Headlines

The German economy has defied expectations of a recession by growing 0.1 per cent in the third quarter as higher spending by households and the government offset a downturn in its export-focused manufacturing sector, the Financial Times reported. The mildly positive growth in the third quarter means the German economy has avoided a technical recession.

KBC Group Ireland has set €14 million aside to cover an expected Central Bank fine for its involvement in the tracker mortgage scandal going back more than a decade, The Irish Times reported. The figure was part of a wider €18 million tracker-related provision that the Belgian-owned bank booked in the third quarter of the year, it said on Thursday. The charge drove a reduction in the bank’s net profit for the period to €4.4 million from €33.6 million for the corresponding three months in 2018. The wider KBC Group’s profit dipped to €612 million from €701 million.

Japan Post Bank Co. said it would be cautious about future investment in bundled corporate loans after raising holdings last quarter, as financial authorities increase scrutiny of the practice, Bloomberg News reported. The postal savings giant boosted its holdings of collateralized loan obligations by 15% from June to 1.52 trillion yen ($14 billion) as of Sept. 30, an earnings presentation showed Thursday.

U.K. retail sales unexpectedly fell in October, leaving growth over the last three months at its weakest for 1 1/2 years, Bloomberg News reported. The volume of goods sold in stores and online fell 0.1% from September, the Office for National Statistics said Thursday. That compares with economists’ expectations for a 0.2% increase. Sales excluding auto fuel dropped 0.3%. The figures show U.K. consumers entered the final quarter of the year on a downbeat note as uncertainty over Brexit intensifies.

The South African government signaled it’s going to take a hardline approach to its cash-strapped national airline as labor unions prepared to strike over pay and job cuts, forcing the carrier to cancel almost all its flights over the next two days, Bloomberg News reported. “If some tough decisions need to be made, we’ll make them,” Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said in a speech at a conference in New York Thursday.

Chile is on the brink of losing its hard-won reputation as the safest bet in Latin America following the biggest social upheaval in a generation. One month into a wave of mass protests Chile’s credit-default swaps are near those of the region’s other most stable countries, Bloomberg News reported. The gap between the spread on its five-year CDS and Peru’s has narrowed 21 basis points to two basis points. The gap with Panama has disappeared over the same period, with the Central American nation now 0.6 basis point below Chile.

The Indian economy continues to slow. The monthly Index of Industrial Production fell to an eight-year low in the month of September, contracting by over 4%. According to India’s central bank, growth in bank credit to industries in the same month fell to 2.7%, the lowest in a year, a Bloomberg View reported. While the numbers for services are a little better, even they stand at a two-year low. Economists have little faith that things will turn around on their own. The government desperately needs to revive investment.

After posting the worst quarterly loss in India’s corporate history, Vodafone Group Plc’s besieged local venture is appealing for urgent relief from the government to help avert a collapse, Bloomberg News reported. Facing a $4 billion demand from India to cover past dues, Vodafone Idea Ltd. took a one-time charge that led to a net loss of 509 billion rupees ($7.1 billion) in the three months through September.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday granted the market regulator SEBI one "last chance" to file its reply on the revised share delisting norms for companies under insolvency, Business Standard reported. A two-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice S J Mukhopadhaya has granted one day time to SEBI for filing of affidavit and said that failing which, it will proceed ahead in the matter. "It is stated that the copy of the affidavit filed by SEBI has been served on the counsel for the parties.

A proposed personal insolvency arrangement for retired High Court taxing master James Flynn, who has debts of just over €5 million, does not meet a condition necessary for the court to consider whether or not to approve it, a High Court judge has ruled, The Irish Times reported. Mr Justice Denis McDonald was ruling on a preliminary issue concerning an application by Mr Flynn’s personal insolvency practitioner (PIP) after his insolvency arrangement failed to win the support of a majority of his creditors.