Aer Lingus has told the trustees of its staff pension scheme that it will not make an additional financial contribution to tackle a deficit of nearly €800 million, the Irish Times reported. Last summer the company told the markets a proposal put forward by the Labour Court that would have involved it investing about €140 million, could form the basis of an agreement for dealing with the estimated €780 million deficit in the Irish Airlines (General Employees) Superannuation Scheme (IASS). However, the Pensions Board subsequently raised concerns about the Labour Court proposal.

The owner of Scotland's largest oil refinery has warned he is not bluffing about threats to close the site permanently this week if 1,300 staff do not agree to pensions cuts, The Guardian reported. Grangemouth, which provides 85% of Scotland's petrol, was shut down last Wednesday in an escalation of a rancorous industrial dispute between Ineos, the plant's owner, and Unite, Britain's largest trade union. Jim Ratcliffe, the chairman of Ineos, said a decision on the site's future would be announced on Tuesday following a staff consultation. "This is not a bluff.

Struggling PV systems supplier, CENTROSOLAR, is seeking creditor protection via the Local Court of Hamburg, PV Tech reported. CENTROSOLAR AG and CENTROSOLAR Sonnenstromfabrik GmbH are seeking to restructure debts under the court's ‘protective shield proceedings’ process and will continue operations during the three-month period allocated under the system. The company said in a statement that Renusol GmbH, CENTROSOLAR America Inc. and CENTROPLAN GmbH were not part of the insolvency proceedings as these subsidiaries were fully financed and were operating profitably or near profitability.

Leading German economists have described as “problematic” last year’s June EU summit conclusions allowing direct recapitalisations of euro zone banks by the ESM bailout fund, the Irish Times reported. In their autumn forecast, provided to the federal government yesterday in Berlin, the four economic institutes said Ireland was still vulnerable to shocks because of continued high levels of debt. However the economists said only limited direct ESM recapitalisations should be allowed when a euro zone banking union is established, comprising joint regulation and oversight structures.

Insolvent German home improvement store chain Praktiker group on Thursday said exclusive talks were under way to sell its upmarket brand Max Bahr stores to rival Hellweg. Praktiker, a household name in Europe's biggest economy, is being sold off piecemeal after the administrator failed to find a buyer for the whole group. "The creditor committee today decided to conduct final negotiations about a takeover with the Hellweg bidder consortium," Praktiker said in a statement that cited Max Bahr's insolvency administrator.

Greece faces tough negotiations with international lenders over a looming fiscal gap in the 2014 budget that could undermine its chances of emerging from a six-year recession, the Financial Times reported. The “troika” – the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund – wants the government to adopt further austerity measures after identifying a potential shortfall of €2bn in the latest budget draft submitted by Athens.

Eurozone watchers are all too preoccupied with saddling German taxpayers with the bill for the bloc’s financial woes. Yet if the more recent euro area convulsions are any guide, it is private investors that usually end up feeling the pinch first, the Financial Times reported in a global insight. All the political chest-beating over common backstops, shared safety nets, banking union and the like has belied a slow march in Europe towards making private creditors swallow more risk, often under duress. That is Berlin’s preferred definition of mutualisation.

Spanish loss-making consumer appliance company Fagor filed for protection from creditors while it tries to refinance its debt, the company said on Wednesday, after suffering a prolonged period of falling sales. Fagor said in a statement it had begun "negotiations with creditors to reach a refinancing agreement to guarantee its financial stability." Under Spanish bankruptcy rules it has four months to reach a deal. Its total debt has risen to 1.1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) according to Thomson Reuters data.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has insisted the door has not been shut on the State’s hopes of the ESM providing funds to directly recapitalise the Irish banks, the Irish Times reported. German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble yesterday said retroactive direct recapitalisation for Ireland was “not probable” and he did not “see any necessity” for such a measure as Ireland was doing very well.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena will sound out foreign investors in London over the next few days to raise support for a hefty 2.5 billion euro (2.11 billion pounds) capital increase that the troubled Italian bank must complete next year. UBS, which is advising the Tuscan lender on the much-needed cash call, is to lead the round of contacts that will in any case be preliminary, a financial source told Reuters on Wednesday.