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Bloomberg As fashion franchises like Forever 21 struggle globally amid changing shopping habits and competition from e-commerce, Uniqlo-owner Fast Retailing Co has managed to turn around a second clothing line into a profit driver. Its more experimental and stylish GU brand is expected to be a highlight of its full-year earnings to be reported. The sister brand, which sells at ...

Bloomberg Hays Travel Ltd, the UK booking agent that’s buying 555 shops from Thomas Cook Group Plc, said the stores can turn profitable without the hefty airline costs that helped bring down the 178-year-old tour operator. Hays will add the outlets to its existing 190 shops to expand a business that’s more online-focussed than Thomas Cook was, founder and Managing ...

Bloomberg Shiseido Co agreed to buy skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million as the Japanese beauty company seeks to appeal to younger consumers in the US. The deal for Drunk Elephant Holdings LLC won’t have a significant impact on full-year earnings, Shiseido said in a statement. It will be financed with a combination of cash and credit, and is ...

Bloomberg LVMH bucked concerns about the impact of protests in Hong Kong on sales of luxury goods to the key Chinese consumer market, throwing down a gauntlet to rivals with faster-than-expected revenue growth. Third-quarter sales of fashion and leather goods rose 19% as the Paris-based company that’s seen as a bellwether for the wider luxury sector flagged “remarkable” performances at ...

DUBAI / WAM The UAE ranked first in the Arab World and 25th globally in the Global Competitiveness Report, 2019, released by the World Economic Forum, Davos, on Wednesday. According to the report, which assesses the competitiveness landscape of 141 economies, providing unique insight into the drivers of economic growth, the UAE gained two positions since the last edition. The ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), is creating new opportunities for partnerships and investments as it pursues a balanced smart growth strategy and drives responsible production to reliably meet the world’s growing energy demand, according to Dr Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO. Speaking in London at the ...

ABU DHABI / WAM A total of 100 conservation projects for endangered species of plants and wildlife in Madagascar received grants from the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, attendees at a special talk on conservation in the island were told at a meeting at capital’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club – UAE. Overall, the Fund has now given a total of ...

Dubai / WAM Dubai almost doubled its foreign trade value in IT and telecom industry over the past decade, recording a growth of 97 percent from AED117 billion in 2009 to AED231 billion ($62.8 billion) in 2018, according to statistics released by Dubai Customs, in conjunction with Gitex Technology Week 2019. In H1-2019, trade in IT and telecoms went up ...

DUBAI / WAM Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade, Anna Hallberg, performed a tree planting ceremony at Expo 2020 Dubai on Wednesday, officially marking the beginning of the construction of the Swedish pavilion, ‘The Forest’. Najeeb Mohammed Al-Ali, Executive Director of Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau, joined the Swedish minister at the ceremony. Tree planting resonates with the ambition to build the ...

Dubai / WAM The Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (Adda), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with Orange Business Services to accelerate the digital transformation of the Abu Dhabi government. According to the agreement, Orange Business Services will work in close coordination with Adda in the development of a co-innovation programme to explore new value-added services for the Authority, with the ...