Headlines

Bankrupt Canadian newsprint producer AbitibiBowater Inc said it repaid $166 million of its debtor-in-possession loan following an improvement in market conditions and operational performance, Reuters reported. In regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it now had $40 million outstanding under the loan. AbitibiBowater also extended the DIP loan to Dec. 31, 2010, and modified certain covenants. It now has the ability to retain the proceeds from asset sales without triggering a mandatory prepayment. The amendment fee amounted to about $1 million.

A Latvian personal bankruptcy law passed by parliament yesterday won’t hurt Nordic lenders because provisions set aside for bad loans will cover the impact of the bill, according to Nordea Bank AB, Bloomberg reported. Latvia’s 100-seat legislature voted yesterday to pass the law, which will require lenders to forgive debt for private borrowers declared bankrupt after a maximum of three and a half years. Loans late by more than 90 days in Latvia reached 19 percent of the total in May, according to the country’s banking regulator.

Air India's latest turnaround plan, presented to the board and unions Sunday, includes no staff cuts - the very thing critics say is required to turn around India's troubled national carrier, the Hindustan Times reported. "There is no need to cut manpower size by reducing jobs and sending people home," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Sunday. He also pledged further help to Air India as it struggles to restructure its pricey debt and to pacify restive unions, which have staged two debilitating strikes since September.

Property group Highstreet has agreed to a compromise on rents with insolvent retailer Karstadt, a move which will help investor Nicolas Berggruen rescue the department store operator, according to German daily Bild am Sonntag, Reuters reported. A disagreement on store rents had prevented Berggruen from striking a deal with the highstreet consortium, which consists of Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Pirelli Real Estate. Highstreet had warned Berggruen that Karstadt, which owns the famous KaDeWe department store in Berlin, could still be liquidated if an accord on rents did not emerge soon.

Four Seasons Health Care has extended the deadline for holders of GBP600 million of bonds, backed by a loan to the U.K. nursing-homes operator, to approve a lockup agreement, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Noteholders now have until July 30 to sign the agreement, which would prevent them from selling their debt in return for a consent fee of 60 basis points, according to a regulatory notice released Friday.

A host of Irish pubs collapsed over the past two years as the downturn ravaged the hospitality sector, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. In March 2009, the Thomas Read Group entered receivership after an investment plan for the chain of pubs fell through. Earlier this year, the Waterford-based Tweedy Group, one of the largest pub groups outside Dublin, collapsed into receivership when the High Court rejected a rescue deal for the group and final orders have been called on hundreds of smaller pubs across the country.

The poolside villas, the beachfront location, the warm tropical air - it should be paradise. But for 240 investors in the Hilton on Fiji's Denarau Island, the past 18 months have been more like purgatory. Some forced to mortgagee sale would probably describe it as hell, The New Zealand Herald reported. Now the trouble in paradise has escalated to the point where owners are about to put padlocks on their villas, potentially disrupting the holiday plans of hundreds at the peak of Fiji's tourism season.

European regulators have accused Germany and its banks of reneging on a deal to publish full details of sovereign debt holdings, as part of the four-month-long stress test exercise of the country’s banking sector.

Trade finisher Fastfold will be "a force to be reckoned with" after being brought out of receivership by new owners, ProPrint reported. Grant Allen, manager of the Auckland-based firm, said the response from clients since Fastfold's re-opening had given strong reason to believe the company had "a bright future". "The economy is slowly starting to come out of its recession. So, if you can get in on the ground floor now, you have a strong chance of doing well," added Allen.

Real Mallorca are considering their options after being told they have been denied entry into the Europa League after falling foul of UEFA's financial regulations, ESPN reported. Mallorca in May applied to go into voluntary administration after amassing debts thought to be in the region of €70 million.