Pessimism in France and Spain dragged down economic sentiment across the eurozone, according to official statistics published on Thursday, as a drop in confidence among consumers and industry outweighed a more optimistic outlook from the retail trade and construction sector, the Financial Times reported. The economic sentiment indicator fell 0.7 points to 110.9 in September, flash data from the European Commission showed. Economists polled by Thomson Ruters had expected a shallower drop, to 111.2.

Russian potash producer Uralkali announced legal action against the administrators of the Force India Formula One team on Thursday after having a bid rejected in what it called a “flawed sale process,” Reuters reported. The company said in a statement it was seeking substantial damages in the London High Court for “prejudicial and unequal treatment”. Joint administrators Geoff Rowley and Jason Baker, for FRP Advisory LLP, said they were confident the claim would be dismissed “at the earliest opportunity”.

Alitalia returned to a net profit of 2 million euros ($2.35 million) in the third quarter, Stefano Paleari, one of the commissioners managing the airline, said on Wednesday in a sign that the fortunes of the airline were slowly improving, Reuters reported. Once a symbol of Italy’s post-war economic boom but recently in trouble due to low-cost carriers and high speed trains, Alitalia was put under special administration last year after workers rejected its latest rescue plan.

Europe’s banking watchdog has backed a recommendation by the Maltese financial regulator to withdraw Pilatus Bank’s banking license following the indictment of its chairman for money laundering, Reuters reported. EBA’s move puts pressure on the European Central Bank which is expected to make a decision on whether to withdraw Pilatus’s license as early as this week. A spokesman for the ECB declined to comment. In a letter, dated Sept.

Mitie’s shares fell as much as 8 percent on Wednesday after the British outsourcing group said it expects flat to lower operating profit and higher debt in the first half of the year, largely due to increased technology costs, Reuters reported. Mitie, which provides engineering, security and cleaning services to clients including Sainsbury’s, Vodafone and Rolls-Royce, is focused on technology investment and employee retention in a turnaround plan.

French consumers are becoming increasingly nervous. A closely watched indicator of consumer confidence dropped again in September and remains below its historical average, as citizens worried their financial stability and standard of living would decline over the coming year, the Financial Times reported. Households’ confidence in the economic situation declined by two points to 94, below analyst expectations of 97 according to a Thomson Reuters poll and its lowest level since April 2016, data released on Wednesday by Insee showed.

The Greek government is owed so much in tax arrears from households and companies that it could pay off more than half its massive public debts if it collected it all. Unfortunately for the government, that's unlikely to ever happen, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. Data from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue show tax arrears totaled 182.5 billion euros ($214 billion) on Aug. 10, according to a note sent from the agency to parliament last week and seen by The Associated Press Wednesday.

Giovanni Tria turns 70 on Friday. Whether Italy’s finance minister gets to enjoy his celebrations will probably hinge on events the day before, when he will announce borrowing and spending targets with the potential to send tremors through financial markets and trigger the fury of Brussels.

Egyptian officials plan to launch Asian and European tours starting in the week after next to market international bonds, which will be offered when the time is right, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said on Tuesday. Egypt plans to issue Eurobonds worth about $5 billion in the coming months, Reuters reported. “The week after next, we will start promotional tours in the Asian markets, then Europe in preparation for issuing Eurobonds bonds,” Maait said at a business event in Cairo.

Britain's largest private healthcare group, BMI Healthcare, is nearing a 2 billion pounds restructuring deal that could cut millions of pounds from its annual rent bill, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. An announcement under which BMI's rent bill will be cut by about 60 million pounds is likely to be made imminently, the source told Reuters.