Headlines

Hundreds of Chinese tech start-ups — including several unicorns — failed in 2019, with many more limping into the new year, as companies burned through cash in the face of growing financial headwinds, the Financial Times reported. According to new data from business information provider ITjuzi, 336 start-ups in the country were forced to cease operations over the course of last year, having collectively raised Rmb17.4bn ($2.5bn) from investors. Among them were companies valued individually at more than $1bn.

Saudi Aramco shares have dropped more than 10 per cent from their peak as the Kingdom’s markets have been hit by growing jitters over the deteriorating situation in the Middle East following the US assassination of a top Iranian military commander, the Financial Times reported. The state oil company’s shares fell 1 per cent on Monday following a 1.7 per cent fall on Sunday. The slump has left Aramco’s shares trading at 34.2 riyal, the lowest level since the group floated on Saudi Arabia’s stock bourse last month.

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.’s Chief Executive Officer Andre de Ruyter started his role at South Africa’s indebted utility on Monday. De Ruyter is the first permanent leader of Eskom since the end of July, when Phakamani Hadebe stepped down, citing health reasons, Bloomberg News reported. He began work at the company’s headquarters in Johannesburg, an Eskom spokeswoman said in a reply to questions. The state-owned utility is set to be restructured to turn the loss-making business around and try to emerge from 450 billion rand ($31.4 billion) of debt.

Business activity in the eurozone ticked up more than expected in December, boosted by a rise in the domestically-focused services sector that outweighed another slide in the manufacturing sector, according to a closely watched survey, the Financial Times reported. The economic outlook of companies in the eurozone also improved to its highest level since May, amid relief that the US-China trade war is easing and as the prospect of a sudden UK exit from the EU has faded.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is due to complete his second and final four-year term in 2023 and the battle over who will succeed him is already heating up, placing further pressure on an already strained economy, Bloomberg News reported. Buhari has thus far shied away from endorsing his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, for the position, twice slighting him by opting not to transfer power to him while traveling abroad. That may diminish his chances of securing the top job.

In a bond market where investors once received ham as interest payment, the challenge to rein in unruly borrowers is imaginably tough, Bloomberg News reported. That’s the daunting task Beijing faces now. In response to a surge in bond failures, Chinese regulators have taken unprecedented steps in recent weeks to restore investor confidence via more efficient and transparent handling of defaults.

Samarco Mineracao SA has rejected creditors’ formal request to resume talks to restructure its defaulted debt, signaling heightened risks for bond holders, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation, Bloomberg News reported. The Brazilian iron ore venture between BHP Group and Vale SA said it has yet to firm up its business plan. And without that, the company argues that it will be at a disadvantage if it were to resume talks that have been put on hold for almost a year on its $2.9 billion in defaulted debt, the people said.

A listed Chinese coal conglomerate that defaulted on bonds worth about $2 billion could file for bankruptcy under a restructuring plan proposed by creditors, a document seen by Reuters shows, as record bond defaults push China to improve risk management, Reuters reported. Beijing-based Wintime Energy Co Ltd, saddled with debt worth more than $10 billion, would use a combination of asset disposals, debt-for-equity swaps and extended deadlines to improve its debt structure and ease liquidity stress, according to the plan. The company and a creditor source confirmed the proposal as genuine.

Italian infrastructure group Atlantia on Friday suffered its second debt downgrade in a month, slipping further into junk territory, as the government considers revoking the group’s motorway concession following a deadly bridge collapse, Reuters reported. Controlled by Italy’s Benetton family and in charge of the country’s biggest motorway network, Atlantia SpA (ATL.MI) has been in the crosshairs since a concrete bridge operated by its Autostrade per l’Italia unit collapsed in the city of Genoa in August 2018, killing 43 people.

Sovereign debt’s bad boy is back. Argentina, the eight-time defaulter, is on the hook for around $100 billion of hard currency debt held in private hands, just part of its hefty borrowings, Reuters reported in a commentary. The International Monetary Fund may complicate new President Alberto Fernandez’s plans for a quick debt fix, with wonky new bond features making the outcome even chancier than usual. The dwindling liquid cash reported by the country’s treasury won’t even cover next year’s roughly $10 billion in private-lender interest, let alone principal.