B&Q stores owner Kingfisher missed forecasts for sales growth in its latest quarter, held back by the weak performance of its French businesses.

Hugo Boss said the renovation of several major stores should revive sales growth after the German fashion house reported a drop in first-quarter earnings due to reorganisation costs, higher marketing spending and a strong dollar.

Shares in B&Q owner Kingfisher fell up to 5.8% yesterday, taking losses for the year to more than 30%, after it reported weak quarterly sales and said it would be pulling out of a number of European markets.

Retailer Marks & Spencer said improving profit margins and steady market share showed its struggling clothing business was on the mend, despite a 10% drop in annual earnings and sliding sales in the latest quarter.

LVMH shares rose to a record in Paris after the luxury leader’s sales far exceeded estimates on rebounding demand for items from Louis Vuitton bags to Hennessy cognac.

Standard Life, Scotland’s largest insurer, agreed to acquire Aberdeen Asset Management for about £3.8bn (€4.4bn), a deal that would create the UK’s largest active manager.

First-half sales are expected to have increased by 11% on a yearly basis at discount clothing retailer Primark, which trades here as Penneys. 

Next has lowered its sales forecast for the year, sending its shares plunging the most since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, as slowing growth in consumers’ incomes threatens to hit spending at the UK clothing retailer.

German sport-shoe maker Adidas forecast sales may rise at the fastest pace in five years as consumers spend more ahead of the Euro 2016 soccer tournament, setting up its incoming chief for a potentially better period than the company’s recent past.