Johnston Press is exploring options to restructure or refinance its debt, the British regional newspaper publisher said on Thursday in a statement issued after its shares more than doubled, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Top investor activist Custos Group is not in discussions with the company, however, after offering to help refinance it on Tuesday, CEO Christen Ager-Hanssen told Reuters. "I'm not in discussions with them -- not for the moment," Ager-Hanssen said.

Mario Draghi said on Thursday that uncertainty over the eurozone’s inflation outlook is “receding” following years of tepid price growth even while global protectionism poses a “prominent” risk, the Financial Times reported. The European Central Bank president’s remarks come after policymakers on Thursday held interest rates at historic lows and confirmed plans to end the bank’s vast bond-buying programme in December. Mr Draghi said the ECB noted that the “direct effects” of tariffs that have so for been implemented by the US on EU exports have been “limited”.

Intu Properties' chief executive officer is stepping down as the British shopping centre operator swung to a loss and warned of lower rental income growth for the full year, sending its shares down 9 percent to a record low. Intu's update follows a failed 3.4 billion-pound takeover bid by rival Hammerson in April and a string of bankruptcies of retailers that has hit the company hard, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Workers may finally be getting a bigger piece of the economic pie — at least in Europe. Just don’t ask why, or whether it will last. In the decade since the financial crisis, much of the global economy has recovered and is back on stable footing, the International New York Times reported. Companies are reporting record profits, unemployment levels are plummeting and overall global growth is back on track. Wages in most developed countries, however, have barely budged. The economic puzzle has ramifications for global political as well as financial stability.

Having just two final bidders in the mix for €2.2 billion of non-performing loans (NPL) was probably not what Permanent TSB (PTSB) chief executive Jeremy Masding would have wanted. While any corporate financier would tell you that it’s best to have three parties in the final shake-out to keep everyone honest, PTSB has to make do with US private equity firm Lone Star and hedge fund Elliott Management submitting binding final bids by a deadline on Wednesday evening, The Irish Times reported.

Greece is scheduled to exit its marathon bailout this summer after hitting the tough fiscal targets set by its creditors. But the country has done so by raising taxes so high that they are strangling the small businesses that form the backbone of its economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. At the Dandy restaurant in downtown Athens, owner Charalampos Bonatsos said rising taxes have forced him to lay off half his staff and cut his remaining workers’ wages. He said he still struggles to cope with the last three years’ increases in corporate income tax, property tax and sales tax.

Deutsche Bank AG vowed to maintain its position in fixed-income trading after recording its weakest second quarter in that business since the global financial crisis, as Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing accelerates the lender’s turnaround effort, Bloomberg News reported. Income from buying and selling fixed-income securities slumped 17 percent from a year earlier to 1.37 billion euros ($1.6 billion), the lowest figure for the period since 2008, Germany’s largest bank said on Wednesday. The five largest U.S.

German business expectations declined for the eighth month in a row in July even as the current assessment brightened, amid persistent concerns over the Washington-led trade battle, according to new data released on Wednesday. The Ifo Institute’s gauge of business expectations in the eurozone’s largest economy slipped to 98.2 in July from 98.5 in the previous month, the Financial Times reported. It ended last year at 102.7. Germany has a large, open economy with a big factory sector, meaning headwinds to global trade have an outsize effect on the country.

Banks from Britain must draw up plans showing how they will staff and operate their new bases in the European Union after Brexit to avoid ending up with "empty shells,” the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. It is the clearest sign yet that the shift in banking jobs from Britain may rise significantly from the modest 3,500 to 12,000 forecast in the short term by the City of London financial district. About 20 banks have applied so far for licences to open bases or expand existing ones in the eurozone by March 2019.

Amid rising rates, ballooning debt levels and widening spreads there’s one statistic that gives comfort to credit investors: default rates. Insulated by cheap money from the QE era and bolstered by cash on their balance sheets, it remains rare for companies in Europe and the U.S. to miss debt payments, Bloomberg News reported. Among higher-risk speculative-grade firms the default rate fell to 2.9 percent last quarter, and may drop further to 2.1 percent by year-end, according to Moody’s Investors Service.