FRANCE: Carrefour chief executive Lars Olofsson has looked to reassure investors that the decision to divide the group into three by spinning off its hard discount business and 25% of its property arm will pay off both for shareholders and the company. Analysts, however, suggested that value might only be generated in the long-term. Olofsson also said the remodelled Carrefour would start another phase of expansion in France within two years.

BRAZIL: Nestlé is to invest £60m in a new dairy facility in the state of Rio de Janeiro, creating more than 1,000 jobs. The site will produce 124,000 tonnes of milk products a year, including popular liquid milk brands Ninho and Molico. The facility, which is Nestlé's third production site in the state, will promote efficient use of energy and water.

INDIA: Shopper's Stop is set to invest £60m in a new expansion programme. It plans to open 24 new Shopper's Stop department stores, taking its department store estate to 60, and increase the number of HyperCity stores from nine to 26. The expansion was announced as the Global Retail Development Index by AT Kearney indicated that India's retail market was expected to grow to £333bn by 2013, up from £255bn this year.

US: Walmart is to open two new stores in Chicago. The stores will create close to 1,000 new jobs and nearly 200 construction jobs putting Walmart on the path to meeting the targets in its Chicago Community Investment Partnership. The five-year scheme, which was launched last summer, proposes several dozen new stores, adding 10,000 retail jobs and 2,000 construction jobs. It also plans to generate more than £310m in sales and property taxes and develop charitable partnerships worth £12m.

RUSSIA: X5 Retail Group has named Andrei Gusev as its next chief executive. Lev Khasis resigned after five years at the helm to pursue "personal projects". Before leading X5, Khasis was the chairman of the board of Perekryostok, which merged with Pyaterochka to form X5 in 2006. Gusev, currently the deputy CEO, was also on the Perekryostok board.