Headlines

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has cut its credit rating on storied carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda Holdings deeper into junk territory on Wednesday amid concerns over the UK’s exit from the European Union and threat of U.S. tariffs, Reuters reported. The ratings agency trimmed its rating by one notch to ‘CCC+’, which reflects substantial risks and takes it close to default territory after a faster-than-expected cash burn this year. The outlook is negative.

Deutsche Bank AG is reviving a business it shut down in 2014, even as it pushes on with a company-wide strategic overhaul that’s seen it shed staff and sell off assets, Bloomberg News reported. The German lender has resumed trading credit-default swaps -- derivatives used by traders to insure debt against the risk of default -- for investment-grade European companies, according to a spokeswoman. The bank also plans to extend the activity to cover high yield as well as banks and insurers, she said.

In a related story, Reuters reported that Thomas Cook’s Polish business Neckermann Polska said on Wednesday it was insolvent as the effects of the demise of the world’s oldest travel firm spread to central Europe, leaving around 3,600 Polish tourists stuck abroad. Thomas Cook, which started life in 1841 running local rail excursions and grew to pioneer package holidays, collapsed early on Monday stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers.

Thomas Cook’s German tour business filed for insolvency on Wednesday in a move aimed at separating its brands and operations from its failed parent, and said it was in talks with potential new investors, Reuters reported. The German government said it was considering an application for a bridging loan from Thomas Cook Germany, a day after it said it would guarantee a 380 million euro ($418 million) bridging loan for the British group’s German airline, Condor.

Tuesday was a day to forget for Prem Watsa, often referred to as Canada’s Warren Buffett. His Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. lost more than C$160 million ($121 million) just in his top five listed Canadian investments, according to the latest filings compiled by Bloomberg. BlackBerry’s abysmal fiscal second-quarter earnings, which saw one of its staunchest bulls join the bear camp, was the prime offender, Bloomberg News reported. The stock fell 23% on Tuesday and extended declines Wednesday to the lowest in six years. To add to the pressure, Fairfax owns BlackBerry convertible debentures.

Argentina’s financial program with the International Monetary Fund will be on hold for some time as the nation grapples with severe political and economic uncertainty, the Fund’s Acting Managing Director David Lipton said an interview, Bloomberg News reported. “Our job in this setting is to help them get through this period, give them advice, work toward an eventual resumption of a relationship -- some kind of financial relationship with them -- which may have to wait awhile,” Lipton told Bloomberg Radio on Wednesday.

Investors on a call in July with distressed Indonesia textile firm PT Delta Merlin Dunia Tekstil were confounded -- how could the company’s fortunes have turned so fast? They’re still searching for answers, in a case that’s revived concerns about a lack of transparency in corners of Asia’s credit markets, Bloomberg News reported. The saga has also highlighted risks of more scares ahead as the trade war and mounting geopolitical concerns reverse a rally in junk debt.

A record pace of defaults hit China’s domestic bonds this year. In 2020, it could be the offshore market’s turn. That’s because of a looming wall of dollar debt, issued by now-stressed borrowers, that comes to maturity, Bloomberg News reported. There’s $8.6 billion of offshore bonds coming due next year that currently have at least 15% yields -- classifying them as stressed, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Put another way, nearly 40% of total outstanding corporate dollar bonds from China’s most troubled companies is due next year.

Slovenia’s Adria Airways has cancelled almost all of its flights for Tuesday and Wednesday, potentially affecting around 3,700 passengers, because it has been unable to access cash to continue flying, it said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. “The company is at this point intensively searching for solutions in cooperation with a potential investor. The goal of everyone involved is to make Adria Airways fly again,” it said in a statement.

The brokerage arm of top Japanese lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will cut about half of its staff in Asia outside of Japan in a restructuring to be finalised as early as Wednesday, two people familiar with the matter said, Reuters reported. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities staff in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia will be cut to fewer than 100 people from around 180 now, two people said, declining to be identified because the information has not been made public. Sales and trading will be heavily impacted, while debt capital markets will remain largely intact, they said.