Headlines

Even as Ashmore Group Plc’s bond funds endured blow after blow in the past year from risky bets that came undone, its stock price soared to a record -- until now. In the past three days, the London-based money manager’s shares plunged 16%, heading for the biggest slide in more than a decade, Bloomberg News reported. The tumble reflects a crash in oil prices that rattled risky assets already on edge over the spreading coronavirus. The $5.3 billion Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Duration Fund offers a study in what went wrong.

Two of Dubai’s biggest banks bought loans made to DXB Entertainments PJSC from other regional lenders as part of plans by its majority owner to support the struggling theme park operator, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg News reported. Emirates NBD PJSC and Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC acquired the debt from mainly non-United Arab Emirates-based lenders at a discount so Meraas Holding LLC can restructure the park operator with a small group of Dubai-based banks, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

SoftBank Group Corp. fell by its most in more than seven years, after worsening sentiment around the coronavirus outbreak and the value of its global portfolio stung Masayoshi Son’s investment group, Bloomberg News reported. The shares fell 10% Monday, marking their biggest decline since October 2012 and wiping out gains since Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. revealed a substantial stake in SoftBank.

British Steel’s Chinese buyer intends to continue pursuing the company’s French arm after completing the takeover of the rest of the group and saving 3,200 jobs, the Financial Times reported. The rescue deal gives Jingye control of the manufacturer’s British and Dutch sites but not its factory in Hayange, northern France, the sale of which has been delayed by concerns from the government in Paris.

Oil companies just can’t catch a break. Energy bonds plummeted Monday to record lows, some of them with extraordinary drops of 10, 20 or even 30 cents on the dollar, Bloomberg News reported. The average spread over Treasuries for companies in the Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Energy index has surged above 10% for the first time since 2016, back when hundreds of energy-related companies were going bust or restructuring. That last round of rejiggering was supposed to stabilize the industry’s future by cutting debt and extending maturities for almost a decade.

A company affiliated to Gruppo San Donato, Italy’s private healthcare group, has withdrawn from bidding for NMC Health, the Middle East-focused healthcare company, the Financial Times reported. The Italian group has been the only bidder for NMC Health after private equity group KKR ruled out its involvement last month. NMC’s shares have been suspended since the end of February, and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has launched a formal investigation into its finances.

Ecuador’s dollar bonds slumped the most in emerging markets as investors price in a higher probability of default following the crash in crude prices, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s dollar bonds due 2028 fell 10.6 cents to 47.6 cents on the dollar on Monday, sending the yield surging 4.3 percentage points to 22.3%. The extra yield investors demand to hold Ecuadorian debt over U.S. Treasuries blew out 753 basis points to 27.33 percentage points. That compares to 28.16 percentage points for Argentina which is preparing to restructure its debt.

Specialists appointed to try to save struggling South African Airways (SAA) said on Monday they plan to begin employee consultations on job cuts, a stage of the rescue plan likely to meet fierce resistance from trade unions, Reuters reported. “Our intention has always been to preserve as many jobs as possible through this process while still focusing on having a sustainable airline,” the practitioners Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana said in a joint statement, adding that they had notified at least seven different unions.

Macrolink Holding Co on Friday became China’s first developer to default on its bonds due to the coronavirus outbreak as the industry struggles with stagnant property sales, Reuters reported. Privately owned Macrolink, which has a range of businesses including property development and tourism, failed to pay investors principle and interest on 1 billion yuan ($144 million) worth of five-year bonds due March 6, the Shanghai Clearing House said in a statement on its website.

Straining under a massive debt load and at risk of a ratings downgrade, Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) was hit with a record jump in its pension liabilities last year as more workers retired on generous benefits, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Pemex is fighting to avoid having its bonds cut to "junk" or speculative grade, which would put pressure on Mexico's sovereign rating and deal a heavy blow to populist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has vowed to revive it.