Retail

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 ...

  Bloomberg After years of battling Apple Inc. in courtrooms and retail stores, Samsung Electronics Co. may be ready to offer an olive branch. That’s expected to cost the Korean company almost $9 billion upfront. Samsung is in close talks with Apple to be the exclusive supplier of displays for iPhone models scheduled for release next year, according to people ...

  Bloomberg Steinhoff International Holdings NV said it won’t raise its offer for French electronics retailer Darty Plc, handing victory to GroupeFnac SA after a protracted auction. Steinhoff’s offer of 160 pence a share in cash is final and won’t be increased, the South African company said in a statement on Wednesday. Fnac raised its offer to 170 pence a ...

  FRANKFURT / Reuters Sharp swings in foreign exchange rates could weigh on results at German insurer Talanx’s international retail business this year, the division it is counting on for near-term growth, according to board member Torsten Leue. “Foreign exchange swings in many emerging markets were stronger than expected over the last three to four years,” said Leue, who is ...

  Bloomberg Bang &Olufsen (B&O) named Henrik Clausen as its new chief executive officer, less than two weeks after the Danish luxury hi-fi system maker walked away from takeover talks with a billionaire Chinese suitor. Clausen will take over from Tue Mantoni on July 1, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Clausen comes from the Nordic region’s largest ...