Italian directory company Seat Pagine Gialle SpA bonds dropped Wednesday after the company published its full-year results and announced it intends to hire advisers for a process of "stabilization of its financial structure," Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Seat Pagine Gialle posted a EUR667.4 million net loss in 2010 compared with a EUR38 million net loss a year earlier. The company made a goodwill writedown of EUR673.8 million following an impairment test. The Italian yellow pages publisher is shifting its focus to the online business from the declining print directories market.

The acres of demolition rubble surrounding the faded glories of the Ferencváros football stadium on the outskirts of Budapest speak volumes for the state of the Hungarian economy, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. This stalled reconstruction project is one of dozens pointed out by the driver en route into town, all of them abandoned for lack of cash.

Spain is redoubling its efforts to lower the country's chronically high unemployment rate and labor costs this month, under intense pressure from the European Union and international investors, The Wall Street Journal reported. The reform received new impetus from an EU agreement last week on measures to boost employment, competitiveness and budget discipline among euro-zone countries.

The unemployment rate has been revised sharply upwards in figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday. In the final quarter of 2010, the seasonally adjusted rate of joblessness was 14.7 per cent, the Irish Times reported. This is more than a full percentage point higher than previously estimated. The unemployment rate was up from the 13.7 per cent recorded three months earlier, according to the Quarterly National Household Survey. This was the largest quarter-on-quarter increase in joblessness in 18 months.

Prior to the financial meltdown, Germany’s ailing state-owned banks -- with government backing -- borrowed hundreds of billions of euros at favorable terms and invested the money in what they believed to be highly profitable securities. But after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, many of these investments proved to be toxic, Spiegel Online reported. The government had to rush to the banks' aid with billions in bailout funds, but the banks still have large numbers of the toxic securities on their books. All attempts to tackle the problem have failed.

Cracks remained in the euro zone's package of debt-crisis measures, even as the European Union's finance ministers approved new legislation that sets fresh sanctions for budget offenders and puts new focus on broader economic problems that have destabilized weaker countries, The Wall Street Journal reported. Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, told finance ministers meeting in Brussels that the changes to the sanction regime are "insufficient." They still must be debated and approved by the European Parliament, which is likely to try to toughen them.

Embattled tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz's property management company, Peverel Group Ltd, has entered administration after failing to repay a loan, Reuters reported. Bank of America Merrill Lynch demanded repayment within 24 hours of a 124.6 million pounds loan plus 11.4 million pounds in accrued interest, another Vincent Tchenguiz company, Consensus Business Group (CBG), said in a statement.

Lawyers for the European Union's executive arm are studying EU treaty law to determine whether it has the right to set up an EU-wide board to review strategic investments in the 27-nation bloc, according to an internal letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The European Commission is considering whether to form a board similar to the Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S., or CIFUS, which has the power to block investments in "strategic" sectors if they are deemed a threat to national security. It is aimed especially at Chinese companies.

The European Commission is "very satisfied" with the progress Ireland has made on restructuring its banks, a spokesman said Monday, Dow Jones reported. The spokesman for European Commissioner Olli Rehn said Irish banks "have already booked very substantial losses." The EU is "very satisfied with the progress being made with this restructuring," he said. The spokesman also said the European Union expects to complete by the end of March an analysis of the Irish banking system's balance sheets and liquidity situations.

Shares in Southern Cross Healthcare, the UK's biggest care homes operator, have plunged 60% on news that financial problems are mounting, the BBC reported. The firm has appointed KPMG to look at restructuring options after cuts in local authority spending worsened its trading outlook. Southern provides care to more than 31,000 people, with the bulk of funding coming from the NHS and councils. The company said that budget cuts meant its rent burden was "unsustainable".