Business Watch -- WSJ
November 18 2016 - 03:02AM
Dow Jones News
GAP
Retailer Raises Outlook for Year
Gap Inc., which has been hit hard by a prolonged sales slump, on
Thursday raised its outlook for unadjusted profit for the year, as
it heads into the important holiday-sales season.
The San Francisco-based retailer, which last fiscal year posted
its first annual sales decline since fiscal 2011 and is expected to
post lower revenue this year as well, now expects to earn $1.41 to
$1.50 a share on a reported basis for the full fiscal year, up from
a previous forecast of $1.37 to $1.47 a share.
The company also affirmed its adjusted-profit projection, which
usually factors out certain items and is the metric analysts
typically forecast.
Meanwhile, in the 13-week period ended Oct. 29, Gap's profit
fell 18% to $204 million, or 51 cents a share. Excluding
restructuring-related charges, profit fell to 60 cents a share from
63 cents in the year-ago period.
Results in the latest reporting period also were affected by a
fire at one of the company's largest distribution centers.
--Maria Armental
BELLISIO PARENT
Thai Tycoon to Buy U.S. Food Company
A company owned by Dhanin Chearavanont, Thailand's richest man,
has agreed to buy U.S.- based frozen-food company Bellisio Parent
LLC for nearly $1.1 billion, the latest move by an acquisitive Thai
tycoon to branch out beyond the home market.
An agreement for Mr. Dhanin's company, Charoen Pokphand Foods,
to acquire Bellisio Parent is expected to close within 180 days, CP
Foods said Thursday.
Established in 1990, the Bellisio group is the third-largest
producer and distributor of single serve frozen entrees in the U.S.
by unit share.
It sells brands such as Michelina's, Boston Market, Chili's and
Atkins.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. advised CP Foods on the deal.
--P.R. Venkat and Nopparat Chaichalearmmongkol
TOYOTA MOTOR
Auto Maker Plans Battery-Power Unit
Toyota Motor Corp. said it would set up a unit to build a
battery-powered car and get it to market as quickly as
possible.
For years the world's largest car maker by volume has expressed
skepticism about battery-powered cars, saying their short range and
long charging times limit customer appeal -- adding, though, that
it would sell battery-powered cars if consumers showed they would
buy them. Toyota focused instead on gas-electric hybrids and
fuel-cell vehicles that perform more like conventional cars.
Sales of its Prius hybrid sedan are declining in the U.S., where
cheap gas is crimping the appeal of fuel-efficient vehicles. But
environment-minded car buyers are lining up for battery-powered
cars, and government regulations in the U.S., China and Europe
favor them over ones powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
The electric-vehicle unit will consist of four people: one from
Toyota and three from its main suppliers.
--Sean McLain
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 18, 2016 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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