Kroger boosts expectations as profit rises

Germany's Metro looking for smaller takeovers -CEO
German retail group Metro is working to find suitable small and medium-sized takeover targets, Chief Executive Olaf Koch said on Thursday, as it looks to invest the money raised in recent disposals. Europe's fourth-biggest retailer has about €2bn in cash and other readily available funds from the sale of its Kaufhof department stores and its cash-and-carry business in Vietnam, and has already said it was seeking to use some of that for international acquisitions. "We are looking continuously," Koch told Reuters on the margins of a conference, adding that the company was not planning any large acquisitions but small or medium sized companies would be on the agenda. (Reuters)

US: Costco November sales rise
Costco on Wednesday released its November sales, which saw a 3% increase over the same period last year, with net sales totaling $9.68bn for the four weeks ended Nov. 29. For the company’s 12-week Q1 ended Nov. 22 Costco saw net sales of $26.63bn, which is a 1% increase over the same period last year. For the 13 weeks ended Nov. 29 the company saw $29.2bn in net sales, which is 2% more than the same period last year. (drugstorenews.com)

Retail chain plans seven new outlets in Dubai
Fresh & More, a supermarket chain with 14 outlets in different parts of the UAE will open five new supermarkets in Sharjah and two more outlets in Dubai as part of its local, regional and international expansion plans. (emirates247.com)

US: Kroger boosts outlook as profit rises
Kroger reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as the company cut costs and its comparable sales grew. The company's Q3 sales, excluding fuel, rose 5.4% at stores open for more than a year without expansion or relocation, beating analysts' average estimate of 4.5% rise, according to research firm Consensus Metrix. The net income attributable to Kroger rose 18.2% to $428m. Kroger has acquired smaller rivals Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc and Roundy's Inc to grow its business and expand into newer markets. The company has also entered the organic foods business with its "Simple Truth" brand to attract a growing number of shoppers looking for healthier options. "Kroger's merchandising execution is very strong in natural and organic products," Pivotal Research Group analyst Ajay Jain said. (Reuters)

Selex to open 69 new stores in Italy in 2016
Italy’s third largest retail group, Selex, has announced plans to open 69 new outlets in 2016, totalling 89,000 m2 of store space. In addition, 55 existing stores will be renovated, as part of a total investment of €152m. Selex, which has a 11.3% market share, is performing well above the market average, with a 1.9% growth in the period January to October this year, compared to the +1.9% average for hypermarkets and supermarkets in Italy. (esmmagazine.com)

Carrefour CEO confident on year-end trading, despite Paris attacks
Trading activity at Carrefour was "good" last month with the Paris attacks only briefly weighing on the sales in its French hypermarkets, and the end of the year is "as it should be", Chief Executive Georges Plassat said on Thursday. Business at the French hypermarkets was hit during the first three days after the attacks, but convenience stores and supermarkets were more resilient. "For the whole of November business was good and the end of the year will be as it should be for the group," Plassat said without elaborating. (Reuters)

Tesco staff will not strike before Christmas
Unite has confirmed that the ballot for strike action by Tesco distribution centre staff has been suspended while members consider a revised offer. This means that there will be no strike action before Christmas. The ballot, which was due to go ahead this week, was organised after trade union Unite urged Tesco to review a ‘pitiful’ pay rise of 0% this year, and 1.5% in 2016. (logisticsmanager.com)

ICA Gruppen sees performance slow In Q2 and Q3
Sweden's ICA Gruppen posted growth slower than the market average in the second and third quarters of the year, the retailer has stated. Based on Retail Sales Index data from research firm HUI, which is used by ICA Gruppen to assess the performance of ICA stores compared to the market in general, the slowdown is due to the fact that HUI revised its growth rate for the market. (esmmagazine.com)

Costa Rica’s AutoMercado to expand with 18 new stores
High-end supermarket retailer, AutoMercado plans to invest US $72m between 2016 and 2024 to open 18 new locations at a cost of US $4m each, company president. Guillermo Alonso told reporters this week. The company plans to open an average of two new locations per year. (insidecostarica.com)

One Stop profits halved despite sales growth
One Stop saw sales grow by 17% to £925m for the year ending 28 February 2015, despite this profits fell to £10.2m from £21.3m the previous year. Sales were boosted by the opening of 54 company owned stores during the reported period. However, the set up costs of the franchise operation, which had grown to 75 stores by the end of February, meant the franchise operation suffered loses of £3m whilst generating revenue of £15.8m during the year. Revenue grew from £789m to £925m over the year. (igd.com)

Choppies debuts in Zambia
Local retail giant, Choppies recently opened its first store in Zambia located at Tafika Commercial Centre in Kanyama. “We plan to roll out a significant number of stores in the Zambian market in the medium term with the help of local partnerships and an efficient supply chain that allows us to be very price competitive,” the retailers CEO said. (mmegi.bw)

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