Retail

  Bloomberg Commercial space exploration can advance at the fast pace of internet commerce only if the cost is reduced through advances in reusable rockets, Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said. The e-commerce pioneer drew comparisons between the growth of his online retail business over the past 20 years and his investments in space exploration with his company …

LONDON / Reuters British online fashion retailer ASOS met forecasts with an 18 percent rise in first-half profit and said it was on track to achieve its sales and margin guidance for the full year. Established in 2000 for fashion-conscious twenty somethings, ASOS was an early ecommerce success story, but is seeing growing competition from the likes of Germany’s Zalando …

Reuters French retailer Groupe Fnac on Tuesday urged shareholders of takeover target Darty to take no action after South African retail conglomerate Steinhoff launched a rival $975 bid through its Conforama unit. “Fnac is currently considering its options and urges Darty shareholders to take no further action at this time,” Fnac said in a statement issued by Darty, noting the …

PARIS / AFP A slowdown in the Chinese market pushed Prada’s profits sharply lower last year, the Italian luxury company said. Net profit dropped nearly 27 percent to just under 331 million euros ($378 million) in the 12 months to end-January, Prada’s financial year. Group sales stagnated at 3.5 billion euros, while the contribution from Asia dropped because of Chinese weakness, …

Bangkok / DPA Belgium-based diamond-jewellery maker Roos is eyeing Asia and North America as the next potential markets for its business, after successfully reaching a high level in Europe, especially Belgium and the Netherlands. Thailand would be a hub to support and facilitate the growth of Roos’ business in Asia. “We started selling our Roos jewellery ornaments last week in …

Bloomberg Sears Holdings Corp., the department-store operator run by hedge fund manager Edward Lampert, obtained a new short-term loan partially funded by an investment firm that manages billionaire Bill Gates’s fortune. Cascade Investment has funded $125 million of a $500 million loan that Sears raised by using about 20 of its mortgaged properties as collateral, the retailer said in a …

Bloomberg Associated British Foods (ABF), the biggest shareholder in Illovo Sugar, has reached an agreement to buy the rest of the South African sugar producer for 5.6 billion rand ($370 million) after raising an earlier offer. ABF, which holds a 51.35 percent stake in Illovo, has made an offer of 25 rand ($1.65) per share for the stake it does …

Reuters Higher sales helped Saudi Arabia’s Almarai to post a marginal rise in first-quarter net profit on Sunday, though the Gulf’s largest dairy company warned of challenging market conditions in the face of the region’s economic slowdown. Saudi companies are grappling with a protracted slump in oil prices that is putting government and consumer spending under pressure. One indicator of …

Bloomberg India is considering restricting the number of flights that can take off or land at airports to cut noise pollution, in line with several European and American nations, a senior official at India’s aviation regulator said. The environment ministry is working with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the regulator, to formulate guidelines on the maximum noise levels to …

TOKYO / Reuters Activist investor Daniel Loeb claimed success after the surprise exit of convenience store pioneer Toshifumi Suzuki as CEO of Seven & i, saying it was a step forward for corporate governance in Japan, but his victory may turn out to be pyrrhic. The sudden departure of its 83-year-old patriarch left the $90 billion retail conglomerate without a …