Retail

  Bloomberg Billionaire hedge fund manager and activist investor Bill Ackman is buying a minority stake in Bremont as the UK luxury watchmaker looks to expand in the fast-growing US market. Ackman is teaming with Bremont’s controlling shareholder, Hellcat LP, to invest a combined $60 million in Bremont, the watchmaker said in an emailed statement. The investment shows confidence in ...

  Bloomberg Johnson & Johnson (J&J) guided to stronger earnings for 2023 than analysts were expecting after a year in which the pharma division suffered because of waning demand for its unpopular Covid-19 shot. Its Covid vaccine, which falls out of favour after cases of a rare and potentially deadly blood clotting disorder, was a drag on the pharma division’s ...

Bloomberg 3M Co. said it plans to cut about 2,500 manufacturing jobs, citing persistent economic hurdles, and forecast profit for this year that fell short of Wall Street estimates. The stock tumbled. “We expect macroeconomic challenges to persist in 2023,” Chief Executive Officer Mike Roman said. The planned job cuts are “a necessary decision to align with adjusted production volumes,” ...

Bloomberg Apple Inc is looking to boost production in India to about a quarter of its global total, one of the country’s top government officials said, as the US tech giant seeks to diversify from its main manufacturing hub in China. “They are already at about 5-7% of their manufacturing in India,” said Piyush Goyal, India’s trade and industry minister, ...

  Bloomberg British food suppliers denied Tesco Chairman John Allan’s claim that some companies were increasing prices more than necessary. Minette Batters, President of National Farmers’ Union, told BBC radio she was baffled at the accusation. “It was almost like he was living in a parallel universe. For primary production, for farmers and for growers, this has been absolutely unprecedented,” ...

  Bloomberg Canadian consumers remained resilient in December, even in the face of elevated inflation and rising interest rates. Receipts for retailers jumped 0.5% last month, according to an advance estimate released by Statistics Canada. That follows a 0.1% drop in November, which was led by lower sales of food and beverages, as well as building material and garden supplies. ...

  Bloomberg UK retail sales fell unexpectedly last month, finishing the worst year on record as a brutal cost-of-living squeeze pointed towards more pain ahead for the economy. A 6.1% drop in the volume of goods purchased in shops and online reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was the sharpest since records started in 1989. A separate report ...

Bloomberg Walmart Inc, which became the world’s largest retailer by serving everyday shoppers, is now targeting a larger share of business customers with a website aimed at small and midsize companies. The initiative, called Walmart Business, is designed to offer a one-stop shop for office supplies, furniture, food and electronics, Ashley Hubka, the senior vice president managing the program, said ...

  Bloomberg Procter & Gamble Co (P&G) sold fewer household staples than expected last quarter as consumers grew more cautious about higher prices. The total volume of goods sold fell 6% in the three months ended in December, worse than the 2.6% that analysts had estimated. Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten said consumers are using up the products in their ...

  Bloomberg US retail sales fell by the most in a year and business equipment production slumped, raising concerns that the economy is losing momentum under the weight of tighter Federal Reserve policy. The value of overall retail purchases broadly fall 1.1% in December after a downwardly revised 1% drop in the prior month, Commerce Department data showed. Separate figures ...