SYDNEY / Reuters Richard Branson-backed airline Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd said it tapped its top shareholders for a A$425 million ($320 million) loan facility, a step that is expected to help it cut its reliance on the bond market for funds. The loan facility goes some way to address investor concerns that its cash reserves have declined sharply in the ...

LONDON / Reuters Sports Direct lowered its full-year core earnings forecast on Wednesday after Mike Ashley, the owner of Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer, revealed a trading slowdown in a newspaper interview. Flouting the rules on how companies disclose financial information, Ashley told the newspaper on Tuesday that Sports Direct was “in trouble, we are not trading very well”, sending its ...

DALLAS / Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co. pilots are seeking pay raises that would give them the highest compensation in the industry plus a bigger company contribution to retirement savings, according to a contract proposal presented to the carrier. The pay increases would average 4.1 percent annually for a compound gain of almost 33 percent over seven years under the plan ...