Headlines

The soaring number of corporate insolvencies has driven up full-year profits at the restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor, it revealed yesterday, saying that it had not yet seen "any green shoots" of economic recovery, The Independent reported. Revenues at its insolvency unit grew by 30 per cent and its staff increased by 22 per cent to 427 in the year to 30 April. The division, which accounts for 80 per cent of the group's total revenues, plans to recruit a further 50 staff this year to deal with the extra workload.

The business empire of Australian IT entrepreneur Daniel Tzvetkoff lies in ruins after his main holding company, BT Projects, was placed in liquidation after crumbling under a reported $80 million of debt, Smart Company reported. The collapse comes nine months after Tzvetkoff and his business partner, Sam Sciacca were valued at $120 million on BRW's Young Rich List. The pair's main business was Intabill, an online payments company. Exactly how much is owed by Intabill, which had a strong presence in the online gambling sector and had expertise in "high-risk sectors", is unclear.

Oil prices sank below $60 a barrel on Friday, poised for their biggest weekly fall since January, as traders focused on economic uncertainty, Reuters reported. The latest report from the International Energy Agency predicted an increase in oil consumption in 2010, but expected it to stay negative in 2009 and saw limited demand for OPEC crude. Oil rose to more than $73 at the end of June, its highest level this year, but since then the market has dropped more than $10 as expectations of a swift economic recovery faded.

Households across Europe anticipate saving a lot less than they did over the past year, and many are more inclined to deposit such savings at a bank, not to boost exposure to stocks, according to a new survey. The survey, conducted in March, is one of the first to document the effect on savings and investing activity by individuals as many stock markets world-wide were continuing to fall, but poised for rebounds that have taken them significantly off their lows.

B.C.'s forest industry has the potential to thrive in the long-term, but the federal government needs to take the lead to address major obstacles facing the sector, says the president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. More federal government effort is required immediately to help stanch mill closures and economic losses in the country's forest sector, Dave Coles said at a meeting with the Times Colonist editorial board. CEP members have occupied federal government offices to make their point. "We are not going to back off," said Coles.

Several Queensland hotels belonging to the Ryan Hotel Group have gone into receivership, ABC News reported. The group's founder, Denis Ryan, owns hotels on the Sunshine, Gold and Fraser coasts and Roma in the southern inland. Ernst & Young and McGrathNicol were last night appointed receiver-managers. Commercial properties owned by the Ryan Group are not part of the receivership process. Read more.

The massive North American auto supplier network took a major hit as Lear Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest example of how the collapse in vehicle sales has spread well beyond vehicle manufacturers and deep into the thousands of firms that supply them with parts. Lear Corp., whose bankruptcy filing is the largest among auto suppliers this year, owes $7 million (U.S.) to Canadian parts makers already struggling through the worst downturn in the auto industry in a generation, The Globe and Mail reported.

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. outlined its main reason for wanting General Motors Corp.'s European unit Adam Opel GmbH: It wants to get its hands on the U.S. auto maker's engine technologies, The Wall Street Journal reported. Beijing Auto said in a document outlining a takeover offer that access to GM's advanced technology was the "key driver" for its bid, which is aimed at outpacing Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. in the race for Opel. According to the document, GM would have to "license all alternative propulsion technologies (i.e.

Ireland's high cost economy has priced itself out of the market in key business areas, and workers will have to take wage cuts of up to 15 per cent to regain competitiveness, according to the head of the country’s foreign investment promotion board, the Financial Times reported. Barry O’Leary, chief executive of the Industrial Development Authority, said Ireland would have to cut costs to win back investments in areas such as call centres, which are labour intensive but low paid.

The Russian government won't step in to help a small aircraft-leasing company repay a $250 million debt to bondholders, disappointing international creditors, The Wall Street Journal reported. Finance Leasing Co. became the first state-run company to default on foreign debt in more than a decade when it failed to make the repayment last December. Angry investors, including major American, U.K. and European banks, institutional investors and hedge funds, as well as Russian banks, appealed to the Kremlin for help.