Headlines

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Hyderabad, on Tuesday admitted Aditya Birla ARC's initiation of insolvency process petition against the personal guarantees given by the promoters of KSK Mahanadi Power Company K.A. Sastry and S. Kishore, the Economic Times of India reported. The two promoters had guaranteed upward of Rs 4000 crore for loans sanctioned to KSK Mahanadi. Aditya Birla ARC has largest share of 33.38% in the total claims from KSK Mahanadi Power, which is around Rs 32,000 crore.

A Nova Scotia judge received good news Tuesday during an update on the proposed sale of SaltWire Network Inc. and The Halifax Herald Ltd., two financially troubled companies that operate Atlantic Canada's largest newspaper chain, the Canadian Press reported. Those shepherding the restructuring process told Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice John Keith that progress is being made toward securing a deal that could see all or part of the insolvent businesses sold to one or more bidders.

China Evergrande Group flagged a delay in publishing its annual results as its liquidators are taking time to "ascertain the current state of affairs" of the embattled property developer, Reuters reported. Preparation of the financial statements of the company for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023, and the publication of the 2023 annual report have been delayed, the cash-strapped firm said in an exchange filing on Tuesday. Evergrande's shares, which were suspended from trading on Jan. 29 this year, will continue to remain suspended.

Italy’s mounting pile of debt poses an ongoing hazard to the country and its financial system especially if the economy underperforms, its central bank said in a half-yearly stability assessment, Bloomberg News reported. Just weeks since the government unveiled new projections pointing to an increase in borrowings, officials cited prospects for the public finances as “a risk factor.” That’s arguably stronger language than they used in their two financial stability reports last year.

A liquidity crunch upending the global cocoa market is forcing traders to delay bean purchases from the world’s largest producers, Bloomberg News reported. Traders are running out of cash as a record rally forces them to put up more money to back their futures position. Buying more physical beans would require them to hedge their purchases in the futures market. As a result, many traders and chocolate companies are opting to delay purchases of beans for the next season.

German tennis legend Boris Becker was discharged from bankruptcy court in London after a judge found Wednesday he had done “all that he reasonably could do” to repay creditors tens of millions of pounds, the Associated Press reported. Becker fell far short of repaying his creditors nearly 50 million pounds ($62.5 million) he owed, but Chief Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Nicholas Briggs said it would be “perverse” not to end the case given the efforts Becker made.

Everton have called in a leading firm of restructuring and insolvency advisers, the Guardian understands, raising further questions about the proposed takeover of the Premier League club by 777 Partners, the Guardian reported. The move came while the club were believed to be waiting for a further £15m of loans that 777 had pledged to provide Everton with during April, according to one 777 source. When asked about that £15m in loans, a 777 spokesperson said that – after a delay – “the club has been provided with the working capital it needs as of today [Tuesday]”.

New Zealand unemployment rate jumped sharply in the first three months of this year as the economy slumbered in an extended recession and high interest rates continued to batter household budgets, the Wall Street Journal reported. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3% in the first quarter, well up from 4.0% in the prior quarter, Stats NZ said Wednesday. Over the year to the first quarter, the unemployment rate rose 0.9 percentage points.

Colombia’s central bank lowered its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 11.75%, defying calls from the government for a deeper cut to boost economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. Five of the seven-member board backed the decision, Governor Leonardo Villar told reporters in Bogota. One argued for a deeper reduction, of three quarters of a percentage point, while another called for a full percentage point cut.

Canada’s economy lost momentum after a strong start to the year and is tracking below the central bank’s latest forecast, supporting expectations a first cut to interest rates could come before summer, the Wall Street Journal reported. Preliminary data suggest gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services produced across the economy, was essentially unchanged in March, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. That follows 0.2% growth in February GDP from the month before to 2.218 trillion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of $1.624 trillion.