Finance & Capital Management

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Dole Food Company’s board of directors has approved a proposal to update the company’s owned vessel fleet, with the acquisition of three new specialty built refrigerated container ships for its U.S. West Coast operations, costing approximately $165 million, for a phased delivery between 2015 and 2016.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has pleaded guilty to charges that it inappropriately transported and disposed of common consumer products, such as bleach and fertilizer, while reiterating that the misdemeanor violations of certain environmental laws occurred years ago and had no specific environment impact.

CINCINNATI — Alan George "A. G." Lafley has rejoined Procter & Gamble as president and CEO, the company announced late last week. He succeeds Bob McDonald, who makes his exit from the company after 33 years.

Lafley has also been elected to the board of directors and will serve as its chair. Lafley joined Procter & Gamble in 1977 and served as president and CEO from 2000 to 2009.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kroger's mid-south division president John Hackett is retiring, after 50 years of service with the company. Hackett began his career with Kroger in 1963 as a store clerk in London, Ohio, while working his way through college at The Ohio State University.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Cold weather affected Hibbett Sports' first quarter results for the period ended May 4, but the sporting goods retailer still saw net sales of $240 million, a 3% increase from $233 million for the 13-week period ended April 28, 2012.

Comparable store sales increased 0.8% for the quarter.

For the quarter, Hibbett opened nine new stores, expanded five high performing stores and closed three underperforming stores, bringing the store base to 879 in 29 states.

NEW YORK — Foot Locker has posted the best quarterly profit results in its history for the first quarter ended May 4. The company's net income for the quarter was $138 million, a 10% increased from $128 million for the same period last year.  

The New York-based specialty athletic retailer's first quarter comparable store sales increased 5.2%.

How does a company whose strengths are more on the creative and design side than the technology side achieve strategic agility through the use of IT? According to Michael Relich, executive VP and CIO of vertical apparel retailer Guess, a flexible approach that focuses more on solving business problems than on meeting technical specifications goes a long way toward getting the most business value from your IT investments.

New York -- A Reuters report citing unnamed sources said that Belgian grocer Delhaize is looking to sell its U.S.-based Sweetbay and Harveys units as the Food Lion parent looks to ramp up cost-cutting efforts here.

The sources told Reuters that Delhaize has retained Lazard Ltd. to sell off the two supermarket businesses. CEO Pierre-Olivier Beckers said the company was looking at options for the units, but didn’t comment directly on whether advisors had been appointed to conduct the sale.

Kearney, Neb. -- The Buckle reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended May 4 fell slightly to $37.6 million, compared with $37.8 million in the year-ago period. Results were impacted by higher operating expenses.

Revenue increased 2.3% to $269.7 million from $263.8 million, and same-store sales edged up 1.2%.

 

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