FURNITURE NEWS ON FASTMOVING

Johannesburg - South Africa has endorsed a trade deal with Poland, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has said read more

Joahnnesburg - Retailer JD Group [JSE:JDG] reported a 10% drop in full-year earnings on Monday, and hiked its provision for bad loans, as debt-laden customers continue to suffer. read more

South African furniture retailer Steinhoff International would acquire Austria’s Kika-Leiner Group as part of its strategy to bulk up its presence across Europe, the company said yesterday.  read more

New York -- Target isn’t letting any grass grow under its feet when it comes to the suddenly hot category of home goods and home furnishings. The discounter has installed a giant, two-story dollhouse — some 21 ft. high and occupying some 1,500 sq. ft. of space, smack in the middle of Vanderbuilt Hall in New York City’s Grand Central Station.  read more

Johannesburg - Furniture manufacturer and retailer Steinhoff International Holdings [JSE:SHF] is unlikely to expand in South America for at least another year and will instead focus on expanding its operations in Europe, according to CEO Markus Jooste.  read more

Stocholm Swedish furniture giant Ikea has withdrawn some of its company-branded meatballs in 14 European countries after horsemeat was found in the product by Czech authorities, the company said on Monday.  read more

Domestic manufacturing has received another boost with the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) yesterday announcing further designations for local production with minimum local content thresholds in terms of the public sector preferential procurement programme. read more

South African consumers spent over R116 billion on their credit cards in December 2012, payment clearing house BankservAfrica said on Thursday. read more

Bangkok - A Thai man and his girlfriend are shopping at a furniture store. She sees pillows on sale and gets excited, her feminine voice falls suddenly to a deep male-like tone. Shocked and horrified, her boyfriend runs off. read more

Delhi, India -- A Monday report by Bloomberg said that Ikea has received the go-ahead from the Indian government to open outlets in the country, making it perhaps the first major foreign retailer to set up its own stores in the region. read more

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. said Tuesday it plans to price-match top online retailers year-round, including Amazon.com, Walmart.com, BestBuy.com and Toysrus.com (including Babiesrus.com). read more

Johannesburg – Growth in SA’s retail trade sales at constant prices was weaker than expected in September‚ with sales increasing by 4.3% year on year (y/y) after an upwardly revised 6.7% (6.4%) increase in August‚ figures released on Wednesday by Statistics SA showed.  read more

Johannesburg - Steinhoff International [JSE:SHF] advised on Monday that both the earnings per share from continuing operations and headline earnings per share from continuing operations for the year ended June 2012‚ will be between 30% and 35% higher than those reported in the comparable period ended June 2011.  read more

Stockholm - Swedish furniture giant Ikea said Thursday it had sold its trademark to one of its own subsidiaries for nine billion euros (11 billion dollars), the first time the company has put a book value on the brand.  read more

JD Group (JDG) on Tuesday announced the launch of its inaugural offering of convertible bonds due June 2017 in a nominal amount of up to R1.0 billion‚ with an option to increase the issue size.  read more

Retailer of household furniture, electrical appliances and home electronics Lewis Group on Wednesday reported headline earnings per share were up 13% to 882.5 cents for the year ended March 2012. read more

Johannesburg - Retailer Lewis Group [JSE:LEW] on Friday said merchandise sales for the quarter ended December 31 2011 increased by 5.5% off a high comparative base of 13% last year.  read more

The 2.6% year-on-year (y/y) increase in November was better than the upwardly revised October rise of 1.2% (previously 1.0%, but still down significantly on the 8.2% y/y jump in September. One of the reasons for the high September was due to base effects as September 2010 was impacted by industrial action in the motor division. read more