Europe

A judge has dismissed a bankruptcy petition lodged by tax officials against former England rugby union star Lawrence Dallaglio, The Independent reported. Judge Sebastian Prentis considered Dallaglio’s case at an Insolvency and Companies Court hearing in London on Wednesday. An HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) official told him that a “voluntary agreement” had been reached. The judge had, in May, given Dallaglio time to pay after being told that he owed about £700,000 in tax.

Europe's solar power industry warned on Monday of a "precarious" situation for European solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers as solar PV prices reached record lows, Reuters reported. Industry trade group SolarPower Europe said in a letter sent to the European Commission that European companies risk bankruptcies, which they said would hurt the EU's goal of reshoring 30 GW of the solar PV supply chain. Prices of PV modules have dropped by more than a quarter since the beginning of the year, according to SolarPower.

British discount retailer Poundland said on Tuesday it would buy up to 71 Wilko stores and convert the collapsed homeware and household goods chain's sites into its own brand, Reuters reported. Poundland, which is owned by Warsaw-listed Pepco and has 800 stores in Britain, plans to offer roles to Wilko workers and expects the rebranded stores to open in the fourth quarter of 2023, it added. Wilko fell into administration last month having failed to secure emergency funding to get through a slowdown in trading.

Investor confidence in Germany’s economy improved for a second month, while lingering at a level that will do little to dispel intensifying concerns over the country’s status as Europe’s growth laggard, Bloomberg News reported. The ZEW institute’s gauge of expectations rose to -11.4 in September from -12.3 in August. While that’s better than economists in a Bloomberg survey had predicted, it’s still well below a longer-term average for the indicator. An index of current conditions worsened to -79.4.

Britain’s red-hot labor market showed signs of cooling as unemployment hit the highest level since 2021, the number in work declined and private-sector wage growth eased, Bloomberg News reported. The portion of people out of work and looking for a job rose to 4.3% in the three months through July, the highest since September 2021, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. The report also showed average earnings excluding bonuses rose 7.8% from a year earlier, maintaining the fastest pace since the series began in 2001.

The steep rout in eastern European currencies is raising speculation among market strategists that policymakers will have to slow their plans to ease monetary policy, Bloomberg News reported. The Polish currency dropped 0.7% against the euro, extending its decline to 4% in the past week after a bigger-than-expected rate cut roiled markets. With Hungary already months into an easing cycle and the Czech Republic weighing when it should embark on its own, the three countries led losses across emerging markets.

The European Commission cut its outlook for the euro-area economy, predicting it will be dragged down this year by a contraction in Germany, Bloomberg News reported. Output in the 20-nation currency bloc will rise by 0.8% in 2023, compared with an earlier forecast for 1.1% growth, according to updated projections published Monday by the European Union’s executive arm. Next year’s outlook was lowered by the same amount, to 1.3%. The region’s biggest economy is largely to blame. Germany, which had been expected to grow in 2023, is now facing a decline of 0.4%.

The European Central Bank will remove a capital surcharge on some lenders after they addressed shortcomings in their leveraged finance businesses, Bloomberg News reported. “Some banks have fixed the problems and will see the capital add-on go away,” Andrea Enria, who chairs the ECB’s Supervisory Board, said in an interview in Frankfurt. “Others have not and will keep it for a bit longer.” Enria didn’t name any of the banks involved.

Bank of England policy maker Catherine Mann signaled she’s likely to support further interest-rate increases to combat inflation, warning that investors are pricing in an ever larger premium into UK assets to account for future price shocks, Bloomberg News reported.

The leader of Shropshire Council said the authority considered issuing a notice to declare bankruptcy, but decided against it, BBC.com reported. Inflation and increased demand for services meant the council's reserves were "practically gone". They raised the issue in a cabinet meeting in the same week that Birmingham City Council declared itself effectively bankrupt. Leader Lezley Picton said a plan was in place to control finances. Last year, Ms Picton said adult social care made up 85% of the council's entire budget. Leaving just 15% for everything else.