Headlines

Saudi Arabian oil group Aramco is in talks with banks for a U.S. dollar-denominated bond issue, two sources said, seeking to raise money ahead of large commitments for its major shareholder, the Saudi government, Reuters reported. Aramco was widely expected to become a regular bond issuer after its debut $12 billion bond deal in 2019 was followed by an $8 billion, five-part transaction in November last year.

Authorities in Brazil are investigating senior employees at Connecticut-based trading house Freepoint Commodities for their alleged role in a bribery scheme involving state-run oil company Petrobras, Reuters has learned. Federal police here suspect Freepoint, through an intermediary, routed bribes to Petrobras employees for a roughly seven-year period ending in 2018. Reuters pieced together the purported kickback operation from three people close to the investigation, and hundreds of pages of previously unreported court documents filed by Brazilian investigators.

China’s central bank is trying to restrain the surging exchange rate of its currency, temporarily backtracking in efforts to make the tightly controlled yuan more flexible and market-oriented, the Associated Press reported. On Monday, commercial lenders were ordered to hold more of their foreign currency as reserves in the central bank to limit sales after the yuan hit a four-year high of 6.3674 to the U.S dollar. The People’s Bank of China is trying to deter speculators after the yuan rose by about 12% against the dollar since May.

Bank lenders are seeking to cut their exposure to one of the world’s largest aircraft lessors before a moratorium on debt payment ends next month, Bloomberg News reported. An unnamed lender to a unit of Nordic Aviation Capital AS is seeking to sell a $50-million portion of a credit facility this week. The seller may dispose of the debt, which is secured by assets held in NAC Aviation 29 DAC, at roughly a 30% discount to face value, they said. A representative for Nordic Aviation declined to comment on the potential loan sale.

European budget airline Wizz Air warned of further losses in its current financial year, amid a slower-than-expected recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. The ultra-low cost carrier faces another "transition year" as travel curbs linger on, Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi said on Wednesday, as the company posted a 576 million euro ($703 million) net loss for the 12 months ended March 31. "Unless we see an accelerated and permanent lifting of restrictions we expect a reported net loss in full-year 2022," Varadi said.

Australia’s economy raced ahead last quarter as consumers and businesses spent with abandon, lifting output back above where it was last year when pandemic lockdowns tipped the country into its first recession in three decades, Reuters reported. The economy expanded by a real 1.8% in the three months to March, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed on Wednesday. The solid back-to-back quarterly growth helped annual output climb 1.1% to A$525.7 billion ($408.05 billion), a major turnaround from last year's recession low of $468.3 billion.

France will set up a new 3 billion euro ($3.67 billion) fund to support mid-sized and large companies as they emerge from the coronavirus crisis, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The fund aims to help firms on a case-by-case basis with loans or equity injections so that businesses that were viable before the pandemic but now have strained balance sheets can get back on their feet. "The aim is not to dilute shareholders, it's not the state's role to become French companies' main shareholder," Le Maire told a news conference.

China’s finance ministry is considering a proposal to transfer its shares in China Huarong Asset Management Co. and three other bad-debt managers to a new holding company modeled after the one that owns the government’s stakes in state-run banks, Bloomberg News reported. Policy makers are re-examining the proposal, which was first tabled three years ago, as part of discussions on how to deal with the financial risks posed by Huarong.

Canada’s Centerra Gold Inc. on Monday said that Kyrgyzstan units Kumtor Gold Co. and Kumtor Operating Co. have commenced bankruptcy proceedings in a U.S. court following nationalization of the miner’s Kumtor gold mine by the former Soviet republic, Reuters reported. Centerra said that the chapter 11 filing would have no financial or operational impact on it or any other areas of its business, including the Mount Milligan mine in Canada, the Oksut Mine in Turkey and its molybdenum business in North America. Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan’s largest foreign investment project, was operated by Centerra.

Amigo Holdings Plc said on Tuesday that it was looking at filing for insolvency after a court last week rejected a rescue plan for the subprime lender, Reuters reported. London's High Court rejected the plan, which would have cut compensation payouts to customers for mis-selling loans, sending the company's shares plunging more than 50%. In a statement, Amigo said it would not appeal the ruling. It anticipates delaying its financial results for the year ended March, it added.