Headlines

Compania Mexicana de Aviacion is unlikely to resume operations after grounding all its flights over the weekend, four weeks after filing for bankruptcy protection in Mexico and the U.S., UBS AG said, Bloomberg reported. That will initially curb air traffic and hurt airport operators, including Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SAB, Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte SAB, UBS analysts Tomas Lajous and Luis Galvez wrote today in an e-mailed note. “We expect this should be permanent,” the analysts wrote.

Korean banks are facing a bumpy road ahead in their move to fix their balance sheets already spoiled by massive defaults in project financing, with a growing number of loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) becoming insolvent, The Korea Times reported. What is of more concern is that banks will have to pile up more loss reserves for loans to SMEs as drastic restructuring slated for October will drive many debt-loaded firms into bankruptcy.

The High Court has appointed an interim examiner to regional airline Aer Arann. The move gives the company court protection to enable the examiner to implement a restructuring plan, RTÉ Business reported. Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton is to be interim examiner to Comhfhorbairt (Gaillimh), which trades as Aer Arann. A statement from the airline said Mr.McAteer's appointment would not affect day-to-day business and the company would continue to operate as normal. Aer Arann said there would be no impact on customer travel or bookings.

South Canterbury Finance - potentially facing a $1.7 billion receivership tomorrow - yesterday remained hopeful last-minute negotiations would deliver an 11th-hour lifeline to the southern lending giant, the Otago Daily News reported. The Government's role appears increasingly crucial: to pick up part of the debt this week or let South Canterbury Finance sink and pick up the pieces in the months ahead. An outright $1.7 billion receivership of mainly southern-based loans - and subsequent asset fire sales - would have a devastating effect on the South Island's economy.

The European Central Bank is expected this week to extend emergency support for eurozone banks until early next year as it gauges how well the 16-country region might withstand a big US or global slowdown, the Financial Times reported. Eurozone growth is exceeding the ECB’s expectations, and signs have emerged of Germany’s rapid growth spurt becoming broader than just export-led.

South Korea will ease mortgage lending rules and extend tax breaks to encourage buyers back to the property market after home sales slumped to the lowest level in almost a year and a half, Bloomberg reported. Banks will be allowed to ease restrictions on mortgage loans for first-home buyers and owners of one residence until the end of March, the government said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The waiver for taxes on home sales will be extended by two years until the end of 2012, the government said.

Mexicana Airlines shut down all flights on Saturday, marking at least a temporary disappearance from the skies of one of the world's oldest air carriers, the Economic Times reported. Some airlines offered preferential deals to Mexican passengers scrambling to find alternatives, but many were baffled by how to get home. The loss of Grupo Mexicana flights eliminated much of the air service to many Mexican cities.

Truvo Group's unsecured creditors say the European directory publisher's proposed plan to hand control of the company to its senior lenders is a "sham," Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In papers filed Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, the creditors allege that the Chapter 11 filing by Truvo USA and four other holding companies at the top of Truvo Group's corporate structure is a scheme to sever unsecured bondholders' liens against the company's operating assets and push through a debt-for-equity swap with secured lenders.

The largest single shareholder of Onco Petroleum is trying to pry the troubled company’s affairs out the hands of a court-appointed receiver, The London Free Press reported. Terri Ramage, wife of Onco founder and former president Robert Vanier, said Onco officials and the receiver are acting without the consent of Onco’s 1,441 shareholders. She wants the receivership halted and a shareholder meeting convened. “Shareholders will suffer irreparable harm if the annulments are not granted,” she said Thursday in Windsor court.

The Belfast Clinic, an upmarket private medical clinic in south Belfast, has been placed into administration, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. The clinic, which opened just two years ago and was the newest independent private hospital in the North, offers a range of services, including cosmetic surgery, gynaecology and urology. It also boasts state-of-the-art facilities and has 15 private rooms in its premises on the fashionable Lisburn Road in Belfast. The firm experienced financial difficulties, however, following the suspension of the NHS waiting list initiative.