Headlines

Seadrill’s core earnings for the fourth quarter exceeded the company’s own guidance, boosted by lower costs and one-off items, while the market outlook for drilling rigs was improving, the Oslo and New York-listed firm said on Tuesday. The company, controlled by Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen, reported $73 million in quarterly adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), more than double the $35 million forecast it made in November, Reuters reported.

Greece’s foot-dragging on some key economic reforms is raising creditor concern, putting at risk a planned debt relief measure next month and a rebound in its stock and bond markets, Bloomberg News reported. A report by the country’s creditors due on Wednesday will likely show that Greece has yet to fully comply with a list of 16 pending reforms, European Union officials said. Unless it rushes to complete them before a meeting of euro-area finance ministers on March 11, the cash disbursement will probably be delayed, according to the officials.

European companies have been rushing to sell bonds as credit has become the apple of investors’ eyes. Yet there are risks that this new flood of supply onto the market could curtail the recent rally in corporate bonds over coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported. There has been a surprisingly strong comeback in the European credit market since January, and many European companies are taking advantage of this renewed surge in demand to issue better-quality investment-grade bonds.

A family office that manages money for India’s wealthy Jhunjhunwala family is looking to invest in finance companies which have been pummeled by the crisis in the country’s shadow banking sector, Bloomberg News reported. Singapore-based AJ Capital Asset Management Pte sees good value in the shares of the downtrodden non-bank lenders, according to the firm’s Chief Executive Abhinav Jhunjhunwala. He said he’s also looking to invest in private companies in the sector, including through acquisitions.

The Dutch government has taken a shareholding in Air France-KLM in an attempt to protect the country’s economic interests in the carrier, escalating tensions between Paris and The Hague, the Financial Times reported. Wopke Hoekstra, Netherlands’ finance minister, announced that his government had acquired a 12.68 per cent stake in the Air France-KLM holding group in recent weeks and will aim to build a shareholding equal to the French state at 14.3 per cent.

A Chinese state-owned enterprise from the country’s remote north-west has failed to repay a US dollar bond in Hong Kong, the first offshore default in 20 years and the latest sign investors can no longer rely on Chinese authorities to bail out state groups, the Financial Times reported.

Singapore’s troubled water treatment company Hyflux Ltd., formerly celebrated as a hallmark of entrepreneurship in better times, is set for a humbling week, Bloomberg News reported. Creditors are due to file proof by Friday of the obligations that Hyflux owes them, putting the company’s S$2.7 billion ($2 billion) unsecured debt load under an even brighter spotlight. The firm this month unveiled a proposal to impose 75 to 90 percent haircuts on unsecured creditors, following a tumble triggered by an ill-timed expansion into energy in recent years.

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinbin has declared bankruptcy after suffering millions of dollars in losses, in part due to claimed embezzlement, CoinDesk reported. Coinbin published a notice on its website on Wednesday, stating that “increased debt” and “government regulation” led to the firm having to halt its business operations. Specifically, it said regulators’ suspension of its ability to issue virtual accounts to users was part of the cause, as well as increased operating expenses and liabilities from its collapsed subsidiary exchange Youbit.

Bankruptcy proceedings usually involve protecting a firm’s assets from creditors. An Indian tribunal has turned the concept on its head by offering protection to the lenders. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal ordered that no lender can declare its exposure to embattled IL&FS Group as nonperforming without its permission – even if there is a default, a Bloomberg View reported.

China has met its target for reducing debt levels but will keep cracking down on riskier types of financing to contain risks to its financial system, the banking and insurance regulator said on Monday, urging banks to step up lending to smaller companies, Reuters reported. Concern about China’s debt is rising again as Beijing ramps up support for a slowing economy. New bank loans hit a record in January despite increasing bad loans and record defaults in 2018.