Headlines

Aabar Investment’s bonds, worth 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), have lost about a quarter of their value this week after an auditor of the Abu Dhabi company gave an “adverse opinion” on its 2018 financial statements, Reuters reported. Aabar was a subsidiary of International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), which is now part of Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment Co.

Deutsche Bank’s chief executive has warned about the negative side effects of a likely cut in interest rates by the European Central Bank next week, arguing it would do little to stimulate the economy but would deepen divisions in society, the Financial Times reported. Christian Sewing told a banking conference in Frankfurt that an expected lowering of eurozone interest rates further into negative territory “may make refinancing cheaper for governments but it will have serious side-effects”.

More Chinese companies are defaulting on private bonds this year as the slowing economy weighs on weaker companies and firms seek to repay publicly traded debt first, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s issuers have missed repayments on a record 31.8 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) of private bonds this year through August, compared with 26.7 billion yuan for all of 2017 and 2018 combined, according to data by China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., one of China’s biggest rating firms.

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.’s power system “remains tight and vulnerable” going into South Africa’s summer because of increased maintenance, Bloomberg News reported. As the state-owned utility schedules more work to improve its aging fleet, it’s also experiencing more vandalism of its equipment and illegal connections, Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer told journalists in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Eskom has managed to run for 164 straight days without implementing rotational power cuts, Oberholzer said.

A $15 billion pile of provincial bonds is lurking below the surface of Argentina’s already imposing sovereign debt load, setting the latest fiscal fiasco apart from any in the country’s history and threatening to saddle foreign investors with even more losses, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s provinces were among the most prolific issuers when international capital markets reopened to Argentina following business-friendly President Mauricio Macri’s election in 2015.

Reliance Naval & Engineering Ltd., controlled by Indian tycoon Anil Ambani, said it is facing an acute cash-flow crunch after orders dried up amid efforts to restructure a pile of debt, Bloomberg News reported. The disclosure in the company’s annual report came just before a court pushed hearing on whether to put the debt-laden company under insolvency proceedings to Oct. 3, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named as they are not authorized to speak to media. His wireless carrier slipped into bankruptcy earlier this year.

La Perla, the indebted Italian lingerie brand owned by Lars Windhorst’s investment company, will list its shares on the Paris stock exchange to help access capital at a difficult time, Bloomberg News reported. La Perla, which has stores in London’s Sloane Street and St. Tropez, won’t raise any funds through the move, but the listing “will increase La Perla’s visibility and enhance access to capital," according to Chief Executive Officer Pascal Perrier. The company aims for a market capitalization of 473 million euros ($520 million) when shares are set to begin trading Friday in Paris.

Russia’s largest lender Sberbank does not see itself as the future owner of the Antipinsky oil refinery, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, Sberbank deputy board chairman Anatoly Popov said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The refinery, which has a capacity of 9 million tonnes per year, filed for bankruptcy in May after having halted operations on several occasions because of a lack of funds to pay for crude oil deliveries. Sberbank had been its main creditor.

Creditors of India’s bankrupt Jet Airways are likely to recover less than 10% of the carrier’s total outstanding dues in a liquidation scenario if no suitor succeeds in buying the airline, two sources told Reuters. The airline’s financial and operational creditors, who are owed nearly 300 billion Indian rupees ($4.20 billion) are likely to recover only $300-$400 million from the sale of Jet’s assets, the sources, who have direct knowledge of the matter, said, Reuters reported.

Mallinckrodt Plc has hired restructuring firms and may choose to seek bankruptcy protection, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, sending the drugmaker’s shares down 40% in after-hours trading, Reuters reported. The company has hired law firm Latham & Watkins LLP and consulting firm AlixPartners LLP to advise on the matter, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the situation. Mallinckrodt, which has a market value of about $218 million, declined to comment on the report.