FALLING MARKET: The Chinese companies whose stocks are in free fall

The Pet Market Group is propelling one distributor to new heights after falling to nearly bottom of a falling market. At Pet Valu Corp., whose leader is said to be an “Acquisitive Beast,” consumer…

FALLING MARKET: The Chinese companies whose stocks are in free fall

The Pet Market Group is propelling one distributor to new heights after falling to nearly bottom of a falling market.

At Pet Valu Corp., whose leader is said to be an “Acquisitive Beast,” consumer goods giant Delhaize Group has agreed to pay more than $1.2 billion for the 132-store chain.

Meanwhile in Shanghai, Goodfood Market Group, a food and beverage business known for its branded porridge, went into final negotiations to be taken private for roughly $830 million in cash, sources told Bloomberg.

The death of both the flu season and flu pandemic in China last year are thought to have contributed to Goodfood’s weak year, and there are fears that a similar influenza season in 2019 could adversely affect the company, which is listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange.

But there’s another reason investors in Goodfood have been fleeing in recent days: the company just announced that its founder and deputy chairman, Gordon Kang, will be stepping down as executive chairman on Sept. 1. That comes as the company struggles to comply with new regulations governing research and drug testing by pharmaceutical companies.

Glucon Pharma, another pharmaceutical company listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange, sees its stock swinging through the floor for a different reason: its founder, a doctor, has resigned from the board, according to Bloomberg.

Lands End shares remained stuck in neutral for the last week.

The retail and shipping company said that it will not pay a dividend for 2018, and is planning to slash its domestic operations to smaller stores and focus more of its efforts overseas, according to Bloomberg.

It’s not all gloom and doom at Peugeot

The carmaker revealed on Wednesday that it’s pulling out of Venezuela, bringing the total number of countries where it has discontinued production to 33, including Vietnam, Indonesia, the Czech Republic, Romania, South Africa, Hong Kong, Kenya, India, South Korea, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Thailand, and Egypt.

For Peugeot, the loss-making countries where it closed its doors also include South Sudan, Guinea, Lesotho, Swaziland, St. Lucia, Tonga, Cameroon, Cameroon, and Djibouti.

The bad news for Peugeot is overshadowed by the fact that it is profiting elsewhere in the world, according to data compiled by the company.

Although South Africa has slipped off the company’s list of top 10 countries, it still holds the third largest share of its profit after China and Italy.

In just one year, its Chinese market share has increased from a mere 9 percent to 20 percent, while Italy has jumped up from 14 percent to 18 percent. The only market where it lost share was in Hungary, where it sank from 37 percent in 2017 to 29 percent in 2018.

Nordstrom shares are falling after the retailer announced that it would close three of its full-line stores in Florida, as well as two Nordstrom Rack stores in Arkansas.

Although the store closures were expected after reports emerged last week that the department store chain was cutting its sales force by almost a third, they still met investors’ concerns that the company was falling behind its rivals.

Nordstrom has struggled since the beginning of the year after it reported disappointing financial results in February.

One of the reasons for the declines is a shift in consumer trends toward online shopping and discounting. But another concern is that Nordstrom may not be anticipating the tough competition from rivals such as Walmart, Target, and Kohl’s, said analysts from J.P. Morgan on a recent conference call. “When we think about the move by department stores, it feels to us like it’s not the planned push into the future. It’s a disorganization with the old guard not adjusting to the new and planning accordingly.”

Leave a Comment