Headlines

AgroGalaxy Participacoes SA, a Brazilian agricultural supplies retailer that sought creditor protection last year, plunged the most in more than a month as its third-quarter loss widened because of expenses related to the bankruptcy process, Bloomberg News reported. The loss was 1.6 billion Brazilian reais ($265 million), roughly 18 times its loss a year earlier, the company said Monday. AgroGalaxy had postponed the earnings release twice.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday ordered the liquidation of Go First, the budget carrier that stopped flying nearly three years ago after being bogged down by financial woes. In May 2023, the airline filed for a voluntary insolvency resolution process citing financial woes, the Economic Times of India reported. The tribunal, in a 15-page order, said it is ordering the liquidation of the corporate debtor Go Airlines (India) Ltd.

A year ago, India was bouncing back from a recession caused by Covid-19 with a spring in its step. The country had overtaken China as the most populous country, and its leaders were declaring India the world’s fastest-growing major economy, the New York Times reported. This was music to the ears of foreign investors, and to India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, who at every opportunity boasted about his country’s inevitable rise.

Dozens of councils face a wave of new sex discrimination claims that town hall bosses fear will push them into bankruptcy, The Times reported. Payouts worth up to £500 million are being demanded by the GMB trade union, after a deal was struck last month with Birmingham city council, Europe’s largest local authority. The case is viewed as a “template” for action against other councils, given workers in jobs predominantly held by women were found to have been paid less than those in male-dominated ones.

The U.K.’s unemployment rate rose in the three months through November, a fresh sign the economy is faltering that increases the likelihood the Bank of England will lower its key interest rate early next month, the Wall Street Journal reported. Unemployment stood at 4.4% of the workforce between September and November, rising from 4.3% in the previous three-month period, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. That takes joblessness to its joint-highest level since 2021.

Non-bank lenders provided €20bn in credit to Irish households and small businesses in 2023, according to new analysis by the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), the Irish Examiner reported. Based on data from the Central Bank, the BPFI said non-bank lenders account for about 15% of outstanding credit. Encompassing a large and diverse group of financial enterprises, non-bank lenders do not offer deposit accounts, but provide a wide range of credit facilities for consumers and SMEs.

Military company Paramount Industrial Holdings (PIH), a part of the Paramount group of companies, has filed for business rescue amid legal disputes within another division of the Paramount group. Despite this, other subsidiary companies in South Africa are expected to continue operating normally, Military.Africa reported. The PIH board made the decision to enter business rescue on 11 November.

For the first time since 2019, Canadian inflation stayed within the central bank’s target range for a full year, a mark of achievement for policymakers ahead of a potential tariff war that threatens to derail their progress, Bloomberg News reported. The consumer price index ended 2024 with a second consecutive monthly deceleration, rising 1.8% on a yearly basis in December, down from 1.9% previously, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for a 1.9% gain.

China Vanke Co. (萬科) rebounded from record lows in credit markets, as people familiar with the matter said the distressed developer had previously told some creditors it had enough cash prepared to repay a local note, the Taipei Times reported. The firm told some creditors prior to turbulence in its bonds and shares yesterday that it had prepared enough cash to repay a 3 billion yuan (US$409.3 million) bond due on Jan. 27.

Longi Green Energy Technology said the Chinese solar panel giant expects to have swung into the red last year with a net loss of as much as CNY8.8 billion (USD1.2 billion) mainly due to intensifying competition, Yicai Global reported. Net loss was likely between CNY8.2 billion and CNY8.8 billion last year, compared with a net profit of CNY10.8 billion (USD1.5 billion) in 2023, the Xi'an-based company said yesterday. Investment losses from a stake in a silicon material producer contributed to the temporary operational loss, it noted.