Articles by AFP
China hits SMCP as it falls into the red for H1
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Textile group SMCP (Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Fursac) posted a net loss of 27.7 million euros in the first half on Thursday, after a net profit of 14 million a year earlier, while its half-year sales fell by 4% to 585.3 million euros. The net result would have been "balanced" without 30 million euros of accounting effects, including...
Kering sees earnings fall, issues profit warning
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Luxury group Kering said Wednesday its half-year net profit fell by half and warned operating earnings for the second half of the year would be down around 30 percent. Revenues also slid by 12 percent and its flagship brand Gucci continues to underperform, with sales down by 20 percent.(AFP)
Dolce & Gabbana eyes stock market listing
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Italian luxury group Dolce & Gabbana is considering bringing in outside shareholders and could seek a stock market listing, its chief executive Alfonso Dolce said Monday. "We are now ready to consider opening our capital to third parties through a quotation or via other financial instruments," he said in an interview with daily Corriere della...
Amazon fights off landmark union bid by UK staff
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US e-commerce giant Amazon has fractionally fought off a bid by workers in Britain to win union recognition for the first time, the outcome of a ballot showed Wednesday. A total of 2,600 workers at the company's hub in Coventry, central England, voted 49.5-percent in favour of union recognition, just short of a necessary majority. The vote was...
Richemont: luxury group in sights of LVMH's Arnault?
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The Swiss luxury group Richemont, which owns Cartier and other jewellery brands, is regularly the subject of takeover rumours which its founder, the South African billionaire Johann Rupert, always dismisses. But Bernard Arnault, chief executive of rival LVMH, the number one in the field, is building up a stake in Richemont -- a move which so far...
EU court rejects TikTok challenge against new EU digital rules
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TikTok lost an appeal Wednesday to escape new digital rules that seek to rein in the power of big tech after an EU court rejected its challenge. A landmark European Union law known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) entered into force in March, and regulators believe it will create a fairer market. The European Commission designated six...
Italy watchdog probes Armani, Dior over supplier labour issues
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Italy's competition watchdog said Wednesday that it was investigating luxury fashion groups Armani and Dior over allegations they used suppliers that underpaid and overworked their staff. As part of the probe, the AGCM watchdog and the Guardia di Finanza financial police on Tuesday carried out inspections at the headquarters of Giorgio Armani...
Fake luxuries supplant tradition in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar
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Cut-price branded perfumes and fake high-end handbags line the ornate alleys of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, with traditional merchants saying the luxury counterfeits are stripping the marketplace of its character. Where heritage Turkish crafts once flourished under the Ottoman-era marketplace's painted ceilings, the elegant carpet store run by...
Hermes v Hermes: Turkey bookshop marks win in copyright fight
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A bookseller in Turkey notched a victory over a French luxury house in a copyright battle to be able to call itself Hermes, the shop's lawyer said Tuesday, hailing an infrequent win against a major brand. An Ankara court ruling partially voided a decision by TurkPatent, Turkey's intellectual property authority, that prevented any brand other...
In S.Africa, Madiba shirts keep Mandela's legacy alive
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Johannesburg - In his workshop stocked with piles of fabric and sewing machines, Sonwabile Ndamase is proud that the Madiba shirts he designed for Nelson Mandela 30 years ago endure as a legacy of South Africa's first democratically elected leader. Worn untucked and without a jacket, the loose Madiba shirts remain a favourite among South African...