World No 2 fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz posted an unexpected drop in like-for-like sales last month, blaming a heatwave in key European markets for keeping customers away from stores. The Swedish budget apparel firm, which trails Zara owner Inditex by value and turnover, said sales at stores open a year or more shrank 4 per cent in local currencies. Reuters
China Modern Dairy, one of the largest raw milk suppliers on the mainland, has appointed Julian Juul Wolhardt, a partner at New York-based buyout firm KKR Asia who focuses on private equity transactions in Greater China, as its new chairman. Juul, who is a non-executive director of China Modern, is also a non-executive director of China Mengniu Dairy, the firm's major client. Last month, China Modern denied market speculation that Mengniu would buy out China Modern. Charlotte So
Cargotec, the ship and port equipment maker headquartered in Finland, said it could list its marine business in Hong Kong after broadening an evaluation of a possible stock market flotation in Singapore to include other Asian bourses. President and chief executive Mikael Mäkinen said two investment banks had been appointed to assess options for the listing, which would occur at the "latest by the second half of 2013, subject to market conditions". Keith Wallis