Retail

Bloomberg BHS, the dowdy department store, will live to fight another day. The struggling privately owned retailer has been given a lifeline after landlords voted to approve a restructuring that would ease its rent burden. The company’s near miss can only partly be seen as consequence of the 15 years it spent under the leadership of retail entrepreneur Sir Philip …

Bloomberg The owners of Turkish supermarket chain Carrefoursa have hired Bank of America Corp. to sell shares in the joint venture to boost the stock’s trading on the Istanbul stock exchange, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The companies haven’t made a final decision about the share sale, said the people, who asked not to be named because …

LONDON / Reuters Sports Direct lowered its full-year core earnings forecast on Wednesday after Mike Ashley, the owner of Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer, revealed a trading slowdown in a newspaper interview. Flouting the rules on how companies disclose financial information, Ashley told the newspaper on Tuesday that Sports Direct was “in trouble, we are not trading very well”, sending its …

Bloomberg Kingfisher, Europe’s largest home improvement retailer, beat forecasts with a 0.3 percent rise in annual profit, though it said it remained cautious on the outlook for France, its most profitable market. The firm, which trades as B&Q and Screwfix in Britain and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets, said on Wednesday it made an underlying pretax …

BEIJING / Bloomberg Haier Electronics Group Co.’s earnings grew last year at the slowest pace since 2008 as sales fell at the China-based maker of washing machines and water heaters, and it predicted industry growth will be restored this year despite a tough 2016. Net income rose 10 percent to 2.7 billion yuan ($416 million) in the year, in line with …

NEW YORK / AP Hiring top retail executives has long involved a game of musical chairs. But with consumer spending behaviour turned upside down in the era of web shopping, retailers need to look beyond the seasoned industry execs with the long resumes, says veteran executive recruiter Les Berglass. Since founding his firm in 1990, he has been placing top …

Bloomberg Casino Guichard-Perrachon was cut to junk by Standard and Poor’s, increasing the French grocer’s debt costs as short seller Carson Block attacks its accounting. The long-term debt rating was lowered by one step to BB+, the highest non-investment grade, Standard & Poor’s said in a statement on Monday. The outlook is stable. S&P had said it may lower it …

Bloomberg Infibeam Incorporation Ltd. plans to raise as much as 5.4 billion rupees ($81 million) in an initial public offering as it becomes the first of India’s high-profile online retailers to proceed to a share sale. The company is offering 12.5 million shares in a book build at 360 rupees to 432 rupees apiece. Promoters and investors hold 42.7 million …

Bloomberg Zalando SE, Europe’s biggest online fashion retailer, is making investments to set its service apart from competitors, including a potential tie-up with smartphone car service Uber Technologies Inc. The German e-commerce player is trying to gain market share and boost profitability by building new systems that can make it easier for brands such as Adidas AG or Nike Inc. …

MONTPELIER / AP General Mills’ announcement that it will start labeling products that contain genetically modified ingredients to comply with a Vermont law shows food retail companies might be throwing in the towel, even as they hold out hope Congress will find a national solution. Tiny Vermont is the first state to require such labeling, effective July 1. Its fellow …