Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc’s biggest-ever loss presents Chief Executive Officer Warren East with some difficult choices to fortify the British manufacturer against the damage done by the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The shares fell as much as 10% after the jet engine-maker said Thursday that it’s planning to raise at least 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) from disposals and is considering other options to raise cash.

British doorstep lender Provident Financial (PFG.L) sank to a first-half loss and suspended dividend payments, as it put aside 240 million pounds ($316 million) for an expected surge in bad loans in the coronavirus-driven economic slump, Reuters reported. However, shares in the company - already down about 50% this year - jumped as much as 14% as some analysts said the numbers were better than feared and hailed what they described as prudent planning.

Croydon council has become the first to seek emergency financial assistance from the government in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown, ahead of what is expected to be a flurry of local authorities requesting bailouts, the Financial Times reoprted. The UK’s cash-strapped local authorities are among the most stretched in Europe, according to a new report by Moody's Investors Service, leaving them vulnerable to the economic contraction caused by the pandemic.

European investor and asset manager Arrow Global on Tuesday posted a loss for the first half of the year, mainly due to a non-cash charge of 133.6 million pounds as it revalued its balance sheet in the face of the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reported. The company, which buys defaulted customer accounts from retail banks and credit card companies, posted an after-tax loss of 110.4 million pounds ($144.51 million) for the six months ended June 30, compared with a profit of 24.3 million pounds a year earlier.

Standard Chartered is suing South Africa’s Land Bank to recover debts, Land Bank said on Tuesday, after the state-owned agricultural lender defaulted on repayments for debt worth 50 billion rand (2.26 billion pounds) in April, Reuters reported. South Africa’s Treasury said in June it would inject 3 billion rand into The Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa, the country’s largest agricultural focused-lender, which had been in talks with creditors on a restructuring plan following the default.

UK insolvency and restructuring experts have been bombarded for months, as industries hardest hit in the pandemic have suffered an onslaught of company failures and emergency refinancings, the Financial Times reported. But specialists across accountancy, investment banking and law are now preparing for a fresh wave of corporate distress in the autumn, when government furlough and loan schemes that have kept thousands of businesses afloat and millions employed come to an end.

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has bought parts of rival DW Whelan Sports out of administration for £37m, but almost half of the 1,800 jobs at the retail and gym group will be lost, the Financial Times reported. Frasers, which owns Sports Direct, on Monday said the deal would focus on DW’s gym business — the second largest in the UK — as well as “certain stock” but that it would not buy the brand. The value of the transaction may rise by up to £6.9m depending on the number of associated lease holdings that Frasers acquires.

One in 10 businesses have admitted they are at risk of insolvency due to the pandemic. The figure is revealed in the latest business impact of coronavirus survey from the Office for National Statistics, which shows 10 per cent said their enterprise is at “moderate risk of insolvency” and one per cent put the risk at “severe,” Peer2Peer Finance News reported. The survey also found that 12 per cent of the workforce remain on furlough leave, with 67 per cent of furloughed employees receiving top-ups to their pay.

Offshore oil servicers are going bust at the fastest pace in three years as explorers spurn high-cost drilling to deal with a worldwide slump in commodity prices, Bloomberg News reported. The debacle, triggered by the pandemic-driven drop in oil prices, has already claimed some of the biggest companies that supply rigs, transportation and other support services to deep-water drillers. Noble Corp. and Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. have filed for Chapter 11 since the start of the pandemic-driven oil downturn, while Valaris Plc filed for bankruptcy Wednesday. Firms including Transocean Ltd.

The U.K. is entering a critical phase in the coronavirus crisis that could shape the future of its economy long after the pandemic is gone, Bloomberg News reported. Employers are anxiously awaiting to see whether mounting pressure on Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will force him to reverse course on plans to phase out wage-support programs. That would echo a proposal this week by Germany, where the finance minister wants to extend support to 24 months.