Headlines

Pioneer Corp., the electronics maker that’s forecasting its fifth year of losses, fell to the lowest in more than 34 years in Tokyo trading after the company projected a record full-year deficit as sales slumped. Pioneer lost 20 percent to close at 142 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, its lowest since at least September 1974, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1 percent. Nomura Holdings Inc. withdrew its rating on the stock, saying there is “no sign” Pioneer can make a profit.

Moody's Investors Service placed the bond ratings of Estonia and Lithuania on review for possible downgrade Tuesday, citing severe deterioration in the regional macroeconomic environment. Analysts said a downgrade was likely. The three Baltic Sea-hugging neighbors Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia face an uphill struggle to resuscitate their economies, mired in recession or headed there, rein in their current-account deficits and maintain their currency pegs, MarketWatch reported. Within the emerging-markets universe, Eastern Europe is the region most vulnerable to economic and financial risk.

As British companies go bust at their fastest rate in nearly 20 years, a fast-track insolvency system that preserves brands and some jobs at the expense of creditors is becoming controversial, Reuters reported. In buoyant times the pre-packaged administration, or "pre-pack," was an attraction of the country for overseas entrepreneurs. Now critics say it may accelerate company collapses and is exacerbating the pain for small businesses. How pre-packs work is illustrated by the case of Whittard of Chelsea, a purveyor of fine coffees and teas that went bust last year.

More than half of British companies that go into insolvency are sold on via a pre-packaged administration known as a "pre-pack," Reuters reported. A pre-pack allows for a company to be sold immediately after being placed in administration, sometimes just minutes after the order has been signed. A parliamentary inquiry into UK insolvency laws, including pre-pack administrations, began at the end of 2008. It is due to report later this month.

Acadian Mining Corp. says it has waived its right as a secured creditor to subsidiary ScoZinc Ltd., which is restructuring under court protection from creditors, and will participate in attempts to find a buyer or partner for the Scotia mining and million operation, The Canadian Press reported.

A subcontractor that supplied Ssangyong Motor with parts for all car models has gone belly up, raising a red flag for the recovery of the automaker, The Chosun Ilbo reported. Representatives of an association of about 250 Ssangyong subcontractors asked the automaker's court receivers for emergency funds in a meeting at Posteel Tower building in Seoul on Wednesday. Ssangyong is receiving components again after moving the parts production machine operated by the supplier that went bankrupt the previous day to another subcontractor.

The company behind iconic Australian brands the Esky and Nylex garden hoses is in the hands of receivers, The Australian reported. The publicly listed Nylex, which on Monday admitted it had breached loan covenants, appointed voluntary administrators this morning. The announcement was followed by news that a group of secured lenders had appointed executives from McGrathNicol as receivers.

Swiss bank UBS AG said it has appealed a recent ruling by a Luxembourg court ordering it to reimburse a French fund-management company €30 million ($38.6 million) that had been invested with New York financier Bernard Madoff, The Wall Street Journal reported. UBS is appealing the ruling because it doesn't agree with "the decision's rationale," according to a UBS spokeswoman. The French fund-management firm, Oddo & Cie.--which has already received the €30 million--said it had been notified of the appeal.

Spain’s economy shrank by the most in more than 15 years in the fourth quarter, as what may be the worst recession in half a century pushed the unemployment rate to the highest in Europe, Bloomberg reported. The economy contracted 1 percent from the previous three months, the National Statistics Institute said Wednesday, compared with a median forecast of 1.1 percent in a Bloomberg News survey. The economy entered its first recession since 1993 after shrinking a revised 0.3 percent in the third quarter. From a year earlier the economy contracted 0.7 percent.

British universities are facing bankruptcy because the government has delayed a debate about whether to raise tuition fees, the most senior civil servant for science and research has said. In stark comments, Adrian Smith, the government's director-general for science and research, said that politicians had "kicked into touch" a promised review of university funding, leaving universities "going bankrupt", the Guardian reported. "A major debate that ought to have taken place around now is whether the current cap on student fees of £3,000 should have been raised or changed.