Headlines

South African retailer Spar Group Ltd. is considering an offer to acquire cash-strapped West Pack Lifestyle, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s second-largest grocer by revenue previously said it plans to expand beyond the food segment and win more market share in South Africa. West Pack, which sells homeware, has gone into business rescue — a local form of bankruptcy protection. The group also sits on a large debt pile that a purchaser would have to take on.

China's largest property developer Country Garden on Friday further delayed the release of its 2023 financial results, as it needed more time amid an ongoing debt restructuring, Reuters reported. The firm had previously delayed the results in March, saying it needed more time to collect information for making appropriate accounting estimates and judgements. "The Group will finalize and publish the 2023 annual results and despatch the 2023 annual report as soon as practicable," the debt-laden property developer said in an exchange filing.

Brazil’s possible cycle of monetary tightening would be gradual, central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto said on Friday as he sought to temper investor bets on large interest rate hikes starting next month, Bloomberg News reported. “If and when there is a cycle of interest rate increases, it will be gradual,” Campos Neto said at an event organized by XP Investimentos. Still, the bank will remain data dependent and refrain from giving guidance on its next steps, he said.

Euro-area inflation plunged to the lowest level since mid-2021 – reinforcing arguments for another cut in interest rates by the European Central Bank in less than two weeks, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 2.2% from a year ago in August, Eurostat said Friday. That was significantly lower than July’s 2.6% and matched the median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Core inflation, which excludes volatile components like food and energy, also eased to 2.8% after three months at 2.9%, as economists predicted.

India’s economy grew at a slower pace last quarter than expected, with risks to the outlook mounting and pressure building on the central bank to cut interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product rose 6.7% in the three months to June from a year earlier, the Statistics Ministry said Friday — the slowest pace in five quarters and below the central bank’s projection of 7.1% for the period. Growth weakened from 7.8% in the January-March quarter.

France’s rate of price rises eased below the European Central Bank’s target this month and the economy grew a little less than previously thought, adding impetus to calls for cuts to interest rates in the eurozone, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices rose 1.9% on year over the month in August, down from 2.3% a month earlier, according to provisional figures published Friday. That was in line with the expectations of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal and marks the first time in three years that inflation has come below the ECB’s targeted 2% rate.

Some Russian companies are facing growing delays and rising costs on payments with trading partners in China, leaving transactions worth tens of billions of yuan in limbo, Russian sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters. Russian companies and officials for a few months have pointed to delays in transactions after Chinese banks tightened compliance following Western threats of secondary sanctions for dealing with Russia. The sources said the problem has intensified this month.

The largest shareholder of ailing Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA is nearing a deal to raise $1.3 billion of funds from investment firm Castlelake LP to stave off the risk of defaulting on its bonds, Bloomberg News reported. Abra Group Ltd., which also owns Colombian airline Avianca Holdings SA, outlined Castlelake’s proposal to its investors last week. Under the plan, the investment firm would refinance Abra’s secured bonds due 2028, which could default after Gol raised a bankruptcy loan as part of its chapter 11 procedure in the U.S.

Azul SA shares slumped to a record low Thursday as the Brazilian airline is weighing options from an equity offering to a U.S. chapter 11 filing to address approaching debt obligations, Bloomberg News reported. The troubled carrier is also actively working get a merger Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA over the line to convince creditors that a new combined entity would have lower debt levels and better growth prospects. But that approach is seen as less attractive given Azul’s imminent cash needs and weak financial results.

Brazilian lawmakers approved a long-awaited financial aid plan for the airline sector that is expected to provide 5 billion reais ($914 million) in credit for troubled carriers, Bloomberg News reported. The program, already passed by the Senate, was cleared in the lower house on Wednesday. It now needs to be signed by president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who campaigned on a pledge to restore prosperity in Brazil and wants to cut fares enough to allow the poor to fly regularly.