Headlines

Country Garden Holdings Co. is raising HK$3.9 billion ($500 million) from the sale of convertible bonds, a show of strength by the embattled property giant after a report last week that it was struggling to issue debt, Bloomberg News reported. The fundraising announcement from China’s largest developer by sales helped boost its dollar bonds on Friday, extending a massive rally that saw its 2024 note rise to 94 cents on the dollar from Monday’s record closing low of 70 cents, according to Bloomberg-compiled prices.

Perry Lam felt confident that his business had weathered the worst of the pandemic. Several rounds of bar closures in Hong Kong had dimmed the city’s vibrant nightlife, threatening to destroy his brewery. But things seemed better late last year. After the government’s relentless effort to stamp out the virus, there were no local infections, bars began ordering kegs of his lager again and money was coming in. “You saw the silver lining,” said Mr. Lam.

Argentina sharply reduced its budget deficit in 2021 as President Alberto Fernandez tries to cut down on spending amid talks with the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The so-called primary deficit, which excludes interest payments, fell to 3% of gross domestic product from 6.5% in 2020. The figure, boosted by proceeds from a wealth tax, was also below the economy ministry’s estimate for a 3.5% gap. Economy Minister Martin Guzman says he wants to eliminate primary fiscal deficits by 2027 as part of a deal to refinance about $40 billion owed to the IMF.

Applications to Laurentian University from Ontario high school students were down 43.5 per cent this year, compared to the same period in 2021, CBC.ca reported. The Ontario Universities' Application Centre reported the university received 2,791 applications from Ontario high school students in January 2022 to start their studies in the fall. In January 2021, 4,942 high school students from Ontario applied to Laurentian. North Bay's Nipissing University saw a small 0.2 per cent increase in Ontario high school applicants in January 2022, while Sault Ste.

In a major relief to IT firm HCL Technologies, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has stayed the insolvency proceedings initiated against it on a plea filed by a creditor, the India Tribune reported. A two-member NCLAT Bench, while admitting the petition filed by HCL Tech MD and CEO C Vijayakumar stayed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order of January 17, 2022, to initiate insolvency against the IT major.

British retail sales slumped in December after consumers did much of their Christmas shopping earlier than usual in November and many people stayed at home due to the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, Reuters reported. Economists said that the scale of the hit bolstered their expectations that the world's fifth-biggest economy shrank last month under the strain of Omicron and new government restrictions to slow its spread.

International Monetary Fund officials outlined plans for a proposed $50 billion lending trust focused on climate change and sustainability, providing the greatest detail so far on a key initiative that the institution aims to put in place this year, Bloomberg News reported. About three quarters of IMF nations would be eligible for money from the Resilience and Sustainability Trust, or RST, according to a Thursday blog post by Ceyla Pazarbasioglu and Uma Ramakrishnan, the director and deputy director of the fund’s strategy, policy and review department.

Georgia’s national airline, Georgian Airways, has been put on the block after the carrier filed for insolvency, Eurasianet.org reported. Listed for an asking price of $150 million, the 28-year-old airline said that the pandemic-induced collapse of air travel forced the company to the verge of bankruptcy. Since 1993, “we have proudly flown under the Georgian flag. We have not stopped flying even in the hardest periods for Georgia,” the company said in a January 18 statement.

An ad hoc offshore creditors group of China Evergrande said on Thursday that it has had no substantive engagement with the firm over its restructuring plans despite the firm's repeated assurances, Reuters reported. The group, represented by law firm Kirkland & Ellis and investment bank Moelis & Company, said in a statement it has no option but to seriously consider enforcement actions and it is prepared to take all necessary actions to defend its legal rights.

India's Future Group plans to challenge its own lenders in the Supreme Court to avoid being named a defaulter for missing payments, citing its ongoing dispute with partner Amazon.com Inc, three sources told Reuters on Thursday. Future, the country's second-largest retailer, has since 2020 failed to complete its $3.4 billion retail asset sale to a rival due to successful legal challenges by Amazon, which argues the Indian group violated certain non-compete contractual terms the two sides had. Future denies any wrongdoing.