Headlines

Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it would liquidate its U.K. nuclear business and sell its U.S. natural-gas business, taking a combined loss of nearly $1 billion. The moves are intended to clear away legacy problems after Toshiba went through waves of restructuring in the past three years that included the bankruptcy of its former Westinghouse Electric business in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported. The U.K. business—NuGeneration Ltd., known as NuGen—had sought to build what was planned as Europe’s largest new nuclear project in northwest England.

Mario Draghi has faced accusations of sending “ransom notes” and “diktats” to eurozone governments during a heated hearing at the Irish parliament, which represent the latest attack on the European Central Bank from lawmakers in the single currency area, the Financial Times reported. Mr Draghi was speaking to a parliamentary committee in Dublin on Thursday, where the ECB’s role in the country’s financial crash almost a decade ago remains deeply controversial.

Italy was quick to rebuff the European Commission’s latest criticism of its budget, accusing it of sloppy and outdated analysis, Bloomberg News reported. Shortly after the European Commission published its latest forecasts for Italy, most of which were more pessimistic than the government’s, Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said the numbers come from an “inadequate and partial analysis.” He added that the EU ignored “clarifications provided by Italy.” Rome’s unusually strong response included another refusal to change its budget targets, despite demands from the EU.

UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Officer Jean-Pierre Mustier’s turnaround plans hit a last-minute hurdle after the bank cut key targets and took a charge related to its Turkish bank, Bloomberg News reported. The lender surprised investors with an 850 million-euro ($972 million) charge to revalue Istanbul-based Yapi Kredi Bankasi AS and said it’s increasing funds to cover a potential settlement related to U.S. sanctions over Iran. The Milan-based bank also lowered targets for revenue and a key measure of financial strength this year and next, while keeping its 2019 profit target intact.

First came the sweeping government pronouncements. Then the flurry of actions, all aimed at shoring up China’s capital markets and rescuing struggling private companies. But are they working? Weeks into China’s latest campaign to support the world’s worst-performing major stock market and address record defaults, there have been some successes: equities are far less volatile and more companies are selling debt at a lower cost, Bloomberg News reported.

Bombardier Inc. tumbled the most in more than three years as disappointing cash-flow forecasts sowed doubts about Chief Executive Officer Alain Bellemare’s turnaround of the debt-laden maker of trains and aircraft, Bloomberg News reported. The company will only be able to attain its target of breaking even on a cash-flow basis this year by including the proceeds from a $635 million land sale in Toronto. Next year’s outlook for breaking even, plus or minus $250 million, frustrates expectations for a significant improvement, said Nick Heymann, an analyst at William Blair in New York.

The state appointed commissioners running Alitalia will complete their examination of the proposals received for the sale of the company next week, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The commissioners for the Italian carrier said last week they had received two binding offers and one non-binding expression of interest, but gave no details of the bids, Reuters reported.

Essar Steel India sought a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo on an online trading platform this week, three industry sources said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The company, a unit of Indian commodity conglomerate Essar Group, was seeking a cargo on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis for delivery into Dahej over Dec. 28-29, the sources said. It sought a cargo through LNG trading marketplace Global LNG Exchange (GLX) on Wednesday but did not attract any offers, one of the sources said.

A leading Turkish carpet maker whose rugs adorn the floors of Istanbul’s luxury hotels and the region’s biggest mosque has filed for bankruptcy, Ahval reported. Avşar Halı was awarded bankruptcy protection by a court in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, the city where it is based, Sözcü newspaper reported on Wednesday. The firm has supplied carpets to five-star hotels in Istanbul such as the Ritz Carlton, Shangri-La Bosporus and the Hilton. Its rugs also furnish the floors of Çamlıca Mosque, the largest in Asia Minor, which opened in 2016.

Insurer FBD Holdings’ original backer subscribed for €20 million worth of loan notes used in clearing a €70 million debt to Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings, The Irish Times reported. Farmer Business Developments plc, FBD’s founder and one of its biggest shareholders, confirmed that it subscribed for €20 million of the €50 million loan notes used in the insurer’s recent restructuring. This allowed FBD to buy out Fairfax’s loan, which the Canadian group could otherwise have converted to shares.