Seven & i H1 profit up, driven by strong 7-Eleven sales

Middle East’s LuLu eyes investments in Philippines
LuLu, is eyeing to invest in the Philippines, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza said. Plaza told reporters that the LuLu Group visited PEZA last week to look at investment opportunities in the country. As it plans to expand in Southeast Asian countries, Plaza said the United Arab Emirates-based company aims to initially put up warehouse for food products that they will be exporting to Middle East and other markets where LuLu has presence. (canadianinquirer.net)

Uganda introduces new regulations for retailers
The Ugandan government has announced plans to implement regulations that mean suppliers need to be paid in 30 days for goods such as food and 60 days for other goods. It is also looking to support smaller businesses who have felt dominated by retailers. This will be through policies to standardise goods and formalise operations. These measures compliment the ‘Buy Uganda Build Uganda’ policy that aims to boost the growth of locally manufactured goods, create jobs and increase the wealth of the region. (igd.com)

Italian Crai opens new fruit and veg platform
Crai has inaugurated a new fruit and vegetable platform, consisting of a management centre that will centralise purchases, reports Largo Consumomagazine. Based in Segrate, the new 2,000 square metre facility, in addition to improving the quality of deliveries, will complement the other 14 distribution centres for supplying the fruit and vegetable departments of Crai stores. (esmmagazine.com)

Japan: Lawson posts solid H1 results
Lawson has published its financial results for the first half of fiscal 2017, posting a 7.6% increase in operating revenues to JPY329.4bn (US$2.9bn), with its operating income increasing by 0.2% to JPY38.4bn (US$342mn) for the same comparable period last year. (igd.com)

Poland: Leclerc expecting turnover to rise in 2017
With only the final quarter to be traversed, Magre said that Leclerc was expecting its turnover to rise by between 1.5% and 2% in 2017. The positive outlook comes following a challenging period for Leclerc in Poland, which has necessitated it to adapt and evolve its strategy in the country. In an attempt to turnaround its sales performance in Poland Leclerc has been investing in its stores, expanding its range and focusing on its private label ranges. (igd.com)

AU: Woolworths closes door on Masters saga
Woolworths has finalised its exit from its disastrous Masters hardware venture by completing the sale of its store sites. The supermarket giant said it has completed the sale of Hydrox - the joint venture company it set up with US firm Lowe's to run Masters - to the privately owned Home Investment Consortium for a headline sale price of $525m. (news.com.au)

Finnish S Group sees 2.4% sales increase
Finnish retail cooperative S Group has announced that total sales increased by 2.4%, to €8,342m, in the first three quarters of the year. In the nine months from January to September 2017, the group's supermarket banners, which include S-Market and Prisma, saw sales rise by 1.6% year on year, to €5,801m. (esmmagazine.com)

Italy's Crai anticipates further revenue growth in 2017
Italian grocery retailer Crai is confident that the company will end 2017 with an increase in revenue compared to the previous year. This forecast came from CEO Marco Bordoli, speaking at Il Sole 24 Ore's 11th annual Consumer & Retail Summit. He also announced plans for the launch of an online channel, which he sees as a potential growth driver, but not the primary one. (esmmagazine.com)

It’s only going to get worse for America’s grocers
Just over a month after Amazon.com Inc. ate Whole Foods, the shakeout in the American grocery aisle keeps getting uglier. The latest sign of trouble: Private-equity giant Apollo Global Management recently tossed a $50m lifeline to Fresh Market, the struggling high-end chain it took private only 17 months ago. It will only get worse from here, analysts say. Please click here to read more at Bloomberg.

Seven & i H1 profit up, driven by strong 7-Eleven sales
Japan’s Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd on Thursday said its operating profit rose 7.2% in the six months ended August, helped by a steady growth in sales across its 7-Eleven convenience stores. Its operating profit came in at 194.5bln yen ($1.73bn) for the first half of its financial year, up from 181.5bn yen a year ago. This was above an average estimate of 190.1bn yen from two analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. (Reuters)

US: Kroger eyes sale of convenience stores
Kroger Co., battered for months by intense grocery competition as Amazon.com Inc. muscles into the industry, has finally given investors cause for optimism. The supermarket giant kicked off its biggest rally in more than two years after saying it might sell its convenience-store business, an attempt to capitalize on a merger wave in that field. The operation, which spans 18 states and generates about $4bn in sales, includes names such as Tom Thumb and QuickStop. (Bloomberg)

Canada's Metro to sell majority stake in Couche Tard for C$1.5 bln
Canada’s Metro Inc said on Wednesday it would sell a major portion of its stake in Alimentation Couche Tard Inc to fund its C$4.5bn acquisition of pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group. The company and its Metro Canada Holdings Inc unit will sell their stake in three separate deals for C$57.17 per share, or about C$1.5bn ($1.20bn), Metro said in a statement. (Reuters)

Southeastern Grocers expands in Florida
Southeastern Grocers said Wednesday it will convert five Winn-Dixie stores in the Miami market to its Hispanic-focused Fresco y Más banner and three in Lakeland-Tampa area to the Harveys Supermarket banner. (supermarketnews.com)

Metro invests $400-million in distribution network
Metro announced today a projected $400-million investment over 6 years in its Ontario distribution network. The company will modernize its operations in Toronto between 2018 and 2023 by building a new fresh distribution facility and a new frozen distribution facility—both of which will leverage technological improvements like automation. (markets.businessinsider.com)

US: Convenience stores fresh food sales rise
In-store sales for convenience stores are trending upward in 2017, a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) found. The strength—mainly the result of a rise in food sales—has generated optimism throughout the industry. “While retailers attributed several reasons for both strong sales and optimism, an increased emphasis on fresh food sales was most often cited,” read a statement accompanying the report. (supermarketnews.com)