Retail

(Reuters) - Close Brothers Group Plc <CBRO.L> said on Friday it would sell Close Brothers Retail Finance, which provides unsecured finance to consumers through retailers, to Swedish bank Klarna Bank AB. "The group has concluded that the business does not provide a long-term fit with our predominantly secured business model," the company said in a statement. The business, which had a loan book of 66 million pounds as of July 31, will be treated as a discontinued operation in the company's full-year results to be announced on Sept. 25. The value of the deal was not disclosed. The company said it expects to close the transaction in the current calendar year. (Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr) … [Read more...] about Close Brothers Group to sell retail finance unit to Sweden’s Klarna Bank

(Reuters) - SSE Plc <SSE.L> and Innogy SE <IGY.DE> said on Friday it named Martin Read as the chairman designate for the new independent British energy supply and services company that they have agreed to form. Read is a former chairman of Laird Plc and will begin his role at the new company after the merger of the retail power units of SSE and Innogy's Npower. (Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr) … [Read more...] about SSE, Npower name Martin Read as chairman designate for UK retail tie-up

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's fixed-asset investment growth slowed to 5.3 percent in the first eight months of the year, below forecasts and hitting a new record low, data showed on Friday. But industrial output grew 6.1 percent in August from a year earlier, and retail sales rose 9.0 percent, both beating expectations. Investment growth had been expected at 5.5 percent in the first eight months of the year, matching a record low in January-July. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted industrial output growth would remain at 6.0 percent, in line with July. Private sector fixed-asset investment rose 8.7 percent in January-August, compared with an increase of 8.8 percent in the first seven months, according to official data. Private investment accounts for about 60 percent of overall investment in China. Analysts had expected retail sales to rise 8.8 percent, unchanged from the growth rate in July. With U.S. trade duties threatening to ratchet up pressure on China's already slowing … [Read more...] about China August investment growth falls to new record low, industrial output, retail sales up