All articles by Planet Retail – Page 70

  • News

    Jerónimo Martins sales up

    2010-03-12T00:00:00Z

    Jerónimo Martins increased sales by 6.1% to €7.3bn (£6.5bn) in its 2009 financial year.Net profit at the grocery retailer soared 22.8% to €200.3m (£178.6m).Jerónimo Martins attributed the performance to strong competitive market positions and a clear focus on increasing productivity together with greater scale in sourcing.

  • News

    Woolworths H1 profits up

    2010-03-05T00:00:00Z

    Woolworths posted an 11.4% increase in first-half net profit to Aus$1.09bn (£654.2m).The Australian retailer is planning an Aus$400m (£240.1m) share buyback, which it described as a modest start to capital management, now that the worst of the economic turmoil has passed.Woolworths forecast sales growth in the upper single digits, marking ...

  • News

    Mercator revenues down 2.4%

    2010-03-05T00:00:00Z

    Local retailer Mercator generated revenues of €2.6bn (£2.4bn) in 2009 - a 2.4% decrease, which it attributed to the depreciation of the Serbian currency.The group’s profit plummeted 48.2% year on year to €21.1m (£19.1m), which it attributed to the economic turmoil.Mercator’s expenditure halved to €159.2m (£144.4m) in 2009, yet it ...

  • News

    Carrefour to close 21 Belgian stores

    2010-03-05T00:00:00Z

    Carrefour plans to close 21 stores in Belgium and cut 1,672 jobs in the country.14 of its 56 Belgian hypermarkets and seven of its 378 Belgian supermarkets will close by June 30. An additional 30 stores will be sold. In total, nearly a third of the hypermarkets and nearly half ...

  • News

    ITM sales reach €34bn

    2010-03-05T00:00:00Z

    Sales at grocery group ITM hit €34bn (£30.8bn), including petrol, for the 2009 financial year.In France, its Intermarché chain achieved sales growth of 1.5%. Globally, excluding petrol and its industrial production facilities, it increased sales 0.7% to €25bn (£22.7bn), and expanded its total sales area by 1.94 million sq ft.ITM ...

  • News

    Kohl’s sales up 4.8%

    2010-03-05T00:00:00Z

    Department store operator Kohl’s achieved net income of $991m (£664.6m) last year compared with $885m (£593.5m) the previous financial year.Net sales climbed 4.8% to $17.2bn (£11.5bn) and comparable store sales increased 0.4% against the previous year. Kohl’s ended the year with 1,058 stores in 49 states; it opened 56 outlets ...

  • News

    Soriana sales down 5.5%

    2010-03-05T00:00:00Z

    Mexican grocery retailer Soriana posted a like-for-like sales decline of 5.5% in its 2009 financial year.Net consolidated profit soared 66.4% to MXN2.9bn (£152.4m) against 2008, while net sales fell 4% to MXN91.8bn (£4.8bn). During the period, the retailer managed to make savings of MXN1bn (£52.6m) through its efficiency plan.By the ...

  • News

    Walmart to reduce supply chain greenhouse gas emissions

    2010-03-05T00:00:00Z

    Walmart wants to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its global supply chain by the end of 2015.The target figure represents 1.5 times the retailer’s estimated global carbon footprint growth over the next five years and is the equivalent of taking more than 3.8 million cars ...

  • News

    Gap to open first Italian store in Milan

    2010-03-05T00:00:00Z

    Gap is to open its first Italian store in Milan this year, with another planned for Rome next year.The retailer will open Gap and Banana Republic stores side by side on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Milan’s shopping district; the exact launch date has yet to be revealed. Each of the ...

  • News

    Harvey Norman profits up

    2010-03-05T00:00:00Z

    Non-food retailer Harvey Norman reported that net profit in the six months to December 31 rose to Aus$158.9m (£95.4m) from Aus$99.3m (£59.6m) the year before.Profit from continuing operations soared 47% to Aus$237.8m (£142.7m). Consumer electronics performed strongly, despite the unwinding of one-off government stimulus cheques paid to consumers at the ...

  • News

    Walmart reports sales up 1%

    2010-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Walmart has reported net sales of $405bn (£260bn) for its financial year to January 31, 2010 - an increase of 1% on the previous year.Income from continuing operations attributable to Walmart increased 8.8% to $14.4bn (£9.2 bn). Full-year net sales from the international division were $100.1bn (£64bn), a 1.3% increase ...

  • News

    Loblaw net income up 19.3%

    2010-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Loblaw reported that net income soared 19.3% to C$550m (£309m) for the financial year to January 2, 2010. Total sales declined 0.2% to C$30.8bn (£17.3bn) while same-store sales slid 1.1%.Executive chairman Galen Weston said: “As we enter 2010 we continue to expect sales and margins to be challenged by deflation ...

  • News

    Edeka considering expansion abroad

    2010-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Grocery market leader Edeka is considering expansion abroad with its recently strengthened Netto discount banner, The Financial Times Deutschland reported.The retail group is said to be planning to open stores in foreign markets “in five years’ time at the latest”, preferably in Central and Eastern Europe but not necessarily in ...

  • News

    Carrefour profits plummet

    2010-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Carrefours profits plummeted 70% to €385 m (£343m) in 2009, largely due to restructuring charges.In France and Western Europe sales fell 2.7% and 5.4% respectively. However, the French retail giant boasted market share gains in its home market.Meanwhile, Carrefour’s Latin American and Asian divisions posted sales growth of 11.9% and ...

  • News

    Ica to enter growing Swedish convenience market

    2010-02-26T00:00:00Z

    Ahold-owned grocer Ica has announced that it is to muscle in on the growing convenience market with the launch of a city concept to cater for urban customers who want easy access to fresh food.The new concept, called Ica to Go, will sell branded and private-label ready-meals and other products ...

  • News

    Toys R Us in IPO talks

    2010-02-26T00:00:00Z

    The private-equity owners of Toys R Us are in talks with investment banks about the possibility of underwriting an initial public offering this summer, the New York Post reported.It is understood Bain Capital, KKR and Vornado Realty Trust are talking with banks including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase. ...

  • News

    Cencosud sales down 11% to £6bn

    2010-02-19T00:00:00Z

    Chilean retail conglomerate Cencosud reported an 11% decrease in net sales to CLP5.33 trillion (£6bn) in 2009, while net profit dropped 38% compared with the previous year to CLP96bn (£108m).The retailer, which runs fascias including hypermarket chain Jumbo, attributed its drop in sales and profit to an unfavourable exchange rate, ...

  • News

    Fast Retailing to raise £6.9bn

    2010-02-19T00:00:00Z

    Fast Retailing chairman and chief executive Tadashi Yanai has revealed the company plans to raise a ¥1 trillion (£6.9bn) war chest to back its bid to become the world’s leading global clothing retailer.He said that acquisitions would be necessary, particularly in the US and Europe, to reach that goal. “We ...

  • News

    Lotte acquires GS stores

    2010-02-19T00:00:00Z

    Local player Lotte Shopping has acquired the GS Mart hypermarkets and GS Square department store operations from GS Retail in South Korea.The deal, valued at about £700m, includes three department stores and 14 hypermarkets and will help Lotte Shopping close the gap on market leaders Shinsegae, which runs the E-mart ...

  • News

    January US retail sales beat expectations

    2010-02-19T00:00:00Z

    January sales at US retailers beat analyst expectations, improving prospects for first-quarter economic growth.Commerce Department figures showed retail sales rose 0.5% as consumers stepped up spending not only on essential goods but luxury items as well.Stores specialising in electronics and appliances, sporting goods, hobby-related items, books and music all experienced ...