If you were betting on early rate cuts …
- Turns out, the US labor market strengthened in December (against expectations), adding 216,000 jobs (US Dept of Labor data) and undermining the case for interest rate cuts.
- Eurozone inflation rose to 2.9% in December, reversing six months of consecutive falls and raising questions over how soon the European Central Bank will start cutting interest rates, per the Financial Times.
FINANCE
Next Plc (UK) has upgraded its profit outlook after full-priced sales rose 10% in the two weeks before Christmas. Sales rose 5.7% in the nine weeks to December 30. This is the fifth time in seven months that the retailer has increased its profit outlook.
JD Sports (UK) issued a profit warning that annual profits would fall 10% to £935 million ($1,190m). The retailer attributed this in part to “mild weather and heavy discounting had affected sales before Christmas”.
Amer Sports (Finland) confirmed plans for a New York listing but did not disclose the price or size of its offering. The company’s brands include Wilson, Salomon, Arc’teryx, and others.
Costco (USA) reported that its December revenue jumped 9.9% over last year, building on November’s 5.1% year-over-year revenue increase, driven by a 6.5% increase in foot traffic. Same-store sales grew 8.5% in December year-on-year, after rising 3.5% in November.
Barbour (UK) reported sales rose 20% to a record £343.1 million ($436m) for the year ending April 28, 2023. Pre-tax profits inched down 10% to £36.3 million (US$46m). The company attributes the strong growth in part to collaborations that included Gucci and Ganni.
Chico’s FAS (USA) has been acquired by Sycamore Partners (USA), a private equity firm. The all-cash transaction was valued at approximately $1 billion.
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PODCAST
Why Data-Driven Marketing is Changing the Game for Brands
Today we can capture a huge amount of data across a growing range of platforms. That’s both a blessing and a curse!
Marketers can easily get lost analyzing everything that they can analyze – but not necessarily what they should analyze.
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In this episode Sam Torres, Co-Founder, Chief Digital Officer of Gray Dot Company, a consulting firm that specializes in SEO and data analysis, discusses ways to help marketing leaders leverage consumer data, AI, measure ROI, and how to rethink digital analytics.
RETAIL
Pomelo (Thailand) will launch in Cambodia in Q1 with physical stores and an e-commerce platform. The company has signed a partnership agreement with local distributor Zando Group to make its Cambodian debut and the launch is also part of a strategy to expand further within Southeast Asia.
Mango (Spain) aims to operate 40 stores across the US by the end of 2024, making the nation one of its top five markets in terms of turnover.
MARKETS
Despite an uptick in December, the US jobs market is cooling and the concentration of employment gains in sectors viewed historically as being lower paid and more part-time raises some concerns. “We think the Fed will wait until May before cutting rates,” said ING Bank.
Inflation in the eurozone rose from a two-year low at the end of last year, as an increase in energy prices pushed up price growth for the first time in six months.
Italy’s December headline inflation fell to 0.6% year-on-year (from 0.7% in November), while core inflation (excluding food and energy) fell to 3.1% (from 3.6% in November).
Germany’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 5.9% in December from 5.8% in November. However, labor market data is a lagging indicator, ING Bank points out.
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