Retail

  Lagos / AFP Nigeria’s Arik airline has resumed flights following a deal to end a one-day strike that paralysed its operation, the company said on Wednesday. Aviation unions called the strike on Tuesday to protest non-payment of seven months of salaries to Arik workers, non-remittance of taxes and the sacking of five union leaders. Thousands of local and foreign ...

  Brussels / AFP Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has agreed to pay more than three billion dollars to recently-merged AB InBev for control of Africa’s biggest soft drinks bottling company, both companies said on Wednesday. On merging with SABMiller in September, Belgian-Brazilian giant AB InBev found itself with 54.5 percent in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) and Coca-Cola said in October ...

  Bloomberg UK retail sales grew at their fastest annual pace in more than a year this month, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which also warned that pressure on shoppers’ budgets could increase over the coming year. The CBI’s monthly retail-sales index climbed to 35 in December, the highest since September 2015, from 26 in November. Clothing ...

  Islamabad / AFP Pakistan’s embattled national carrier has been widely mocked for sacrificing a goat next to a plane to ward off bad luck, weeks after one of the country’s worst air disasters. A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) turboprop plane built by European manufacturer ATR plummeted into a mountain in a northern region on December 7, bursting into flames ...

  Bloomberg Union pilots who fly products for Amazon.com Inc. are taking concerns about pay, working conditions and staffing shortages directly to online shoppers with a digital marketing blitz that suggests the internet retailer may struggle to deliver holiday gifts on time. The union is running advertisements on Facebook and Google, targeting Amazon customers. If clicked on, the ads send ...

  London / AFP German discount supermarket group Lidl announced plans to create 5,000 new jobs in London as part of a major investment programme in Britain, where it is enjoying rapid growth. The food retailer said it will open 250 shops in the capital after unveiling a three-year, £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion, 1.8 billion-euro) investment plan last year that ...

  Mexico City / AFP US retail giant Walmart said it plans a fresh $1.3 billion investment in Mexico, where it was hailed amid US President-elect Donald Trump’s tough line on foreign trade and keeping jobs in America. The American company plans to build new distribution centers and expand existing ones “which will create more than 10,000 new jobs,” said ...

  Bloomberg Lululemon Athletica Inc. soared the most in more than eight years after third-quarter earnings blew past analysts’ estimates and sales showed signs of strengthening as the yogawear maker heads into the holiday season. Profit in the quarter was 47 cents a share, excluding some items, the Vancouver-based company said in a statement. Analysts estimated 43 cents on average. ...

  Bloomberg WeChat lets users text friends, post selfies and pay a gas bill with a smartphone. From now, the blockbuster Chinese app, known as Weixin Pay in China, can also be used to buy a Java Chip Frappuccino. Starbucks Corp. said it will accept the payments system at about 2,500 of its cafes across China, enabling customers to complete ...

  Bloomberg McDonald’s Corp. shrugged off Brexit by announcing plans to switch its non-U.S. tax base to the UK, ditching tiny Luxembourg where its fiscal arrangements are under attack from European Union regulators. In an apparent vote of confidence in the U.K., the hamburger giant said it’s creating a new international holding company based in Britain, which decided in June ...