Headlines

For European leaders struggling to contain hostility to globalisation, few things can be as unwelcome as a cross-border takeover threatening mass lay-offs in a treasured industry, the Financial Times reported. When the industry in question is car making — so often a symbol of national pride or decline — the stakes are even higher. Yet despite the disquiet felt in Germany and the UK at PSA’s purchase of Opel, both countries need to accept the logic of consolidation in a sector where politicians have too often intervened to protect jobs at the expense of long-term competitiveness.

The Greek economy suffered a severe blow at the end of last year, contracting by 1.2 per cent in the quarter and underscoring the hit to growth following a fresh setback in Athens’ €86bn bailout talks, the Financial Times reported. Figures from Elstat revealed the economy had unexpectedly shrunk three times more than its first estimate of 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016. It was the worst quarter since the height of Athens’ bailout woes in the summer of 2015 when country was bought to the brink of default and was forced to impose capital controls on its banking system.

Tata Steel Ltd is still in talks with Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG about a potential merger of their European steel assets, the Indian company said on Monday. The statement was in response to reports in the British media on Sunday that India's largest steel company might be in the process of calling off a potential deal with the Germans, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The company is in "constructive discussions" with ThyssenKrupp, said Tata Steel.

Peugeot struck a more than €2 billion ($2.1 billion) deal to buy General Motors Co.’s unprofitable European operations, a daring move by a French auto maker that is still early in its own financial recovery, The Wall Street Journal reported. The deal, announced Monday, ratchets up Peugeot’s share of the growing European car market to 16%, passing French rival Renault SA for No. 2 in the region behind Volkswagen AG in terms of volume.

The European Central Bank is unlikely to beef up its lending of government bonds when it meets on Thursday, sources said, raising the spectre of a painful new squeeze in a vital market for investors. Sources at euro zone central banks said political, legal and technical hurdles were still standing in the way of industry calls for them to lend out more of the €1.4 trillion of sovereign debt they have bought to boost inflation, the Irish Times reported.

The CIÉ Group has confirmed it is prepared in certain circumstances to provide financial support to assist Bus Éireann in dealing with its financial problems, the Irish Times reported. Details of the move emerged as new talks between Bus Éireann and trade unions on a survival plan for the State-owned transport company commenced at the Workplace Relations Commission. Last Friday, the company withdrew plans to unilaterally impose new efficiency measures and changes to work practices while unions simultaneously deferred an all-out strike which was scheduled to get under way on Monday.

If you owe a bank a hundred dollars, it is your problem. If you owe a hundred million, it is the bank’s problem. If you are one of many tycoons borrowing billions to finance dud firms, it is the government’s problem, The Economist reported. That is roughly the situation India finds itself in today. Its state-owned banks extended credit to companies that are now unable to repay. Like the firms they have injudiciously lent to, many banks are barely solvent. Almost 17% of all loans are estimated to be non-performing; state-controlled banks are trading at a steep discount to book value.

Deutsche Bank is planning to raise capital, list its asset management unit and realign its divisions as it seeks to reinvent itself after spending about two years dealing with past misdeeds and massive losses, Reuters reported. Germany's flagship lender plans an 8 billion euro ($8.50 billion) rights issue, due to be launched on March 20, it said on Sunday, as it seeks to repair its balance sheet in the wake of a 15 billion euro legal bill incurred since 2012.

Sir Philip Green has agreed a deal to pump as much as £50m a year into the pension fund behind his fashion business, Arcadia, to plug a growing deficit, just days after reaching a settlement over the BHS pension scandal, The Guardian reported. Arcadia, which controls Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, will double payments into its pension scheme from £25m a year to £50m this year, potentially heading off another pensions controversy.

When the biggest Nordic bank turned its subsidiaries into branches, regulators in Finland, Denmark and Norway complained they were left with too-big-to fail operations but no power to rein them in. Oversight was instead left to Sweden. But the full consequences of Nordea Bank AB’s decision to consolidate its Nordic operations are only gradually becoming clear, Bloomberg News reported. In a step that’s expected to be copied elsewhere in the European Union, Stockholm-based Nordea’s restructuring was completed on Jan. 1 after long talks with the relevant Nordic authorities.