Wonga co-founder Errol Damelin used to tell critics that “we are the good guys”, who would reach a $1bn Nasdaq listing by disrupting traditional banks that treated customers unfairly, the Financial Times reported. But when the company fell into administration on Thursday — having never made it to IPO — many observers were celebrating its demise. The company is the most prominent among hundreds of payday lenders that have gone out of business in the UK since the Financial Conduct Authority enforced a cap on charges in 2015.

Activity in UK factories expanded at the slowest rate in more than two years during August as weaker global growth led to the first fall in export orders since 2016, a survey of executives said on Monday. The monthly IHS Markit purchasing manufacturers index fell to 52.8 in August compared with 53.8 in July, anything above 50 is said to indicate an expansion while anything below means a contraction, the Financial Times reported. This was the survey’s lowest reading for 25 months. Analysts had expected the pace of growth in the sector to remain the same as the previous month.

A deal with creditors has finally given Agrokor boss Fabris Perusko time to focus on leading the Croatian food group back from the brink of bankruptcy and fighting off international competition, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The former McKinsey & Company consultant was promoted in February from the board of Tisak, a chain of newsagents owned by Agrokor, to restructure the parent company. But the Croatian was promptly distracted by months of difficult talks with creditors.

Europe’s failure to reform out-dated pension systems has created a “ticking time bomb” for the region’s public finances, accord to HSBC Holdings Plc, Bloomberg News reported. Those nations with the highest debt levels are the most at risk, while political U-turns on recent reforms threaten to compound the situation, the London-based bank said. Italy could see its borrowings rise to 150 percent of economic output by 2040, even without the populist government’s proposed rollbacks.

Farmers' cooperative Arla Foods, one of the world's biggest dairy firms, plans to pay out its entire 2018 net profit of up to 310 million euros (278.48 million pounds) to its members after one of the hottest and driest summers on record. The firm, owned by 11,200 farmers in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Britain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium, traditionally pays only a part of its profit to owners, but said it would make an exception this year due to the drought, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Britain’s biggest payday lender Wonga Group collapsed on Thursday, putting its operations in the country into administration, Reuters reported. Privately owned Wonga, which initially enjoyed rapid growth via its short-term, high interest lending often to troubled borrowers, fell into difficulty in recent years after scrutiny of its practices led to a cap on interest on payday loans. “A decision has been taken to place Wonga Group Limited, WDFC UK Limited, Wonga Worldwide Limited and WDFC Services Limited into administration,” Wonga said in an email.

Panasonic has cited the risk of Brexit upheaval for the decision to shift its European headquarters from the UK to the Netherlands in the autumn. The electronics company on Thursday justified its move by saying that Britain’s departure from the EU may result in changes to the transfer of labour, product, materials, services and data, as well as “potential fiscal obstacles by the application of different rules and regulations between the UK and EU,” the Financial Times reported.

German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann signaled Thursday that he might support the creation of a common eurozone budget that could help improve the region’s competitiveness and assist crisis-hit countries, but only as part of a fundamental reform of European Union funds, The Wall Street Journal reported. The comments from Mr. Weidmann, a longtime critic of greater risk-sharing across the currency bloc, come amid an intense political debate over reforms that could strengthen the 19-nation currency bloc.

Deep cost cutting at the troubled newspaper publisher Johnston Press helped it maintain profits despite a dip in digital revenues as Google and Facebook tightened their grip on the online advertising market, The Telegraph reported. The publisher of the i, the Scotsman and scores of local titles is in a race against time to agree debt restructuring with its lenders before a repayment deadline next summer that threatens to tip it into administration. First half turnover was down 10pc on last year to £93m, as among the main lines of business only the i registered growth.

The High Court has granted a temporary injunction preventing an Irish registered aviation company linked to a controversial Russian businessman from going into voluntary liquidation, The Irish Times reported. Mr Justice Michael Quinn made an interim injunction preventing the members of City Leasing DAC, which has registered address in Limerick from holding a meeting of its members, who were due to consider a resolution to wind up the company. The company is beneficially owned by Rashid Mursekayev, who has extensive interests in the aviation industry.