Headlines

Financial risks related to the coronavirus pandemic will last for months if not years, Switzerland’s financial market supervisor FINMA said on Wednesday, pointing to particularly heightened risk of defaults on corporate loans, Reuters reported. “Thanks to the cushion of liquidity and capital they have built up over the years and their operational readiness, Swiss financial institutions have been able to withstand the initial repercussions of the crisis well,” FINMA said in its second annual financial risk monitor.

Struggling flag carrier Malaysia Airlines’ previous attempt to turn itself round collided with low-cost local rival AirAsia Group’s rise. Now, both companies have run into the same turbulence, the Financial Times reported. Malaysia Airlines, which has yet to recover from two 2014 tragedies that made global headlines, faces a growing risk of being forced to halt flights unless it secures aid. But the state has frowned on the idea of another bailout. A group of creditors recently rejected a proposal by Malaysia Airlines to restructure its RM16bn ($3.85bn) in liabilities.

Britain's Informa Plc said on Wednesday it could become cash positive by January after completing its debt restructuring and refinancing, coupled with its cost cutting programme, as the group struggles with the coronavirus hit to the events industry, Reuters reported. The world’s largest exhibitions group had now cancelled a 750 million pound short-term credit facility and 1.1 billion pounds worth of U.S. Private Placement loan notes in the last move in a restructuring, refinancing and rescheduling of its debt that began earlier this year.

Property developer Great Portland Estates on Wednesday reported an 18% plunge in the valuation of its retail portfolio as coronavirus restrictions hit the industry, and said office take-up in central London had dropped to record lows, Reuters reported. The FTSE 250-listed company, which owns 2.6 billion pounds worth of retail and office property in central London, said it expects rents and capital values in the British capital to fall further.

Japan's Nissan Motor Co is struggling to revive a fortune that was weakened by scandal and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. The automaker warned in July of a record 470 billion yen (3.36 billion pounds) operating loss for the year to March 2021 and its lowest sales in a decade, as global auto sales slumped. Both Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global rate Nissan’s debt at Baa3 and BBB-, respectively, one step above non-investment grade. Both agencies have negative outlooks on the debt.

Mall owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield will seek new ways to manage its heavy debt after shareholders rejected a 3.5 billion euro ($4.15 billion) rights issue under pressure from activist investors, Reuters reported. In a rare rights issue rejection for a company on France’s blue-chip index, the shareholder vote fell narrowly short of the two-thirds majority required to pass the resolution, with 62% in favour of the capital increase.

Argentina’s international creditors, scarred by this year’s turbulent debt restructuring, want the new International Monetary Fund programme the country is seeking to come with ultra-rigorous conditions, Reuters reported. Argentina and its provinces restructured $100 billion of debt two months ago, but the country’s bonds have lost nearly 30% since their relaunch as worries about the government’s economic strategy have persisted. On Monday Economy Minister Martin Guzman, who led the restructuring for Latin America’s No.

Dubai-listed contractor Arabtec has terminated thousands of workers again in recent weeks, sources said, as the construction firm prepares for liquidation after the coronavirus pandemic deepened its financial woes, Reuters reported. Arabtec Holding shareholders in September authorised the board to file for liquidation due to its untenable financial position. The company, which helped build the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, suffered a first-half loss of $216.18 million, piling up accumulated losses of nearly $400 million.

AIRASIA X Bhd (AAX), the low-cost long-haul affiliate of AirAsia Group Bhd, is expected to file an amendment to its originating summons next week, to make its debt restructuring proposal more palatable to the 1,200 unsecured creditors that the airline is asking to write down their dues, The Edge Markets reported. This was disclosed to Kuala Lumpur High Court Judicial Commissioner Anand Ponnudurai by the lawyer for AAX last Friday (Oct 30).

Japan Airlines Co. fell the most on record after saying it will raise as much as 168 billion yen ($1.6 billion) by selling new shares to support its finances during the coronavirus crisis, Bloomberg News reported. The shares dropped over 15% in early trading Monday, the steepest decline on record. They were down 11% at 2:12 p.m. in Tokyo. The stock has plunged more than 50% this year. “Much is still unclear” about the airline’s plans, said Kotaro Toriumi, an independent analyst.