Eurozone’s Retail Sector Continued to Struggle at Start of 2025

Retail trade ticked lower in the eurozone at the start of this year, with January’s decline marking four months of no growth in sales for the sector, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sales volumes were down 0.3% on month in January, European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Thursday, weaker than economists’ forecast of a slight rise. While December’s figure was revised upward to record flat growth, from a 0.2% decline previously reported, volumes only last grew in September.
Europe
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Steel Group Liberty Puts Romanian Subsidiary Under Pre-Insolvency Procedures Amid U.S. Tariffs

Integrated steel mill Liberty Galati in Romania (formerly Sidex), with a liquid steel capacity of 3 million tonnes, part of steel group Liberty, announced on March 4 that it entered the pre-insolvency procedure "to stabilise the business, optimizing the allocation of resources and opening up new investment opportunities," Romania-Insider.com. The measure is taken in the context of geopolitical changes, new tariffs imposed by the US on steel imports (25% as of March 12), and the lack of real measures to protect the steel industry at the European Union level, the company said.
Romania
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UK’s Southern Water in Talks to Avoid Thames-Like Debt

Britain’s Southern Water Ltd. is trying to fix its finances in an effort to preserve its investment grade status, safeguard its balance sheet — and avoid the same debt woes as Thames Water, Bloomberg News reported. The utility has entered into talks with its creditors to figure out how to reshape its capital structure, according to people familiar with the matter. The parties are discussing how to accommodate a £900 million ($1.2 billion) equity injection — led by majority shareholder Macquarie Asset Management — and what other tweaks may be necessary to stabilize the company’s finances.
United Kingdom
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Southern Ireland's Insolvency Figures May Hint at North’s Future

Since the beginning of the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, there have existed two different insolvency regimes on the island of Ireland, the Irish News reported. In 2024, there were 852 total insolvencies in the Republic, a 16% increase on 2023. Some 305 companies in Northern Ireland declared insolvency in 2024, an almost 40% increase. Of course, a portion of the explanation will always rest on the sizes of the respective jurisdictions, but Northern Ireland’s much stricter post-Covid insolvency procedures can also help us understand this discrepancy.
Ireland
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Germany to Ease Government Debt Limits in Major Step Aimed at Boosting Economy, Defense Spending

The two political parties expected to form the next German government have agreed to loosen the country's constitution restrictions on borrowing, enabling 1 trillion euros ($1.08 trillion) or more in spending on defense and infrastructure, the Associated Press reported. It’s a major change in Germany’s debt-averse political culture, rejecting conventional economic wisdom that long dominated Europe’s biggest economy and one of the world’s wealthiest countries.
Germany
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