Headlines

Euro zone inflation soared past the European Central Bank's 2% target this month as surging oil and gas costs drove up headline prices, but ​the jump was smaller than expected and core inflation declined, muddying the picture for policymakers, Reuters reported. Overall inflation in the 21 countries sharing the euro currency jumped to 2.5% ‌in March from 1.9% a month earlier, below expectations for 2.6% in a Reuters poll of economists, as energy costs rose 4.9%.

The workforce impact of Takeda’s recently announced reorganization has become clearer: The Japan-based pharma estimates the restructuring will affect around 634 U.S. employees, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice, BioSpace reported. Takeda began notifying employees on March 25, the same day it announced a business transformation, which includes streamlining corporate functions. However, the company noted in the WARN notice that the total number affected could change as staff pursue and accept redeployment opportunities across its global network.

Half a year after being spurned by the FDA and following deep layoffs, IO Biotech has decided to close its doors for good, Fierce Biotech reported. The Danish biotech has ceased operations and said goodbye to its employees, C-suite and board of directors after filing for bankruptcy, according to a March 31 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A trustee appointed by the Delaware bankruptcy court will take control of the company and liquidate its assets.

Spark Networks Services GmbH, the operator of online dating platforms Christian Mingle, JDate and Zoosk, is seeking U.S. bankruptcy court recognition of its German insolvency case, Bloomberg Law reported. The company filed its U.S. case after a failed restructuring in 2024 and its primary lender and equityholder, MGG Investment Group, pulled funding in January, according to court documents filed Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Spark Networks is seeking relief under chapter 15 and aims to sell its assets while continuing operations.

Millions of unprocessed bad loans from last ‌decade's debt crisis are slowing Greece's economic growth and stymying the rebound for families and businesses still locked out of lending markets, an International Monetary Fund official told Reuters. The IMF estimates that nearly 3 million non-performing loans are impacting 2.4 million people, said Charles Cohen, an IMF advisor specialising in ​financial markets. The sheer number has overwhelmed the Greek lending system, and without servicing the old loans many ordinary ​Greeks will be unable to borrow further.

Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal has moved the Supreme Court challenging the approval of Adani Enterprises’ resolution plan for Jaiprakash Associates and following the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s refusal to stay its implementation, IndiaWest reported. The plea, filed on March 25, came after the appellate tribunal declined to halt the ₹14,543 crore plan. The dispute involves assets valued at nearly $4 billion, including power and cement units, residential projects, and the Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi.

One of Chile’s leading fruit exporters, Exportadora Santa Cruz, has filed for bankruptcy with debts of around US$55bn, Eurofruit reported. It follows a second failed reorganization process embarked on by the company in less than a year, prompting creditors to request forced liquidation due to noncompliance with the reorganisation plan. The 1st Civil Court of Santiago declared bankruptcy on 18 March and scheduled a hearing for 30 April to finalize the voting rights process and the constitutive creditors’ meeting.

The Budapest Court of Appeals reported that the end of COVID‑era payment moratoriums led to a rise in bankruptcy cases, which first surged at the trial‑court level and later appeared in second‑instance proceedings, the Budapest Business Journal reported. Civil case filings also increased during the period of economic uncertainty, while administrative cases grew unevenly due to ongoing structural changes.

Ireland plans to offer a new personal savings and investment scheme from next year to encourage people to invest some of the ​170 billion euros ($196 billion) earning little or no interest on deposit ‌with banks, Finance Minister Simon Harris said, Reuters reported. Harris, who is also the country's deputy prime minister and leader of one of the two main coalition parties, has made the policy ​a top priority since taking on the finance brief four months ago ​and outlined further details of his plans on Tuesday.

Europe’s inflation rate rose to 2.5% in March as the Iran war sent fuel prices sharply higher, official figures showed Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. That is leading analysts to pencil in interest rate increases by the European Central Bank later this year. The annual rate for the 21 European Union member countries using the euro currency compared to 1.9% for February before the war started and blocked supplies of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf. Energy prices increased 4.9% percent in March compared to a 3.1% decline in February, Eurostat figures showed.