Businesses across the eurozone are becoming increasingly concerned about the prospect of a further slowdown in economic growth, with a poll by an influential German think-tank indicating that global trade tension is affecting confidence, the Financial Times reported. In its latest survey of the eurozone’s economic climate, the Munich-based Ifo institute said companies’ expectations were increasingly gloomy, reaching their lowest level in more than five years.

Shares in French telecoms group Altice fell 13 per cent in early trade on Thursday, after it reported a fall in sales and warned that margins would be squeezed for the full year as it spent more to win customers. In the second quarter of the year total revenue fell 5 per cent to €3.5bn compared to the same period last year, which included a 6 per cent fall in its telecoms division and a 21 per cent drop in its support services division, the Financial Times reported.

Billionaire Philip Day is in the early stages of a potential bid for British retailer House of Fraser to save it from collapse, Sky News reported on Thursday citing sources. The news comes a day after a rescue deal for House of Fraser was thrown into doubt after C.banner canceled planned fundraising for its deal to become a majority shareholder in the department store, Reuters reported. Day could yet decide not to table a formal proposal to acquire House of Fraser depending upon due diligence and discussions with the company, Sky News said citing one source.

Estate agents aren’t popular at the best of times, but Countrywide Plc, one of Britain’s biggest residential agents, really takes the biscuit. The massively discounted rights issue it announced Thursday will increase the share count by almost six times, a Bloomberg View reported. To nobody’s surprise, the stock plunged almost two-thirds, bringing the decline so far this year to about 85 percent. The share sale is fully underwritten and will raise about 129 million pounds ($169 million) net of fees — a bit more than the market value the previous day.

Profits almost doubled at Serco in the first six months of the year, with the outsourcer heralding the earnings growth as a sign its five-year strategy was yielding results despite “less than ideal” market conditions, the Financial Times reported. A drop-off in contracts sent revenues down almost 9 per cent in the half-year to June from the same period a year earlier to £1.4bn, exacerbated by currency headwinds, as acquisitions failed to offset contracts that came to an end.

Companies raising debt in Europe’s leveraged loan market have crowded the room and spoilt their own party. After raising more than 55 billion euros ($64.3 billion) through the end of July, already 70 percent of last year’s total, they have overwhelmed appetite from previously compliant lenders, Bloomberg News reported. July alone brought loans worth 7.1 billion euros to market, empowering investors to become more fussy and demand better terms. Numerous issuers have been forced to pay more for their debt and to stomach tighter restrictions on loan documentation.

Bonds sold by Italy’s companies are outperforming the country’s sovereign debt, in an unusual situation that suggests investors have more confidence in its corporations than in its government. The Markit iBoxx Total Return index of Italian corporate debt is down 2 per cent so far this year, but the equivalent benchmark for sovereign bonds has fallen 3.3 per cent, the Financial Times reported. Italian energy and consumer goods groups are performing particularly well, as many have significant international revenues that help offset any weakness in domestic performance.

House of Fraser is fighting for its survival after the Hong Kong-listed company that also owns toy shop Hamleys abandoned plans to rescue one of the UK’s oldest and more storied retail chains, the Financial Times reported. C.banner International, a Chinese fashion group, said on Wednesday it was “impracticable and inadvisable” to proceed with acquiring a controlling stake in the department store, which would have given the company a £70m lifeline, because of a collapse of its own share price over the past month.

For Jaguar Land Rover, the only way out of its deep pothole may be to get a tow from China. The luxury unit of Tata Motors Ltd. posted dismal fiscal first-quarter results Tuesday, recording an unexpected pretax loss of 264 million pounds ($346 million) after running into trouble in many of its main markets, Bloomberg News reported. JLR, usually the profit engine for Tata, effectively wiped out a sharp turnaround at the rest of the Indian company’s business. About half the loss was because of China, where lower margins and declining prices weighed on performance.

Italian utility Enel SpA has called a halt to further acquisitions in Brazil for the time being as it gears up to complete asset sales of up to 1.5 billion euros (1.34 billion pounds) in the second half of the year, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. "I don't see appetite for further acquisitions in Brazil at this stage," Enel CEO Francesco Starace told analysts on a conference call on Tuesday after the company released first-half results.