TOP NEWS
* Industria de Diseño Textil SA, owner of the Zara fashion chain, reported a year-over-year increase in fiscal first-half earnings as the company's efforts to roll out its integrated store and online platform continue to boost sales. The Spanish retailer, known as Inditex, said it expects like-for-like sales to grow between 4% and 6% in the year ending Jan. 31, 2020, after its initial winter collections were well-received. Sales from Aug. 1 to Sept. 8 rose 8% year over year. Like-for-like sales grew 5% in the fiscal first half.
* Hermès International SCA reported strong earnings growth for the first half of 2019 as the company recorded sales increases across all business segments and geographies. Consolidated net profit for the six-month period to June 30 came in at €754 million, up 7% from €706 million in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 15% year over year to €3.28 billion from €2.85 billion, beating the S&P Global Market Intelligence mean consensus estimate of €3.26 billion, with three analysts reporting.
TEXTILES, APPAREL AND LUXURY GOODS
* Discussions between Folli-Follie Commercial Manufacturing and Technical SA and its creditors over the turnaround plan are expected to complete in the coming weeks, Reuters reported, citing Abraham Gounaris, the Greek jeweler's chairman. "Negotiations with the bondholders are at a critical juncture," Gounaris said. The struggling jeweler's rescue plan requires the agreement of at least 60% of creditors and shareholders' approval of its 2017 statements before it can file for bankruptcy.
* Herschel Supply Co. Ltd. has engaged J.P. Morgan to look for potential buyers for the backpack maker, which is "asking for a very, very steep price," Women's Wear Daily reported. "Since day one, we have had conversations with talented people who could work with us to continue to transform the lifestyle and travel industries," Herschel reportedly said, adding that J.P. Morgan has been its commercial bank since 2018. J.P. Morgan declined to comment, the fashion journal said.
* Fashion retailer C&A appointed Allan Leighton as its chairman, replacing Martijn Brenninkmeijer, the Financial Times reported. The company, owned by Switzerland-based holding firm Cofra, also named Alexander Birken to its board.
* New Look Retail Holdings Ltd.'s core like-for-like sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 declined 10.1% year over year, driven by lower footfall due to highly unseasonable weather and ongoing consumer uncertainty. The U.K.-based apparel retailer posted core total revenue of £258.3 million, down from £300.6 million a year ago.
* Lacoste SA appointed Catherine Spindler as executive vice president of marketing and branding, and Jean-Louis Delamarre was named executive vice president of markets and distribution, Women's Wear Daily reported. Spindler succeeds Sandrine Conseiller, who was appointed CEO of Aigle SA, a unit of Maus Frères SA, which also owns Lacoste, while Delamarre replaces Didier Lalance, who exited the company, the report added.
MULTILINE RETAIL
* Selfridges Group Ltd is collaborating with the Olympic Studios to open a three-screen cinema at its London store by the end of November, The Guardian reported.
* Canadian private equity firm Catalyst Capital Group raised its stake in Hudson's Bay Co. to 15.99%, boosting its power to block the proposed privatization offer of an investor group. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The firm initially proposed to acquire about 10.75% of the Ontario-based department store chain for C$10.11 per share in a bid to block a take-private offer by a Hudson's Bay investor group, which included Governor and Executive Chairman Richard Baker.
* J. C. Penney Co. Inc. appointed Colin Dougherty as senior vice president of finance, effective Sept. 23.
* Target Corp. is looking to hire more than 130,000 seasonal workers across the U.S. for the upcoming holidays. The general merchandiser said that this year it will double the number of job openings focused on fulfilling digital orders from stores. All the roles will have a minimum starting wage of $13 per hour, but the company plans to raise its minimum hourly wage to $15 by the end of 2020.
E-COMMERCE
* Amazon.com Inc. signed a lease for about 500,000 square feet in a three-story warehouse in Seattle, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an anonymous source. Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. reportedly also plans to occupy almost 100,000 square feet in the Seattle building.
FOOD AND STAPLES RETAILING
* Carrefour SA refuted reports that it may bid for rival food retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA, Reuters reported. "There is no offer, or any draft of an offer, on the table," a spokeswoman for Carrefour reportedly said, while Casino declined to comment. The news of a potential all-share offer was reported by BFM TV, which also said that Carrefour had been examining a potential bid for several weeks.
HYPERMARKETS AND SUPERCENTERS
* Walmart Inc. appointed Nuala O'Connor to the newly created role of senior vice president and chief counsel of digital citizenship, a position that will focus on the company's use of data and technology to support its growth.
HOUSEHOLD DURABLES AND SPECIALTY RETAIL
* Peloton Interactive Inc. expects to price its IPO of 40 million class A common shares at between $26 to $29 per share, with an option for underwriters to buy up to an additional 6 million shares. The company expects to raise up to $1.33 billion in its IPO.
* Shares of GameStop Corp. fell more than 15% in after-hours trading after it reported a second-quarter adjusted loss per diluted share of 32 cents, compared to a loss of 10 cents a year ago, wider than the S&P Global Market Intelligence loss estimate of 22 cents. Sales for the quarter ended Aug. 3 dropped 14.3% year over year to $1.29 billion. For full year 2019, the game retailer expects to deliver adjusted EPS between $1.15 and $1.30.
* AB Electrolux is planning to outsource parts of its current manufacturing in Hungary and invest in its Nyíregyháza refrigerator plant, a move that will impact nearly 1,700 positions and lead to a 1.6 billion Swedish kronor charge in the third quarter of 2019. The household appliances maker expects the measures to generate about 500 million kronor in annual savings, beginning in 2022.
INDUSTRY NEWS
* Another round of tariffs on Chinese goods caused retail imports at U.S. container ports to reach "unusually high numbers" before the tariffs were implemented Sept. 1, the National Retail Federation said. The industry group said imports are expected to surge again before more tariffs take effect in December. The 15% tariffs that hit Sept. 1 covered a range of consumer goods from China, with a planned expansion to additional goods Dec. 15, affecting approximately $300 billion in imports.
* Same-store sales in Mexico jumped 4.4% year over year in August, Reuters reported, citing Mexico's Asociacion Nacional De Tiendas De Autoservicio Y Departamentales, or ANTAD.
Now featured on S&P Global Market Intelligence
After Aeropostale play, mall landlords likely to take over more retailers
Consumer discretionary sector bests S&P 500 index in August
Tyson tops S&P 500 Consumer Staples in August as strong Q3 hoses down plant fire
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng gained 1.78% to 27,159.06, and the Nikkei 225 increased 0.96% to 21,597.76.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 climbed 0.92% to 7,334.87, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.46% to 1,084.33.
On the macro front
The PPI-FD index, the Atlanta Fed business inflation expectations report, the wholesale trade report and the EIA Petroleum Status Report are 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.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 8 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
