German industrial production rose by less than economists had expected in July, fuelling concerns about whether the nascent recovery in the eurozone’s pandemic-stricken economy is running out of steam, the Financial Times reported. The 1.2 per cent month-on-month rise in German industrial output in July reported by the Federal Statistical Office on Monday was the third consecutive month of growth.

More than a quarter of companies forced to take on extra debt to survive the pandemic have warned they may need to cut back their operations, highlighting a mounting crisis that economists warn could hold back business recovery in the UK, the Financial Times reported. More than 40 per cent of companies took on debt during the crisis, according to a survey conducted by the British Chambers of Commerce and banking group TSB. While one in four warned over their future growth plans, about a tenth said they may cease trading altogether.

Banks calculate that two-thirds of those in long-term arrears on their mortgage repayments ultimately risk losing their homes, it has emerged, The Irish Times reported. About 26,000 people are 720 days or more behind with their home-loan repayments, classing these debts as being in long-term arrears. An email from Central Bank economist Fergal McCann, responding to questions from consumer rights campaigners, says information from lenders suggests that two-thirds of the long-term mortgage arrears group have “loss of ownership flagged as the banks’ resolution path”.

The euro zone's rebound from its deepest economic downturn on record faltered in August, surveys showed on Thursday, with some countries in the bloc suffering more than others from restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Overall growth in the dominant service industry - which has been harder hit than manufacturing from lockdown measures - almost ground to a halt, suggesting the long road to recovery will be bumpy.

France has launched a €100bn plan to rescue its economy from the coronavirus crisis with big investments in green energy and transport as well as industrial innovation, the Financial Times reported.  Announcing the “France Relance” (France Relaunch) plan in Paris on Thursday, Prime Minister Jean Castex said its “historic ambition and size” made it almost four times as large as the national plan introduced after the 2008 financial crisis. At 4 per cent of gross domestic product, it was the “most massive” plan unveiled in Europe so far relative to the size of the economy, he

Melrose Industries has posted a £685m half-year loss as the FTSE 100 buyout specialist and owner of car and aircraft parts maker GKN was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the Financial Times reported. The buyout group, which purchased GKN in a £8bn hostile takeover in 2018, said its revenues for the six months to July fell by a little more than a quarter to £4.1bn.

Scandinavian carrier SAS AB has secured enough backing from bondholders for a debt-to-equity plan that it says is needed to stave off bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. At a crunch meeting in Stockholm on Wednesday, an overwhelming majority of creditors voted in favor of the proposals to convert their holdings into equity and new notes, according to Lars Lonnquist, a portfolio manager at Spiltan Fonder AB and acting chairman of a committee of SAS noteholders.

Israeli-Russian businessman David Sapir has offered to buy joint control of financially strapped El Al Israel Airlines, promising to use his business ties to return Israel’s flag carrier to profitability, Reuters reported. Sapir, whose businesses include infrastructure, telecoms and tourism, has offered to pay $51 million for 190 million new shares in El Al, which is the same amount of shares held by controlling shareholder Knafaim Holdings (KNFM.TA), and a 20% premium to El Al’s closing share price on Tuesday in Tel Aviv.

Europe will create thousands of “zombie companies” and lose competitiveness against the US and other countries if it keeps extending state aid to shield the economy from the coronavirus pandemic, Deutsche Bank’s chief has warned, The Irish Times reported. Christian Sewing told a conference in Frankfurt on Wednesday that “Europe threatens to suffer again from its greatest weakness. We are relatively good at counteracting the symptoms of a crisis.

While the new board of IL&FS and the directors appointed by it on the subsidiaries of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) have immunity from prosecution in India for the actions of the group in the past, they may not have the same protection in cases filed against the group firms outside the country, The Indian Express reported.