Retail

  Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. posted a 39 percent surge in revenue as China’s dominant e-commerce operator shrugged off a slowing economy with promotions to woo cash-rich consumers. Asia’s largest internet company posted better-than-expected sales of 24.2 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) in the March quarter and said it will start providing annual forecasts. Alibaba shares jumped 4 percent to …

  Bloomberg HNA Group Co., the acquisitive owner of China’s fourth-largest airline, has approached the biggest shareholder of CWT Ltd. to express interest in a possible bid for control of the Singapore logistics company, people with the exact knowledge of the matter said. The Loi family that controls CWT will discuss HNA’s interest in coming days and could enter exclusive …

  San Francisco / AFP Online retail colossus Amazon has boosted its fledgling air cargo service as it moves to gain more independence from freight firms for delivery of online purchases. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings will provide air cargo services to Amazon, which also obtained an option to buy a stake in the New York-based company, the companies said in …

  Bloomberg Next Plc, the British clothing retailer, cut its sales forecast for the second time this year after reporting first-quarter revenue that missed estimates on unfavorably cold spring weather, sending another chill over the embattled UK apparel sector. Next now expects full-year sales to fall within a range of negative 3.5 percent and 3.5 percent growth due to weaker …

  Bloomberg UK supermarket chain J Sainsbury Plc reported annual profit that beat estimates as the company outperformed peers in a market blighted by deflation and discount competition. Operating profit fell 11 percent to 700 million pounds ($1.02 billion) in the 52 weeks ended March 12, the country’s second-biggest grocer said in a statement Wednesday. Analysts expected 683.4 million pounds, …

  Bloomberg Gol Linhas Aereas SA is offering to exchange $780 million of dollar-denominated notes for new securities maturing over a decade, as the Brazilian airline struggles to reshape its finances amid a deepening recession in the domestic market. Bondholders of five different tranches of debt, one of them maturing as early as next year, are being asked to accept …

  Bloomberg A low-cost, low-fare carrier such as Spirit Airlines Inc. makes its living on passenger fees. That those fees, known as non-ticket revenue, dropped by more than $2 per passenger in the first quarter, compared to a year ago, might suggest a shift in travellers’ tolerance for additional charges. Spirit blames its sagging fee tally on low fares; travellers …

  Berlin / Bloomberg Hugo Boss AG, the embattled German fashion retailer, reported its biggest drop in quarterly profit in at least six years and said it considers closing stores to reduce costs. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and other items declined 29 percent to 93.5 million euros ($108 million) in the first quarter, the Metzingen, Germany-based company …

  New York / Bloomberg Johnson & Johnson must pay $55 million to a 62-year-old South Dakota woman who blamed her ovarian cancer on the company’s talcum powder in the second such trial loss this year. J&J is accused in more than 1,000 lawsuits in state and federal courts of ignoring studies linking its Shower-to-Shower product and Johnson’s Baby Powder …

  New York / Bloomberg Consumers in New York, California and Illinois sued PepsiCo Inc.’s Quaker Oats for false advertising, claiming the brand’s signature product contains a possible carcinogen that is not listed as an ingredient. The plaintiffs say in court documents that the company’s oatmeal has glyphosate, an herbicide the World Health Organization declared a probable carcinogen last year, …