Headlines

China Vanke Co. will exit non-core operations and divest assets as the developer seeks to boost liquidity amid the sector’s unprecedented downturn, according to a memo from a shareholder meeting on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported. The company will “trim down” and adjust its model for raising money, Chairman Yu Liang said in the meeting. It will also exit all businesses except for the three main operations, which focus on property development, real estate management services and rentals.

Distressed developer CIFI Holdings Group Co. said it has reached an agreement with a key creditor group on some terms of a restructuring plan that could cut the principal on its debt by as much as 85%, a reversal from the company’s expectations of “no haircut” a year ago, Bloomberg News reported. Shanghai-based CIFI’s latest proposal involves reducing debt by around $3.3 billion to $4 billion, while asking bondholders to swap existing debt for new notes with tenors ranging from two to six years, according to a Hong Kong exchange filing dated April 29.

Grupo Casas Bahia SA shares jumped as much as 21% after the Brazilian retailer filed an out-of-court deal with its main creditors to reschedule the payment of 4.1 billion reais ($801 million) in debt, Bloomberg News reported. The plan was built with Banco Bradesco SA and Banco do Brasil SA, the main creditors, which hold approximately 55% of the debt in bank loans, according to Casas Bahia’s chief financial officer, Elcio Ito.

Europe's economy perked up slightly at the start of the year, recording 0.3% growth in the January-March quarter compared to the last three months of 2023 as the inflation burden on consumers eased and the stagnating German economy, the continent's biggest, started to show modest signs of life, the Associated Press reported. The 20-country eurozone recorded its strongest performance since the third quarter of 2022 and improved on shrinkage of 0.1% in each of the last two quarters of 2023, according to official figures released Tuesday by the European Union's statistical agency Eurostat.

Australian low-cost carrier Bonza has gone into administration, a process similar to U.S. bankruptcy, after saying earlier on Tuesday that it was suspending flights amid discussions about the continuing viability of its business, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A regulatory filing with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission said employees from accounting and advisory firm Hall Chadwick had been appointed as administrators.

Europe’s economy has a north-south divide—and now it’s the poorer south that is powering the region’s return to growth, according to a Wall Street Journal commentary. Southern Europe, which for decades has had lower growth, productivity and wealth than the north, powered an upside-down recovery on the continent at the start of the year. Buoyant tourism revenue around the Mediterranean helped to offset sluggishness in Europe’s manufacturing heartlands.

Brazil’s jobless rate ticked up less than expected last month, likely adding to central bankers’ concerns that the labor market is running too hot, Bloomberg News reported. Official data released Tuesday showed the unemployment rate rose to 7.9% in March from a month earlier as nearly 8.6 million people were jobless in the period. The central bank plans to lower the benchmark interest rate by half-point next month and is keeping a close eye on hiring as it charts its subsequent moves.

Mexico's economy grew 0.2% in the first quarter compared to the previous three-month period, a preliminary estimate from the national statistics agency showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Compared with the same quarter a year earlier, the economy grew 1.6%, the statistics agency said. Read more.

Dubai Holding refinanced a 30 billion dirham ($8.2 billion) loan to replace older facilities at the two state-backed developers it absorbed last month, better positioning itself to capitalize on a boom in the city’s real estate market, Bloomberg News reported. The funding will refinance debt held by the firms — Nakheel and Meydan — according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The deal helped secure more favorable terms for the debt, with Emirates NBD Bank PJSC and Mashreqbank PSC underwriting the loan, they said.

South Africa's largest cryptocurrency exchange VALR has secured a licence in Poland and eyeing other jurisdictions across the globe, in hopes to take on some of world's crypto giants, its CEO told Reuters. VALR is one of 75 crypto asset service providers that were recently granted licences this year by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to operate in South Africa, a key step in making crypto a mainstream investment option and creating a regulated environment for users.