Headlines

JB Hi-Fi expects to see another year of declining revenues on this side of the Tasman as the ASX-listed discount consumer electronics retailer attempts to drive profitability in its New Zealand unit, The New Zealand Herald reported. The local division of the Melbourne-based company widened its loss before interest and tax to $2.9 million in the 12 months ended June 30 from an ebit-loss $2.7 million a year earlier. Not only did margins shrink, but revenue dipped 1.1 per cent to $231.5 million with the closure of one store and exit from whiteware goods.

Analysts believe shareholders will back troubled Irish-Swiss baker Aryzta’s bid to raise €800 million despite seeing the group’s value fall by €420 million in two weeks, The Irish Times reported. The maker of Cuisine de France bread said on Monday it intended to raise €800 million to reduce debt, which stood at €2 billion earlier this year, and give it the finance needed to implement a business plan. Aryzta said it would raise the cash by issuing new shares, giving the right to current investors to buy the stock in proportion to their existing holdings.

The worst of the plunge in China’s yuan should be behind us. That’s the view of Charles Feng, head of macro trading for Greater China at Standard Chartered Plc., even as drama in Turkey rattles markets worldwide, Bloomberg News reported. Factors pressuring the yuan -- such as trade tension and easing China monetary policy -- are almost priced in, while there’s limited room for the dollar to rise further, he said. Investors could also start seeing a bottom for mainland stocks, which are down more than 20 percent from this year’s peak.

Sports Direct, the British sportswear retailer controlled by tycoon Mike Ashley, has snapped up House of Fraser from the department store group’s administrators for 90 million pounds ($115 million), Reuters reported. Billionaire Ashley, who also owns English Premier League soccer club Newcastle United, said on Friday his ambition was to transform House of Fraser “into the Harrods of the High Street” - a reference to the Qatari-owned luxury department store in London that was once owned by House of Fraser. Sports Direct bought House of Fraser’s 58 UK stores, its brand and all its stock.

Indian authorities arrested a former managing director of Bhushan Steel Ltd on Thursday over an alleged fraud, after a probe found billions of rupees had been siphoned off by the firm’s founders from funds borrowed from state-run banks, Reuters reported. Neeraj Singhal, a member of the founding family, was presented before a court and will be held in judicial custody until Aug. 14, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs said in a statement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is showing no signs of backing down in a standoff with the U.S. that rattled markets. As investors worry about Turkey sliding toward a full-blown financial crisis, the big question now is how far the pain may spread, Bloomberg News reported. “I call out to those in the United States. It is a shame. You are trading a strategic NATO ally for a pastor,” Erdogan said Saturday during a rally in the Black Sea port of Ordu, referring to the U.S. decision to sanction Turkey for its imprisonment of an American priest.

Standard Chartered Plc and Commerzbank AG are among companies targeted by investors suing Steinhoff International Holdings NV to recover as much as 12 billion euros ($13.8 billion) they claim they lost because of accounting irregularities at the retail giant, Bloomberg News reported. The suit was filed in Johannesburg and seeks class-action status to cover shareholders who bought Steinhoff stock from June 26, 2013 to December 5, 2017, South African lawfirm LHL Attorneys said in an emailed statement.

Jet Airways India Ltd., the Mumbai-based carrier trading at the lowest since June 2015 on deteriorating finances and rising default risk on its debt obligations, said it is servicing all its loans on time in spite of surging fuel prices, Bloomberg News reported. “We are regular in all our payment obligations to all our banks and statutory dues including provident fund obligations. Our account with all the banks as on date is standard,” the company said in an emailed statement on Saturday.

The ups and downs of Italian government bonds are making the country’s banks queasy, Bloomberg News reported. UniCredit SpA and its smaller competitors are seeing their financial resilience being eroded after government bond values declined. The country’s banks hold by far the most state debt among lenders in Europe and with yields moving in reaction to politicians’ declarations, it’s not hard to see more risk ahead.

The chairman of one of India’s biggest state lenders has urged the government to give up appointing top bank executives, arguing the move would boost management standards in a crucial sector struggling to recover from a bad debt crisis, the Financial Times reported. “Through a random process, which has some combination of the individual’s choice and the government’s wisdom, people show up,” Ravi Venkatesan, chairman of Bank of Baroda, told the Financial Times. “You could have a gentleman from a small bank suddenly thrust into an executive director role at a large bank.