DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Zara shopworkers call off strikes in company's hometown after pay rise deal - union
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, Dec 23 (Reuters) - A union representing shop assistants at fashion retailer Zara has called off planned strikes in the company's hometown in northern Spain following an agreement on a pay rise, a union leader said on Friday. Around 1,000 workers at Zara shops and other Inditex (ITX.MC) fashion brands had announced they would strike on Dec. 23 and Jan. 7 to demand higher wage increases after rejecting the company's previous offer. CIG had pushed for a bigger pay rise after rejecting a hike of 200 euros in monthly salaries by 2024. The company will start to pay the newly agreed wages in January, Naveiro said. ($1 = 0.9432 euros)Reporting by Corina Pons; Editing by David Latona and Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] People visit a retail store during the holiday season in New York City, U.S., December 15, 2022. So far, shopper visits to many retail segments, including apparel and electronics, are down year-over-year, according to foot-traffic data from Placer.AI. Zara, the fast-fashion chain, aggressively raised prices this year without turning off shoppers, while dollar stores including Dollar General (DG.N) expanded their array of merchandise. Dollar stores have also shown momentum as more consumers traded down. Discount and dollar stores saw visits up 1.1% year-over-year, and up 7.8% compared to Super Saturday 2019, according to Placer.AI foot-traffic data.

☆ H&M agrees to pay a 500 euro bonus to 4,000 workers in January
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Swedish fashion retailer H&M (HMb.ST) agreed to pay a 500 euro ($530) bonus to some 4,000 shop workers in Spain in January, two unions said on Wednesday, after its arch-rival Inditex (ITX.MC) offered 1,000 euros to its home country shop assistants. The world's biggest fashion retailers are responding to demands from their workers for higher pay to offset soaring consumer prices. The Sweden-based fashion retailer will pay 500 euros to all its shop workers who have been employed in Spain at least since January 2022. The company will pay 250 euros to those who have worked at least six months. Soaring consumer prices have pushed unions in Spain to press sometimes reluctant employers for pay raises.

☆ H&M shares drop as Sept-Nov sales fail to impress
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Stine Jacobsen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

H&M, which has struggled to keep up with bigger rival Zara, last month became the first big European retailer to lay off staff in response to the cost-of-living crisis as it tries to save 2 billion Swedish crowns ($196 million) a year. Net sales for September-November, H&M's fiscal fourth quarter, rose 10% to 62.5 billion Swedish crowns ($6.1 billion), up from 56.8 billion crowns a year ago. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had on average forecast 62.17 billion crowns. H&M said it had wound up its operations in Russia and Belarus during the quarter with the last stores having closed on Nov. 30. "During the quarter around 25–50 stores in China were temporarily closed due to new COVID outbreaks," it said in a statement.

☆ Fashion retailer H&M's Sept-Nov sales beat forecast
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Stine Jacobsen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

COPENHAGEN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - H&M (HMb.ST), the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, reported on Thursday a 10% increase year-on-year in September-November net sales, slightly exceeding market expectations of a 9.5% rise. Net sales for September-November, H&M's fiscal fourth quarter, stood at 62.5 billion crowns ($6.13 billion), up from 56.8 billion crowns a year ago, while analysts polled by Refinitiv had on average forecast 62.17 billion crowns. "During the quarter around 25–50 stores in China were temporarily closed due to new COVID outbreaks." Measured in local currencies, sales in the quarter were unchanged, it said. ($1 = 10.2119 Swedish crowns)Reporting by Stine Jacobsen; editing by Terje Solsvik and Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Zara founder buys Seattle skyscraper for $323 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Spanish billionaire and Zara founder Amancio Ortega has bought a residential skyscraper in Seattle for $323 million, his private firm Pontegadea said on Thursday. Ortega, the main shareholder of fashion giant Inditex (ITX.MC) and one of the world's 30 wealthiest entrepreneurs, signed the deal yesterday through his family office, Pontegadea added. Kiara tower, located in Seattle's South Lake Union neighbourhood in the United States, has 461 luxury apartments and is 133 metres tall. The purchase follows a $500-million investment in a 64-floor skyscraper of luxury apartments in New York's Financial District. Just this year, Ortega's investment vehicle also bought Royal Bank Plaza, a landmark skyscraper in Toronto, and one of the largest single-office buildings in Scotland.

☆ Analysis: Retailers turn to robots in cost inflation fight
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

He estimates the retail industry is 40% automated, but sees that jumping to 60-65% over the next three to four years. The march of the robots can be seen in fashion stores and food shops globally as an industry that employs millions grapples with the cost of rising wages, energy and raw goods. While processes at online retailers are largely automated, vast parts of a traditional retailer's operations are still carried out manually, according to consultants at McKinsey. Looking at the fashion industry, McKinsey expects fashion companies to double investment in technology from 1.6% to 1.8% of their revenue in 2021 to between 3.0% and 3.5% by 2030. "Retailers are saying 'robots are the future,'" Michel Spruijt, Brain Corp's chief revenue officer, told Reuters, adding that the shift could "free up workers from tedious" tasks.

☆ Sweden's H&M to lay off 1,500 staff in drive to cut soaring costs and rescue profits
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Stine Jacobsen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The cuts by H&M, which employs roughly 155,000 people, are part of a plan laid out in September to save 2 billion Swedish crowns per year. "Keeping the lights and heating on in vast stores is becoming increasingly unaffordable with energy prices so volatile," she added. In contrast to H&M, Inditex reported in September quarterly sales growth and said it planned to hike prices to offset soaring costs. British fashion retailer Primark has announced plans to add 1,800 jobs in Spain and Britain as it expands. H&M said its savings would start to kick in from the second half of next year, while it will take a restructuring charge of 800 million Swedish crowns in the fourth quarter.

☆ Spanish shopworkers' unions to discuss wages with Zara bosses
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Trade unions representing about 1,000 Zara shop assistants in the Spanish apparel maker's hometown of A Coruña will meet with the company on Thursday to negotiate a pay rise, a union leader said. Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC) has so far offered a rise of 183 euros per month, staggered over three years, on salaries that range between 1,058 euros and 1,400 euros a month, Naveiro said. Representatives of the company's two largest unions, UGT and CCOO, confirmed they will also attend the meeting. "We're placing our bets on negotiations because Inditex is sitting at the table," Lucia Trenor, a union leader at CCOO said. The shop assistants want to be paid the same as workers at the company's logistics centres, who earn about 2,000 euros a month.

☆ Retailers acclerate shift to forest friendly fibres at COP27
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Virginia Furness | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Maxim ShemetovLONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Retailers including H&M (HMb.ST), Kering <PRTP.PA and Inditex (ITX.MC) will purchase over half a million tonnes of low-carbon alternative fibres for clothing and packaging to help reduce global emissions, they said Monday. The announcement by 30 retailers coincides with COP27 climate talks taking place in Egypt until the end of this week to seek to step up ambition on curbing global warming. Retailers agreed to purchase 550,000 tonnes of alternative fibres - made from waste textiles and agricultural residues instead of forest fibres - which will prevent the release of around 2.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, NGO Canopy, which convened the group, said. Lower carbon fibres make up a tiny fraction of the 7.5 million tonnes of man-made fibres produced each year, which Rycroft said was in part because of the challenge of accessing finance to scale new technologies. The agreement will help to unlock finance for 10-20 low footprint pulp mills to produce these alternative fibres by securing offtake aggrements from retailers, Canopy said.

☆ Primark’s price freeze is risky inflation gambit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Primark is breaking with the pack to navigate soaring inflation. Its largest rival Inditex (ITX.MC), owner of Zara, is taking a different approach by hiking prices over the next year. AB Foods Chief Executive George Weston appears to be willing to sacrifice Primark’s near 10% operating margin to keep price-sensitive customers happy. Assume inflation shaves almost 3 percentage points off the retail unit’s operating margin next year, taking it down to 7%. The 4% bump in AB Foods’ share price on Tuesday suggests investors reckon the plan may work.

☆ Factbox: Companies count the cost of ditching Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

INDITEX (ITX.MC)Zara owner will book a provision of 216 million euros after agreeing to sell its Russia stores to UAE-based Daher Group. TRATON (8TRA.DE)Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) truck division Traton in September said disposing of some assets in Russia would cause a 550 million euro loss. CREDIT AGRICOLE (CAGR.PA)Credit Agricole provisioned more than 500 million euros related to its Russian exposure in Q1. LINDEThe world's largest industrial gases company's exit from Russia recorded impairments of $993 million from its Russia exit. SIEMENS (SIEGn.DE)The Munich-based engineering and tech firm said in May it would take a 600 million euro hit in Q2 for exiting Russia.

☆ Inditex sells Russian business to Middle Eastern Daher Group
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC) has agreed to sell its stores in Russia to UAE-based Daher Group, though it did not rule out returning to the country if circumstances change, the Spanish clothing company said on Tuesday. Inditex closed its over 500 stores in Russia in March following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 and subsequent Western sanctions. Provided landlords approve the change in ownership, the Spanish firm said its premises could be adapted to accommodate Daher's operations. A company source told Reuters that Daher Group is Emirati. Reporting by David Latona and Corina Pons; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Retailer Zara under fire in Israel over event for far right candidate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Labor Party leader and Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli said that she will no longer shop at Zara in Israel due to the event, local media quoted her as saying. Trimera holds the Israel franchise for Zara, which operates 24 stores in Israel and 1,800 globally. Zara is owned by Spain's Inditex, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Spokespeople for Schwebel and Zara described the event as private, declining further comment. While not confirming the campaign event, Ben-Gvir said Schwebel faced "a boycott based on his political background".

☆ Ralph Lauren accused of plagiarizing indigenous Mexican designs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, 20 Oct (Reuters) - The wife of Mexico's president on Thursday accused luxury American clothes brand Ralph Lauren (RL.N) of plagiarizing indigenous designs, which she described as an appropriation of the work of the country's pre-Hispanic cultures. "Hey Ralph (Lauren): we already realized that you really like Mexican designs," writer and researcher Beatriz Gutierrez said in an Instagram post. "However, by copying these designs you are committing plagiarism, which is illegal and immoral." The post shows a photo of a coat with colorful indigenous motifs hanging in a store. "Hopefully you repair the damage to the original communities that do this work with love and not for profit," Gutierrez added, attributing the designs to the indigenous communities of Contla and Saltillo.

☆ H&M to cut costs as profits hit by inflation, cautious shoppers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Anna Ringstrom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Pretax profit in the June-August period, the Swedish group's fiscal third quarter, fell to 689 million crowns ($60.9 million) from 6.09 billion a year-earlier. Five analysts polled by Refinitiv had on average forecast a 2.98 billion crown profit. "Overall, these factors had a substantial negative impact on profit for the quarter," CEO Helena Helmersson said. "We have chosen not to fully compensate for the increased costs, which is reflected in the gross margin." Market leader Inditex (ITX.MC), the owner of Zara, which has been weathering the tough market conditions better than H&M, increased sales in its May-July quarter.

☆ India's Reliance launches first in-house premium fashion store
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd's (RELI.NS) retail unit launched its first in-house premium fashion and lifestyle store on Thursday, as the billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led company continues to grab a bigger slice of India's luxury market. "The mid-premium fashion segment is one of the fastest growing consumer segments as millennials and the Gen Z are increasingly demanding the latest of international and contemporary Indian fashion," said Akhilesh Prasad, chief executive officer of the fashion and lifestyle arm of Reliance Retail. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe company plans to have up to 40 stores across 12 cities over the next nine months, he added. In three years, Azorte will contribute to 15% incremental revenue of Reliance Retail's fashion and lifestyle business, Prasad said at the store launch in Bengaluru. The new store chain is a part of Reliance Industries' aggressive strides in the retail industry, forging partnerships with domestic and global brands.

☆ Morning Bid: Dysfunction and intervention
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Amid all the chaos in British bond markets, the forced intervention by the Bank of England to buy gilts has given some investors a crumb of comfort about the limits of central bank tightening. Cold comfort maybe, but enough to drag bond yields back and lift stocks briefly around the world. While 30-year gilt yields steadied just below 4% on Thursday after their 100bp swoon the previous day, the pound was sliding again and UK midcap stocks dropped. read moreEasing inflation in Spain was better news read more . Market leader Inditex (ITX.MC), the owner of Zara, slipped 2.2%, while the wider STOXX retailers index <.SXRP> slid 4.3%.

Search resuls for: "ITX.MC"

18 mentions found