Retail

Bloomberg One of H&M’s largest shareholders has lost its patience. Skandia’s actively managed funds have spent the past months selling off most of its stake in Hennes & Mauritz AB after watching the fashion retailer struggle with weakening sales in its physical stores and intensifying online competition. The Swedish savings and insurance giant says there’s a raft of issues H&M …

Bloomberg Richemont agreed to take full control of online luxury retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter SpA for about 2.7 billion euros ($3.3 billion), reflecting ecommerce’s inroads into the world of $5,000 Cartier necklaces and $50,000 Vacheron Constantin watches. Investors would receive 38 euros a share, the Geneva-based luxury-goods company said in a statement. Richemont already owns 50 percent of YNAP. The bid …

Bloomberg Coca-Cola Co. CEO James Quincey is kicking off a recycling spree, part of efforts to burnish the beverage giant’s image. The soft-drink company, which operates in more than 200 countries, is setting the goal of recycling one bottle or can for everyone it sells by 2030. It’s also pledging to become a corporate leader in reducing the plastic waste …

BLoomberg Steinhoff International Holdings NV, the global retailer fighting to recover from an accounting scandal, sold its luxury Gulfstream 550 private jet to a US aircraft broker as it seeks to boost liquidity. The plane, with serial number 5113, was registered to Annapolis, Maryland-based Avpro Inc. on January 12, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration’s online records. The luxuriously …

BLoomberg Associated British Foods Plc’s Primark reported a slowdown in sales growth in the first quarter, showing that even the most reliable fashion retailers aren’t immune to the rise of online shopping. At constant currency rates, Primark’s sales rose 7 percent in the 16 weeks to January 6, the London-based company said. That missed analysts’ estimates for growth of 10 …

BLoomberg The UK economy isn’t going to pick up for at least the next two years as consumers struggle to lift spending. Respondents to Bloomberg’s first UK survey of 2018 showed few signs of new year optimism. The median forecast for growth this year was kept at 1.4 percent, and no acceleration is seen in 2019. While gross domestic product …

Bloomberg Woolworths Holdings Ltd. plunged the most in almost two years after South Africa’s largest food and clothing retailer said sales growth slowed in the fiscal first half, while earnings also declined. Revenue increased by 2.5 percent in the 26-week period ending on December 24, compared with 6.7 percent the previous year, the Cape Town-based company said in a statement. …

Bloomberg Montblanc, the penmaker that began making Swiss watches two decades ago, is shoring up its credentials as it expands with sports models near the price range where Rolex Group and Breitling AG timepieces start. The brand, owned by Geneva-based luxury-goods maker Richemont, is introducing a line of Timewalker sports watches with a mountain-climbing theme this year after entering the …

Bloomberg The final numbers are in, and the past holiday season was indeed one of the best since the last recession—even if everyone didn’t partake in the good fortune. Sales rose 5.5 percent to $691.9 billion during November and December, the National Retail Federation said. The results exclude spending on cars, gas and restaurants. E-commerce and other sales that occur …

Bloomberg The US Supreme Court will consider freeing state and local governments to collect billions of dollars in sales taxes from online retailers, agreeing to revisit a 26-year-old ruling that has made much of the internet a tax-free zone. Heeding calls from traditional retailers and dozens of states, the justices said they’ll hear South Dakota’s contention that the 1992 ruling …