Europe

British manufacturers faced their worst month in six years in June, as companies and their clients continued to run down stockpiles amassed in the run-up to the March Brexit deadline, the Financial Times reported. The purchasing managers’ index compiled by IHS Markit, the research group, fell from 49.4 in May to 48 in June — the lowest level since 2013 — indicating that a majority of businesses had reported a fall in output for a second consecutive month. Production was the weakest since October 2012 and most companies reported job cuts for the third month running.

Spanish manufacturers reported tumbling orders and falling output as the eurozone economy continues to be hit by global trade angst and weakening growth, the Financial Times reported. The closely watched IHS Markit purchasing managers’ index fell to 47.9 in June, down from 50.1 in May. The figure was lower than the 49.5 forecast in a Reuters poll. A reading below 50 indicates a majority of companies reported falling output.

The risks to Ireland from a no-deal Brexit were outlined in stark terms as a top official warned that the country’s high debts had left it vulnerable to shock, the Financial Times reported.

Rome’s populist government has revised its ambitious spending plans in an effort to avert EU budget sanctions. Italy’s rising debt burden — at 132 per cent of gross domestic product the second-highest in the eurozone — is in breach of EU budgetary rules, according to an assessment by the European Commission last month, putting it at risk of becoming the first country to incur financial penalties, the Financial Times reported. Ministers reached an agreement on Monday evening on a law to adjust the budget in the hope of averting an excessive deficit procedure (EDP) by the EU.

Deutsche Bank AG’s efforts to turn around its struggling investment bank are gaining traction with investors, Bloomberg News reported. The cost of credit insurance on the bank’s riskiest debt fell for an 11th session on Monday, the longest streak of declines in more than two years, according to ICE Data Services. Swaps covering the bank’s safer bonds have also fallen to the lowest in months, the data show.

The eurozone’s annual rate of inflation stayed well below the European Central Bank’s target in June, ratcheting up the pressure on policy makers to provide more stimulus in an effort to prop up a faltering economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. Earlier this month, ECB President Mario Draghi signaled that the bank could roll out fresh stimulus as soon as July, prompting a rebuke from U.S. President Donald Trump, who accused the rate setter of seeking to weaken the euro. Mr. Draghi responded by insisting that the central bank doesn’t target the euro’s exchange rate.

Gold miner Avocet Mining Plc, which has been plagued by a shortage of cash and feeble production, on Friday said its board has proposed voluntary liquidation and that remaining cash should be used to pay creditors, Reuters reported. The company had warned in October that it could be broken up as it continued talks with its largest shareholder, Elliott Management, to restructure its debt. In June, it said it would sell its interests in a mine in Guinea to restructure loans.

Dutch leader Mark Rutte has claimed that Italy’s debt crisis risks causing a rupture within the eurozone, warning that there has been a breakdown in trust between the member-states, the Express reported. Speaking to Bloomberg at the G20 Summit, Mr Rutte said there is no evidence the European Commission should hold off from disciplining Italy over its mounting debt. This comes despite words of optimism from Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who’s attending the G20 summit in Japan.

H2O Asset Management co-founder Vincent Chailley defended his firm’s “deep value debt” in a video posted on its website Friday, referring to the unlisted bonds that have triggered mass investor redemptions, contributing to an almost 8 billion-euro ($9.1 billion) slide in assets, Bloomberg News reported. H20 won’t sell unless there’s an attractive bid, he said. It’s also planning to set up a new fund specializing in “deep value” securities. In its simplest form, deep value investing means buying assets whose market price is below their intrinsic value.

German Efromovich, the ousted chairman of Colombian airline Avianca, is eyeing a comeback via Italy. Efromovich wants to buy a stake in the bankrupt Italian flag-carrier Alitalia SpA, financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported, citing a phone interview, Bloomberg News reported. "We wrote a letter to Ferrovie dello Stato and the adviser Mediobanca two weeks ago saying we can purchase up to 30% of Alitalia," said Efromovich, who was removed as the chairman of Avianca Holdings SA last month after a loan breach.