Business

Off-price giant TJX Cos., which runs T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, posted year-over-year sales and profit growth thanks to strong customer traffic.
Cash-strapped consumers are pulling back on discretionary purchases at Target but are still spending at TJX’s stores.
The retailer is benefiting from the bloated inventories of other retailers and is able to offer a wider assortment of premium merchandise.

Shoppers at a TJ Maxx store in New York.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Cash-strapped consumers may be pulling back on discretionary purchases at Target, but they’re spending big on name brands and home goods at off-price TJX Cos. 
The discounter raised its full-year outlook on Wednesday after posting a 7.7% year-over-year sales jump and a 23% rise in profits. It cited high customer traffic and a windfall of premium merchandise that it secured from higher-end retailers eager to offload their bloated inventories. 

Here’s how TJX Cos. did during its fiscal second quarter, compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: 85 cents vs. 77 cents expected
Revenue: $12.76 billion vs. $12.45 billion billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended July 29 was $989 million, or 85 cents per share, compared with $810 million, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier. 
Sales climbed to $12.76 billion, up 7.7% from $11.84 billion a year earlier. 
Shares of TJX Cos. reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday, and closed more than 4% higher.
TJX Cos., which runs T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Sierra and Homesense in the U.S., raised its full-year outlook for comparable store sales, pretax profit margin and earnings per share following the strong quarter.

The company now expects comparable store sales to climb 3% to 4%. It anticipates pretax profit margin in the range of 10.7% to 10.8%, and earnings per share between $3.66 and $3.72. Analysts had been expecting earnings to be $3.59 per share, according to Refinitiv. 
TJX may have had a stronger quarter, but the figures also compared with a prior year when sales had slid 1.9% and comparable store sales had fallen about 5%, Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst at GlobalData, noted. Still, the retailer is managing to win market share.
As inflation-weary and debt-laden consumers pull back on high-ticket and discretionary items and use their precious dollars on services, they are still seeking deals and are splurging on accessories, clothes and home goods at TJX’s many off-price stores. Traffic increased in all of the company’s divisions, driving the strong quarter, the retailer said. 
TJX Cos. has been able to offer a wider assortment of premium merchandise because so many of its suppliers, which tend to be full-price, high-end retailers, have been dealing with bloated inventories and offloading more of their stock than usual. 
“The third quarter is off to a very strong start and we are seeing tremendous off-price buying opportunities in the marketplace,” TJX Cos. CEO Ernie Herrman said in a news release. “Going forward, we continue to see excellent opportunities to grow sales and customer traffic, capture market share, and drive the profitability of our Company.”
The home goods sector has been under pressure recently after consumers shelled out to upgrade living spaces during the Covid pandemic and then switched their spending toward experiences and services. Even so, TJX’s HomeGoods posted a 4% comparable sales increase as consumers still sought out home decor, throw pillows and other furnishings.
Meanwhile, Target reported fiscal second-quarter earnings on Wednesday and is continuing to see a pullback in spending on discretionary items like clothes and home decor. It slashed its full-year forecast and said consumers still face pressure from high inflation in food, beverages and household essentials. More

The German grocer has entered into an agreement to buy nearly 400 locations from Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket.
The Southern-focused acquisition will convert some stores to the Aldi format, while others will continue to operate as Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket grocery stores.
The deal underscores the resiliency of the supermarket industry, which has largely been immune to the macroeconomic conditions straining other industries.

Jeff Greenberg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Supermarket chain Aldi plans to acquire hundreds of Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket locations across the Southern U.S. in a deal that will expand the fast-growing grocer’s presence across the region.
Germany-based Aldi said in a news release Wednesday that it will take over operations of all Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket locations — about 400 stores — in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

“The time was right to build on our growth momentum and help residents in the Southeast save on their grocery bills,” said Aldi CEO Jason Hart. “The transaction supports our long-term growth strategy across the United States.”
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024, the company said.
Some locations will be converted to Aldi stores after the acquisition, while others will continue operating as Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket grocery stores, according to the release.
Aldi said it has invested $2.5 billion in the region since the mid-1990s. Nationwide, the company plans to add 120 new stores to reach a total of more than 2,400 stores by year-end.
While many retailers have been shuttering stores as high inflation pinches consumers’ wallets, grocers have remained resilient, as consumers have focused on necessities and remain willing to spend more on groceries.

The sale of the Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket locations is a part of a larger divestiture by Southeastern Grocers, the chains’ parent company.
The Florida-based grocery company has struggled to keep its footing in the region over the past decade, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 and closing nearly 100 stores at the time. In 2014, the company backed out of plans to go public, and scrapped plans to do so again in 2021.
Southeastern will also be selling another 28 of its Fresco y Más stores as part of its divestiture in a separate deal.
“This merger agreement is a testament to our successful transformational journey and the tireless work of our dedicated associates who serve our communities,” said Southeastern CEO Anthony Hucker. “ALDI shares our vision to provide exceptional quality, service and value — and this unique opportunity will evolve our business to benefit our customers, associates and neighbors throughout the Southeast.” More

Target CEO Brian Cornell said the retailer’s fiscal second-quarter earnings got hit by backlash to Pride month merchandise.
It was one of several factors, including inflation, that dragged down sales.
Cornell defended the retailer’s decision to pull some Pride merchandise, but said the company will continue to celebrate Pride month and other heritage months.

Signage for Target Corp.’s “#TakePride” initiative sits above products displayed for sale at a company store in Chicago, Illinois.
Christopher Dilts | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Target CEO Brian Cornell said “negative reaction” to the retailer’s Pride merchandise hurt sales and contributed to the disappointing quarterly results that the company reported Wednesday.
But Cornell stood by the decisions both to celebrate Pride month and to take some items off of shelves or move them to other places in the store after customer backlash. He said the company saw behavior by some shoppers in June that “caused our teams to feel unsafe at work.”

“We certainly saw some angry guests that were intimidating our team members and damaging merchandise and defacing some of the signage,” he said on a call with reporters. “Once we took those actions and addressed the situation, we certainly saw things normalize and we certainly think we took the right steps during that moment in time.”
The backlash against Target, which rippled across social media in videos and comments, speaks to the tightrope that companies must walk as conservative politicians and consumers increasingly condemn corporate diversity and inclusion efforts. Other companies have faced similar boycotts this year. Those include AB InBev’s Bud Light, which took a financial hit from its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and subsequent decision not to defend the endorsement. Disney also got caught in the crosshairs of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, after the company criticized a state law that critics have called “Don’t Say Gay.” 
The Supreme Court’s June ruling against affirmative action has heightened scrutiny of companies’ goals and hiring initiatives, too.
Cornell said on a call with reporters that it will continue diversity, equity and inclusion hiring initiatives. He said the effort helps Target better reflect the communities it is in, which “adds tremendous value for our shareholders.”
For more than a decade, Target has sold products that coincide with Pride month, a celebration of LGBTQ+ people and issues in June. This year, however, the collection provoked a strong response. That reaction came as across the country, politicians pass laws that restrict medical care, bathroom access and more for transgender Americans, set guidelines for the social issues that children should read and learn about in the classroom, and debate the role of corporations in shaping society.

After the sharp response in June, Target removed some merchandise from the Pride collection, but did not say what items it pulled or how many stores the threats and the boycott affected.
The collection included a wide variety of products, from greeting cards saying “I’m Glad You Came Out” and rainbow-themed cake mixes, to T-shirts and tote bags saying “Chosen Family is Love.”
It also included “tuck friendly” swimsuits that allow trans people who have not had gender-affirming operations to conceal their private parts, The Associated Press reported. Some critics falsely claimed those swimsuits, which were only in adult sizes, were also available for children. They also objected to other LGBTQ+-themed merchandise for children, such as clothing and books.
This year was not the first time that Target has seen pushback from conservative groups. The retailer faced another boycott in 2016 after the company adopted a policy allowing transgender employees and customers to use bathrooms and fitting rooms in accordance with their gender identities. The backlash came as North Carolina and other states were passing so-called bathroom bills that banned transgender people from using government building bathrooms in line with their gender identities.
At that time, Target was also going through a stretch of disappointing sales results, but its spokesperson told reporters that the impact to the business from the boycott was “not material.”
When Target reported its results Wednesday, executives declined to estimate the financial hit from the Pride merchandise response.
“To be crystal clear, we can’t isolate the price impact from the many other factors at play in the quarter,” Chief Financial Officer Michael Fiddelke said on a call with reporters, pointing to multiple economic factors, including weaker sales of discretionary items because of inflation.
Cornell said Wednesday that the company will continue to celebrate Pride month and other heritage months. Yet he said Target will also think carefully about timing, presentation, and how it works with national brands and external partners as it puts together its collections.
Some of the merchandise that came under fire was made by vendors rather than part of Target’s own brands.
“At the heart of our purpose is our commitment to bring joy to all the families we serve — and that really is all families — so we want to make sure Target’s that happy place for all of our guests,” he said on the earnings call. “A place where they can recharge and enjoy those shopping experiences and you should expect to see us to continue to do that over the years to come.” More

Cava and Sweetgreen are seeing customers pull back on ordering delivery and instead opt to pick up their own food.
The shift in consumer behavior can hurt the fast-casual chains’ sales because those orders are usually more expensive, thanks to added fees and even higher menu prices.
Uber and DoorDash haven’t reported the same weakness in their food delivery sales.

A customer enters a Cava restaurant in Pasadena, California, Feb. 6, 2023.
Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Fast-casual chains Cava and Sweetgreen each said customers are ordering delivery less often and instead picking up their own food, in a signal that diners are growing thriftier.
Breaking a delivery habit is an easy way for budget-conscious consumers to cut back on restaurant spending. Delivery orders are typically more expensive due to added fees and tips for delivery drivers. Sometimes restaurants even charge more for the food itself to offset the often-hefty commission fees they pay third-party delivery services.

All that makes ordering food for pickup an easy way to save money. With the exception of a few weeks this summer when restaurant software provider Toast charged customers 99 cents for online orders, eateries don’t typically add fees for pickup orders.
While some customers will be prompted for a tip when grabbing their own food, in an example of so-called “tipflation,” few will leave a gratuity on pickup orders compared with delivery. Only 13% of consumers said they left tips when picking up takeout orders, according to a Bankrate survey from May 2023.
But delivery orders have also become an important contributor to restaurants’ revenue because customers’ receipt totals are higher. Fewer delivery transactions can hurt those companies’ mix, which includes the combination of food, beverages and fees that make up restaurants’ revenue.
A shift away from delivery contributed to Sweetgreen’s weaker-than-expected sales in the second quarter, Chief Financial Officer Mitch Reback told investors on the company’s July 28 conference call. The salad chain reported quarterly revenue of $152.5 million, falling shorting of Wall Street estimates of $156.7 million.
Cava’s second-quarter sales growth wasn’t hurt by softening delivery sales, but the Mediterranean chain’s full-year forecast was cautious. After same-store sales growth of 28.4% for the first quarter and 18.2% for the second quarter, Cava is anticipating same-store sales growth of just 13% to 15% for the full year.

“We continue to see positive traffic trends into Q3. However, we are beginning to see a slight shift in delivery to pickup and moderating overall same-store sales growth,” Cava CFO Tricia Tolivar said on the company’s conference call Tuesday evening.
Cava executives also cited broader economic concerns, such as rising gas prices, for its tentative sales outlook.
Even fast-casual giant Chipotle Mexican Grill isn’t immune from the shift.
In late July, the burrito chain reported that its delivery service revenue fell 15.8% to $17.3 million. The revenue segment, which only includes the delivery and related service fees for orders made through the company’s app and website, accounted for less than 1% of Chipotle’s total revenue for the second quarter. Executives didn’t share more details about the delivery business on its conference call.
Still, the third-party companies making those restaurant deliveries haven’t seen the same weakness in their demand. Uber said its second-quarter delivery sales rose 14%, while DoorDash’s total orders climbed 25%.
Only Just Eat Takeaway.com, the owner of Grubhub, reported shrinking order volumes in North America for the first half of the year. More

“Barbie” has topped $537 million, making it the highest-grossing domestic movie in Warner Bros. Discovery’s 100-year history.
The previous record holder was Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” which generated $536 million in 2008.
The bubblegum pink collaboration between Greta Gerwig, Mattel and Warner Bros. Discovery has collected more than $1.2 billion at the global box office since its July 21 release.

A scene from the “Barbie” movie.
Courtesy: Warner Bros.

This Barbie is a box office queen. He’s just Batman.
On Tuesday “Barbie” topped $537 million, making it the highest-grossing domestic movie in Warner Bros. Discovery’s 100-year history. The film surpassed Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” which generated $536 million in 2008, for the title.

The bubblegum pink collaboration between filmmaker Greta Gerwig, Mattel and Warner Bros. has collected more than $1.2 billion at the global box office since its July 21 release.
It is the first billion-dollar film for the newly minted Warner Bros. Discovery, the result of the Warner Media and Discover merger in 2022, and only the second movie released in 2023 to do so. Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has topped $1.3 billion since its April debut.
The success of “Barbie” comes at a time when blockbuster-budgeted films have struggled to connect with moviegoing audiences. Alongside Nolan’s latest feature “Oppenheimer,” which has grossed more than $250 million domestically, “Barbie” proves that moviegoers are still interested in leaving their couches for quality films and unique communal experiences.
The Margot Robbie-led film has been number one at the box office since its debut and is on track to be the highest-grossing film of the year. Box office analysts expect “Barbie” to continue to collect box office receipts in the weeks to come, as it faces limited competition from new releases and rides a wave of positive word of mouth.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. More

Target cut its full-year sales and profit forecast as it tries to win over shoppers who are watching their wallets.
The retailer’s second-quarter earnings beat expectations, while its sales fell short of estimates.
Target said backlash to its Pride month collection contributed to weaker sales.

Target on Wednesday missed quarterly sales expectations and slashed its full-year forecast, as it again had trouble convincing shoppers to buy more than necessities.
The big-box retailer cut both its full-year sales and profit expectations. Target offered a gloomier outlook even as some top economists have scrapped calls for a recession and government data shows signs inflation is cooling.

The company said it now expects comparable sales to decline by about mid single digits for the full fiscal year and earnings per share to range from $7 to $8. It previously anticipated comparable sales would range from a low single-digit decline to a low single-digit increase, and earnings per share would come in between $7.75 and $8.75.
Target’s struggling shares surged in premarket trading despite the soft forecast, as its fiscal second-quarter earnings topped expectations and inventory levels improved. Investors also have had low expectations for the company, reflected in a sharp drop in its share price this year heading into Wednesday.
CEO Brian Cornell said Target’s sales and store traffic improved in July. Yet he said the company is wary about trends in the second half of the year including rising interest rates, the return of student loan payments this fall and still elevated prices of everyday items.
“As we look at the consumer landscape today, we recognize the consumer is still challenged by the levels of inflation that they’re seeing in food and beverage and household essentials,” he said on a call with reporters. “So that’s absorbing a much bigger portion of their budget.”
Here’s what Target reported for the three-month period that ended July 29, compared with Refinitiv consensus estimates:

Earnings per share: $1.80 vs. $1.39 expected
Revenue: $24.77 billion vs. $25.16 billion expected

Sales slide after Covid bump

Target, which saw enormous sales gains during the Covid pandemic, has tried to bounce back from about a year of disappointing results. Excess inventory and higher levels of markdowns hit profits last year. Its merchandise mix, which includes many fun and impulse-driven items, has become a liability as consumers focus on needs rather than wants and put discretionary dollars toward vacations and concerts.
Groceries account for only about 20% of Target’s annual revenue compared with more than half of Walmart’s annual revenue.
Target’s struggles to win over shoppers in the face of inflation have dragged down the company’s stock. As of Tuesday’s close, its shares had fallen 16% this year, even as the S&P 500 had risen by 15%. Its stock price touched a 52-week low of $124.96 on Tuesday, nearly cut in half from its pandemic highs.
Target’s challenges continued in the most recent three-month period. Total revenue dropped about 5% from $26.04 billion a year ago.
Comparable sales, a key metric that tracks sales online and at stores open at least 13 months, declined 5.4%. That’s a sharper fall than the 3.7% drop that analysts expected, according to consensus estimates from StreetAccount. 
For stores, comparable sales declined 4.3%. Digital comparable sales dropped 10.5%
Sales softened in the second half of May and into June before recovering in July, Cornell said. He said the Fourth of July holiday and Target Circle Week, its competing sale during Amazon Prime Day, helped lift results.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Fiddelke said on the call with reporters that it is hard to quantify which factors most contributed to Target’s slower sales. Among them, customers continued to buy less clothing, home decor and other nonessential items while paying more for food, energy and rent. The company’s sales tailed off compared with the year-ago period when sharp markdowns helped clear through a glut of inventory and drove purchases. 
And Target faced backlash in late May over its collection of merchandise celebrating Pride month, including some items it later pulled after threats to employees. The decision to remove certain items sparked more criticism. 
Cornell said “negative reaction” to Target’s Pride collection had a material impact on sales. But he defended the company’s response and said after Target removed some items in June out of concern for employee and customer safety, it “saw things normalize.” He said it will continue to have a collection for Pride month and other heritage months.

Clawing back to higher profits

Even as sales lagged, the retailer’s profits rebounded. Target’s fiscal second-quarter net income rose to $835 million, or $1.80 per share, from $183 million, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier. That beat analysts’ expectations.
In the year-ago quarter, the retailer’s quarterly profit had plummeted by nearly 90% as it coped with a glut of unsold items. It took aggressive steps to cancel orders, mark down prices and clear inventory as customers bought fewer popular pandemic categories and became more frugal because of inflation.
Fiddelke emphasized Target’s success in turning around some of those trends.
“We had talked about this year being a really important year in terms of building back the profitability of the business, and for the team to take a big step forward in the second quarter in spite of softer-than-expected sales is really great progress on that journey,” he said.
Along with company-specific actions, the discounter said it also benefited from lower markdowns, cheaper freight costs, reduced supply chain and online fulfillment expenses, and increased retail prices. But it said higher shrink, in part due to organized retail crime, hurt profits.
Inventory at the end of the quarter fell 17% compared with the year-ago period. Target said that lower inventory also reflects a 25% year-over-year drop in discretionary categories.
Over the past year, Target has shaken up its product mix to lean into high-frequency categories like groceries and household essentials. The company said growth in those areas helped offset declines in discretionary categories during the fiscal second quarter.
Target’s chief growth officer, Christina Hennington, said some items are still persuading customers to open up their wallets, such as brightly colored Stanley tumblers, Barbie-themed merchandise and a Taylor Swift vinyl exclusive to the retailer.
Beauty is also driving revenue. Sales at Ulta Beauty at Target, mini shops inside of its stores, more than doubled compared with a year ago, she said. Sales of other beauty items rose by double digits. And snacks, candy and beverages fueled growth in Target’s food and beverage category.
As Target tries to buoy sales for the rest of the year, she said the retailer is focused on offering affordable prices, stocking up on frequently purchased items and capitalizing on major seasons like back-to-school.
“We’re gonna play the long game,” she said on the call with reporters. “We don’t carry our assortment for a moment in time, but we’re going to lean into the kinds of things that have made Target Target.” More

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) increased to 7.16% from 7.09%.
Mortgage demand from homebuyers was 26% lower than the same week one year ago.
Applications to refinance a home loan fell 2% for the week and were 35% lower than the same week one year ago.

A real estate agent shows a home to a prospective buyer in Miami.
Getty Images

Mortgage rates rose for the third straight week last week, matching a 22-year high. As a result, mortgage demand dropped as well.
Total mortgage application volume was 29% lower than the same week one year ago, according to the Mortgage Banker’s Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) increased to 7.16% from 7.09%, with points decreasing to 0.68 from 0.70 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. That was the third straight weekly increase and the highest level since October 2022, which also matches a high level seen in 2001.
“Treasury rates were elevated again last week following mixed data on inflation and more indication of resiliency in the economy, which may pose a challenge to the Federal Reserve’s efforts to lower inflation,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist, in a release.
As a result, mortgage demand from homebuyers was essentially flat week to week and 26% lower than the same week one year ago. The adjustable-rate share of these applications did rise slightly, as ARM loans offer slightly lower rates, and buyers are looking for a break where they can find it.
Applications to refinance a home loan fell 2% for the week and were 35% lower than the same week one year ago. Last year the 30-year fixed was 5.45%, but the year before it was in the 3% range, so there are very few borrowers who can now benefit from a refinance.
While overall mortgage demand is dropping, applications for a mortgage to purchase a newly built home are rising, up 35.5% in July year over year, according to a separate MBA report released Tuesday. The Federal Housing Administration share of those applications hit the highest level since May 2020 and has increased in four of the last five months. FHA loans offer low down payment options and are thus popular with first-time homebuyers.

“This increasing trend in the FHA share is indicative of more first-time buyers looking to new homes as an option, given the lack of for-sale inventory among existing homes and challenging affordability conditions,” added Kan.
Mortgage rates continued to climb this week. On Tuesday, the average rate on the 30-year fixed hit 7.26%, according to Mortgage News Daily, the highest since last November. More

GM is leading a $60 million investment round in Mitra Chem, a California startup working on cheaper EV batteries.
Mitra Chem is aiming to develop low-cost lithium iron phosphate batteries that can hold more power than current versions.
If it’s successful, its batteries could appear in GM’s EVs later this decade.

Sales of the sub-$30,000 Chevy Bolt, being assembled here in Orion Township, Michigan, allowed GM to recently pass Ford as a distant No. 2 behind Tesla in EVs. Future low-cost GM EVs could benefit from the batteries being developed by Mitra Chem.
Joe White | Reuters

General Motors said on Wednesday it’s leading a $60 million financing round in Mitra Chem, a California-based startup working to develop lower-cost batteries for electric vehicles.
Mitra Chem, founded by veterans of Tesla and Toyota, is working to develop new types of batteries based on lithium iron phosphate chemistry. The batteries, abbreviated LFP based on the elements’ chemical symbols, are of great interest to EV makers because they do without expensive minerals like cobalt and nickel, meaning they cost less than standard lithium-ion cells.

Tesla, Rivian and Ford Motor are among the automakers using LFP cells in their more affordable models.
LFP cells have proven to be quite durable in EVs. But they have a disadvantage: Their power density is lower than standard cells. That means an EV needs more LFP battery cells, and thus more weight, to match the range of a similar model powered by conventional batteries.
In addition, most LFP cells that are currently available are made by Chinese companies — presenting a challenge for automakers aiming to build EVs that qualify for U.S. subsidies.
Mitra Chem is working on a variation of the LFP battery chemistry that adds manganese to the batteries’ cathodes, in a bid to increase the battery cells’ power density while retaining the LFP cost advantage. The company is using what it calls an “AI-powered platform” that, it says, greatly accelerates the process of trying new battery chemistries as it aims to hit just the right formula.
“Our battery materials R&D facility can synthesize and test thousands of cathode designs monthly, ranging in size from grams to kilograms,” said Mitra Chem CEO Vivas Kumar in a press conference ahead of the announcement. “These processes drive significantly shorten learning cycles, enabling shorter time to market for new battery cell formulas.”

Gil Golan, a GM vice president charged with speeding up the process of bringing new EV technologies to market, said that the auto giant is stepping up its focus on potential breakthroughs in battery technologies.
“Mitra Chem’s labs, methods and talent will fit well with our own R&D team’s work,” Golan said.
Golan said that if Mitra Chem is successful, its batteries could appear in GM’s vehicles later in this decade.
The specifics of GM’s investment in Mitra Chem weren’t disclosed. More