05 April 2022, Mumbai:

Dubai-UAE - Landmark Group – the UAE-based conglomerate with more than 2,200 outlets and 42,000 employees in Middle East, India and South East Asia – announced today the signing of its first sustainability-linked loan amid a pledge to transition towards sustainable finance for the majority of its operations.

This marks the first time a private sector company in the UAE signs a bilateral sustainability-linked loan.

Landmark Group also signed up to Standard Chartered’s Sustainable Account proposition, integrating sustainability into to its banking operations. Deposits in Sustainable Accounts are referenced against sustainable projects funded by Standard Chartered across its dynamic Market footprint.

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These projects, aligned to the Bank’s Green and Sustainable Product Framework, address some of the world’s biggest long-term threats, including climate change and financial exclusion.

In a meeting between Landmark Group’s Chairwoman and CEO Renuka Jagtiani and Standard Chartered Bank , Group CEO Bill Winters, the company made a commitment to convert all its treasury products with the bank to sustainable wherever possible.

In a first for the region, Landmark Group has committed that the benefits from any sustainable financing will be deployed towards further sustainable initiatives.

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Commenting on the agreement, Rajesh Garg, Group Chief Financial Officer at Landmark Group, said: “At Landmark Group, we are committed to conducting our business responsibly, to make positive changes within the organisation to reduce the environmental impact of our operations. Today’s announcement of our first sustainability-linked loan, and our pledge to move towards green finance products wherever possible, is the latest demonstration of our wider commitment to people and planet.”

“We are proud to partner with Standard Chartered Bank, who share our ethos towards a green commitment.

With this partnership we are glad to become a part of a global group of sustainable companies and stakeholders that take shared responsibility for achieving a better world.” Rola Abu Manneh, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered, UAE, added: “We have been partnering with Landmark Group in the Middle East and Asia for almost 30 years, and moving towards sustainable financing is a natural extension of our long-standing relationship.”

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CREDITS: ZAWYA (The news article has not been edited by DFU Publications staff)

01 April 2022, Mumbai:

Online shopping fashion store Fabricoz is expanding business to other countries in the Middle East and Canada.

Founded by Shazia Parveen, Fabricoz sells a selection of original and designer Indian and Pakistani outfits, otherwise unavailable, especially in the US and Australia. 

ALSO READ Markets and research report: Apparels & fashion were the most popular categories for Europe’s online shopping in 2020

The store sells salwar kameez, Indian dresses, Pakistani dresses, lehenga choli, and saris.

Each dress at the online store is carefully curated to ensure they attract the consumers; attention.

Through these offerings, the store aims to provide the best online shopping experience to all its clients in the US and Australia.

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The store’s presence on social media has also helped it gain access to a diverse crowd. It constantly endeavors to remain updated with the latest trends, making clients's experience worthwhile by providing new styles and designs on a weekly basis.

The store ensures to keep the latest designs ready for customization available for delivery in just two weeks.

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04 April 2022, Mumbai:

Mall giant DLF plans to expand its retail spread by opening malls in Goa and Gurugram with an investment of around Rs 2,000 crore, as well as smaller shopping centres.

DLF plans to construct a 5.75-lakh-sq-ft premium mall in Goa with an investment of Rs 300 crore to Rs 350 crore over the coming two years.

ALSO READ DLF Mall of India adds 20 new brands in its Mall

The business also plans to construct a Mall of India in Gurugram measuring 25 lakh square feet.

The project will require an investment of between Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 1,600 crore, excluding the cost of the land.

RELATED NEWS DLF Mall of India launches two-week 'Wedding Shopping Festival'

Besides these two malls, DLF also plans to launch three to four new high street shopping centres beginning with developments in Gurugram and Delhi.

The company currently runs eight retail properties, including malls and shopping centres, and its main presence is in the Delhi NCR.

With a current total retail footprint of 42 lakh square feet, DLF runs some of the country’s largest malls. 

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CREDITS: Fashion Network report.

02 April 2022, Mumbai:

Sadashiv Nayak, CEO, of Future Retail, has resigned from the post seven months after his appointment. Nayak was appointed as the CEO effective on August 25, 2021.

ALSO READ Future Retail asks court to declare arbitration with Amazon illegal

Kishore Biyani, Founder and CEO, Future Group has been reappointed as the Executive Chairman of Future Retail for another three years, the filing said.

FRL has already defaulted on a payment of Rs 3,494.56 crore to banks in January under the OTR plan and the account has been declared as NPA by the lenders.

RELATED NEWS Future Group firm's plea: Supreme Court (SC) reserves verdict

Future Retail, which operates various formats such as Big Bazaar, Koryo, Foodhall, and Easyday, is part of the 19 Future group companies, which would be transferred to Reliance Retail as part of a Rs 24,713 crore deal announced in August 2020.

The deal is contested by e-commerce major Amazon and is under litigation at various forums including Supreme Court, Delhi high court, and Singapore International Arbitration Center. 

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01 April 2022, Mumbai:

H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB’s Annual and Sustainability Report for the financial year 2021 is available starting today on the company’s website, hmgroup.com.

H&M Group has a long history of working with sustainability and it has been an integral part of our business for many years.

ALSO READ Despite persistent retail limitations, H&M returns to pre-pandemic sales levels

Some sustainability-linked highlights from 2021 include:

80% of our materials are either recycled or sourced in a more sustainable way.

It tripled the share of recycled materials used in our garments from 5.8% to 17.9%, keeping its goal in focus to reach 30% by 2025.

It sharpened our climate goals, committing to achieving net-zero1 by 2040 and reducing our absolute emissions by 56% by 2030.

RELATED NEWS H&M Foundation and Fotografiska Stockholm join forces to showcase planet positive solutions

One important step on this journey is our decision to not onboard any new suppliers or supplier factories into our supply chain if they have on-site coal boilers in their factories, working towards our long-term goal to phase out coal from our supply chain.

It launched our new goal to double sales while at the same time halving our carbon footprint by 2030.

* It launched our innovative circular design tool “Circulator”, underlining our ambition to have all our products designed for circularity by 2025. The tool aims to enable H&M Group’s own teams to create products fit for a circular economy and will in the long-term invite others to do the same.

1 Net-zero as defined by Science Based Targets initiative's Net-Zero Standard. *The baseline for the sales goal is 2021.

The H&M group’s goal is to reduce its carbon footprint in absolute figures by 56 percent by 2030 (baseline 2019).

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04 April 2022, Mumbai:

A brand from the Tata Group, Westside has opened a new showroom. The new store retails modern and contemporary fashion brands, and Wardrobes at an exceptional value.

Tata Group’s retail arm Trent expects the new e-commerce site westside.com to generate 10 percent sales in the next four years.

READ MORE Reliance Retail, Westside, Max all active retailers look at expansion as 2nd wave ebbs

The retailer does not expect shoppers to turn away from physical stores completely.

It will continue with its physical as well as online expansion to serve customers in whichever they want to interact with its brands.

*Westside announced last week the opening of its 200th store, setting a benchmark in its offerings to customers.

With this, the brand has reached a milestone today as it continues expansion across the country and also in Mumbai.

This is the second store in the Borivali suburb.

RELATED NEWS 'Westside' opens new showroom in Pune

Inaugurated by Trent Chairman Noel Tata, this over 28000 sq. ft. store is located at Utopia Garden Grove mall, Chikoowadi, Borivali West.

It showcases a well laid-out, clutter-free, and comprehensive range of the latest collections along with Trent's other marquee brands - 'Zudio' and 'Star Bazaar' thereby, promising a wholesome retail experience to its customers.

Marking the significance of this milestone, Noel Tata, Chairman, Trent Ltd. said "We are delighted to open the 200th Westside store today.

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CREDITS: ANI News.

02 April 2022, Mumbai:

First quarter (1 December 2021 – 28 February 2022)

The H&M group’s net sales in local currencies increased by 18 percent in the first quarter.

Converted into SEK the group’s net sales increased by 23 percent to SEK 49,166 m (40,060).

ALSO READ H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB’s Annual and Sustainability Report'21

Well-received collections led to a higher share of full-price sales and lower costs for markdowns.

At the same time, sales and profits for the quarter were impacted by the negative effects of the pandemic in many of the group’s major markets.

The result was also affected by increased growth-related initiatives, particularly within tech and the supply chain.

Gross profit increased to SEK 24,260 m (19,057). This corresponds to a gross margin of 49.3 percent (47.6).

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Operating profit increased to SEK 458 m (-1,128), corresponding to an operating margin of 0.9 percent (-2.8).

For rolling 12 months the operating margin was 8.1 percent (-0.4).

The group’s profit after tax increased to SEK 217 m (-1,070), corresponding to SEK 0.13 (-0.65) per share. Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 3,624 m (5,936).

Financial net cash increased to SEK 17,446 m (2,199). Cash and cash equivalents plus undrawn credit facilities amounted to SEK 42,848 m (42,432).

RELATED NEWS Despite persistent retail limitations, H&M returns to pre-pandemic sales levels

“We are deeply concerned about the war in Ukraine and are following developments closely. We stand with all those around the world who are calling for peace. Once again, we have to be flexible and act quickly as circumstances change. H&M Group, H&M Foundation and the Erling-Persson Foundation have to date donated around SEK 170 m as well as clothes and other necessities to organisations including UNHCR, Save the Children, the Red Cross and UNICEF,” says Helena Helmersson, CEO.

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01 April 2022, Mumbai:

Alibaba will invest $60 million in Nreal, an augmented reality (AR) start-up, in what is being billed as the Chinese e-commerce giant's first step into the metaverse. Nreal made the announcement on Wednesday.

The metaverse is a virtual parallel universe that is viewed as the next important stage in the growth of the internet.

The concept is still in its early stages, but it is thought to be a method to overcome physical limitations by multiplying 3D human interactions within the digital lining of our environment. Many digital behemoths are salivating over the possibilities presented by the establishment of a virtual "new world."

ALSO READ Zara continues its metaverse journey

Nreal, a Chinese maker of augmented reality glasses, revealed on Wednesday that Alibaba is investing $60 million (€53.8 million) in the company.

The funds will be used for R&D, according to the Beijing-based start-up, which also revealed that it has just raised another $200 million from other investors. Despite its modest size, Alibaba's investment is widely regarded as the company's first entry into the metaverse.

It was created by Jack Ma. Alibaba established a separate subsidiary last year as proof of its interest. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), in which digital elements are placed on the physical environment, are both seen as critical technologies for the metaverse's development.

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Other big brands in China's digital business, including Alibaba, do not want to be left behind in this new technology.

ByteDance (the parent company of TikTok) has invested in a number of firms in the industry, including Pico, a maker of virtual reality headsets. The Internet is a behemoth.

Tencent, on the other hand, is developing its own metaverse, leveraging its expertise as a prominent video-game company. The Baidu search engine debuted XiRang in December, heralded as one of China's first metaverse apps. 

RELATED NEWS Tommy Hilfiger: Gaming initiative foraying in Metaverse

The Beijing government's involvement in the tech sector has boosted China's leading digital companies, although they are still finding their way in this area.

In recent months, state media have issued numerous cautions against risky investments. The metaverse, on the other hand, has the digital tech industry in the United States salivating.

Facebook has shifted its concentration to the metaverse, even rebranding its parent corporation as Meta.

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CREDITS: scmp & Fashion Network.

02 April 2022, Mumbai:

Lululemon, a Canadian-American apparel company, is ecstatic, and with a good cause! For the first time in 2021, the Vancouver-based clothes company has crossed the US $ 6 billion in sales.

Importantly, it has done so in the face of numerous obstacles and uncertainty. While net revenue increased by 23% year over year to £1.59 billion in Q4, gross profit increased by 22% to £914 million.

North America saw a 40% increase in revenue, while the rest of the world saw a 53% increase.

ALSO READ Lululemon to appoint Ex-Amazon resource as its CEO for 'At-Home Gym, Mirror'

Notably, the sales were in line with analysts' estimates, and the profit was considerably higher than projected.

The athleisure retailer also opened 22 additional company-operated brick-and-mortar outlets in the fourth quarter.

RELATED NEWS Under Armour raises its expectations as sales from athletic wear more than doubles

Lululemon estimates net revenue to be between £5.7 billion and £5.79 billion in the fiscal year 2022/23, with a growth rate of 20% to 22%. Lululemon announced its entry into the footwear market last month.

Lululemon began as a yoga pants and other yoga wear business in 1998 but quickly expanded to include athleticwear, lifestyle clothes, and fashion accessories.

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CREDITS: Charged Retail & Apparel Resources.

01 April 2022, Mumbai:

V-Mart Retail plans to expand retail space by 17 percent by opening around 60 new stores next year, says Lalit Agarwal, Founder & MD, V-Mart Retail.

ALSO READ VMART Retail Ltd Q3 FY22 results

The company opened around eight stores in the current quarter as it saw normal business returning to stores which is in terms of sales per sq. ft, the cost incurred per sq. ft, and the EBTIDA per sq. ft.

It plans to continue with its operations as these stores are doing quite well now, adds Agarwal.

RELATED NEWS  V-Mart Retail, Lalit Agarwal: Normal revenue expected despite Covid 3rd wave disruptions

The retailer aims to penetrate India by moving to the block levels and tehsil and denser in the bigger cities and bigger towns wherever there is a higher amount of population.

V-Mart plans to expand by at least three times in the next five years. It hopes the upcoming Eid festival and weddings season will boost business in the coming years. 

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01 April 2022, Mumbai:

Marks & Spencer (M&S), Frasers Group, and Charles Tyrwhitt are all said to be interested in acquiring TM Lewin, a British online menswear shop. Crew Clothing, another British garment behemoth, is also on the hunt for the menswear company that went into administration for the second time in two years earlier this month.

All of the aforementioned fashion shops have asked Interpath administrators for further information on TM Lewin's recent financial performance.

ALSO READ TM Lewin,UK goes into administration

The retailer was severely harmed as a result of the pandemic's decline in menswear and formalwear, driving it into administration in 2020.

RELATED NEWS Bidders for the textile company Sintex have submitted amended resolution plans

Interpath Advisory's Will Wright stated that their immediate focus is to investigate options for the company, including a sale of the company and its assets.

TM Lewin was founded in 1898 and is noted for its shirts, suits, chinos, ties, and jackets, among other things.

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CREDITS: The Industry Fashion & Apparel Resources.