International News

Bloomberg The landlord that owns chunks of London’s trendy Soho district has written down the value of its portfolio by more than $383 million, after coronavirus forced its stores and restaurants to close. Shaftesbury Plc said its portfolio fell by 7.9% in the six months through March to 3.5 billion pounds, according to a statement on Wednesday. The company has ...

Bloomberg A trade group for independent US restaurants said that its proposal for a $120 billion industry stabilisation fund would pay for itself more than twice over as the Republican-controlled Senate signals it wants the next response to the coronavirus crisis to be more limited. The proposed fund could generate more than $270 billion in economic activity through savings of ...

Bloomberg French economic output will take two years to recover from the virus-related slump that that will inflict even longer lasting damage on the labour market, the country’s central bank said. The Bank of France report shows that even with robust growth in the next two years, unemployment will continue rising to reach a record high close to 12% in ...

Bloomberg Demand for government bonds is showing no signs of letup, with Ireland securing record investor demand despite a host of countries, including the UK, selling debt. Ireland racked up more than 50 billion euros for its sale of 10-year debt, trumping the 33 billion euros secured in April. The UK meanwhile is selling 30-year bonds via banks against a ...

Bloomberg German exports plunged at a record pace in April when economies around the world shut down to contain the coronavirus. Sales abroad were down 31.1% from a year earlier, an unprecedented slump in the series that reaches back to 1950. Imports fell the most since the financial crisis a decade ago. German manufacturers were already suffering from weak demand ...

Bloomberg The fallout from Covid-19 is hurting the financial wellbeing of Greek and Romanian consumers the most in Europe, while those in Scandinavia are least affected. Swedish debt collector Intrum AB surveyed European consumers on their financial security and nearly half of the respondents said their wellbeing has declined today compared with six months ago. “The survey clearly shows that ...

Bloomberg The UK government’s pandemic programs are now supporting 11.5 million jobs at a cost of 27 billion pounds ($34 billion), according to figures released on Tuesday. Meanwhile, separate data from the Department of Work and Pensions showed the number of individuals making declarations for Universal Credit benefit claims fell to 96,510 in the week of May 25, the first ...

Bloomberg The euro has carved out a dominant position in the fast-growing market for green-bond financing, accounting for almost half of all new issuances last year, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). The development dovetails with European Union ambitions to make the continent the first climate-neutral region by 2050. ECB President Christine Lagarde has promised to reflect on how ...

Bloomberg Sweden is stepping up efforts to shield its critical businesses from foreign takeovers at a time of economic weakness due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Interior Minister Mikael Damberg and Foreign Trade Minister Anna Hallberg on Monday unveiled a series of proposals. They include asking the Swedish Defense Research Agency to map out areas where foreign direct investments may have ...

Bloomberg German industrial production took a record-hit in April, before a gradual easing of lockdown restrictions set off an ever-so-slow recovery. Output slumped 17.9% during the month that saw unprecedented closures of factories and shops, with manufacturers of investment goods particularly badly affected. Even though activity has started to pick up since then, Europe’s largest economy is still set to ...