agenda, Bloomberg reported. The government will instruct businesses and labor unions that manage France’s unemployment insurance to negotiate the details of changes to be implemented in the fall, Attal said in an interview on TF1 television.

Following the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, automakers must navigate a possible disruption to their supply chain, Yahoo Finance reported. Baltimore is a key U.S. port for automotive imports and exports. Alliance for Automotive Innovation CEO and President John Bozzella joins Market Domination Overtime to discuss how the industry will be impacted. Bozella claims Baltimore is the top port for automotive imports and exports of parts and vehicles. There is "no question there's gonna be some impact on the industry, what we don't know is the extent of the impact," he says.

UBS has sealed the sale of Credit Suisse's securitized products business to Apollo Global Management as part of efforts to shed non-core assets after its takeover of the collapsed banking group, Reuters reported. Apollo will purchase $8 billion of "senior secured financing facilities,” UBS said on Wednesday, adding that it expects to make a net gain of about $300 million from the deal in the first quarter of 2024. The agreement is a renegotiation of the deal Credit Suisse had reached with the U.S. buyout fund in the Swiss banking group's last-ditch attempts at a revamp to avoid collapse.

Rishi Sunak has denied there is a “crisis” in local government funding despite warnings that well-run councils are on the brink of bankruptcy and local services at risk without more support, The Guardian reported. The prime minister admitted that councils faced “challenges,” in particular with inflation, which has significantly outpaced recent cash injections, at the cross-party liaison committee.

According to an official statement from Esprit, the bankruptcy of the Swiss subsidiary and the closure of the branches were “unavoidable,” Swissinfo.ch reported. “Global economic development, combined with a sharp increase in energy and logistics costs as well as negative consumer sentiment and, last but not least, the high rents for our branches, ultimately made it impossible to continue our business,” Esprit Switzerland Retail said in a statement. The Swiss Esprit subsidiary’s over-indebtedness amounted to around CHF12 million at the end of 2023.

Van Hool's bankruptcy is now unavoidable, crisis manager Marc Zwaaneveld (appointed in early 2024) said in an interview with De Standaard, Sustainable Bus reported. Production of trambuses for Paris is a high risk as well, as he specifically stated that those buses "cost too much to make.” Van Hool announced its plan to stop production of city buses (and relocating business in Macedonia) on 11th March. Later on, the company asked for protection from creditors.