INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Ottawa - BlackBerry's new chief executive cast off persistent talk of the smartphone maker's demise, vowing on Monday that the company would pick itself back up and was "here to stay". read more

Cape Town - Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the owner of the Cartier brand, fell the most in more than two months after chairman Johann Rupert said he’s very concerned that the global economy is in a precarious position. read more

Chicago -- A majority (88%) of retailers are using social media as part of their 2013 holiday marketing blitz. But they still remain divided about mobile marketing, with only 38% using it this year, down from 50% in 2012. read more

Chicago -- Shoppers visited more stores and spent more money across the days of Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday (Nov. 28 and 29) than they did last year, according to ShopperTrak. read more

South Africa has jumped one position in its global web standing, ranking 35th overall out of 81 countries in an index which measures the use, utility and impact of the web on the world’s people and nations. read more

Johannesburg - Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd., the South African drugmaker subject to a $1.2 billion takeover bid from Chile’s CFR Pharmaceuticals SA, suspended its dividend after full-year profit and margins fell as import costs rose. read more

South Africans made up 22 of the 100 most influential Africans, according to a new list published by the New African on Wednesday. read more

Plano, Texas – J.C. Penney will no longer be included on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.  read more

Hewlett-Packard Co beat revenue forecasts as sales growth in its enterprise group inspired cautious optimism about the company’s turnaround plan, and its shares rallied more than 7 percent.  read more

Green Bay, Wis. -- Shopko on Monday named Peter McMahon, most recently COO of Loblaws, as its new CEO, effective immediately. Loblaws is Canada’s largest food retailer with over $30 billion in sales.  read more

Seoul - South Korean markets took in stride a US federal jury's order for Samsung to pay $290 million in damages to Apple, with Samsung shares going up 0.69 percent on Friday. read more

Berlin - The German economy slowed in the third quarter despite a strong pickup in both corporate investment and government spending, data released Friday showed.  read more

Minneapolis -- Target Corp.'s third-quarter net income fell 47%, hurt by costs related to its Canadian expansion. Its adjusted profit beat analysts' estimates, but sales fell short. The retailer lowered its full-year adjusted earnings forecast. read more

London - Britain's Tesco, battling plunging profits in mainland Europe, is to sell off land around its stores in Poland for development to make the sites more attractive to shoppers.  read more

Johannesburg - The EU is preparing a ban on South African citrus imports that could take orange juice off Europe’s breakfast tables next summer and sour efforts in Brussels to broaden trade with Africa’s biggest economy. read more

Washington - Walmart reported on Thursday a 2.8% year-on-year rise in third-quarter net profit, but warned that sales during the crucial holiday shopping season are expected to be "relatively flat." read more

New York -- Macy’s Herald Square store has taken the wraps off a dramatic makeover of its beauty and fragrances department. Re-fashioned within a brand-new 24,000-sq.-ft. space, the new department includes brand new counters, shops and bars for brows, blow-outs and nails. read more

Johannesburg - South African shares put in a second straight day of gains on Friday with drugs maker Adcock in focus after Chile's CFR Pharmaceuticals formally bid $1.2bn to acquire it.  read more

Motorola is betting that low-cost smartphones can provide the spark to rekindle its struggling business, even as the company’s ownership by Google Inc will force it to sit out of China, the world’s largest smartphone market. read more

Thorofare, N.J. -- Shrink, comprised of shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, organised retail crime and administrative errors, cost the retail industry more than $112 billion globally last year, and represented 1.4% of retail sales, on average, according to the 2012-2013 Global Retail Theft Barometer. In the United States, shrink came in at 1.5% of retail sales. read more

New York -- Procrastinating is out this year when it comes to holiday shopping, with most consumers (62%) planning to finish their gift buying on or before Dec. 16, according to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers. read more

On the back of growing trade between Ireland and South Africa, Ireland’s Minister for Trade and Development, Joe Costello TD, will lead the third Enterprise Ireland trade mission to South Africa in November.  read more

Johannesburg - Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the maker of Cartier jewellery and IWC watches, said a “subdued” environment increases the need for caution and countered speculation it will sell any of its 20 brands.  read more

BlackBerry is abandoning a plan to sell itself and instead will replace its chief executive officer and raise about $1 billion from institutional investors, including its largest shareholder, the smartphone maker said on Monday.  read more

New York -- The first Walmart to be entirely lit with LEDs has opened, in South Euclid, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. The store will serve as a model for environmentally friendly design for future locations, with 100% LED lighting, electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lot and more.  read more

On Planet Retail’s predictions for the UK retail market over Christmas 2013, Stephen Springham, Senior Retail Analyst at Planet Retail, commented: read more

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is making a big online push for the holidays, including expanding its in-store pick-up program for products ordered online to all of its U.S. stores by Nov. 1 (the service is now available in about half of the chain’s locations). And for the first time, Target will promote the concept of Cyber Week, with an ad campaign Dec. 1 through Dec. 3 that focuses on Cyber Week deals including Cyber Monday. read more

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores plans to open as many as 110 stores in China between 2014 and 2016, as well as several new Sam’s Club locations there. The new stores will employ as many as 19,000 people. read more

Berlin - Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, has vowed to cut the near 60 000 tonnes of food wasted by its suppliers and shoppers each year, the latest firm volunteering to help tackle a growing environmental problem. read more

New York - US stocks resumed their upward move on Thursday as economic data underscored views US monetary stimulus will be in place for the foreseeable future and as earnings offered some upbeat news. read more

Microsoft Corp cruised past Wall Street’s quarterly profit and revenue forecasts on Thursday, helped by strong sales of its Office and server software to businesses, sending its shares up more than 5 percent after hours.  read more

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s quarterly operating profit surged 26 percent to a new record, matching estimates and powered by a strong recovery in its memory chip business as smartphone sales growth eases sharply. read more

London - Britain's Marks & Spencer will step-up expansion of its Simply Food store network as it looks to benefit from growing consumer demand for smaller, convenience outlets, it said on Tuesday.  read more

HTC Corp’s chief executive has handed some duties to the company’s chairwoman as the smartphone maker struggles to claw back market share from Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the Financial Times reported. read more

Hong Kong - Asian markets mostly rose on Monday, with sentiment buoyed by last week's deal in Washington to avert a default as well as a record close on Wall Street. read more

Washington - The US debt jumped above $17 trillion for the first time in history, the Treasury Department has said.  read more

Meat processing companies, Meatco and Witvlei Meat, have once again bid for the lucrative beef export quota to Norway, which is set at 1600 tonnes per year and pays 72% more than exports to other parts of Europe. Earlier this month, the Meat Board of Namibia requested for bids for the Norway quota from local meat companies.  read more

Bentonville, Ark. – The Indian central bank is reportedly reviewing findings of an investigation into whether Wal-Mart Stores broke that country’s investment rules in 2010.  read more

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – Dollar General is opening its first fuel station, as part of a test pilot project. The new fuel pumps are located at the Dollar General Market in Hanceville, Ala. read more

hina's consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, climbed to 3.1 percent year-on-year in September, the government has said.  read more

BOS Ice Tea has recently celebrated its third birthday in South Africa, and has taken the first steps into European markets, launching in Belgium and Holland earlier this month. read more

Samsung Electronics has offered to stop taking rivals such as Apple to court in Europe over patent disputes in order to end an antitrust investigation, European Union regulators said on Thursday. read more

Johannesburg - Markets across the world on Thursday gave a lukewarm reaction towards the US debt deal, due to fears that the scenario will repeat itself early next year. read more

Bentonville, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores detailed a number of moves, including opening smaller stores in the United States, cutting back on overseas growth and increasing its investments in technology and e-commerce, on the occasion of the company’s 20th annual investor meeting. read more

IBM reported a 4 percent drop in third-quarter revenue, worse than expected by Wall Street, amid a decline in hardware and emerging markets even as it beat earnings estimates. read more

Port Washington, N.Y. -- The majority of consumers intend to spend the same as or more than last year, with fewer saying they plan to spend less, according to The NPD Group’s Holiday Spending Survey, the twelfth annual survey of consumers’ holiday spending intentions. read more

London - J Sainsbury, Britain's No. 3 supermarket, plans to open its first distribution centre dedicated to online grocery orders in response to rapidly increasing demand in south-east England. read more

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar has elevated Jason Reiser to the position of senior VP/lead merchandising officer at Family Dollar, according to an internal memo from company president and COO Mike Bloom. read more

Despite a year on year decline of 7.6%, the worldwide PC market didn’t do as badly as it was expected to do in Q3 2013. read more

Hewlett Packard Co Chief Executive Meg Whitman expects revenue to stabilize in 2014 with “pockets of growth” before the business accelerates again in 2015, sending the stock up as much as 9.5 percent on Wednesday. read more

Johannesburg - South African liquor company Distell Group Limited [JSE:DST] has acquired a 60% share in fast-growing liquor distribution company CJ Wines & Spirits‚ expanding its presence in the East. read more

Tokyo - For those who have trouble finding space for a large wine collection, a new apartment block in Japan with an in-house cellar and a visiting sommelier could be the perfect place to live. read more

Brussels - The CEO of Delhaize Group's European division has resigned, effective Oct. 31, the Belgian supermarket operator said. read more

Seattle -- The global retail real estate market rebounded in the first half of the year, with international and luxury brands expanding to new markets and high street properties growing in popularity, according to a new report from Colliers International.  read more

New York, Shoppers in the United States intend to spend an average of $646 on gifts this holiday season, representing an 11% increase over the $582 they planned to spend, on average, in 2012, according to Accenture’s annual holiday shopping survey. The forecast uptick is more optimistic than other holiday surveys released to date. read more

When Facebook Inc was preparing to go public last year, the telephones at Granite Investment Advisors rang off the hook as clients called about the social media’s company’s highly anticipated debut. 

Paris - Coca-Cola has lost its crown as the world's best brand, a closely watched survey said last month, unseated by the iconic iPhone and iPad maker Apple. read more

The Indian beer market is expected to grow 20 times in next 20 years in view of changing lifestyles, a burgeoning middle class and government policy to promote low alcoholic drinks in the country.  read more

A shareholder of BlackBerry Ltd sued the company and its executives on Friday, accusing them of inflating the stock price by painting a misleadingly rosy picture of the business prospects of its BlackBerry 10 smartphone line. read more

Rome - Global food prices are not expected to fall much further after their fifth consecutive monthly decline in September, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday, trimming its estimate for 2013/14 world cereals production. read more

On Tesco’s H1 results, David Gray, Retail Analyst at Planet Retail, commented: “As expected, Tesco reported a drop in UK like-for-like sales driven by subdued general merchandise sales, which are continuing to suffer, albeit like-for-like sales showed improvement in the second quarter. Nevertheless, food sales held up fuelled by warm weather in July/August alongside a new food-focused ‘Love Every Mouthful’ marketing campaign which launched during the half. We expect to see further positive news on food sales in the months ahead as improvements to product ranges come through.  read more

London - Tesco led European shares lower early on Wednesday after the world's third largest retailer's quarterly revenues flatlined as its turnaround plan failed to bear fruit, prompting earnings downgrades. read more

Craft beers may be giving big brewers a run for their money, but the top-rated beers worldwide in terms of taste come from all over the map, according to one product research site.  read more

London - Britain's biggest drug maker GlaxoSmithKline agreed the £700m sale of its thrombosis drug brands and a related factory to Aspen Pharmacare, as part of its strategy to focus on growth products. read more

Johannesburg - China's decision to place a 6% VAT charge on freight and related costs is going to have an impact on the importing price from China, warned Asgar Mahomed, managing director of ICT distributor, Esquire Technologies. read more

On Friday, struggling mobile handset maker BlackBerry reported a loss of $965 million, or $1.84 per share diluted, for the three months ended August 2013, compared with a prior loss of $235 million. read more

New York -- Consumer Confidence decreased in September amid resurfacing concerns about the short-term outlook for both jobs and earnings, according to The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index. The index, which had increased slightly in August, now stands at 79.7, down from 81.8 in August. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 79.9 this month. read more

The consolidation of the global beer industry, which took SA Breweries from a dominant South African player to a dominant global player in just 10 years, had not come to an end, Alan Clark, SABMiller’s recently appointed chief executive, said this week. read more

New York -- Holiday sales are expected to climb to between $963 and $967 billion, representing a 4% to 4.5% increase in November through January holiday sales (excluding motor vehicles and gasoline) this year from last year’s season, according to the new Deloitte holiday sales forecast. The growth rate is on par with last year's 4.5% gain. read more

London - Adidas AG, the world’s second-largest maker of sporting goods, fell the most in more than a year after cutting its 2013 profit forecast late on Thursday.  read more

New York – Saks Inc. plans to open seven new Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th stores in 2014: The Outlets at Bloomfield in Pearl, Miss.; Potomac Mills in Woodbridge, Va.; Palm Beach Outlets in West Palm Beach, Fla; Outlet Shoppes at Louisville/Lexington, Ky.; Twin Cities of Eagan in Minneapolis, Minn.; The Mayfair Collection in Mayfair, Wis.; and Easton Gateway in Columbus, Ohio.  read more

Johannesburg - Truworths International Ltd., South Africa’s largest listed clothing retailer, fell the most in three weeks on concern that lending growth is slowing and as monthly retail sales in the continent’s biggest economy shrank. read more

Microsoft Corp will follow its Steven Spielberg collaboration with more television projects aimed at positioning its new Xbox games console as a home entertainment hub. read more

Paris - European retailers have gone back to bricks and mortar in the hope of turning their online food businesses profitable - racing to build pick-up points to capitalise on shoppers' increasing demand for "click and collect" grocery options. read more

Johannesburg - Johannesburg-listed shares of Richemont slide nearly 3 percent after the Swiss luxury goods groups says sales in the five months through August rose 9 percent, just shy of forecasts, hit by weak demand for its watches in China. read more

London/New York - Consumers are sticking to frugal shopping habits developed in the recession even as developed economies show signs of recovery, suggesting some behaviour changes could be permanent, industry executives say. read more

Los Angeles -- Grocery chain Fresh & Easy confirmed reports that its British parent Tesco LLC has sold the brand to private equity firm The Yucaipa Cos., following months of uncertainty about the 200+-unit chain’s future. read more

The environment for doing business in Ghana in 2012 was far better than this year; that is according to the Executive Opinion and Global Competitiveness Report.  read more

Copenhagen - Danish toy company Lego on Thursday reported a 13% rise in net sales for the first half of 2013, citing strong sales in Asia. read more

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of televisions, expects a recovery in the TV market in the second half of this year, helped by an improving US economy and the launch of new high-end sets. read more

Helsinki - Beleaguered Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia will sell its mobile phone unit to the US group Microsoft for 5.44-billion euros ($7.17-billion), it has said. read more

Beijing - Foreign companies in China are getting increasingly jumpy about a spate of antitrust and corruption investigations by Chinese authorities and are hiring lawyers to make sure their operations comply with the law. read more

New York -- Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M will open its largest location to date, a 63,000-sq.-ft. flagship in New York City’s bustling Herald Square. Scheduled to open in fall 2014, the four-level store will be located in Herald Center, a JEMB Realty property. The landlord’s broker is CBRE. read more

Paris - L’Oréal SA, the world’s largest cosmetics maker, confirmed its full-year targets after reporting a 7.7 percent increase in first-half earnings as stronger sales in emerging markets fuelled improved profitability.  read more

Huawei, the Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company, has appointed Wilson Liu as the new CEO for its South African operations.  read more

Panasonic Corp is finalizing plans to pull out of the consumer smartphone business in Japan and has approached potential buyers for its cellular base station business, the Nikkei reported. read more

Seattle -- Nordstrom is expanding its partnership with Britain’s fashion-forward women’s apparel brand, Topshop, as well its men’s unit, Topman. Beginning in September, Nordstrom will add 28 Topshop departments and eight Topman departments in stores across the country. read more

Clichy / Shanghai / Hong Kong, August 15,2013 – L’Oréal and Magic Holdings International Limited have issued today a “joint announcement” regarding L’Oréal’s proposal to acquire all of the shares of Magic Holdings International Limited, a company listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (stock code: 1633.HK). The proposed price is 6,30 HK dollars per share. read more

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings’ second-quarter loss widened as the company was challenged with store closings, weak sales and deep discounts. Its performance was also impacted by the lingering effects from its spinoff of its Hometown and Outlet Stores banner.  read more

Frankfurt - Germany, Europe's second-biggest grain producer after France, reported a 3.0% increase in its harvest this year, despite the bad weather and flooding, data showed on Thursday. read more

Vienna - An Austrian brewery is offering beer lovers a trip back in time by reviving a 300-year-old recipe it found in the town archives.  read more

Shanghai -The maiden voyage to Europe by a Chinese merchant ship through the "Northeast Passage" will help the world's biggest exporter speed goods to market and is a symbol of Beijing's strategic ambitions in the Arctic. read more

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us on Wednesday unveiled its global growth for 2013, with the planned opening of more than 100 stores, including new locations, the relocation and conversion of 14 stores to its side-by-side format, and 22 new licensed stores. The openings represent the net addition of over 900,000 sq. ft. of retail space to the company’s store portfolio.  read more

BlackBerry Ltd is expected to draw preliminary interest from technology companies, buyout firms and Canadian pension funds, but its fate may ultimately rest in the hands of its largest shareholder, Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.  read more

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. reported net sales of $3.87 billion for the second quarter of 2013, up 8% from $3.58 billion for the second quarter last year. Net sales for July of this year totaled $1.12 billion, close to 6% higher than $1.06 billion in July of the previous year. read more

Buenos Aires - China has approved its first major shipment of genetically modified Argentine maize, Buenos Aires officials said last week, signalling an increase in competition for a market long dominated by US exporters. read more

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings has selected HighJump Software, a global provider of supply chain management software, to help the company manage its distribution network. read more

New research conducted in the US finds that mobile-TV viewers are more focused on TV content when viewed on their smartphones than on larger devices. read more

London - EasyGroup chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou said on Sunday he planned to open a low-cost food retail business in Britain, easyFoodstore, aimed at undercutting prices at German discount grocers Aldi and Lidl.  read more

Johannesburg - Estee Lauder plans to expand its presence in sub-Saharan Africa by rolling out its $1bn brands, Clinique and MAC, to tap into strong demand for luxury cosmetics among the region's middle class, a company executive said on Wednesday. read more