Headlines

Saudi Arabia sold sukuk, or Islamic bonds, worth $2.5 billion on Tuesday after receiving large demand for its first international debt sale since an assault on its oil facilities last month, Reuters reported. The strikes, which initially halved Saudi crude output, led to a rating downgrade by Fitch, which cited raised geopolitical risks and the possibility of further attacks. The sukuk offer a profit rate equivalent to 127 basis points over mid-swaps, a document showed.

The Vatican on Tuesday dismissed allegations in a new book that the Holy See risks default in the next few years because of falling donations, financial mismanagement and corruption, Reuters reported. The 350-page book, “Last Judgment,” is by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, and is his latest on Vatican finances. Nuzzi writes that years of deficits may leave the Vatican little choice but to declare default by 2023. “There is no threat of default here. There is only the need for a spending review. And that is what we are doing,” said Archbishop Nunzio Galantino.

Companies' demand for bank loans held up in the eurozone in the third quarter, the European Central Bank found in a survey published Tuesday, in a mildly positive sign amid fears of a slowdown, The Business Times reported. "Net demand for loans to enterprises remained broadly unchanged in the third quarter," the ECB said in its quarterly survey of 144 banks across the single currency area. But the steady interest in loans disappointed financial firms' hopes earlier this year that the third quarter would bring growth in demand.

Casino, the French retailer, has moved to further boost its financial position by raising €1.5bn in bank loans and extending its debt maturities for four years. The company said after the market closed on Tuesday that it is raising €1.5bn in new financing in order to refinance part of its existing debt, the Financial Times reported. The group is also working to agree a new syndicated revolving facility for about €2bn, which will mature in October 2023. It said that it has already received commitments for more than €1.6bn from 14 French and international banks.

A health check on India’s shadow banks shows the crisis in the industry is far from over. Indicators from liquidity to share performance show weakness, according to data compiled by Bloomberg as of Sept. 30, Bloomberg News reported. In recent weeks, another financier defaulted, it got harder for investors to cut losses in the sector’s debt and a mortgage lender altered financing plans due to waning appetite for shadow bank bonds.

Lebanon’s government announced a long list of measures on Monday it hopes will fix the nation’s finances and appease the tens of thousands of people who’ve taken to the streets in the past week, Bloomberg News reported. Along with a proposal to halve the salaries of ministers and lawmakers, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said he’d slash next year’s budget deficit to 0.6% of gross domestic output, from almost 10% in 2019. One of his senior advisers also said the central bank will waive coupons on local-currency government debt, but Eurobonds won’t be affected.

Spain’s High Court will investigate allegations that Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman acted to depress the share price of DIA when trying to take control of the supermarket chain, a court document seen by Reuters showed, Reuters reported. Fridman’s LetterOne fund denied the allegations on Tuesday, saying in a statement they were “untrue and defamatory”. LetterOne rescued DIA from the brink of insolvency this year after the retailer’s market value fell by 90% in 2018 as it lost out to rising competition.

Swiss bank UBS has announced a $100m overhaul of its investment bank after profits at the division more than halved in the third quarter, contributing to an overall earnings drop despite a resilient performance in wealth management, the Financial Times reported. Pre-tax profit at the investment bank fell to $203m from $489m in the same period last year — well below analysts’ expectations for $290m.

Many privately held firms in Shandong, China’s third-biggest province by economic output, are struggling to repay short-term debt due to declining industry fundamentals, entangled cross guarantees and ill-managed investments, S&P Global Ratings said, Reuters reported. China’s slowing economy and enforcement of environmental protection rules have pressured the profitability and cash flow of Shandong companies in over-capacity sectors including oil refining, petrochemicals, steel, aluminium and textiles, S&P said.

Oman’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) said that the Sultanate’s bankruptcy and insolvency law will come into effect from July 2020 and it will help companies to get out of the financial turmoil after paying debts and reconciling with creditors as per a restructuring plan, Islamic Business and Finance reported.