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The eurozone economy shrank again at the end of the year as lockdowns across the region took their toll on economic activity, MarketWatch.com reported. Across the 19 countries that use the euro as their currency, gross domestic product fell by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said Tuesday in a first estimate for the period. On an annualized basis, the economy shrank by 5.1%, Eurostat said.
Fresh from toppling the head of Germany’s top financial regulator last week, lawmakers are turning their fire on finance minister Olaf Scholz and his deputy Joerg Kukies, Reuters reported. As their inquiry into the collapse of Wirecard gathers pace, it has put Germany’s biggest fraud centre stage in national elections in which Scholz wants to stand for chancellor. “The focus of the parliamentary inquiry will more and more shift to the role of Scholz and his ministry,” Florian Toncar, a lawmaker involved in the investigation said.
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British businesses ravaged by the pandemic skipped more than 4 billion pounds ($5.5 billion) in rent last year. With the bill coming due, a battle over sharing the pain is heating up, Bloomberg News reported. Landlords, acknowledging the damage wrought by almost a year of enforced closures and depleted foot traffic, are demanding lenders bear some burden as about one-fifth of commercial rent is behind. Regulators are urging banks to avoid taking a hard line. Retailers and restaurateurs, hammered by the deepest recession in three centuries, say the pile of debt isn’t their fault.
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Mexico’s government plans to seek more than $500 million from Canadian miner First Majestic Silver Corp in what it says are owed taxes for artificially keeping its silver prices low over the past decade, two sources told Reuters. Audits dating back to 2010 show that the company owes about 11 billion pesos ($534.36 million), the sources said. So far, Mexico’s Tax Administration Service, or SAT, has sought 5.5 billion pesos ($267.18 million) in tax debt, with the remaining half of the total yet to enter into formal disputes, according to the sources.
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Siam Commercial Bank, one of the largest banks in Thailand and whose largest individual shareholder is King Maha Vajiralongkorn, said Monday it has secured a 26.49% stake in upscale grocer Dean & DeLuca by converting debt held in the U.S.-based company, Nikkei Asia reported. The stake acquisition results from a debt-to-equity option exercised for a $45.83 million loan extended to Dean & DeLuca. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court last March.
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The owners of a family-run cafe in Hungary's capital had planned to engage in a bold act of civil disobedience on Monday, but reconsidered after the government there issued a decree that would place the already struggling business into bankruptcy, the Associated Press reported. Before the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, the Kucko Coffeehouse in Budapest served fine coffees from its designer Italian espresso machine and a cozy atmosphere offering pastries, sandwiches, ice cream, and breakfasts to mostly local residents.
An Indian court has temporarily restrained Future Group from selling its retail assets to Reliance Industries Ltd., an interim win for Amazon.com Inc. which is opposing the deal with an eye to dominate a large and vital consumer market, Bloomberg News reported. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the Future Group and Indian authorities to ensure the status of the indebted Indian retailer’s assets are maintained as is, putting on hold any further steps toward completing the $3.4 billion sale to billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance conglomerate.
The number of U.K. listed companies at risk of insolvency has doubled as restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus continue to ravage the economy, Bloomberg News reported. A record 35% of U.K. companies issued profit warnings last year, according to a report by the consulting firm EY. There was also a surge in the number of companies issuing three or more profit warnings in a 12-month period, a warning sign for insolvency. “Many U.K.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga looks set to extend a state of emergency for major metropolitan areas that will inflict more pain on the economy, as he tries to stem the latest wave of Covid-19 cases and reverse a fall in public support, Bloomberg News reported. The emergency covering 11 areas including Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya has helped halt a rapid acceleration of virus cases threatening the developed world’s oldest population. While infection numbers have started to drop under the guidelines, Suga’s government has said the number of cases remains worryingly high.