PizzaExpress has appointed City grandee Allan Leighton as chairman as part of a recapitalisation that hands bondholders ownership of the restaurant chain in exchange for paying down £416m worth of debt, the Financial Times reported. Mr Leighton, a former boss of Asda and chairman of restaurant chain Wagamama, will be joined by David Campbell, previously chief executive of Wagamama.

The housing market acts as the canary in a coal mine — prices tend to fall as a wider economic downturn looms, the Financial Times reported. But this year, with a deep global recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic, property valuations have kept on rising in many countries. House price growth has accelerated to an annual pace of almost 4 per cent among the OECD club of rich countries this year, with even faster rises in Europe and the US.

When Britain’s oldest brewer closed the doors of its 15 City of London pubs after a last hurrah for drinkers on Wednesday night, most of the landlords had no idea when they would open again, the Financial Times reported. Several of these pubs will never emerge from the second national lockdown, according to Shepherd Neame boss, Jonathan Neame — victims of new restrictions that have again sent home thousands of workers who would normally be gearing up for the traditional pre-Christmas City drinks circuit.

An imminent change to insolvency law and a predicted increase in COVID-19-related business failures could significantly impact the cost and availability of credit insurance, the specialist cover specifically designed to protect against bad debt, TheBusinessDesk.com reported. That’s the warning from RBIG Corporate Risk Services who point out that the December 1, return of ‘Crown Preference’ will push lenders and suppliers down the debt payment queue.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it needs to double operations from current levels if it’s to stem losses, delivering a stark assessment of the challenge facing carriers as European governments limit flights with a new wave of coronavirus lockdowns, Bloomberg News reported. Capacity deployment must increase from 25% of year-ago levels at the moment to about 50% in order to meet a goal of returning to positive operating cash flow some time next year, Lufthansa said in an earnings release Thursday.

The EU’s path to recovery from the economic effects of Covid-19 has been set back by the pandemic’s second wave and it will take at least two years for the bloc’s economy to return to pre-pandemic levels, Brussels has warned, the Financial Times reported. The recovery from the EU’s deepest downturn in history will be slower than previously expected, according to new forecasts published by the European Commission on Thursday, as the resurgence in the virus has forced most member states to impose fresh restrictions on activity in recent weeks.

Germany's Commerzbank swung to a third-quarter loss, it said on Thursday, as it dealt with fallout from the coronavirus crisis and continued a restructuring programme, Reuters reported. Germany’s No. 2 bank, which is waiting for new chief executive Manfred Knof to take the helm in January before deciding on a new strategy, confirmed earlier warnings that it was on course for a full-year loss. Its shares had tumbled around 6% by midmorning in Frankfurt after a slightly bigger than expected third-quarter loss. The shares are down around 27% this year.

Czech lender Komercni Banka reported a larger-than-expected 57% drop in third-quarter net profit on Thursday as bad loan provisions grew amid the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. The Czech Republic, like other European nations, is facing a strong second wave of coronavirus infections, forcing the government to shut many retail shops, services and public venues. Banks face the prospect of rising loan defaults as repayment moratoriums expire and the economy struggles to recover.

The euro zone’s economic recovery stalled last month as a second wave of coronavirus cases and restrictions imposed to try and contain it whacked activity in the bloc’s dominant service industry, pointing to a double-dip recession, a survey showed, The Irish Times reported. Alongside their peers, Germany and France -- the 19-country bloc’s two biggest economies -- have reimposed tough lockdown measures, likely dealing a heavy blow this month as restaurants, gyms and shops remain closed and citizens stay at home.

Markets face some disruption in January if Britain and the European Union fail to agree on continued two-way cross-border access, top British regulators said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Britain has left the EU and continued full access to the bloc under a transition arrangement expires on Dec. 31, with the City of London facing patchy access to the bloc in future. The EU is still deciding on how much direct financial market access it can give Britain under a system whereby Brussels deems British rules to be “equivalent” to its own.