Retail

Bloomberg Ferrari NV’s ambition to compete with luxury-goods brands like Hermes or Prada has failed to make headway in the six months since its initial public offering, raising pressure on the new board to reset the sports-car maker’s strategy. Scepticism over the company’s prospects has caused the stock to tumble about 20 percent since its October listing. The new board …

  Copenhagen / AFP Bang & Olufsen, the Danish maker of upmarket consumer electronics, said that it had ended takeover talks with a Hong Kong investor after the expiry of a deadline for a bid. The Danish group said its board of directors had been given several deadlines, the last of which was on Friday, during its takeover talks with …

  WARSAW / Reuters Poland’s CCC, Eastern Europe’s largest shoe retailer, swung to a net loss in the first quarter of 2016 due to poor weather and an earlier Easter than last year, but still expects a big rise in 2016 sales, its deputy chief said. “March was indeed very weak and there will be a net loss in the …

  Reuters US retail sales fell in March, dragged down by the auto sector, according to official data that suggested tepid consumer spending. The Commerce Department said retail and food services sales fell 0.3 percent in March and after sales in February were flat. The month-over-month decline was due to a 2.1 percent drop in motor vehicle sales. Stripping out …

  LONDON / Reuters British discount retailer Poundland expects to return to underlying sales growth this financial year after its last one was hit by disruption from the acquisition of a rival and the addition of more than 200 stores, it said on Thursday. The company, which sells everything from washing detergent to boxes of chocolates to packs of batteries …

  Paris / Bloomberg Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA, the French grocery retailer targetted by short seller Carson Block, reported higher first-quarter sales in its home market, easing pressure on Chief Executive Officer Jean-Charles Naouri. Revenue in France rose 2.8 percent to 4.55 billion euros ($5.1 billion), Saint-Etienne, France-based Casino said on Thursday in a statement. Analysts predicted 4.52 billion euros. French …

  HONG KONG / Reuters In a bid to increase its retail footprint, McDonald’s Corp is targeting private equity firms, including Bain Capital, MBK Partners, TPG Capital Management and Chinese state-backed conglomerate China Resources (Holdings) for its planned sale of 2,800 restaurants in North Asia, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The US fast food giant is adopting a …

  LONDON / Bloomberg Tesco has announced on Wednesday that it rebounded into slender annual net profits on strong sales, after a vast property write-down and challenging home trade sparked a record loss the previous year. The troubled British supermarket giant revealed that earnings after taxation stood at £138 million ($197 million) in its 2015/2016 financial year, which ran until the …

  Reuters Teen apparel retailer American Apparel Llc is laying off hundreds of workers as it overhauls its production process, which could include outsourcing part of its production to another US manufacturer, the Los Angeles Times reported. “If we do decide to produce some pieces out-of-house, they will still be American-made,” Chief Executive Paula Schneider wrote in a letter obtained …

  Reuters Mall operator Aeon Co Malaysia has established twin debt facilities to raise up to 1 billion ringgit ($260 million) in Islamic securities, according to a regulatory filing by credit rating agency RAM Ratings. The issuance plan from Aeon, 51 percent owned by Japan’s largest retailer Aeon Co Ltd, includes 15-year Islamic medium-term notes and 7-year Islamic commercial papers. …