Under Armour's downbeat targets also echoed disappointing forecasts from sportswear peers Nike and Lululemon Athletica. Shoppers in the United States have been looking for best bargains on their non-essential purchases as they tackle higher prices of food and rent. Under Armour's revenue in its largest market, North America, fell 10 per cent in the fourth quarter.
Duty-free retailer Avolta is quietly amassing a vast "data lake" which it is increasingly using to fine-tune and expand its retail business. With hundreds of millions of passengers streaming through its more than 5,100 outlets worldwide, the Switzerland-based Avolta has not yet turned into a "data company", but it is heading in that direction.
Branded revenue in the UK increased by 13.6% last year, and CEO Alex Whitehouse said on a media call that brands in the group's grocery business now represent more than a quarter of the market in the categories in which the company trades.
Hong Kong last month suspended sales of three spice blends produced by MDH and one by Everest, saying they contained high levels of a cancer-causing pesticide ethylene oxide.
Cinema chain AMC dropped 14.3%, after surging 135% in the past two sessions, while video game retailer GameStop fell 9.8% after hitting its highest level since June 2021 on Tuesday. Trading in the retail investor darlings, the most actively traded NYSE stocks, were halted minutes after the market opened.
Netflix also said it will launch an in-house advertising technology platform by the end of 2025, in a bid to offer clients new ways to buy ads and better engage with users.
Burberry had previously warned that its ambition to take the 168-year-old brand further upmarket, to become the definition of "Modern British Luxury", had been harder than expected after demand for luxury slowed. Like-for-like sales fell 12% in the final quarter, dragged down by a 19% slump in China, and wiping out gains made earlier in the year, it said.
British cigarette maker Imperial Brands reported higher first-half operating profit on Wednesday, thanks to price hikes and growing demand for tobacco alternatives. After years of slow growth and losses in market share, Imperial outlined a turnaround plan in 2021 focusing on its five top markets and beefing up investments in next-generation products (NGP), which were deemed less harmful to health.
Colgate-Palmolive India posted a Q4 profit rise on price hikes, healthy demand. Analysts, however, expect rural demand to show improvement by the December quarter as a good monsoon typically boosts farm income. Rival Hindustan Unilever missed quarterly earnings estimates but also said that a recovery in rural demand is underway.
YouTube will block access in Hong Kong to videos of the protest anthem "Glory to Hong Kong" after a court order, complying despite concerns it deals a blow to free expression amid the city's security crackdown. Observers say the ban further undermines Hong Kong's reputation as a business hub and raises worries over erosion of freedoms.
The tie-up follows a similar one announced last week between Warner Bros Discovery and Walt Disney - to offer a bundle of the Disney+, Hulu and Max streaming services.
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