Headlines

The number of UK companies including warnings over Brexit in their annual reports has more than doubled in the past six months as the threat of a no-deal exit from the EU has increased, according to filings from medium and large businesses to Companies House, the Financial Times reported. Companies operating in the manufacturing and retail sectors have mentioned Brexit the most, highlighting the impact that potential tariffs and border delays could have on businesses that rely on “just in time” delivery of supplies.

Autos have made Germany into a global manufacturing powerhouse, but pollution concerns -- intensified by Volkswagen AG’s 2015 diesel-cheating scandal -- have sullied the reputation of a product that once embodied individual freedom, Bloomberg News reported. More recently, trade woes and slowing economies have hit demand. The consequence is Germany’s car production slumping to the lowest level since at least 2010.

Qatar’s banks eased repayment terms on real-estate loans, according to the chief executive officer of Doha Bank QSC, after the Saudi Arabia-led standoff hurt property prices, Bloomberg News reported. “Cash flows have been redefined, debt has been restructured to see that debt-servicing capacity is not in danger in the coming days for real estate owners,” Raghavan Seetharaman said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday.

Fund managers recently burned by Argentina are doubling down on the country’s bonds, saying that prices have dropped to levels that should offer solid returns, the Financial Times reported. Many investors endured big marked-to-market losses in the wake of August’s primary election, which paved the way for a return of a Peronist government. Stocks and bonds plunged, while the peso dropped lost more than one-fifth of its value against the US dollar.

Shares in Britain’s Intu Properties surged as much as 22% on Monday on speculation a private equity group could buy out the shopping centre operator, which has been hit by high-profile retail failures and a hefty debt burden, Reuters reported. The Sunday Times reported that private equity firm Orion Capital Managers, founded by Aref Lahham, is in the early stages of finding partners for a buyout of Intu, which owns the Trafford Centre in Manchester.

Car sales in India tumbled more than 40 per cent in August as the worst industry slowdown in recent memory deepened, intensifying concern that months of steep declines could spark a full-blown crisis, the Financial Times reported. Passenger car sales for the month came in at 115,000, down 41 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. That marked the fifth month of double-digit losses, the sizes of which have beaten anything recorded since the turn of the millennium.

Air France-KLM shares fell sharply on Monday as it emerged as a bidder for bankrupt French-based budget carrier Aigle Azur, which left 19,000 passengers stranded when it abruptly halted operations, Reuters reported. The offer from the group’s Air France unit was among 14 bids submitted for privately-held Aigle Azur, which was placed was placed under bankruptcy protection on Sept. 2., ahead of a midday deadline, an official with the CFDT union told Reuters.

A run of three profit warnings is frequently followed by boardroom firings and the arrival of administrators at U.K. firms, according to a 20-year study by EY, Bloomberg News reported. Within a year of issuing three or more profit warnings, 18% of U.K. companies will face a restructuring event such as insolvency proceedings, EY said. It also found that by the morning of a third warning, a quarter of chief executive officers have left the firm.

South Africa’s struggling state-owned defense company Denelaims to begin disposing of equity stakes and exiting loss-making businesses within months as part of its turnaround strategy, it told a parliamentary committee, Reuters reported. Denel, which makes ammunition, missiles and armored vehicles for South Africa and customers elsewhere in Africa, the Gulf and Europe, received a 1.8 billion rand ($122 million) cash injection from the government at the end of last month after struggling to pay salaries and suppliers.

The Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK) said on Friday that its bank debt amounting to 1.4 billion lira ($245.36 million) is being restructured upon instructions from President Tayyip Erdogan, Reuters reported. THK Chairman Bertan Nogaylaroglu said on the association’s website that its debt owed to state lender Vakifbank was restructured on Friday and the rest of the 1.4 billion lira debt would be restructured within a week.