Retail

  JOHANNESBURG / AP South African shoppers flocked to the opening of one of Africa’s largest malls outside Johannesburg, despite rising unemployment and slowing economic growth. The Mall of Africa, which was opened last Thursday, spanning 130,000 square meters (140,000 square feet) registered 68,000 visitors, a spokesman for the mall’s owners said. “We did expect a high number but this …

  Bloomberg Jeff Smisek walked away with $36.8 million in severance and benefits from United Airlines after he was ousted as chief executive officer last year. Smisek, 61, received about $6.6 million in cash plus equity awards valued at $29.4 million, according to a proxy statement filed by Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc., the airline’s parent. He resigned as president, …

  Bloomberg Bombardier Inc.’s founding family is rejecting demands by Canada’s government to loosen its control of the company in exchange for financial assistance. “It’s not our intention to change anything in this regard,” Bombardier Chairman Pierre Beaudoin said in Montreal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is said to be pushing for corporate governance changes, including the dual-class structure that …

  Frankfurt / AFP German retail sales, a closely watched measure of household confidence, declined in March, official data showed last week. Retailers’ sales fell by 1.1 percent in March compared with February, the federal statistics office Destatis said in a statement. The previous month, retail sales had remained unchanged. On a 12-month basis however, business increased, edging up by …

Bloomberg Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA agreed to sell Vietnam’s Big C grocery chain to Central Group at an enterprise value of €1 billion ($1.1 billion), extending an Asian divestment programme aimed to reduce the French retailer’s debt. Casino will receive €920 million in proceeds, the St. Etienne, France-based company said in a statement last week. The disposal will bring the total …

  Bloomberg Following complaints from retailers, MasterCard Inc. and Visa Inc. have introduced software that they say will speed up slow check-out times for shoppers with new chip-based cards. With the new software, the checkout experience for owners of the security-enhanced chip cards should come closer to those with the old magnetic stripes, the companies say. Consumers will be able …

  Bloomberg Restaurant Group Plc shares plunged in London after the UK owner of Frankie & Benny’s eateries forecast another hit to profits amid deteriorating sales. The stock fell as much as 25 percent to 282.1 pence, the lowest in almost four years. It was down 23 percent at 10:52 a.m., extending its drop this year to 58 percent. After …

  Frankfurt / AFP German sportswear and equipment maker Puma said business increased in the first quarter and that it is expecting a boost from major sporting events such as Euro 2016 and the Brazil Olympics. Like its arch-rival Adidas, which earlier this week lifted its forecasts on the back of a strong first quarter, Puma said it got off …

Bloomberg Airbus Group NV reported a 23 percent drop in first-quarter profit as its two newest jets suffer delivery delays, and said fresh problems with the troubled A400M transport plane could hurt future earnings. A ramp up in production of the A320Neo will be delayed until the second half as Pratt & Whitney works to fix an engine glitch, Airbus …

  Bloomberg BHS owner Dominic Chappell said he will seek to regain control of the struggling UK retailer that’s now in administration amid efforts to rescue the business and save 11,000 jobs. Chappell, whose Retail Acquisitions acquired BHS for a pound last year from billionaire Philip Green, is working with a group of potential purchasers and is likely to submit …