Headlines

The Supreme Court (SC) has approved new rules to improve and expedite the court procedures for petitions for rehabilitation or re-organizations of corporations, partnerships and associations in order to help debtors recover from financial difficulties while attempting to ensure fair treatment of creditors, BusinessMirror reported.

Corporate earnings will continue to slump into the first half of 2009 amid the first simultaneous recessions in the U.S., Japan and Europe since World War II, Bloomberg reported on analyst estimates. While profits will rise 4.3 percent for the full year in the U.S., earnings in Europe are projected to decline for all of 2009 and analysts predict worsening reports out of Asia because the recession hasn’t fully hit there yet. Earnings at European oil companies may drop 21 percent in 2009, compared with a 4.7 percent gain last year, according to estimates.

A new survey has predicted that up to a quarter of a million Australians will lose their jobs as economic growth grinds to a halt across the Tasman, The National Business Review reported. The half-yearly economic survey by The Age newspaper suggests Treasury forecasts of job losses may be a little optimistic. It predicts the unemployment rate will reach 6.4% by the end of the year, more than 1% above what the Australian Treasury’s official forecast.

The legal battle involving Independent Power Tanzania Ltd (IPTL) shareholders VIP Engineering and Marketing Company Ltd and Mechmar Corporation ended recently after the High Court of Tanzania ruled in favour of VIP Engineering and placed the power producer under receivership, The East African reported. VIP Engineering had accused Mechmar Corporation of misappropriation of Tsh164 billion ($126 million) paid to IPTL as capacity charges. VIP Engineering could not account for the money.

The Taiwan government said Monday it plans to provide 200 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$6.1 billion) in financial aid for struggling large companies, with memory-chip maker Nanya Technology Corp. aiming to submit a proposal to the government for assistance as soon as this week, The Wall Street Journal reported. Taiwan's export-dependent economy is feeling the sharp slowdown in global trade, and the island's producers of dynamic random access memory chips are facing the sector's worst downturn ever.

Austrian automotive warp and weft knit fabric producer Eybl International AG announced that it was filing for administrative receivership after recent talks about a takeover by the Slovenian Prevent Group failed to lead to a positive conclusion, the trade journal Knitting Industry reported. Eybl International, which specialises in textile production, fabrication and components for automotive interiors, operates eight production sites in Austria, Hungary, Romania, Germany and Slovakia as well as four distribution sites in Germany, France, Spain and Britain.

Expectations of a prolonged economic slump combined with a renewed assault on lawyers’ fees means that top City law firms are bracing themselves for a painful 2009, the Times Online reported. Aware that the good times would not last forever, City law firms have positioned themselves to weather the downturn but their efforts may not provide enough insulation against the current climate. Tony Williams, head of law firm consultancy Jomati, warns that two important hedges that City law firms traditionally rely on in a downturn may prove ineffective next year.

As some accountants are predicting an "epidemic" of business failures across the UK, a new website called IP-Bid.com has timed its launch well, the Daily Telegraph reported. Set up by a former United Business Media executive, the site lets insolvency practitioners and their representatives post details online of the businesses that they are handling that could be sold as going concerns. Businesses with cash to invest in bargains can register in advance, setting out the sort of things that they are keen to pick up.

Property lender Orange Finance has stopped debenture repayments as it faces the prospect of receivership, The National Business Review reported. Sole director Doug Somers-Edgar told investors last week that some of Orange's largest loans were at risk because of the state of the property market, the New Zealand Herald reported. The company had therefore decided to stop repaying maturing debentures and interest from December 22. Mr Somers-Edgar, who founded investment adviser Money Managers, said the challenge for Orange was to maximise the recovery of 17 outstanding loans.

Two Rubicon property funds have failed to meet debt repayment requirements and say their creditor, Credit Suisse, may declare them in default, the Business Spectator reported. In separate statements on Friday, Rubicon America Trust and Rubicon Europe Trust Group said they fell short US$35.4 million (A$50.34 million) and €16.7 million ($A23.27 million), respectively, on payments due by December 30, 2008. Under its agreement with Credit Suisse, RAT was required to reduce its facility to US$50 million. As at December 30, the balance stood at US$85.4 million, RAT said.