Headlines

Australia’s Westpac Banking Corp said on Thursday it would disburse A$100 million ($74.2 million) in cheap loans to farmers as a record dry spell hits parts of the nation, while the country’s lenders fight to regain public trust amidst an ongoing misconduct inquiry, Reuters reported. The drought in Australia’s east, one of the worst on record, is impacting every area of rural life, often with global trade and price implications. Already many cattle graziers are being forced to sell stock they can no longer feed.

Insolvency practitioner Gavin Jones discusses the kind of damages that might be claimed from a holding company or its directors in the event of the insolvency of a subsidiary – and the defences that might be available to mitigate these. With the Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) of House of Fraser reportedly hanging in the balance, the well-publicised difficulties facing the retail sector are widespread, Real Business reported.

The Philippine economy grew less than expected in the second quarter amid rising inflation, according to figures released on Thursday. The Philippines’ gross domestic product rose 6 per cent year on year in the three months through June, well short of the 6.7 per cent median forecast from a Reuters poll of economists and down from revised first-quarter GDP growth of 6.6 per cent, the Financial Times reported.

The Force India Formula One team will come out of administration after a rescue deal involving a consortium of investors led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, administrators and management said in a statement on Tuesday. They said creditors would be paid in full and all 405 jobs at the Silverstone-based team, that was co-owned by embattled Indian businessman Vijay Mallya and finished fourth last year, were safe, Reuters reported. Stroll is the father of Williams Formula One driver Lance.

Norwegian drillship and rig operator Fred. Olsen Energy, owner of the yard that built the RMS Titanic, is considering a debt and equity restructuring that would almost wipe out the value of its current shares, the company said. With debt and liabilities of more than $840 million at the end of June, Fred. Olsen last month stopped paying its creditors to preserve liquidity, making it the latest victim of a slow recovery in the oil and gas exploration sector, Reuters reported.

Investors are watching closely to see whether Turkish banks will maintain access to the foreign funding they need to keep economic activity humming, as the economy is battered by U.S. sanctions, rating cuts, concern about a looming fine on a state bank and a plunging lira, Bloomberg News reported. Turkish lenders have a good record of foreign borrowing even at the height of a financial crisis and are strong enough to weather a slowdown, according to bank executives.

Indonesia at times felt uncomfortably close to the center of this year’s emerging-market selloff as bond yields rose for five straight months and the rupiah slid more than 6 percent, Bloomberg News reported. Some funds are now saying it’s time to get back in. Loomis Sayles & Co. is looking to boost holdings of Indonesian bonds, citing sound domestic fundamentals and inflation that is close to target. Western Asset Management Co. says a proactive central bank and the recent increase in yields may be creating a buying opportunity for the nation’s dollar-denominated debt.

Argentine companies will sell at least $5 billion of overseas bonds by March, reopening a window that has been closed for the past three months amid economic volatility, according to the head of Itau Unibanco Holding SA’s international fixed-income unit, Bloomberg News reported. Between $3 billion and $4 billion will be sold by a group of firms recently awarded public-private contracts to build roads, while the remainder will come from blue-chip companies, according to Baruc Saez.

Bonds that Reliance Communications Ltd. defaulted on last year slumped to a seven-month low on Tuesday, after the Indian mobile operator controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani offered to repay holders at a discount to the principal value, Bloomberg News reported. The firm, which is set to meet with bondholders on Aug. 10, has been trying to close a sale of wireless assets to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. that would raise money to help pay creditors. Reliance Communications’ 2020 dollar notes fell 2 cents on the dollar to 43 cents as of 6:00 p.m.

India’s Supreme Court Tuesday refused to halt a lower court from hearing cash-strapped power producers seeking protection from bankruptcy proceedings, Bloomberg News reported. The verdict of the two-judge bench headed by Rohinton F. Nariman ensures that lenders won’t be able to initiate insolvency proceedings against power producers who may have defaulted on loan repayments unless they are categorized as wilful defaulters. Power producers had challenged Reserve Bank of India’s revised debt servicing rules, which they say can push nearly 75 gigawatts of projects into bankruptcy.