TOP NEWS
* U.K. electronics retailer Dixons Carphone PLC said in a statement filed to the London Stock Exchange that hackers had gained access to data held by the company, and about 105,000 payment cards issued outside the European Union were compromised. The company, which operates stores under the Currys PC World brand as well as Dixons Travel airport shops, said it had notified relevant card companies via its payment provider so they could take measures to protect customers. Dixons Carphone added that it had no evidence of fraud on those cards as a result of the data breach.
* Fast-fashion retailer Industria de Diseño Textil SA, also known as Inditex, reported first-quarter earnings for fiscal 2019 ahead of expectations as its profit margin expanded and it maintained a tight grip on costs, although sales fell short of estimates. For the three months ending April 30, the Spanish owner of the Zara apparel chain reported that EPS edged up to 21.4 euro cents from 21.0 cents in the year-ago period, outpacing the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate for normalized EPS of 20 cents. Sales increased to €5.65 billion from €5.57 billion, a rise of 2%, or 7% in local currencies, but below the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate of €5.79 billion.
TEXTILES, APPAREL AND LUXURY GOODS
* Guess? Inc. co-founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Paul Marciano has resigned from his executive chairman position at the apparel company, effective immediately, after an investigation into his behavior found that he exhibited "poor judgment." He will remain on the company's board and with the company until the end of his employment agreement Jan. 30, 2019, although he will not renew the contract. The retailer's board on June 11 elected Paul Marciano's brother, Guess co-founder Maurice Marciano, to be the new chairman of the board.
* The European Court of Justice ruled in favor of Christian Louboutin SA after the luxury footwear brand filed an infringement case with The Hague Court alleging that Dutch retailer Van Haren Schoenen BV violated its red-sole trademark. The court decided that the French firm's trademark covers the positioning of the color on its high-heeled shoes, regardless of the shape of the sole.
* Compagnie Financière Richemont SA now holds 98.4% of YOOX Net-A-Porter Group SpA following the end of the sell-out procedure on June 8 in connection to the Swiss luxury house's offer to take over the Italian online luxury fashion retailer earlier in 2018. Richemont said it will pay the consideration price of €38 per share under its purchase obligation June 15. Because Richemont now owns over 95% of YNAP's ordinary share capital, it will carry out a squeeze-out procedure to acquire the remaining 1,542,309 shares of YNAP, representing a 1.6% stake, it does not already own.
MULTILINE RETAIL
* Macy's Inc. acquired a minority stake in technology retailer B8ta, which the department store retailer will use to expand its new pop-up shop concept, The Market @ Macy's. B8ta, founded in 2015, helps shoppers try out products in-store. Financial details of its deal with Macy's were not disclosed.
* Sears Holdings Corp. expanded its tire service partnership with Amazon.com Inc. to an additional 71 Sears Auto Centers in the U.S., bringing its total number of servicing shops to 118. The department store chain offers tire installation and balancing services for customers across the U.S. who purchase tires on Amazon's platform.
E-COMMERCE
* Online retailer Noon.com teamed up with eBay Inc. to give its customers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates access to eBay products from the U.S. and other countries, The Associated Press reported, citing an announcement from Noon. The Middle Eastern company will allow shoppers to order items from eBay beginning the second half of 2018.
* Online furniture retailer Home24 is expected to price its initial public offering at €23 per share, which would give the company a market value of €625 million, Reuters reported, citing a note to investors from Home24's book runner. The German retailer's shares, initially priced in a range between €19.50 and €24.50 per share, are expected to start trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on June 15.
* Postal services provider Poste Italiane SpA and Amazon agreed to a three-year partnership aimed at distributing the U.S. retail giants products and developing e-commerce solutions in Italy. The deal will use the Italian mail operator's express courier unit SDA, its airline subsidiary Mistral Air and more than 30,000 of its postal employees. The collaboration, which can be extended to a further two years, will allow Amazon customers in the country to have their deliveries shipped during the evening and on weekends.
* Revolve is preparing for an initial public offering in late 2018 as the e-commerce company looks to tap into a good U.S. IPO environment after staying private since being founded in 2003, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The California-based company previously met with bankers who may act as underwriters for the IPO, which is expected to value Revolve at more than $1 billion, sources told the newspaper.
HYPERMARKETS AND SUPERCENTERS
* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. digital transformation of Sun Art Retail Group Ltd. has extended to upgrading 100 stores of the Chinese hypermarket operator's RT-Mart chain with plans of revamping another 300 or more outlets by the end of 2018. The move is part of Alibaba's agreement to buy a 36.16% stake in Sun Art, which operates more than 400 hypermarkets under the Auchan and RT-Mart banners. Using Alibaba's fresh food-focused supermarket chain Hema as a model, the revamped RT-Mart stores will be equipped with digital infrastructure supporting customer insights, supply chain management, retail technologies, smart logistics and electronic payments.
HOUSEHOLD DURABLES AND SPECIALTY RETAIL
* Qingdao Haier Co. Ltd. attributed growth in the first quarter of 2018 to improved operational efficiency and released synergies. For the period ended March 31, the Chinese appliances maker's GAAP diluted EPS went up 12.63% to 0.32 Chinese yuan from 0.29 yuan in the year-ago period. The S&P Capital IQ consensus GAAP EPS estimate for the quarter was 0.35 yuan, with one analyst reporting.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* The Seattle City Council repealed a newly enacted per-employee tax on the city's biggest companies, which include Amazon and Starbucks Corp., voting 7 to 2 to rescind the so-called head tax designed to help combat homelessness in Seattle. Amazon on June 12 tweeted a statement by company vice president Drew Herdener, who applauded the repeal vote and called it "the right decision for the region's economic prosperity." Meanwhile, in a statement emailed to S&P Global Market Intelligence, John Kelly, senior vice president of public affairs at Starbucks, said the company welcomed the council's decision.
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Emerging markets, shipping needs targeted for Asian e-commerce growth
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a mixed opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, Hang Seng lost 1.22% to 30,725.15, while the Nikkei 225 rose 0.38% to 22,966.38.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 gained 0.45% to 7,738.39, and the Euronext 100 increased 0.43% to 1,066.63.
On the macro front
The MBA Mortgage Applications, PPI-FD, Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations, EIA Petroleum Status, FOMC Meeting Announcement, FOMC Forecasts and Fed Chair Press Conference are due out today.
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