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Amazon Q4 sales grew 38% YOY; Sony lifts FY'17 forecast on Q3 profit surge

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Amazon Q4 sales grew 38% YOY; Sony lifts FY'17 forecast on Q3 profit surge

TOP NEWS

* Amazon.com Inc. reported net income for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2017, of $1.86 billion, up from the $749 million in 2016, while net sales grew 38% year over year to $60.45 billion, beating the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate of $59.85 billion. During the e-commerce giant's fourth-quarter 2017 results call, CFO and Senior Vice President Brian Olsavsky made no specific comments about the e-commerce giant's plans to join JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in entering the healthcare business. However, Olsavsky did address recent media reports of Whole Foods Market Inc. running out of stock on both fresh and packaged grocery items, suggesting that price cuts that Amazon has made since acquiring the grocer in 2017 were to blame.

* Sony Corp. lifted its net income outlook for the fiscal year ending March 31 to ¥480 billion, a 26.3% increase from the previous forecast of ¥380 billion, after its fiscal third-quarter profit surged to ¥314.89 billion from ¥29.27 billion in the year-ago period. The Japanese consumer electronics giant also expects income before taxes to rise 15% to ¥690 billion from the previous forecast of ¥600 billion, and operating income to grow 14.3% to ¥720 billion from the previous forecast of ¥630 billion. Separately, Sony said it will promote Kenichiro Yoshida, its current CFO and executive deputy president, to CEO and president, effective April 1, replacing Kazuo Hirai, who will become chairman on the same date.

TEXTILES, APPAREL AND LUXURY GOODS

* Paul Marciano, the executive chairman and chief creative officer of apparel retailer Guess? Inc., denied any inappropriate conduct alleged by former company model Kate Upton through a social media post, Guess said in a filing. The company said it will "fully investigate" Upton's claims to "determine if they have any merit," adding that a recent investigation "has not corroborated" previous allegations against Marciano.

MULTILINE RETAIL

* Sears Holdings Corp. took a debt of $210 million from ESL Investments Inc., controlled by Sears CEO Edward Lampert, in separate tranches under a term loan facility due July 20, 2020, the company disclosed in a filing. The beleaguered U.S. department store operator previously also tapped into Lampert's fund while shuttering unprofitable stores to preserve capital.

* Department store operator Nordstrom Inc. plans to close its outlet in Salem, Ore., affecting 130 full-time employees, as the Nordstrom family plans to resume raising funds to take the company private, sources told CNBC.

E-COMMERCE

* Innovative Retail Concepts Pvt.-owned Indian online grocer Bigbasket received $300 million from an investment round led by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Bloomberg reported. It will use the proceeds to fund infrastructure development and market penetration.

* The Federal Commission for Economic Competition is probing the country's e-commerce market for "probable" monopoly practices, assessing the impact of internet giants including Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.-owned Google Inc. on local businesses, Reuters reported, citing a statement by the Mexican regulator. The agency, which began its investigation in late September 2017, reportedly is looking at price discrimination by top e-commerce players that impedes the growth of smaller businesses but did not provide details on the investigation or name any companies.

HOUSEHOLD AND PERSONAL PRODUCTS

* The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. on Feb. 2 raised its forecasts for adjusted EPS and net sales for fiscal 2018 as it delivered second-quarter earnings that topped analysts' expectations. Excluding one-time charges and other adjustments, diluted net earnings per common share for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2017, rose to $1.52, beating the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate for normalized EPS of $1.44.

FOOD AND STAPLES RETAILING

* Supermarket retailer J Sainsbury Plc said it paid £60 million to Aimia Inc, a Montreal, Canada-based company that offers data-driven marketing and loyalty program analytics, to acquire its U.K. business, including Aimia's Nectar loyalty program. Nectar allows members to accumulate benefits when they spend money with its 14 partners, which include charge and credit card provider American Express Co., fuel stations operator BP Plc, and utility British Gas, part of Centrica Plc.

* Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC plans to cut about 1,500 store management positions while creating 1,700 customer-facing roles, following moves by peers Tesco Plc and J Sainsbury Plc, The Telegraph reported, citing the U.K.-based grocer's communication to its staff. Morrisons retail director Gary Mills reportedly said the staffing overhaul was a bid to "serve customers better with more front-line colleagues in stores," adding that the company is committed to "redeploy as many affected colleagues as possible."

* Groupe Lactalis SA will cease operations in a Salmonella Agona-contaminated facility that produced infant milk products at its Craon, France, site after learning that the virus possibly spread when maintenance was conducted on the unit in early 2017. The French dairy products manufacturer, which said authorities first reported the outbreak Dec. 1, 2017, would seek to absorb affected employees at its other industrial or logistics plants and announced a plan to resume normal operations.

HOUSEHOLD DURABLES AND SPECIALTY RETAIL

* Mattel Inc. reported sales of $1.61 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017, down 12% year over year from $1.83 billion in 2016, after its Fisher-Price and American Girl brands recorded sales declines, particularly in North America. The California-based company, which manufactures the Barbie and Hot Wheels toy lines, reported a loss of $281.3 million, or a loss of 82 cents per share, down from $173.8 million in the year-ago period, and 98 cents below the S&P Capital IQ GAAP EPS consensus estimate of 16 cents.

INDUSTRY NEWS

* Total retail sales value in Hong Kong reached HK$446.1 billion in 2017, growth of 2.2% in value and 1.9% in volume over 2016, the city's first annual growth since 2013, said Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department. For December 2017, sales value reached HK$44.8 billion, a year-over-year increase of 5.8% but a slowdown from 7.6% growth for November 2017.

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