For years the German economy prospered as its companies benefited from growing global trade and freedom to export. France, with a much more domestically focused economy, was a laggard. But now the tables have been turned, the Financial Times reported. In an environment of increasing trade hostility, France’s strength in services and domestic consumption is proving a boon while German exports are suffering as a result of the country’s dependence on the Chinese market for cars and industrial equipment.

Air France-KLM shares fell sharply on Monday as it emerged as a bidder for bankrupt French-based budget carrier Aigle Azur, which left 19,000 passengers stranded when it abruptly halted operations, Reuters reported. The offer from the group’s Air France unit was among 14 bids submitted for privately-held Aigle Azur, which was placed was placed under bankruptcy protection on Sept. 2., ahead of a midday deadline, an official with the CFDT union told Reuters.

Peugeot automaker PSA Group and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Group have hammered out a plan to restructure their joint venture operations, slashing costs in the short term and aiming to boost annual sales to 400,000 vehicles by 2025, PSA said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobiles (DPCA), the joint venture based in Wuhan, central China, plans to reduce the break-even point to below 180,000 vehicles in 2019 and further reduce to below 150,000 vehicles between 2020 and 2021, according to a post on PSA’s social media account in China.

La Perla, the indebted Italian lingerie brand owned by Lars Windhorst’s investment company, will list its shares on the Paris stock exchange to help access capital at a difficult time, Bloomberg News reported. La Perla, which has stores in London’s Sloane Street and St. Tropez, won’t raise any funds through the move, but the listing “will increase La Perla’s visibility and enhance access to capital," according to Chief Executive Officer Pascal Perrier. The company aims for a market capitalization of 473 million euros ($520 million) when shares are set to begin trading Friday in Paris.

French media mogul Arnaud Lagardère amassed more than €200m of debt at his private holding company, more than the current value of his shares in the publicly traded conglomerate that bears his name, according to unpublished accounts seen by the Financial Times.

Casino has outlined plans to sell an additional €2bn in assets as the French retailer looks to slice its debt and focus on key markets, the Financial Times reported. The announcement on Tuesday comes as part of a broad restructuring led by chief executive Jean-Charles Naouri to shore up the company’s financial position. It had already sold €2.1bn in non-core assets as part of a previously-announced €2.5bn programme, the company said.

Industrial production in France fell sharply in June, undermining hopes that the eurozone’s manufacturing sector might have seen the worst of this year’s slowdown, the Financial Times reported. Industrial production dropped by 2.3 per cent month-on-month according to French statistical body Insee. Manufacturing, the largest component of industrial output, fell 2.2 per cent in June from the previous month, and was down 0.3 per cent in the second quarter compared to the first, driven largely by a marked drop in the making of transport equipment.

French fashion house Sonia Rykiel, whose brightly striped sweater dresses came to symbolise the rebel spirit of the French 1960s, has gone into liquidation, the Paris commercial court said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The brand’s founder, who was nicknamed “the Queen of Knitwear” by industry magazine Women’s Wear Daily, died in 2016, a few years after the family sold control of the label to Hong Kong investors. Sales failed to pick up under their ownership.

France has launched a long-awaited and highly contentious overhaul of its pension system, setting up another battle between labour unions and President Emmanuel Macron, who is trying to push ahead with his reform agenda following months of anti-government protests, the Financial Times reported.

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.