Finance & Capital Management

The Coca-Cola Company is preparing to make changes to its board. Former ambassador Donald F. McHenry and Swedish businessman Jacob Wallenberg will not stand for re-election to the board at the company’s annual meeting of shareowners in April.

Lowe's is renewing its partnership with Habitat for Humanity International. A new five-year, $23.5 million donation will bring Lowe's total contributions to more than $63 million since 2003 and is the company’s largest corporate donation to date.

Along with the funding, Lowe's pledged the continued support of Lowe's Heroes employee volunteers. In the past decade, Lowe's employees have donated thousands of volunteer hours in support of Habitat's work.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is doubling its projected growth of small format stores as the retailer reports declining net income and weak sales growth for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014.

HSNi ended 2013 with record customer levels at its HSN and Cornerstone brands, which bolstered the company’s fourth-quarter results.

The company’s total net sales grew 4% over the prior year to $1 billion.

The Woodlands, Texas – Conn’s Inc. released preliminary fourth quarter net sales and same-store sales results for its retail segment that suggest strong financial performance. On a year-over-year basis, Conn’s net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 were an estimated $301.6 million, increasing $93.3 million, or 44.8%, from the same period last year.

Walmart knew fourth quarter results announced Thursday morning were going to be bad and its outlook weak so it gave investors something more substantial to digest by announcing plans to double the number of small format stores it will open this year and an increased omnichannel focus.

Pleasanton, Calif. – Safeway Inc. is exploring a sale of the company as it reports substantial increases in net income due to its exit from the Canadian market, and smaller increases in net sales for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014. Although the discussions for a sale are ongoing, the company said it has not reached an agreement on a transaction, and there can be no assurance that these discussions will lead to an agreement or a completed transaction.  

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) is publicly crediting the Obama administration for its response to “patent trolls,” or companies that purchase patents for the sole purpose of launching infringement suits against other companies. The administration has implemented a series of executive actions designed to have the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office promote transparency, clarity and fairness in the patent process.