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Home Depot Q2 EPS beats estimates; Casino to sell €2B additional assets

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Home Depot Q2 EPS beats estimates; Casino to sell €2B additional assets

TOP NEWS

* Home Depot Inc. maintained its fiscal 2019 outlook for diluted EPS to grow about 3.1% to $10.03 but cut its sales growth forecast to 2.3% from 3.3%, citing lumber price deflation and the potential impact of tariffs. For the second quarter ended Aug. 4, the home improvement retailer said diluted EPS was $3.17, up 3.9% from $3.05 in the year-ago period and ahead of the S&P Global Market Intelligence mean consensus estimate for normalized EPS of $3.08.

* Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA's board identified an additional €2 billion worth of assets in France for a second round of disposals as it continues to take steps to cut its debt. The deals are expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2021.

TEXTILES, APPAREL AND LUXURY GOODS

* Tailored Brands Inc. completed the sale of its corporate apparel business to a group led by the existing corporate apparel U.K. executive team for $62 million in cash. The company also raised its adjusted diluted EPS guidance for the fiscal second quarter of 2019 to between 78 cents and 80 cents from the previous range of 65 cents to 70 cents. Net sales are expected to reach $787 million to $789 million.

* H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB will open a 5,705-square-foot home concept store in Birmingham, England, in fall 2019, Retail Gazette reported.

* Paul Allen resigned as CEO of Monsoon Accessorize Ltd, Drapers reported. The report added that the struggling apparel retailer does not plan to replace Allen.

* Japan's Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., owner of fashion brand Uniqlo, will cut water use in the production of all its jeans by 90% to 99%, beginning in 2020, the Nikkei Asian Review reported. The retailer will use water-saving technology, water recycling and lasers instead of manual labor and excessive washing to produce distressed denim for its jeans range.

* Shares of Pandora A/S jumped nearly 10% on Aug. 20 after it said its restructuring efforts are showing "early positive signs." The company also maintained its guidance for organic growth and EBIT margin for fiscal 2019 despite a 10% year-over-year decline in second quarter like-for-like sales and a 7% decrease in organic growth.

MULTILINE RETAIL

* Kohl's Corp. affirmed its diluted EPS guidance for fiscal 2019 as it posted adjusted diluted EPS of $1.55 for the second quarter, down 12% from $1.76 a year ago but above the S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus normalized EPS estimate of $1.53. For the three months ended Aug. 3, total revenue fell 3.1% to $4.43 billion from $4.57 billion in 2018.

* Catalyst Capital Group received and accepted for purchase approximately 10.05% of Hudson's Bay Co.'s stock from the retailer's shareholders, blocking the proposed privatization offer of an investor group, which included Governor and Executive Chairman Richard Baker. The Canadian private equity firm accepted a total of 18,491,502 shares for purchase at C$10.11 per share in cash for a total consideration of about C$187 million.

* J. C. Penney Co. Inc.'s stock rose more than 2% on Aug. 19 after it disclosed that Nonexecutive Chairman Ronald Tysoe bought 1 million shares in the company for 59 cents apiece, bringing his holding in the department store chain to 1,352,128 shares.

E-COMMERCE

* Amazon.com Inc. will open a new fulfillment center in West Jordan, Utah, that will create more than 800 full-time positions and cover more than 1 million square feet of space.

* Morphe LLC reached an agreement with General Atlantic that will see the private equity firm acquire a majority stake in the beauty products company for an undisclosed amount. The partnership will help Morphe expand its footprint globally and launch a portfolio of other direct-to-consumer brands.

FOOD AND STAPLES RETAILING

* Kroger Co. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. are expanding their partnership that allows customers of the supermarket chain to buy groceries and pick up online orders at certain stores of the drug retailer. The Kroger Express and Kroger Pickup service will be expanded to 35 Walgreens outlets in the area, beginning in the fall. The pilot will also be extended to 17 Kroger stores in Knoxville, Tenn., which will offer Walgreens health and beauty brands.

* Russian food retailer Public Joint Stock Co. Magnit reported a 44.8% drop in net income for the first half of 2019 to 9.81 billion Russian rubles from 17.77 billion rubles a year ago, despite posting a 10.5% year-over-year increase in total revenue to 657.92 rubles.

HOUSEHOLD DURABLES AND SPECIALTY RETAIL

* Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. appointed Nancy Walsh as its CFO, effective Sept. 9, replacing interim CFO Timothy Mulvaney, who will continue as the home improvement retailer's chief accounting officer.

HOTELS, RESORTS AND CRUISE LINES

* Shares of Fosun Tourism Group rose as much as 4.8% on Aug. 19 after it reported net profit of 490 million Chinese yuan for the first half of 2019, compared with a loss of 254.5 million yuan in the year prior. In a news conference following the release of its earnings results, Chairman and CEO Qian Jinnong hinted that Fosun would not participate in Thomas Cook Group PLC's reorganization process, according to the Nikkei Asian Review. Fosun reportedly said it expects to face difficulties in its previously announced acquisition of a controlling stake in the British travel services company.

CASINOS AND GAMING

* Affiliates of Kien Huat Realty III Ltd. and resort operator Genting Malaysia Bhd. agreed to acquire New York-based hospitality and gaming business Empire Resorts Inc. for $9.74 per share. Kien Huat already holds about 86% of Empire Resorts' outstanding common shares.

* Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA's board approved a final amendment to the simplification of its Latin American operations and raised the price of its offer to 113 Brazilian reais from 109 reais per share of Brazilian subsidiary Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição, or GPA. The food retailer plans to purchase the stake held by its Colombian unit Almacenes Éxito SA in GPA through Segisor SA, which is owned by Casino and holds 99.9% of the voting rights and 37.3% of the economic rights of GPA.

SPECIALIZED CONSUMER SERVICES

* British asset manager RWC Partners Ltd., which holds 2.5% stake in Sotheby's, has raised several concerns over the $3.7 billion sale of the company to businessman Patrick Drahi, including the deal's price, the Financial Times reported. This reportedly follows the auctioneer's disclosures regarding the sale process, which included its decision not to reach out to its largest investor, China's Taikang Life Insurance, which owns about 17% of Sotheby's, for a counter offer.

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The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a mixed opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, Hang Seng dropped 0.23% to 26,231.54, while the Nikkei 225 gained 0.55% to 20,677.22.

In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 climbed 0.43% to 7,220.27, and the Euronext 100 rose 0.07% to 1,045.99.

On the macro front

The Redbook Index for retail sales is due out today.

Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.

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