Finance & Capital Management

New Delhi, India – The India unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has reportedly fired a mid-level manager as part of a probe into alleged bribery violations. According to the Economic Times, Wal-Mart gave the manager a termination notice last week, two years after the company suspended its former India CEO and legal team due to possible violations of U.S. anti-bribery laws.

Toronto, Canada – The bad news continued for Sears Canada Inc. during the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Following the announcement by parent company Sears Holding that it would sell off most of its 51% ownership stake to shareholders and reports that J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. will end its agreement to issue credit cards for Sears Canada in November 2015, Sears Canada reported a net loss of $118.7 million, significantly larger than the $48.8 million net loss reported the same period a year earlier.

Framingham, Mass. – The TJX Companies Inc. met Wall Street expectations with net income of $594.96 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, down 4% from $622.65 million in the same quarter the prior year. Net sales rose 5% to $7.37 billion from $6.98 billion, short of Wall Street expectations.

Mooresville, N.C. - Ross W. (Bill) McCanless will be joining Lowe’s Companies Inc. as general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer, effective Jan. 12, 2015. McCanless will replace Gaither M. Keener, who announced plans to retire from the company following 30 years of service.

Hamilton, Bermuda – Signet Jewelers Ltd. has named Daniel Shull as its first CIO effective Jan. 5, 2015. As CIO, Shull will be responsible for Signet's IT systems across its three divisions.

Atlanta – The Home Depot Inc. showed solid performance in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 despite reporting a major data breach in September, but still has not fully accounted for all the costs related to the breach. Home Depot reported net earnings of $1.5 billion, topping Wall Street projections and a 7% increase from $1.4 billion the same quarter in fiscal 2013.

The IKEA Group has made its largest investment ever in renewable energy by buying a 165-megawatt wind farm in Cameron County, Tex.

The fourth quarter is off to a very strong start at TJX Companies, according to CEO Carol Meyrowitz, who expects an exciting mix of initiatives to yield a low single digit fourth quarter comp increase and profit growth.

Customers at the nation’s largest home improvement retailer appeared to shrug off any concerns about a data breach as Home Depot’s sales increased 5.4% to $20.5 billion. Comparable store sales increased 5.2%, but grew 5.8% at U.S. stores. The increased productivity at existing stores drove profit growth, with earnings increasing to $1.5 billion, or $1.15 per share, compared to $1.4 billion, or $95 cents a share, the prior year.

Increased use of tablets and smartphone this holiday season will help online sales grow 16% to a record $61 billion, but desktop computers still dominate, according to the online measurement firm comScore.

The company said online sales during the November and December timeframe would be primarily driven by desktop computers, but noted that mobile devices are growing at a faster rate. Spending using desktop computers is projected to grow 14% to $53.2 billion while mobile commerce is projected to grow 25% to $7.9 billion and account for 13% of total e-commerce sales.