Victoria's Secret spun off from L. Brands
L Brands has decided to spin off Victoria's Secret into a separate public company rather than sell it.
The retailer said Tuesday that it has opted against selling the brand even though it received interest from several potential buyers. Spinning off Victoria's Secret will create more value for shareholders, the company said.
The announcement concludes what has been a drawn-out process for L Brands deciding what to do with the lingerie brand. Its other brand is Bath & Body Works.
L Brands had announced a year ago plans to sell a 55% stake of Victoria's Secret for $525 million, but the deal was called off later as COVID-19 put operations of many retailers on hold.
"In the last 10 months, we have made significant progress in the turnaround of the Victoria's Secret business, implementing merchandise and marketing initiatives to drive top line growth as well as executing on a series of cost reduction actions, which together have dramatically increased profitability," Sarah Nash, L Brands' board chairwoman, said in a statement. "As a result of these efforts, Victoria's Secret is now well-positioned to operate as a standalone public company."
Opioid potency raised over time, expert says
A data expert testifying at a landmark opioid trial in West Virginia said Tuesday that the potency of prescription drugs sent to local communities increased over time, but the three large drug distributors being sued tried to discredit his analysis.
Cabell County and the city of Huntington argue that AmerisourceBergen Drug Co., Cardinal Health Inc. and McKesson Corp. created a "public nuisance" by flooding their areas with prescription pain pills and ignored the signs that the community was being ravaged by addiction.
While consultant Craig McCann of Washington, D.C., focused his Monday testimony on how many doses of hydrocodone and oxycodone were shipped to the area overall, The Herald Dispatch reported that he zeroed in Tuesday on specific pharmacies.
He compared the number of opiates sent to single pharmacies and three family pharmacies - Fruth, CVS and Rite Aid - at four stores each.
Charts showed that these pharmacies received opiates at a disproportionate rate compared to the U.S. average between 2006 and 2014. The single pharmacies received the drugs at an even higher rate.
Dow Jones Industrials fall 470 points Tuesday
Banks and energy companies led a broad pullback for stocks Tuesday, knocking the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 470 points lower and wiping out the market's gains from last week.
The S&P 500 lost 0.9%. That, plus its losses Monday, outweigh the benchmark index's gains last week. The Dow sank 1.4%, its worst day since Feb. 26. Treasury yields mostly edged higher.
The market's downturn so far this week reflects growing worries among investors that inflation is rising. Any significant acceleration of inflation would be a drag on the overall market and could crimp the broader economic recovery. The selling comes ahead of a key measure of inflation at the consumer level due to be released by the government Wednesday.
Commodity prices have been rising, particularly for industrial metals such as copper and platinum, as well as for energy commodities like gasoline and crude oil. Tech stocks, which get most of their valuation from the future profits those companies are expected to earn, become less valuable if inflation decreases the value of those earnings.
- Compiled by Dave Flessner