Finance & Capital Management

New York -- Europe's largest home improvement retailer, Kingfisher, plans to close about 60 underperforming B&Q stores in Britain amid a 7.5% decrease in annual profit, Reuters reported.

Currently, B&Q operates some 360 stores.

In other news, Kevin O'Byrne, CEO for B&Q U.K. and Ireland, will leave the company on May 15, the report said.

Washington, D.C. - An Obama administration proposal to expand overtime and redefine what it means to be a restaurant or retail manager may harm mangers’ career paths and undermine the quality of customer service they are able to provide. According to a new survey 200 salaried retail and restaurant managers conducted for the National Retail Federation (NRF) by GfK Research, 81% of respondents said there would be an adverse impact on customer service.

Ongoing problems with its credit-financing business led Conn's to post a large decrease in profits for the fourth quarter.

Overall, for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, Conn’s reported a profit of $15.5 million, or 42 cents a share, compared with a profit of $27.7 million, or 75 cents a share, a year earlier.

Home Depot, which was hit by a widely publicized data breach in 2014, has reportedly hired its first chief information security officer, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc. has appointed former Time Warner and Visa executive Jamil Farshchi to the new position of chief information security officer (CISO), according to the Journal.

The move comes months after the home improvement retailer said its payment systems were breached at some 2,200 U.S. and Canadian stores.

Boca Raton, Fla. – A second request for information from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will reportedly not slow down the pending merger of Staples and Office Depot. According to the South Florida Business Journal, the FTC has requested unspecified additional documents and information from Office Depot.

Armonk, N.Y. – The weather is traditionally a topic for conversation when there is nothing else to discuss, but for retailers knowing what the weather will be is a vital concern. IBM and The Weather Company, parent company of the Weather Channel, are partnering to integrate real-time weather insights into business to improve operational performance and decision-making.

Burnaby, Canada -- Canada’s Future Shop will soon be a thing of the past. Best Buy announced it is consolidating its Future Shop division, and the chain’s namesake stores and Future Shop stores will all operate under the Best Buy nameplate. As part of the consolidation, 66 Future Shop stores will be closed, effective March 30. Also, 65 Future Shop locations will be shuttered for one week to transition to Best Buy.

New York -- The death of the mall has been highly exaggerated, according to data released Monday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries. Among the highlights: Shopping center occupancy rates were 92.7% at the end of 2014, the highest level since second quarter 2008, according to data released Monday. Occupancy was even higher for the mall segment (combined super-regional and regional malls), at 94.2% at the end of 2014, the highest since the end of 1987.