News roundup--Celtic Sheepskin, Majestic Wines, more

Cornwall-based apparel and accessories cataloguer Celtic Sheepskin is launching US, Japanese and European websites in August and will follow up the launches with a US catalogue in September. The expansion follows the recruitment of Monique Louis as managing director in April.

Majestic Wines delivered a group pretax profit of £23.2 million in the year ended 2nd April, a rise of 14.5 percent. The wine retailer, which has 181 stores and an online shop, saw sales increase 8.9 percent to £280.3 million. Online sales grew 7.8 percent and now represent 10 percent of UK retail sales.

Sir Stuart Rose, the former chairman and chief executive of Marks & Spencer, has made a return to the high street as chairman of apparel retailer Blue Inc, reports the Telegraph.

Tesco has announced plans for its exit from Japan. The first phase will see the supermarket sell half its stake in Tesco Japan to Aeon, a leading Japanese retailer, for a nominal sum. The deal creates a joint venture, in which Tesco will invest a further £40 million to finance further restructuring. Following the investment, Tesco will have no further financial exposure to the Japanese business or its operations. It is understood the remaining 50 percent stake will be sold to Aeon at a later date.