Industria de Diseno Textil SA said Wednesday that sales growth accelerated further in the third quarter and into the fourth, as stores reopened and online revenue continued to burgeon.

The Spanish fashion group, known as Inditex, booked net sales of 19.3 billion euros ($21.73 billion) in the nine months to end-October, implying a figure of EUR7.36 billion for the third quarter. Analysts had expected quarterly sales of EUR7.31 billion, according to an average of 13 estimates compiled by FactSet.

Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline Share Positive Preliminary Booster Data for Covid-19 Vaccine Candidate

Sanofi SA and GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Wednesday that a single booster dose of their Covid-19 vaccine candidate delivered consistently strong immune responses.

Preliminary results from a clinical trial looking at the safety and immunogenicity of the booster shot showed that neutralizing antibodies increased regardless of whether participants had been initially vaccinated with the shot made by AstraZeneca PLC, by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE or by Moderna Inc., the two pharmaceuticals companies said.

Cineworld Shares Fall After Losing Lawsuit Against Cineplex

Shares in Cineworld Group PLC fell in early trade Wednesday after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled in favor of rival Cineplex over the cancellation of a takeover deal in June 2020.

The ruling awarded Cineplex damages of 1.23 billion Canadian dollars ($956.2 million) for lost synergies and an additional 5.5 million Canadian dollars ($4.3 million) for lost transaction costs, the British cinema operator said.

H&M 4Q Sales in Local Currencies Rose to Pre-PandemicLevels

Sweden's H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB said Wednesday that its strong recovery continued during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, with sales increasing in local currencies back to the same level as in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The fashion retailer said sales for the quarter ended Nov. 30 increased by 8% to 56.81 billion kronor ($6.21 billion), while net sales in local currencies rose by 11%.

IAG in Advanced Talks to Cancel Air Europa Purchase Agreement

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA said Wednesday that discussions to terminate the agreement to buy Spanish airline Air Europa from Globalia Corporacion Empresarial were at an advanced stage.

IAG--which owns British Airways and Iberia among other airlines--said in January that it had agreed to acquire Air Europa for an equity value of 500 million euros ($563 million) instead of the original EUR1 billion agreed with Globalia in 2019.

Chanel Picks Luxury Industry Outsider Leena Nair as Its Next CEO

LONDON-French luxury group Chanel SA poached consumer-goods executive Leena Nair to become its chief executive, reaching outside the fashion market for leadership as it strives to recover from the industry's pandemic slump.

Ms. Nair has been head of human resources at consumer-goods and packaged-food giant Unilever PLC. Alain Wertheimer, who owns privately held Chanel with his brother Gerard, will move from the CEO role to executive chairman early next year, Chanel said in a statement.

Israeli Cyber Firm NSO Explores Sale, Closure of Spyware Unit

TEL AVIV-Israeli cybersecurity company NSO Group is exploring a potential sale of business or the closure of its controversial spyware unit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The move follows a recent U.S. decision to blacklist the company over allegations that NSO's surveillance software, called Pegasus, has been used inappropriately. Those pressures have put the company at risk of defaulting on its debt, according to ratings firm Moody's Corp.

GLOBAL NEWS

Fed Prepares Faster End to Stimulus, Making Earlier Rate Increases Possible

Federal Reserve officials are likely to quicken the wind-down of their bond-buying stimulus program at the conclusion of their two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, opening the door to interest-rate increases in the first half of next year.

The move to end the stimulus program sooner than officials planned at their meeting last month offers the most concrete sign of how Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's focus is shifting toward preventing higher inflation from becoming entrenched and away from fostering a rapid rebound in hiring.

China's Economic Activity Slowed in November on Property Slump, Weak Consumption

HONG KONG-China's economic activity decelerated in November amid a prolonged property slump and sluggish consumption recovery, adding urgency for Beijing to step up efforts to support the world's second-largest economy.

Leading indicators of consumption and investment activity weakened further from October, while factory production rose at a faster pace in November as a power crunch eased, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

House Approves Increase in Debt Ceiling, Sending Measure to Biden

WASHINGTON-Congress passed a measure raising the government's borrowing limit by $2.5 trillion, sending to President Biden's desk legislation that is expected to push the next debt-ceiling standoff past the midterm elections.

The Senate voted 50-49 to approve the legislation in the afternoon, and the House later passed it 221-209. The Treasury Department, which has been taking such steps as suspending certain investments to conserve cash, has warned lawmakers that it could be unable to meet the country's obligations as soon as Wednesday if the debt ceiling isn't raised.

U.S. Covid-19 Deaths Top 800,000

Reported Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. have surpassed 800,000, with the coronavirus pandemic set to continue into the new year.

Data from Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday showed the U.S. has exceeded 800,000 Covid-19 fatalities, close to two years after the first deaths from the disease were recorded in the country in February 2020.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-15-21 0601ET