Retail

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 ...

Bloomberg Fastjet Plc Chief Executive Officer Ed Winter, who is poised to leave the African discount airline after clashing with investor Stelios Haji-Ioannou over mounting losses, said he still thinks the continent is on the cusp of a transformation into a viable aviation market. Without an unexpected slump in currencies spanning the South African rand to the Kenyan schilling, Fastjet ...

Paris / AFP A bid by French household goods group Conforama, majority-owned by South Africa’s Steinhoff, for rival Darty has won the backing of Darty’s board, both companies said, derailing a planned Darty tie-up with retail giant Fnac. Conforama earlier this month launched a conditional all-cash offer for Darty at 125 pence ($1.75, 1.61 euros) per share, aiming to create ...

Bloomberg British supermarket group Sainsbury’s said it had made a formal offer worth £1.4 billion for Home Retail Group, owner of catalogue chain Argos. The cash-and-stock takeover is worth the equivalent of $2.0 billion or 1.8 billion euros. Argos sells household items, including televisions, furniture and gardening tools. With South African household goods group Steinhoff having walked away from the ...

HONG KONG / AFP Fashion designer Victoria Beckham launched her first shop outside Britain in Hong Kong as she seeks to tap the Asia market despite a downturn in luxury spending. Beckham’s store in Hong Kong’s Landmark building lies at the heart of the upmarket Central district, a cluster of high-end brands and five-star hotels. The British designer did a final ...