Headlines

The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan surged 42.9% from a year earlier to 1,009 in May, credit research firm Tokyo Shoko Research said on Monday, the Japan Times reported. The monthly number exceeded 1,000 for the first time since July 2013, when it reflected the impact of the end of funding support measures for small businesses introduced after the 2008 global financial crisis. The latest result came as many companies struggle with rising prices, as well as labor shortages mainly in the service sector.

The list of Chinese developers facing court-ordered liquidation in Hong Kong is getting longer, after a builder of homes in an affluent eastern coastal region was ordered to wind up. Dexin China Holdings Co. received the order Tuesday, three months after a petition was filed by China Construction Bank (Asia), and a year and half after it defaulted, Bloomberg News reported. A new restructuring plan was approved last year, though the developer, which builds residential as well as commercial buildings, wasn’t able to keep up with that either.

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group faces the risk of losing assets such as land and equipment, the company said on Tuesday, as local administrative bodies demand repayment of 1.9 billion yuan ($261.91 million) in subsidies by its units, Reuters reported. The local bodies last month sent a letter of demand asking unit Evergrande Automotive Holdings to terminate a series of investment cooperation agreements made between the parties since April 29, 2019.

Wages in the U.K. continued to grow rapidly in the three months to April, a concern for the Bank of England as it prepares for a policy meeting next week, the Wall Street Journal reported. Average earnings, excluding bonuses, between February and April were 6.0% higher than a year earlier, the same as in the first quarter of this year, according to data from the Office for National Statistics published Tuesday. While the U.K.’s annual inflation rate slowed to 2.3% in April, closing in on the BOE’s 2% target, prices in the labor-intensive services sector were up 5.9%.

The merger of the Swiss units of UBS, opens new tab and Credit Suisse could be completed as early as July 1, a senior executive at UBS was quoted as saying on Tuesday, Reuters reported. UBS, which acquired former rival Credit Suisse last year after the bank's collapse, had previously indicated the two units would be combined during the third quarter. Sabine Keller-Busse, president of UBS Switzerland, told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper in an interview that the plan was progressing "very well." "The merger could by done by July 1," she said.

Australian businesses reported a reacceleration in inflation pressures in May despite the backdrop of a lifeless economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The results of the latest monthly survey of firms by the National Australia Bank paint the worst of worlds for the Reserve Bank of Australia, which may need to raise interest rates further before it can claim victory over inflation. Business confidence fell 4 index points to minus 3 index points in May from April, while NAB’s business conditions index fell 1 point to 6 index points over the same period.

The World Bank on Tuesday said the U.S. economy's stronger-than-expected performance has prompted it to lift its 2024 global growth outlook slightly but warned that overall output would remain well below pre-pandemic levels through 2026, Reuters reported. The World Bank said in its latest Global Economic Prospects report that the global economy would avoid a third consecutive drop in real GDP growth since a major post-pandemic jump in 2021, with 2024 growth stabilizing at 2.6%, unchanged from 2023.

U.S. cities aiming to convert half-filled office towers into residential buildings are looking north of the border to Calgary, Alberta, which has one of the most aggressive programs in North America to promote these conversions, the Wall Street Journal reported. American officials have been studying the Calgary program, and some cities have even sent delegations to visit the western Canadian city. Early returns show the promise—and limitations—of conversion plans.

Atos SE chose a bailout proposal from a group led by David Layani’s Onepoint, its top shareholder, beating out a rival bid from Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky for the troubled French IT company, Bloomberg News reported. Onepoint’s rescue plan for the troubled French IT company, which includes new equity and reduced debt, has the support of the board and the company will now seek to reach a final agreement with its creditors by July, Atos said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries maintained its bullish outlook for oil-demand growth after setting out a plan to gradually unwind some of its production cuts, raising concerns on whether the market will be able to absorb the extra barrels, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Vienna-based cartel said in its monthly report that it forecasts oil demand to grow by 2.2 million barrels a day in 2024 and by 1.8 million barrels a day in 2025, unchanged from its previous estimates.