Headlines

British refinery Coryton will continue to operate for at least three more months after Marcel Van Poecke, a co-founder of insolvent owner Petroplus, teamed up with Morgan Stanley and investor KKR to provide fresh crude supplies, Reuters reported. Coryton is the most coveted asset of the five refineries owned by Petroplus around Europe, traders and analysts say. It has been running at half capacity since banks stopped financing Petroplus in late December.

Greek bailout talks entered a new round of brinkmanship on Tuesday, as euro-zone finance ministers delayed a meeting to approve a new bailout and debt restructuring for Athens, which worked to assure them it is committed to new austerity measures as a debt-redemption deadline looms, The Wall Street Journal reported. The ministers put off the talks in Brussels, which they had scheduled for Wednesday, and replaced them with a teleconference, saying Greek political leaders haven't given clear pledges on the implementation of fresh austerity measures.

Economic output in Greece and Portugal plunged last year, according to figures released on Tuesday, challenging the prevailing European view that fiscal belt-tightening will foster growth, The Wall Street Journal reported. Greek gross domestic product fell 7% in the fourth quarter from the year-earlier span, the country's statistics agency said, bringing the total GDP drop since the end of 2007 to more than 16%. Greece's statistics service hasn't issued quarter-to-quarter data for the past several quarters because of methodological problems adjusting for seasonal swings in activity.

The number of insolvencies among Swiss machine makers rose an annual 35% last year, as the strength of the Swiss franc crimped demand in their key euro-region markets, data released Tuesday showed, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. "With around 80% of Swiss machinery output being exported, and two-thirds of that to the euro zone, the franc's appreciation, particularly versus the euro, had a big impact on the sector," a survey by Credita AG noted.

Italy's Pininfarina family is set to lose control of the eponymous car design company as lengthy debt restructuring talks head toward the finish line, people familiar with the situation said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Pininfarina, designer of dream cars like the Ferrari FF, posted a 16.9 million euros loss in the first nine months of 2011 after closing its manufacturing operations to re-invent itself as a smaller niche design player.

Contempt of court proceedings have been initiated against the bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn, his son Seán Quinn jnr, and his nephew, Peter Darragh Quinn, the Irish Times reported. The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, yesterday filed a motion in the High Court seeking to have the three found in contempt of court for breaches of an injunction preventing them from moving certain assets. A spokesman for the Quinns said they rejected the allegations being made against them and would defend their position “vigorously”.

The administrator of insolvent German chipmaker Qimonda is requesting 1.7 billion euros ($2.23 billion) from its former parent Infineon, claiming Qimonda paid Infineon for a business in 2006 that was negative in value, Reuters reported. In 2006, Qimonda gave new shares to Infineon in return for Infineon's memory business, a deal that is now being probed in an ongoing lawsuit brought by the administrator, Infineon said on Tuesday.

European officials rushed to finalise details of a €130bn Greek bail-out on Monday amid signs Germany and its eurozone allies may not be prepared to approve the deal at a finance minsters’ meeting on Wednesday, despite Athens backing new austerity measures, the Financial Times reported. Senior European Union officials said they believed Greece had met the demands of the troika of international creditors – the European Commission, International Monetary Fund, and European Central Bank – after a parliamentary vote on Sunday, including an extra €325m in budget cuts.

Top banks fell short of their government targets to lend to small businesses last year, official data showed on Monday, dealing a blow to the Conservative-led coalition's hopes of removing a barrier to economic recovery, Reuters reported. The "Project Merlin" deal had obliged banks to meet fixed lending targets in recompense for state aid during the financial crisis, and banks' failure to meet their goal will raise pressure on the government to toughen its stance on the sector.

Deutsche Bank AG is closing in on an agreement to pay about €800 million ($1 billion) to settle decade-old claims that a former chief executive officer helped drive German media company Kirch Group into bankruptcy, according to people familiar with the negotiations, The Wall Street Journal reported. The proposed settlement, which would be one of the largest in European history, has been agreed to in principle but had yet to be approved by Deutsche Bank's board as of late Monday, the people said.