Headlines

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Europe must keep up pressure on Greece to stand by its austerity pledges as he rejected the notion that the upcoming election has put debt-crisis management on hold, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Greece’s progress will continue to be monitored after euro-area governments last week approved the latest bailout transfer to keep the government in Athens funded through the Sept. 22 election in Germany. German lawmakers have until noon tomorrow to raise objections to the latest Greek tranche.

As many as 4,000 jobs could be lost at German home improvement retailer Praktiker and its Max Bahr chain following insolvency filings, Bild reported on Saturday, citing the group's deputy board chairman, Reuters reported. "That's a shocking number," the newspaper quoted deputy supervisory board chairman Ulrich Kruse as saying. About a dozen Praktiker stores could shortly be closed, mainly shops that were about to be converted to the Max Bahr brand which traditionally had better profit margins, Wirtschaftswoche reported, without citing the source of the information.

Business group Ibec has reiterated its call on the Government to drop its plans to increase taxes by €500 million in October’s budget despite warnings to the contrary from Europe, the Irish Times reported. The call, in a report released by the organisation today, comes in the wake of a warning from European Stability Mechanism (ESM) managing director Klaus Regling that the Government must stick to its plans for a package of spending cuts and tax increases totalling €3.1 billion.

Photography business PixiFoto is set to announce mass job losses after its parent company Photo Corporation of Australia plunged into administration late last week, News.com.au reported. Staff at the Sydney-based group are currently being briefed by senior management about the dire prospects of the company. Photo Corporation of Australia entered voluntary administration on July 25, with John Morgan and Steven James of BCR Advisory appointed as administrators.

The Greek parliament approved a final piece of legislation on Thursday to reduce the bloated civil service payroll after international lenders threatened at the last minute to withhold the disbursement of a €4bn aid tranche, the Financial Times reported. Lawmakers held a special session to reverse an amendment passed last week exempting education ministry employees with doctorates and masters’ degrees from being transferred to a “mobility reserve” on reduced pay.

CapitaLand Ltd., Singapore’s biggest developer, may alter the size of its apartments as it seeks to improve affordability to combat government measures aimed at curbing speculation and lowering prices, Bloomberg reported. The developer sold 139 residential units in the island-state in the three months ended June, 31 percent fewer than in the same period last year, it said yesterday as it forecast “headwinds” in the near term with the housing curbs.

South Africa's Investec, Nedbank and Sanlam said on Thursday they had exposure to a failing building supply company First Strut, whose chairman was shot dead in June, Reuters reported. Trade in First Strut's 925 million rand ($95 million) worth of bonds was suspended last week following an application to place the firm in liquidation, according to a stock exchange filing. Its chairman, Jeff Wiggill, was found dead with a bullet wound to his head next to a luxury Bentley automobile in the early hours of June 20 in the Soweto township that borders Johannesburg.

Ireland's Electricity Supply Board's unions are threatening to strike and are refusing to co-operate with further cost-cutting measures at the State-owned energy group as the row over the €1.7 billion pension shortfall continues, the Irish Times reported. The ESB group of unions claims the company is refusing to recognise the pension pot’s shortfall, which would leave current staff with just 4 per cent of their benefits should the plan be wound up.

China ordered more than 1,400 companies in 19 industries to cut excess production capacity this year, part of efforts to shift toward slower, more-sustainable economic growth, Bloomberg reported. Steel, ferroalloys, electrolytic aluminum, copper smelting, cement and paper are among areas affected, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement yesterday. Excess capacity must be idled by September and eliminated by year-end, the ministry said, identifying the production lines to be shut within factories.

German home improvement retailer Praktiker said on Thursday insolvency proceedings would be filed for its Max Bahr units in Germany after a trade credit insurer stopped providing insurance coverage to suppliers, Reuters reported. A company statement said the application would be made "shortly" with a court in Hamburg on grounds of over-indebtedness and lack of liquidity. It said the Praktiker group's international operations remain unaffected by the insolvency proceedings. Read more.