Retail

  Reuters Saudi Arabian retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co missed analysts’ estimates as it reported a 98 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday after its operations made losses and total group sales fell. The company made a net profit of 3.17 million riyals ($845,626.48) in the three months to March 31, down from 201.74 million riyals in the ...

  Reuters Wal-Mart Stores Inc said it will shrink its board by three members to 12, bringing it closer to US corporate norms in a move the largest US retailer hopes would allow it to respond more nimbly to rapid market changes. The change will take place after Wal-Mart’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 3, it said in a statement. ...

  PARIS / Reuters French retailer Fnac said on Thursday it would offer 145 pence per share to buy Darty , Europe’s third-largest electronics retailer, trumping an offer from Conforama, part of South African retail conglomerate Steinhoff. Fnac had originally proposed a takeover offer for Darty last year but Conforama emerged as a rival bidder in March, with an offer ...

  Bloomberg China wants to get control of the most popular fast-food chain in the country. A consortium backed by sovereign fund China Investment Corp. has expressed interest in buying a majority stake in Yum! Brands Inc.’s China business, which runs more than 7,100 KFC and Pizza Hut eateries across the nation, people with knowledge of the matter said. The ...

  Reuters British plus-size fashion retailer N Brown Group Plc expects a hit of about 3 million pounds ($4.31 million) on full-year profit before tax in the new financial year, and said trading so far has been subdued. Shares of N Brown, known for its brands SimplyBe and JD Williams, fell as much as 13 percent to 273 pence, the ...

  BERLIN / Reuters Zalando reported slower first-quarter sales growth after a blistering 2015, but Europe’s biggest dedicated online fashion retailer said sales had accelerated since the Easter holidays in late March and reiterated its annual targets. Fashion retailers such as H&M and Next have reported a weak start to 2016 due to an earlier Easter than last year and ...

  MADRID / Reuters Fast-food company Telepizza has announced it planned to list on Spain’s stock market on April 27, looking to raise 550 million euros ($621 million) from the share sale, to become one of the first Spanish companies to seek a listing this year. Specialised engineering company Dominion, a unit of car parts company CIE Automotive, is planning ...

  Riyadh / AFP State-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines plans to launch a low-cost offshoot next year under initiatives to restructure the kingdom’s oil-dependent economy, official media said. Known as “Flyadeal”, the low-cost carrier will begin operations from the middle of next year, Saudi Arabian Airlines chief Saleh al-Jasser said. It will operate independently of its parent firm, Jasser was quoted ...

  Bloomberg Associated British (AB) Foods Plc reported first-half earnings that beat analyst estimates as improved results from its sugar business offset a decline in profit at its Primark discount retail chain. Adjusted pretax profit rose 4 percent to 466 million pounds ($667 million), the London-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. Analysts were predicting 454 million pounds, according ...

  Bloomberg Padenga Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest supplier of Nile crocodile skins for luxury handbags and shoes, is seeking to boost profitability by feeding the aquatic reptiles a corn-rich diet and allowing them more space to grow. The company’s biggest market for hides is Italy, the home of luxury goods makers including Prada Spa, which sells a crocodile and ...