Bloomberg Arla Foods AB, the Danish maker of Lurpak butter, expects the cost of dairy products to fall sharply in 2023 in the UK after becoming a hot spot of inflation. The boss of the UK’s biggest dairy producer said he is confident that all the cost pressures facing its farmers have now passed though. The remarks open the ...
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Swiss holiday retail sales drop in December
Bloomberg Swiss retail sales fell in December from a year earlier as winter gloom and inflation concerns weighed on consumers. The 2.8% drop — following contractions in October and November — was the first such decline in that month since 2016, suggesting weak household spending at a time of year that typically is among the best for retailers. The ...
Read More »Rolex reseller Chrono24 cuts 13% jobs as pre-owned watch prices fall
Bloomberg Chrono24 GmbH, the biggest dedicated online marketplace for luxury watches, cut about 13% of its workforce after prices for the most sought-after Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet timepieces plunged. The company eliminated 65 jobs as it shifted the focus of its operations in the US to Miami from New York, and to Japan from Hong Kong in ...
Read More »Now, companies making biodegradable clothing from algae
Bloomberg Nutritious and fast-growing, algae already has a following as an alternative protein among health fanatics. A new generation of sustainable fashion startups want us to wear it too. The fashion industry produces more than 100 billion garments annually, about 14 for every person on Earth. Most end up in landfills or clogging rivers and beaches in developing countries. Only ...
Read More »Billionaire Birla inducts his kids as directors in retail unit
Bloomberg Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla appointed two of his children as directors on the retail unit of his Aditya Birla Group, setting the stage for succession. The board of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd., inducted Ananya Birla and Aryaman Vikram Birla, according to a stock exchange filing. The board believes the company will benefit from their new-age ...
Read More »Australia retail sales fall in Dec 2022
Bloomberg Australian retail sales declined for the first time in 2022 in December, suggesting consumers are beginning to rein in spending in response to rapid inflation and rising interest rates. The currency and bond yields slid as sales tumbled by a larger-than-forecast 3.9%, the biggest fall since August 2020. The result came after November’s gain was revised higher to ...
Read More »JD.com to shut Indonesia, Thailand shopping sites
Bloomberg Chinese online retailer JD.com Inc. is closing its Indonesia and Thailand e-commerce sites as the company shifts its overseas strategy towards supply-chain and logistics services. JD.ID in Indonesia will stop accepting orders from mid-February and all services will be stopped by the end of March, while JD Central in Thailand will cease its operations from March 3, according to ...
Read More »Apple’s key supplier in India begins making AirPods parts
Bloomberg A key Apple Inc supplier has begun making components for AirPods in India, marking a significant step in the US tech giant’s push to expand production in the country. The Indian unit of Jabil Inc. has begun shipping AirPods enclosures, or plastic bodies, to China and Vietnam, where the wireless earphones are assembled, people familiar with the matter ...
Read More »H&M drops as surging costs nearly wipe out earnings
Bloomberg Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) shares fell after the Swedish clothing retailer said severe increases in energy, freight and garment prices nearly wiped out profit in the past quarter. Operating income dropped 87% to 821 billion kronor ($80 million) in the three months through November 2022, H&M said, far off analysts’ estimates. The scale of the decline is ...
Read More »Sabato De Sarno appointed new Gucci creative director
Bloomberg Gucci named Sabato De Sarno as creative director at Kering SA’s biggest brand, filling a crucial role in the fashion world after the exit of star designer Alessandro Michele in late 2022. De Sarno will start his new role as soon as he completes all his obligations as fashion director for men and women’s ready-to-wear clothing at Valentino, ...
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