Headlines

Textile recycler Renewcell revealed Sunday that it intends to file for bankruptcy, after failing to secure additional funding and consecutive quarters of slow sales, WDD reported. The Swedish company, a pioneer in textile-to-textile recycling and maker of the Circulose fiber, was due to report its full fiscal year earnings Friday, but postponed that release until Thursday.

Powerdale, once a stalwart in Belgium's electric vehicle charging infrastructure, has left hundreds, if not thousands, of its customers in the lurch following its bankruptcy last year, the Brussels Times reported. The repercussions are keenly felt as users find themselves unable to utilise the charging stations due to the failure of the brand's accompanying app. Reports from disgruntled users indicate that attempts to access the app have resulted in messages stating their accounts have been deactivated.

Israel’s central bank left interest rates unchanged, opting against a second straight cut because of concern that inflation might accelerate again as the war against Hamas continues, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary committee left the key rate at 4.5%, a surprise for most economists in a Bloomberg survey who had predicted a reduction of a quarter percentage point. The shekel initially pared losses after the announcement before trading 0.3% weaker against the dollar as of 5:30 p.m. local time.

The U.K.’s competition regulator said it has launched an investigation into whether eight housebuilders have shared commercially sensitive information with their competitors, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Competition and Markets Authority said Monday that it will investigate Barratt Developments, Bellway, Berkeley, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Redrow, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry. So far, the CMA hasn’t reached any conclusions as to whether or not competition law has been infringed, it said Monday.

The pace of a sales decline for British retailers eased in February and a measure of inflation dropped to its weakest in nearly three years, according to industry figures which echoed official data published earlier this month, Reuters reported. The Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) monthly retail sales balance, a gauge of sales versus a year ago, rose to -7 from -50 in January, the slowest fall in 10 months. But retailers expected the decline in sales to pick up slightly in March to -15.

With most of Canada’s biggest banks exposed to the U.S. commercial-property market, the deteriorating quality of some real estate loans could lead to nasty surprises as lenders report fiscal first-quarter results this week, Bloomberg News reported. Commercial-property lending accounts for about 10% of the loan books on average at Canada’s five largest banks. With the sector under pressure amid elevated interest rates and plunging valuations, banks have been booking higher provisions for potential credit losses for several quarters now.

Stakeholders in the UK’s biggest pub operator are gearing up for talks on how to address its more than £2 billion ($2.5 billion) in debt coming due next year, Bloomberg News reported. Stonegate Pub Co., its owner TDR Capital and its senior and junior creditors will discuss how to tackle the upcoming debt maturities. The company and its sponsor have brought in bankers at Evercore Inc and lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis LLP to advise on their options. Stonegate could slash a part of its debt and then address the remainder, creditors say.

Canadian budget airline Lynx Air has filed for court protection from creditors and will cease operations on Feb. 26, it said on Thursday, as it struggles with rising operating costs, high fuel prices and increasing airport charges, Reuters reported. Despite substantial growth in the business, cost reductions and efforts to explore a sale or merger, the challenges facing the business have become "too significant to overcome", the company said. The Calgary-based airline, which launched its inaugural flight in April 2022, said flights will continue to operate until 12:01 a.m. MT (2:01 a.m.

The FTX estate has agreed to drop a lawsuit that sought to claw back at least $323.5 million from the original owners of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange’s European unit, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Under a proposed settlement, the two main targets of the lawsuit—FTX Europe co-founders Patrick Gruhn and Robin Matzke—agreed to buy back the unit’s assets for $32.7 million. Details of the proposed settlement emerged in a Thursday court filing from the FTX estate. The deal still needs to be approved by a judge.

Nigeria ordered telecommunications companies and other internet service providers in the West African nation to block access to cryptocurrency trading platforms, a presidential spokesman confirmed, Bloomberg News reported. The directive affects websites including those operated by Binance, Coinbase and Kraken, which are popular in Africa’s most populous nation where Nigerians use crypto as a hedge against frequent devaluation of the naira. In a statement to Bloomberg News, Binance confirmed that some users in Nigeria were experiencing issues accessing its website.