The volume of retail sales fell by 8.1 per cent in the year to July as sales of motors, food, beverages, and tobacco all saw double digit reductions despite the easing of the Covid-19 emergency, the latest data from the Central Statistics Office shows, the Irish Times reported. Four sectors showed an annual increase in the volume of sales. The largest of these was in bars where sales soared by 56.8 per cent compared with July 2021 when some Covid-19 restrictions still applied. However, bar sales remained 8.4 per cent lower than pre-Covid-19 levels in February 2020.

Endo International Plc filed for bankruptcy yesterday after reaching a $6 billion deal with some of its creditors, as the U.S. drugmaker seeks to settle thousands of lawsuits over its alleged role in the country's opioid epidemic, Reuters reported. The pharmaceutical company is the latest to file for chapter 11 to address opioid claims. Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, filed in September 2019, while Mallinckrodt Plc, a generic opioid manufacturer, recently emerged from bankruptcy.

Endo International PLC, a pharmaceutical manufacturer facing thousands of lawsuits alleging it fueled the opioid addiction crisis, said Tuesday that it is likely to file for bankruptcy imminently, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company said that it is in negotiations with a group of senior lenders that it expects will result in an agreement for a chapter 11 filing. Endo also said that it is in discussions with opioid litigants as well as other creditors but didn’t say that it has reached a proposed deal with them.

Brexit-related regulatory burdens impacted more than half of medium-sized businesses in the Republic in 2020, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Irish Times reported. The agency’s latest Global Value Chain participation survey found that 54 per cent of businesses here with 50 or more employees were hit by new regulations arising from the UK’s EU exit. Despite the red tape, the UK remained the most popular location for Irish businesses for both global purchasing and supplying of goods/materials and services.

An Irish developer has had €7.7 million of debts written off under a court-approved personal insolvency arrangement (PIA), the Irish Times reported. Mr. Justice Alexander Owens approved the application made on behalf of Co Roscommon-based Ronan Meeley and an interlocking PIA for his wife, Niamh Meeley. Mr. Meeley (52), who is now employed as a hotel maintenance worker, had debts totalling €8.2 million arising from his construction and development businesses that entered receivership during the recession.

Irish developer Michael O’Flynn has been blocked by the High Court from raising any objections to the personal insolvency agreement of a neighbour John O’Driscoll over a guarantee on a €2.2 million loan, the Irish Times reported. The developer who contended that Mr. O’Driscoll from Ovens, County Cork, was allegedly not insolvent, failed in his bid to overturn a Circuit Court ruling that he had no right to be heard on the matter. In the High Court, Mr. Justice Alexander Owens upheld the Circuit Court ruling that because Mr. O’Flynn who had been invited by Mr.

Mallinckrodt plc on Monday announced that it expects to complete its reorganization process, emerge from Chapter 11 and complete the Irish Examinership proceedings in the coming days, according to a press release. On the effective date of emergence, all of Mallinckrodt's existing ordinary shares will be canceled pursuant to the company's reorganization plan and the Irish scheme of arrangement. Mallinckrodt expects to issue at emergence 13,170,932 new ordinary shares to its guaranteed unsecured noteholders in accordance with the provisions of the plan and the scheme.

We.trade, one of the earliest blochcain coalitions for trade finance is entering insolvency after its banking shareholders pulled the plug, Finextra.com reported. The company was formed in 2017 as a consortium that eventually included a dozen major banks such as Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Santander, Societe Generale and UBS. Yesterday the Irish Independent reported that the company is winding down its operations and has has proposed appointing PwC as a liquidator.

Lessor Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) has emerged from Chapter 11 restructuring process, having eliminated nearly $4.1 billion of debt, Aerotime Hub reported. As part of its restructuring process, the lessor increased its liquidity with access to $537 million in additional capital to fund operations. In December 2021, NAC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. In April 2022, NAC received approval for its restructuring plan from the Bankruptcy Court.

Drugmaker Mallinckrodt PLC has obtained support among unsecured bondholders to fund its exit from chapter 11 after a chilly reception from the leveraged credit market, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The Ireland-based company had been struggling to complete a financing deal needed to emerge from bankruptcy and has been working with Morgan Stanley to find investors.