Bloomberg Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla appointed two of his children as directors on the retail unit of his Aditya Birla Group, setting the stage for succession. The board of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd., inducted Ananya Birla and Aryaman Vikram Birla, according to a stock exchange filing. The board believes the company will benefit from their new-age …

  Bloomberg Australian retail sales declined for the first time in 2022 in December, suggesting consumers are beginning to rein in spending in response to rapid inflation and rising interest rates. The currency and bond yields slid as sales tumbled by a larger-than-forecast 3.9%, the biggest fall since August 2020. The result came after November’s gain was revised higher to …

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp. reaped a record $56 billion annual profit but disappointed some investors by holding the line on share buybacks. Full-year profit, excluding one-time items, jumped 157% from 2021, far exceeding the driller’s prior record of $45.2 billion in 2008, which at the time marked the biggest in US corporate history. The stock initially fell almost 4% in …