Headlines

Irish development and investment group Ardale Property has completed its acquisition of Weslin Construction, which was in examinership. The €500,000 deal will save 15 jobs and position Ardale across a number of sectors, the Irish Times reported. Alan Hegarty, of Ardale Property Group, said that the investment “was an easy one”. “We would not have made this investment unless we felt we could bring Weslin forward.

Ukraine isn’t planning to restructure its debt and is working with the International Monetary Fund on a “sustainable program” to fight a recession and sinking foreign reserves, the nation’s acting deputy central bank head said, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. “We are a good a borrower and we want to follow the credit history of Ukraine and therefore this discussion on restructuring is not on the table now,” Vladyslav Rashkovan said Tuesday in an interview in Vienna. Debt restructuring is “absolutely,” he said.

Brazil will next month increase taxes on fuel and loans to individuals and adjust other duties to help plug the government’s yawning budget deficit, the Financial Times reported. New finance minister Joaquim Levy announced the measures on the eve of a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, during which he will seek to convince investors that Latin America’s biggest economy is setting its finances back on track. “The increase in revenue due to the above measures is expected to be R$20.63bn in 2015,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

Russia’s economy will shrink by close to 5 per cent this year, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development forecast, while average growth for eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union will fall into negative territory for the first time since 2009, the Financial Times reported. The development bank for the former Communist bloc said plunging oil prices and western sanctions would lead to a contraction in the Russia’s economy of 4.8 per cent this year, compared with a forecast drop of 0.2 per cent in September.

The European Central Bank is poised to head into uncharted territory as it nears a decision Thursday on whether to launch a controversial stimulus program aimed at boosting Europe’s fading economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The bank’s challenge: engineer a plan that impresses investors, passes muster with conservative ECB members and—most of all—helps bring Europe out of its slump. The meeting comes as Europe is on the ropes.

Kenmare Resources, the Irish mineral sands miner hit by the fall in commodity prices, is seeking to finalise a deal with lenders to restructure its debt load by the end of the month. Dublin-based Kenmare has struggled with the size of its debt and a succession of operating problems, including power-supply interruptions. The company, founded in 1986, “has disappointed on many levels over a long time”, said one shareholder, the Irish Times reported.

Administrators for currency trading firm Alpari (UK) Ltd said they had received a number of inquiries from potential buyers of the business hit by heavy losses from last week's surge in the value of the Swiss franc, Reuters reported. Alpari lost millions of dollars after the Swiss National Bank removed its currency cap on Thursday and administrators appointed on Monday said that efforts to find a buyer for Alpari (UK) over the weekend failed and they would hold talks with interested suitors in the coming days. U.S.

A Galway-based company is being sued by a Luxembourg investor over the alleged effective cancellation of a €2 million loan note when it was converted into shares before the firm was sold off, the Irish Times reported. In Commercial Court proceedings, it is claimed Éire Composites, which designs and manufactures lightweight high-performance materials for the aerospace, marine and motor sectors, was bought by businessman Thomas Flanagan last November despite objections by Carlo Tassara Assets Management Ltd (CTAM), with registered offices in Luxembourg.

The liquidator of insolvent Setanta Insurance expects there could be a “significant shortfall” between available funds and the total value of claims, The Irish Times reported. Paul Mercieca of Deloitte, who was appointed as liquidator to the Dublin-based insurance company in April 2014, said that as a result of the expected shortfall he intends to make advance applications to the Insurance Compensation Fund on behalf of claimants. The State-backed fund, which was established in 1964, is one into which all Irish insurers pay into to cover claims in the event of a company going bust.

Shares in some mid-size Chinese real estate developers fell sharply on Thursday, as fears grew that the troubles hitting Kaisa Group could spread to other firms in the sector, Reuters reported. Local government officials blocking real estate sales and anti-corruption probes are adding to worries about the prospects of companies in China's already highly leveraged property industry. Shanghai developer Glorious Property Holdings fell as much as 35 pct on Thursday, while China South City Holdings was down 10 pct.