Headlines

The German government is considering providing emergency financial assistance to Turkey as concerns grow in Berlin that a full-blown economic crisis could destabilize the region, German and European officials said. While the talks are at an early stage and may not result in any aid, the possibilities being discussed range from a coordinated European bailout similar to the kind deployed during the eurozone debt crisis to project-specific loans by state-controlled development banks and bilateral aid, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The company behind the McMahon’s Builders Providers chain recorded an 83 per cent increase in profit last year as trading rebounded in tandem with the growth in the Republic’s construction sector. Recently filed accounts for Derevoya Holdings Limited show the Limerick-based business with 14 branches across Ireland posted a pre-tax profit of €7.88 million for 2017, with continued growth experienced so far this year. Additionally, a “tight control” on the company’s cost base resulted in an improvement in the group’s operating profit, which increased 62 per cent to €8.84 million.

When a company goes under, or is teetering on the brink, news of its plight is usually greeted with genuine sympathy for its employees, along with nostalgic recollections of how the business used to be in its heyday. But not if that company is Wonga. Reports of the impending collapse of the notorious payday lender, which fleeced and frightened its vulnerable and desperate customers throughout the financial crisis, have been greeted with undisguised glee on social media, The Irish Times reported.

Noble Group Ltd won approval from shareholders on Monday for a $3.5 billion debt restructuring plan that should ensure the survival of what was once Asia’s biggest commodity trader, Reuters reported. Faced with the prospect of the company’s insolvency, shareholders reluctantly backed a debt-for-equity swap that will leave them owning just 20 percent of the business, while handing majority control to a group of creditors comprised mainly of hedge funds.

An Indian court rejected a plea by the nation’s power producers to exempt generators from central bank’s rules on repaying loans, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of India.

Investors in a $1.6 billion-Abraaj Group fund said they are owed at least $300 million by the floundering Middle Eastern private equity firm, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg News. They also ask to remove the company as manager. The estimate of what is owed to Private Equity Fund IV by Abraaj is nearly triple the $94.6 million found after a review by Abraaj’s accounting firm Deloitte LLP in June, Bloomberg News reported. The investors are also seeking to stop paying management fees to Abraaj, citing breach of duties to the fund, according to the letter dated Aug.13.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s energy unit is nearing a deal to acquire a 1,370-megawatt thermal power plant backed by GMR Infrastructure Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter. Adani Power Ltd. will take over about 38 billion rupees ($543 million) of loans out of a total of 58 billion rupees that GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd. owes, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private, Bloomberg News reported. Adani Power will also assume non-funded liabilities of about 14 billion rupees, the people said.

Reliance Communications Ltd., the Indian wireless carrier that’s trying to pay down debt, wrapped up the sale of its fiber and related infrastructure assets for 30 billion rupees ($429 million) to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Bloomberg News reported. The Anil Ambani-helmed operator is transferring 178,000 kilometers of fiber to sibling billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s company, according to an exchange filing. Reliance Communications’ shares were down about 0.5 percent on Monday in Mumbai at 11:15 a.m., taking declines this year to 48 percent. S&P BSE Sensex was trading 1 percent higher.

Chinese finance-to-aviation conglomerate HNA on Monday paid the Rmb1bn ($147m) principal on a bond after missing the payment on Friday due to what it said was a glitch in the interbank transfer system, the Financial Times reported. The payment of the bond principal averts the closest call yet for HNA, which delayed or extended debt during a liquidity crisis in the fourth quarter of 2017. It has since sold about $18bn in assets, according to company statements and data from Thomson Reuters. The 270-day bond that came due on Friday was issued during HNA’s tense period last year.

Bohai Steel Group, a debt-stricken state-owned enterprise, has entered bankruptcy proceedings as Tianjin Higher People’s Court accepted its creditor Tianjin Seri Machinery Equipment Corp., Ltd.’s application to reorganize Bohai Steel Group on August 24th, China Money Network reported. The group’s bankruptcy and reorganization process involves 48 businesses located in Tianjin and Hebei province. China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said it will work with Tianjin municipal government to establish a creditors committee.