Headlines
Resources Per Region
With fixed exchange rates and some of the world’s worst debt and balance-of-payment ratios, Lebanon’s newly-formed government knows it needs to act fast to avoid sinking into a full-blown economic crisis, Reuters reported. Lebanon’s ability to dodge financial disaster has for years confounded critics, whose warnings of debt defaults, balance of payments crises and a collapse of the pound currency, have all failed to materialise. The hope is that it will stay that way, but as the charts below show the numbers are daunting.
South Africa’s struggling power firm Eskom expects to make a wider 20 billion rand ($1.5 billion) loss in the current financial year and wants steeper tariff hikes than it previously sought, its chief financial officer said on Monday. The chief executive also said the government should consider injecting extra capital into state-owned Eskom to help it cope with what he said were low electricity tariffs, Reuters reported.
German airline Germania said on Tuesday it had filed for insolvency and would terminate flight operations immediately, citing rising fuel prices and a stronger dollar, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. There were also delays integrating aircraft into the fleet and a high number of "maintenance events", the company said in a statement. CEO Karsten Balke said it was unable to cover a short-term liquidity need. The company advised customers to contact holiday operators to be rebooked.
India’s Reliance Communications Ltd on Monday moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to withdraw its appeal in a dispute with Ericsson as it seeks to pursue a debt resolution plan through the country’s bankruptcy court, Reuters reported. Mumbai-based RCom, controlled by Anil Ambani, said on Friday it will seek fast-track resolution of its debt through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the country’s court that deals with bankruptcy cases. The NCLAT on Monday asked Ericsson to file a response by Feb. 8 and scheduled a hearing for Feb. 12.
A special government-appointed inquiry excoriated Australia's financial sector for misconduct on Monday, referring two dozen cases to regulators for possible legal action but leaving the structure of the country's powerful banks in place, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Regulators will be subjected to a new oversight body and the financial industry's pay will be overhauled to remove conflicts of interest, according to the recommendations of the so-called Royal Commission.
Investor sentiment for the eurozone fell to the lowest level in more than four years as fears mount of a downturn in the single currency area against a backdrop of weaker global growth, the Financial Times reported. The overall index in the eurozone declined to -3.7 in February from -1.5 a month earlier, the lowest since November 2014 and its sixth decline in a row, a measure from Frankfurt-based research house Sentix showed. The Sentix index adds to other reports that signal the single currency area is slowing.
An Indian appeals tribunal has ruled against Tata Steel Ltd’s effort to dismiss rival bids for Bhushan Power and Steel, boosting JSW Steel Ltd’s offer to buy the indebted steel maker, Reuters reported. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) said the plea by Tata Steel was “not maintainable” as it was up to the committee of creditors of Bhushan Power and Steel to accept a debt resolution plan that could maximize asset value. The tribunal said it would not interfere with JSW Steel’s bid because more than 97 percent of the indebted firm’s creditors had approved the plan.
Debt-burdened telecom carrier Altice Europe is gearing up to sell a stake in its high-speed fiber network business in Portugal, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, with an auction process expected to kick off within a fortnight, Reuters reported. Altice, which took control of Portugal Telecom in 2015, is looking to replicate its recent sale of a 49.99 percent stake in French fiber optic business SFR FTTH to three investment funds for 1.8 billion euros. The group, whose founder is billionaire Patrick Drahi, has hired Lazard to sound out potential bidders including U.S.
Barclays is being sued by seven local English councils over controversial bank loans sold before the financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. The bank entered into lender-option, borrower-option (Lobo) loan agreements with the seven local authorities between 2006 and 2008 which had interest rates linked to Libor, an interest-rate benchmark. Barclays is among a number of banks that have been fined over Libor since the 2008 banking crisis.