BERLIN / Reuters Zalando reported slower first-quarter sales growth after a blistering 2015, but Europe’s biggest dedicated online fashion retailer said sales had accelerated since the Easter holidays in late March and reiterated its annual targets. Fashion retailers such as H&M and Next have reported a weak start to 2016 due to an earlier Easter than last year and ...

  MADRID / Reuters Fast-food company Telepizza has announced it planned to list on Spain’s stock market on April 27, looking to raise 550 million euros ($621 million) from the share sale, to become one of the first Spanish companies to seek a listing this year. Specialised engineering company Dominion, a unit of car parts company CIE Automotive, is planning ...

  Riyadh / AFP State-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines plans to launch a low-cost offshoot next year under initiatives to restructure the kingdom’s oil-dependent economy, official media said. Known as “Flyadeal”, the low-cost carrier will begin operations from the middle of next year, Saudi Arabian Airlines chief Saleh al-Jasser said. It will operate independently of its parent firm, Jasser was quoted ...

  Bloomberg Associated British (AB) Foods Plc reported first-half earnings that beat analyst estimates as improved results from its sugar business offset a decline in profit at its Primark discount retail chain. Adjusted pretax profit rose 4 percent to 466 million pounds ($667 million), the London-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. Analysts were predicting 454 million pounds, according ...

  Tokyo / AFP Tokyo businessman Randal Furudera isn’t about to swap his German-made BMW M5 for a “boring” Japanese car, although he’ll give them some grudging respect for their ho-hum dependability. Deep-pocketed buyers like Furudera are driving sales in Japan of high-end foreign brands, which dominate the niche sector in a car market long seen as all but shuttered to ...

  Amsterdam / Relaxnews European Union policy makers and European vehicle manufacturers have reached their first agreement on the future of self-driving cars and their place on the continent’s roads. The ‘Declaration of Amsterdam’ endorsed by the Informal Transport Council represents a first agreement among all parties regarding how potentially life-saving technologies are to be deployed on European roads. Tackling ...

  Relaxnews To celebrate National Parks’ Service 100th anniversary, from April 16 to April 24, everyone is enjoying free admission to all national parks in US these days. The National Park Service usually offers free entry to national parks on certain days of the year, including President’s Day weekend and Veteran’s Day, however in honour of their anniversary this year ...

  Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business What began as a small Heliopolis salon in 1980, the Mohamed Al Sagheer name has become a flagship in the beauty industry, encompassing a chain of 25 salons across Egypt, with branches in Doha, Qatar and Dubai. Over the last 30 years, Al Sagheer Group has expanded to include state of the art spas, ...

  Our Correspondent / EMIRATES BUSINESS Hold on tight to your dream, that’s the general mantra being circulated around the world amid rumors of tumultuous economic times ahead in 2016. Company, business and government expenditures across the globe — including here in the Middle East — are being curtailed; projects are being put on hold and headcounts slashed amid lingering ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Major stock markets in the Gulf rebounded in late trade on Monday to close higher despite the collapse of oil producers’ talks in Doha, while Egypt’s bourse surged to a six-month closing high. The failure of Sunday’s Doha meeting to agree on an oil output freeze was a blow to sentiment in the oil market, and ...