Headlines

Swedish bankruptcies increased to their highest level for the month of October since records began in 1999, according to data compiled by collection agency Creditsafe, Bloomberg News reported. During the month, 795 limited companies went bankrupt, marking an increase of 18% from October last year and 77% compared to the same month in 2021. “We have not been anywhere near such high levels before for the month of October,” said Managing Director Henrik Jacobsson of Creditsafe i Sverige AB in a statement on Wednesday. Higher levels have previously been recorded for other months.

A London judge ordered the shuttering of the UK unit of La Perla, a maker of luxury lingerie, over unpaid tax debts, underlining the pressure facing parent company Tennor Holding BV and its ultimate majority owner, Lars Windhorst, Bloomberg News reported. La Perla Global Management (UK) Limited was wound-up by a High Court judge in London on Wednesday, as the group faced £2.8 million ($3.4 million) of unpaid tax and a petition from His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs.

China Evergrande has proposed a new debt restructuring plan for offshore bondholders, offering to swap their debts into about a 30% equity stake in each of the developer's two Hong Kong-listed subsidiaries, Reuters reported. The property firm's offshore bondholders holding about $19 billion of debt are likely to take a major haircut on their investments if they agree to the new terms.

Asia's manufacturers faced worsening pressure in October with factory activity in China slipping back into decline, clouding recovery prospects for the region's major exporters already squeezed by weaker global demand and higher prices, Reuters reported. Purchasing managers' indexes (PMIs) for factory powerhouses China, Japan and South Korea showed activity shrinking while Vietnam and Malaysia also struggled with the broadening fallout from a Chinese slowdown.

The French economy grew more sluggishly over the summer as production and exports slowed, suggesting tight monetary policy is squeezing industry in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported. The eurozone’s second-largest economy grew 0.1% between July and September compared with the previous quarter, after a more dynamic 0.6% increase booked in the prior three-month period, according to data set out Tuesday by national statistics agency Insee. Exports, which had boosted net trade and GDP in the second quarter, reversed path and slid 1.4% in the quarter, the data showed.

The Nordic construction industry is facing further challenges as two of the region’s largest builders, YIT Oyj and Skanska AB, report difficulties in selling properties, Bloomberg News reported. YIT Oyj has seen a 30% increase in completed unsold apartments in the third quarter, while Skanska AB experienced a more than 50% decline in quarterly profit due to a weak market outlook in Sweden, Norway, and Finland. This indicates a worsening situation for the construction industry in the Nordic region.

For over a century, the Panama Canal has provided a convenient way for ships to move between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, helping to speed up international trade. But a drought has left the canal without enough water, which is used to raise and lower ships, forcing officials to slash the number of vessels they allow through. That has created expensive headaches for shipping companies and raised difficult questions about water use in Panama, the New York Times reported. The passage of one ship is estimated to consume as much water as half a million Panamanians use in one day.

Annual inflation in Peru decelerated to 4.34% in October to reach its lowest in over two years, according to official data published on Wednesday, far surpassing forecasts though still above the central bank's target rate, Reuters reported. Data from national statistics agency INEI showed the key index based on the metropolitan region of Lima slowed to its lowest level since July 2021, when it stood at 3.8%. On a month-to-month basis the Lima Consumer Price Index, Peru's inflation benchmark, fell 0.32%, reversing the upward path seen in September, when consumer prices were up 0.02%.

Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday that she was cautiously optimistic about settling a dispute with the United States about Ottawa's planned digital services tax (DST) on large technology companies, Reuters reported. The digital services plan aims to address the challenge of taxing digital giants like Alphabet and Amazon.com that can book their profits in low-tax countries. The U.S. government has repeatedly objected to the planned Canadian tax. Washington says it unfairly singles out U.S. firms, and urged Ottawa to scrap the plan.

The number of companies going bust this year is on track to be the highest since the depths of the financial crisis in 2009. Insolvencies rose 10% from a year ago in the three months to the end of September, the latest official figures for England and Wales show, BBC.com reported. There has also been a sharp rise in the number of firms at risk of going bust. Firms in "critical financial distress" jumped 25% in the last three months, insolvency expert Begbies Traynor says. They are defined as having county court judgments exceeding £5,000 against them - often a precursor to going under.