Shares in Britain’s Kier fell more than 35% on Friday to a record low after the Times newspaper reported the construction and services group was rushing to sell its housebuilding business at a discount to cut mounting debt, Reuters reported. The report was the latest setback for the group, which has contracts for major projects including London’s Crossrail link, following a profit warning last week. The shares fell as much as 36.3% to 129 pence by 1415 GMT, the lowest since it listed in 1996, erasing all of the 24% gains made since Kier’s profit warning on June 3.

A leading contender to head the European Central Bank has warned of “bleak” indications about the health of the global economy and said a breakdown in co-operation was paralysing officials’ ability to fight the next crisis, the Financial Times reported. Benoît Cœuré, a member of the executive board of the ECB, said in an interview that markets were sending a “quite alarming” message that was at odds with benign economic data. “The constellation of prices in the bond market paints a picture of the global economy which is very bleak,” Mr Cœuré told the Financial Times.

Thousands of customers of two failed pension providers can now claim for losses after the Financial Services Compensation Scheme declared the firms in default, the Financial Times reported. GPC Sipp and Lifetime Sipp are the latest in a string of private pension operators to collapse, prompting a wave of compensation claims at the FSCS. The FSCS, which provides a safety net for customers of failed investment businesses, said it was accepting claims against GPC Sipp, which was placed into administration on Tuesday.

Banca Popolare di Bari SCpA, an ailing Italian lender, is in advanced negotiations with an international credit fund over insuring its loans against default, seeking an easier way to reduce risk on its balance sheet, Bloomberg News reported. The potential transaction, known as a synthetic securitization, involves buying insurance from Christofferson Robb & Co, thereby transferring the risk of the loans going sour to the fund in return for a fee, according to people familiar with the talks.

A Danish high court has increased the prison sentence for a former manager of OW Bunker’s Singapore arm to five years, after prosecutors appealed against the original 18-month sentence for actions that contributed to the marine fuel supplier’s collapse, Reuters reported. OW Bunker filed for bankruptcy in 2014 just eight months after listing in Copenhagen, partly due to losses on an estimated $120-$130 million credit line given by its Singapore-based arm to small local company, Tankoil Marine Services.

Five potential investors showed up for the rescue of Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli, the company said on Friday without naming the suitors, Reuters reported. The Tuscan company received three binding offers for taking over the whole group, one binding proposal for just some assets, as well as a non-binding expression of interest. In the next few days the board will look at the bids along with company’s main shareholder Clessidra, with the aim of choosing the best offer to ensure the industrial continuity of the luxury group, a source close to the matter said.

European Union finance ministers are on Thursday discussing new rules that would make it easier to restructure euro zone sovereign bonds, a draft document shows - a move that could drive up yields of high-debt states, Reuters reported. Under the measure, part of a set of reforms that could be approved at Thursday’s meeting, holders of debt issued by one of the 19 euro zone countries would find their power to block bond restructuring or haircuts vastly reduced. If approved, it would apply to bonds issued on or after Jan.

Industrial output in the eurozone dropped in April, hit particularly by falling car production, adding to concerns of a prolonged slowdown in the region that may in turn apply pressure on the central bank, the Financial Times reported. Monthly output dropped 0.5 per cent, compared with March, the regional statistics office said on Thursday, in line with a Reuters poll of analysts. The Eurostat March figure showed a decline of a revised 0.4 per cent.

The German government has said the country’s economy will face sustained headwinds in the coming months, as global trade tensions hit its export industries and the labour market shows signs of a slowdown, the Financial Times reported. Germany’s economy grew 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, in part because of strong consumer spending. But in a statement, the German economy ministry said the outlook for the second quarter “remains muted”.

EU finance ministers and officials have warned Italy that it needs to bring its public finances back into line with the bloc’s rules, saying previous commitments to rein in its debt must be honoured, the Financial Times reported. Arriving at an EU meeting in Luxembourg, France’s economy minister urged Rome to “accept the hand” extended by the European Commission, which last week warned Italy that it was in breach of its obligations while stressing that Brussels was open to discussions on what action needs to be taken.