Profits at British utility Centrica slumped 35% last year, hit by a government price cap on some energy bills and the impact of lower natural gas prices on its production business, sending its shares down as much as 17% on Thursday, Reuters reported. The company, whose British Gas unit is Britain’s largest energy supplier, said adjusted operating profit fell to 901 million pounds from 1.39 billion pounds in 2018.

An investigation into how the son of a Co Donegal bankrupt came to own property that had formerly been owned by his father, is being conducted by the official assignee, Chris Lehane. In December last, Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington extended the bankruptcy of PJ Sweeney, of High Cairn, Ramelton, Co Donegal, to July 2025, The Irish Times reported. Mr Lehane told the judge that Mr Sweeney, who was adjudicated a bankrupt in July 2017 because of his debts to the Bank of Ireland, was not engaging with his office and had failed to produce a statement of affairs.

Greek lawmakers approved a restructuring plan for Larco late on Wednesday which Greece called a last attempt to save Europe’s biggest nickel producer, Reuters reported. The European Commission said in November it was taking Greece to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over its failure to recover 135.8 million euros ($147.63 million) of illegal state aid to Larco which is struggling under heavy debt.

Ryanair’s chief commercial officer on Thursday denied any interest in buying Air Italy after press reports linking his group to the loss-making airline, which was put into liquidation by its owners earlier this week, Reuters reported. Air Italy’s owners Qatar Airways and regional carrier Alisarda blamed “persistent and structural market problems” for the decision to pull the plug on Tuesday. Asked about Italian press reports that Ryanair was preparing an offer, chief commercial officer David O’Brien said his group was not interested and had not been approached. “Let’s clear the room ...

Babcock International nudged down its guidance for annual underlying operating profit and wrote down the value of its oil and gas transportation business in the latest blow to the British engineer, Reuters reported. One week after the company announced the retirement of Chief Executive Archie Bethel, Babcock said it would also embark on an improvement and restructuring programme to ensure it remains on track for medium term targets.

Seán Dunne’s Irish bankruptcy trustee has agreed to lift a legal claim registered over a valuable Dublin 4 property which was sold for €14.2 million more than three years ago, the High Court has heard, The Irish Times reported.

A sharper than expected decline in industrial production has weakened the prospects of a recovery in the eurozone economy in the final month of last year, the Financial Times reported. Industrial production in the single currency zone slid 2.1 per cent in December, according to figures published by Eurostat on Wednesday, confirming earlier reports of sharp drops in factory output in Germany, France and Italy. In the year to December, eurozone industrial production was down 4.1 per cent — its weakest performance since the region’s sovereign debt crisis in 2012.

Greece’s spectacular bond rally reached another landmark on Wednesday as the country’s 10-year yield dropped below 1 per cent for the first time, the Financial Times reported. Greek borrowing costs have tumbled to record lows this year in defiance of its “junk” credit rating, as investors pile into corners of the eurozone debt market that offer a positive yield. The recent drop in borrowing costs caps a dramatic turnround since the height of the eurozone debt crisis when the country’s 10-year yield spiked above 30 per cent, effectively locking it out of the market.

The head of Italy’s biggest bank UniCredit and the deputy chairman of No.2 lender Intesa Sanpaolo are among 21 people investigated by state prosecutors in an inquiry into the bankruptcy of flagship carrier Alitalia, a document sent to the people and their lawyers showed, Reuters reported. The document, seen by Reuters, said the investigation relates to the period between Jan. 1, 2015 and May 2, 2017 when the loss-making carrier asked to be put under special administration for the second time in less than a decade.

The European Central Bank has urged Commerzbank to speed up its restructuring efforts with the region’s top financial regulator expressing concern about lacklustre profitability and a bloated cost base at Germany’s second-largest listed lender, the Financial Times reported. The unusually frank assessment of the strategy of a bank that meets all key regulatory requirements was made by an unnamed ECB official who attended a Commerzbank supervisory board meeting, people familiar with events told the Financial Times.