Headlines

German landlord Adler Group SA is preparing to overhaul its debt in the UK after getting support from a “sufficient majority” of its creditors for a deal, Bloomberg News reported. The company said it created a new English subsidiary — called AGPS BondCo Plc — as a principal debtor of all its bonds, in a move that will allow it to file a restructuring plan in England, according to a statement. Adler has been negotiating for months with its creditors after it was targeted by a short seller and hit by a slowdown in German property transactions.

Britain and the European Union have not yet entered a more intense phase of negotiations - the so-called negotiating "tunnel" - in their talks to amend post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said, Reuters reported. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the two sides are preparing to enter the more intense phase of the long-standing negotiations as soon as next week.

The Bank of England is not at the point in its interest rate-rising cycle where it needs to worry about the risk of over-tightening, Monetary Policy Committee member Catherine Mann said on Thursday, Reuters reported. "You have a lot of different ways of looking at it. My reading is we're not there yet," Mann said. The BoE raised its main interest rate to 3.5% in December from 3%; Mann voted for a bigger increase to 3.75%.

Shares in Brazilian retailer Americanas SA fell more than 75% on Thursday after its chief executive officer resigned citing the discovery of "accounting inconsistencies" totaling 20 billion reais ($3.9 billion), Reuters reported. Outgoing CEO Sergio Rial, who replaced Miguel Gutierrez less than two weeks ago, said in a conference call with investors he had "clearly found some very important distortions" and signals of a lack of transparency from the previous management.

Pakistan’s prime minister said Thursday that the United Arab Emirates agreed to extend a $2 billion loan to his country and provide an additional $1 billion as his nation struggles to recover from devastating floods this summer and a dire economic crisis, the Associated Press reported. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s office made the announcement after he met with the leader of the UAE, Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Egyptian pound fell to yet another record low, a sign that authorities are pressing ahead with a shift to more flexible currency trading, Bloomberg News reported. The currency slumped as much as 14% to 32.1 per dollar before paring losses to close at 29.8 on Wednesday, capping the largest single-day drop since late October. That’s narrowed the gap against prices quoted in the black market, the so-called parallel exchange rate of about 31, according to traders.

Retail sales volumes in Brazil posted in November their biggest drop in five months, government statistics agency IBGE said on Wednesday, affected by higher fuel prices and a weak Black Friday performance last year, Reuters reported. Brazil's retail sales fell 0.6% in November from October, IBGE reported, a deeper drop than the 0.3% one expected by economists polled by Reuters and the first negative reading since July.

Mexican industrial output was unchanged in November from October but rose 3.2% year-over-year, the national statistics agency said on Wednesday, as economists expect an economic slowdown in the United States to affect the sector ahead, Reuters reported. Statistics agency INEGI said in a statement that higher construction and utilities output boosted industrial production in the month, but ended up offset by a drop in mining and manufacturing.

Even as Ghana takes its third big step to extricate itself from debt distress, bond investors face a new complication: political uncertainty, according to a Bloomberg News commentary. The West African nation’s government reiterated it has sought relief from bilateral lenders including the Paris Club and China under the Group-of-20 Common Framework. The move follows an offer to local-currency bondholders for a debt swap with coupon reductions and a unilateral move to suspend payments on external debt.

Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that it was considering providing up to $11 billion to Pakistan, a potential lifeline to a country facing default, the Wall Street Journal reported. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar in recent months have said they might also offer help to Pakistan, with potential loans and investments from Gulf nations now totaling at least $22 billion after the latest announcement from Riyadh. Gulf countries have said they could extend a similar level of support to Egypt, which is also struggling economically.