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The company that holds the store leases of camera retailer Jessops has filed for administration in a bid to restructure its obligations and cut its outgoings, according to people briefed on the matter, the Financial Times reported. JR Prop manages the leases for Jessops under a structure similar to that used by the sub-brands of fashion retailer Arcadia. It has filed a notice of intent to appoint ReSolve as administrators, a move that affords the company creditor protection for a period of 10 days. The group’s main trading company, Jessops Europe, is unaffected by the move.
When it comes to Brexit, investors have endured three years of deadlines and disappointments. Now with a finish line tantalizingly in sight, they have switched from expectations it could last forever to perhaps pricing the endgame, Bloomberg News reported. As talks toward a deal enter overtime, negotiators from Britain and the European Union will still need official approval for any accord, and on the U.K. side that means Prime Minister Boris Johnson must win the support of Parliament. It could prove a formidable challenge, yet across multiple asset classes optimism is surging.
Two weeks of protests and clashes, in which seven people were killed and 2,500 injured or arrested in the centre of Quito, have forced Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno to rip up his economic reform plans, leaving him in a weaker position than ever before, the Financial Times reported. Faced with the demands of a $4.2bn IMF programme, the Ecuadorean leader needs to either cut government spending or raise revenue. His plan to abolish fuel subsidies, which triggered the mass protests, would have saved the state $1.3bn a year, or 1.2 per cent of gross domestic product.
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., the state-owned South African utility that provides about 95% of the nation’s electricity, implemented power cuts on Wednesday amid maintenance problems, Bloomberg News reported. The rand weakened as investors fretted about the effect on economic growth. Power shortages have been a major constraint on output in Africa’s most industrialized economy. Protracted outages could cost the country its last investment-grade credit rating from Moody’s Investors Service, which is due to deliver its next assessment on Nov. 1.
Brazilian renewable energy firm Renova Energia SA has filed for bankruptcy protection, aiming to restructure a total debt of around 3.1 billion reais ($741.70 million), it said in a securities filing on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The bankruptcy filing comes two days after key shareholder Light SA sold its 17.17% stake in Renova to an investment fund for a symbolic value of 1 real, in a decision that followed failed talks to sell heavily indebted wind farm projects.
Companies are stepping up purchases of insurance to protect themselves against insolvencies in Britain, industry sources say, in part due to concerns about the impact of Brexit, Reuters reported. The UK economy is feeling the pinch from the political uncertainty, which has hit consumer spending and led to a drop in the value of the pound. This has contributed to high-profile company collapses like that of travel firm Thomas Cook, which also suffered under the weight of its debt pile.
Insolvent Thomas Cook’s German unit has withdrawn an application for a state bridging loan for legal reasons, the company’s liquidator said on Wednesday, adding that the firm was still talking with investors about a possible rescue, Reuters reported. Insolvency administrators of the law firm Hermann Wienberg said the credit application needed to be amended, adding that the already submitted application would be withdrawn. It did not say whether Thomas Cook would file a new application.
Credit unions in the Republic may have to withdraw €1.8 billion of deposits and investments lodged with financial institutions in the UK in the event of a disorderly Brexit, it has emerged, The Irish Times reported. Fianna Fáil’s spokesman on finance, Michael McGrath, has raised concerns about the matter this week after he received a response to a parliamentary question, which clarified that credit unions will not be allowed to hold investments in institutions in a so-called third country outside the EU.
UK employment suffered its sharpest decline in more than four years in the three months to August, new figures reveal, The Irish Times reported. The number of people in work declined by 56,000 to 32.69 million in the quarter, as the number of people claiming unemployment benefits jumped higher, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The slump was significantly below forecasts by economists, who had predicted a 26,000 rise in employment. The quarterly decline in employment was the heaviest fall since May 2015, when the level of employment slid by 65,000.