Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Monsoon Accessorize, Hamleys, Amazon

Monsoon Accessorize ‘named and shamed’ over failure to pay minimum wage

The Government has ‘named and shamed’ fashion group Monsoon Accessorize for failing to pay more than 1,400 workers the national minimum wage.

The retailer has been listed as one of 115 companies caught in a swoop by HM Revenue & Customs, which oversees implementation of the pay regulations.

The list reveals that Monsoon short-changed 1,438 workers – more than a quarter of its UK store staff – a total of £104,507.83. The company has been forced to reimburse staff and pay a fine of £28,147.81, according to The Guardian.

Chinese retailer could snap up Hamleys in £100m deal

British toy store Hamleys is on the verge of being sold to a Chinese retailer in a deal reportedly worth to be in the region £100m.

Hong Kong-based women’s footwear retailer C.banner International Holdings is locked in advanced discussions to acquire the 255-year-old retailer, according to Reuters.

An agreement is expected to be announced shortly.

C.banner, which specialises in middle-to-high-end women’s formal and leisure footwear in China, said it wanted to use Hamleys to diversify its business and leverage the well-known brand.

Amazon posts profit of $79m in second quarter

Etailer Amazon has swung to a profit of $79m (£51.3m) in the second quarter from a loss of $437m (£283m) in the same period a year earlier. It reported it was largely because of higher sales in the US.

Total net sales surged 23.2% to $25.36bn (£16.5bn) and worldwide sales in North America increased 28.3% to $15bn (£9.7bn).

Net sales from Amazon Web Services cloud business jumped more than 78% to $2.09bn (£1.36bn) in the three months to the end of September.

The internet giant has a strong growth forecast of between 14% to 25% for the Christmas sales period.