At least 42 Irish construction companies have gone into liquidation or examinership since the start of this year, prompting a trade body to warn parliamentarians of an insolvency crisis that could hit public projects, Global Construction Review reported. The Construction Industry Federation, and other sources blamed the crisis on the price inflexibility of government contracts colliding with rising costs. Industry figures claim this collision has depressed profit margins to well below the European average.

In recent weeks, the sometimes-frantic developments in Italian politics and the responses from its European partners have unleashed a dangerous mix of panic and speculation, which risked becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy until the formation of a new government calmed markets, the Financial Times reported. Turbulence was initially triggered by leaks of the agreement between the League and the 5 Star Movement, as the first version provided for an exit clause from the euro and the cancellation of government bonds purchased under the ECB’s quantitative easing programme.

Most customers of collapsed UK brokerage Beaufort Securities will not face any costs as a result of the firm’s insolvency, after administrators PwC revised down its fees, the Financial Times reported. The accountancy firm said on Friday it had reached an agreement with creditors and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to cap fees at £10,000 per customer, with many expected to pay far less than that. Fewer than 10 customers, with large cash accounts, are now expected to take a haircut on their funds following a meeting of creditors held on Wednesday.

Greece’s supreme court has rejected an appeal by the country’s former statistics chief to quash his conviction in 2017 on charges of violation of duty, the Financial Times reported. According to people with knowledge of the decision, which has not yet been officially made public, the supreme court upheld the ruling against Andreas Georgiou, the former president of the statistical agency Elstat, even after the court’s own prosecutor asked for the conviction to be annulled.

Steinhoff International Holdings NV’s Austrian unit is in talks with international insurance companies to find a new credit underwriter for its suppliers, Bloomberg News reported. Rudolf Leiner GmbH, a furniture chain also known by its brand name Kika/Leiner, expects to conclude the search next week, Chief Executive Officer Gunnar George said in a statement Friday. George said he’s in close contact with suppliers in the meantime.

German industrial production unexpectedly fell in April, continuing a run of poor economic news from Europe’s largest economy, Bloomberg News reported. The 1 percent drop in output, along with a shock decline in factory orders reported earlier this week, indicates a moderate pace of expansion at the start of the second quarter. A separate report showed that exports fell 0.3 percent in April, while in France, industrial production also declined. The euro fell after the German data and was down 0.2 percent at $1.1772 as of 9:44 a.m. Frankfurt time.

House of Fraser said it needed to close 31 stores to survive, in a plan likely to result in as many as 6,000 job losses, making the department store group the latest in a long line of retail casualties in Britain, Reuters reported. The closures include the group’s flagship shop on Oxford Street in central London and will leave it with just 28 stores across Britain and Ireland.

The European Central Bank’s chief economist has just shown how determined his colleagues are not to flinch over Italy, Bloomberg News reported. Peter Praet’s message to investors on Wednesday to be ready for a pivotal discussion on quantitative easing on June 14 underlines how officials led by President Mario Draghi are keen to appear unfazed at the political crisis in the region’s third-biggest economy. Within two weeks, the ECB went from watching investors fret over the return of euro zone turmoil to arriving at the cusp of winding down bond buying.

HSBC Holdings Plc’s Steven Major is starting to show a little less conviction on two of his big investment calls of recent years: bullish Treasuries and bearish credit. The shift comes as traders shaken by weeks of turbulence across asset classes regain their footing, Bloomberg News reported. In European credit markets, the biggest high-grade sell-off in more than two years has created a short-term buying opportunity, while Treasuries offer little less value given the Federal Reserve’s policy trajectory, the strategist said in a research note.

An early rebound in embattled eurozone financials on Thursday fizzled out in later trading, as investors remain divided on whether the sector truly represents a long-term buying opportunity, the Financial Times reported. The Euro Stoxx bank index sits near a 19-month low and is down 11 per cent for 2018 but stabilised after European Central Bank officials expressed confidence on Wednesday that the need for aggressive stimulus could conclude by the end of the year as the economy gained momentum and inflation rose.