Headlines

British construction firms report having almost a third less work in the pipeline than a year ago, with Brexit and the collapse of larger contractors a major worry, an annual survey of subcontractors showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Subcontractors reported having 19 weeks of work to fall back on, down from 27 weeks a year earlier, according to the survey by trade finance provider Bibby Financial Services, an advance copy of which was provided to Reuters.

Deutsche Bank on Monday acknowledged a lapse in its money laundering controls, underlining the bank’s continuing struggle to move beyond a series of scandals that have helped push its stock price to a record low, the International New York Times reported. An internal audit uncovered deficiencies in the way that the bank processed checks on behalf of clients, Deutsche Bank said in a statement. The audit, which examined the bank’s operations in Britain, did not find any cases of money laundering or breaches of international sanctions that occurred because of the lapses, the bank said.

Indian film and entertainment group Eros International has taken steps to resolve delays in loan payments, Chief Executive Kishore Lulla said, as he also dismissed a short seller’s allegations of accounting irregularities at the group, Reuters reported. The company’s New York-listed shares plunged more than 55% last week, and those of its Indian subsidiary Eros International Media Ltd sunk more than 30%, after an Indian rating agency categorized debt of Eros’s Indian subsidiary at “default” levels due to delays in loan payments.

Cyril Ramaphosa’s uphill battle to revive Africa’s most industrialised economy has grown steeper after his ruling African National Congress spooked markets with an attack on the independence of the central bank, the Financial Times reported. South Africa’s economy is already skirting with recession and threats to growth are festering problems for the president after the ANC returned to power in elections in May.

The Government’s medium-term projections for the public finances are “not credible”, the State’s fiscal watchdog has said in its latest assessment of the economy, The Irish Times reported. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) said the projections – laid out in the Stability Programme Update 2019 – show exchequer surpluses increasing each year based on expenditure forecasts that were not probable.

Even as investors bet on a resurgence for medium-sized Indian companies after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s return to power, one of the country’s top mid-cap fund manager advises caution, Bloomberg News reported. This group of stocks won’t get an immediate lift from Modi’s victory as it isn’t immune to the slowdown in the economy and the lingering shadow-bank crisis, said Vinit Sambre, who oversees $1.6 billion in two mid- and small-cap funds at DSP Investment Managers in Mumbai.

On Wednesday, Brussels issued a formal warning that sets Rome on the path towards its naughty corner for fiscal delinquents — the so-called excessive deficit procedure (EDP) — which, in extremis, could lead to fines or suspended transfers from the EU budget, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. This step is formally the same as the one Brussels took last autumn, that led to a compromise avoiding sanction. But there is much less chance of such an outcome now, economists say. Last time, Brussels objected to Rome’s declared budget plans, which were accordingly tweaked.

Kenya Airways plans to double its fleet over the next five years, its chairman said on Monday, as the loss-making carrier combats regional rivals like Ethiopian. The Kenyan airline, which is 48.9% government-owned and 7.8% by Air France-KLM, restructured $2 billion of debt in 2017 and is opening new routes as it seeks to return to profit, Reuters reported. It had a fleet of 41 airplanes at the end of last year, comprising a mix of wide and narrow body Boeing planes, compared with Ethiopian which operates more than 100 planes.

Britain's withholding of 39 billion pounds it promised the EU as part of its original Brexit plan would not constitute a default in the eyes of credit ratings agencies, but lawyers said it could lead to international court battles, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Boris Johnson, the leading candidate to be Britain's next prime minister, said at the weekend that he would retain the Brexit payment until the EU gave the UK better exit terms. The 39 billion pounds represents outstanding British liabilities to the EU and is to be paid over a number of years.

Prosecutors for the Brazilian northeastern state of Alagoas filed a lawsuit against the country’s largest petrochemical company, Braskem SA, seeking to guarantee compensation for damages caused by the firm, the Alagoas government said on Friday, Reuters reported. In the lawsuit, the state asks a local court to block any attempt from Braskem’s controlling shareholder, the Odebrecht conglomerate, to spin off the business based in Alagoas to facilitate a possible deal to sell the petrochemical company.