According to the agreement, the company’s subsidiary Marico South-East Asia Corporation (MSEA) will acquire 75% of Skinetiq’s total shares from its existing shareholders and said it can acquire Skinetiq’s remaining shares after FY28, given the achievement of requisite milestones.

“The investment in Skinetiq reflects our commitment to building a strong premium beauty play in Vietnam and advancing our D2C strategy internationally,” said Saugata Gupta, managing director and CEO, Marico Ltd, adding that Vietnam remains a priority market for the company due to its “strong macroeconomic fundamentals and rapidly evolving beauty landscape.”

Co-founded by Bui Ngoc Anh and Vietnamese beauty blogger Hannah Nguyen in 2020, Skinetiq owns the digital-first skincare brand Candid and holds exclusive distribution rights in the country for the premium skincare brand Murad.

In 2025, Skinetiq reported a revenue of Rs 152 crore with a mid-twenties EBITDA margin.

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Marico Ltd has remained bullish on acquisitions to diversify its D2C portfolio as witnessed by the recent acquisition of Indian plant-based protein brand Cosmix in early February.
“We remain focused on advancing our diversification agenda in both India and overseas businesses and will maintain investments to drive the same,” the company said in its recent earnings call.

Actress Sydney Sweeney rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday alongside American Eagle Outfitters Chairman and CEO Jay Schottenstein.

Sweeney was also joined by other executives from the retailer as she signed a book on the trading floor.

The actress partnered with American Eagle in 2025 for an advertising campaign that drew significant attention online.

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Actress Sydney Sweeney appears on a billboard outside the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 9, 2026, in New York City. (Raymond Hall/GC Images via Getty)

Sweeney wore jeans and a light blue denim jacket at the NYSE, an apparent nod to the “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” slogan that was released last summer.

The widely discussed campaign drew criticism, with some detractors arguing that its wordplay blurred the line between fashion marketing and references to genetic traits.

“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color,” the “Euphoria” star said in the video. “My jeans are blue.”

Actress Sydney Sweeney stands with American Eagle Outfitters executives as she rings the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 9, 2026, in New York City. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

President Donald Trump defended Sweeney in a Truth Social post, saying in part, “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ‘em Sydney!”

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American Eagle also responded to the backlash, writing on social media that the ad “is and always was about the jeans.”

Actress Sydney Sweeney stands with American Eagle CEO Jay L. Schottenstein after ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the American Eagle brand on Feb. 9, 2026, in New York. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way,” the company said.

“Great jeans look good on everyone.”

A former top rival of grocery giant Kroger has been named the company’s next chief executive officer.

Greg Foran — former CEO of Walmart’s U.S. division — will now lead Kroger following an “extensive” year-long search for “an innovative retail leader with a strong track record,” the company announced Monday.

Kroger is America’s biggest grocer by sales, behind only Walmart, and has been looking for a new leader since March 2025 when former CEO Rodney McMullen was ousted over an undisclosed ethics violation.

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“Kroger is one of the most dynamic companies in retail,” Foran said in a press release. “The company is built on a strong foundation, supported by a talented leadership team, and caring associates who are dedicated to the customers and communities they serve.”

A shopper pushes a cart inside a Kroger supermarket in Peoria, Illinois. (Getty Images)

“At this moment in Kroger’s journey, I can honestly say this is the best job on the planet,” he continued. “I look forward to working with the Board and the entire team to build on this momentum, continue raising the bar for customers, and deliver long-term value for customers, associates, and shareholders.”

“Greg is a highly respected operator who knows how to run large-scale retail businesses, strengthen store execution, and lead high-performing teams,” Kroger Interim CEO Ron Sargent also said.

“His leadership style, focus on the customer, commitment to associates, and disciplined approach to execution are the perfect fit for Kroger,” Sargent added. “The Board is confident Greg is the right leader to guide Kroger into its next chapter.”

Foran worked for Walmart between 2014 and 2019 and is credited with managing and turning around more than 4,600 stores while introducing digital ordering and pickup. Walmart also recorded 20 consecutive quarters of comparable sales growth under his leadership.

After he left Walmart, the 64-year-old New Zealand native served as CEO of Air New Zealand, a role he held until October.

In reaction to the news, Kroger shares were up about 5% shortly after the opening bell.

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After McMullen’s removal and prior to Foran’s arrival, Kroger worked to cut costs across operations, eliminating about 1,000 jobs and closing dozens of stores in recent months. Sargent previously said the reviewed areas were not meaningful to the company’s future growth and determined that closing the stores “will make the company more efficient.”

Kroger’s total company sales were $33.9 billion in the third quarter of 2025, up from $33.6 billion during the same period last year. The company attributed the performance to strength in fresh food and e-commerce, helping sales hold steady.

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We are now in a time of manufacturing where precision is more than a technical necessity; it’s a business requirement. The more complex, globally dispersed and demanding things get, the less slack remains in the system.

Under these circumstances tolerance management has become a decisive competence and affects competitiveness not only in terms of controlling costs, ensuring quality and improving production efficiency but also for long term market success.

What once was a niche engineering problem tolerance management has moved to straddle the design, operations and corporate boardroom. As manufacturers wrestle with digital transformation and Industry 4.0, getting to grips with tolerance strategies is a must if you’re going to build better and more importantly stronger products, not just in terms of quality but also as businesses that are disaster-proof.

The Unseen Price of Bad Weight Decisions

Tolerance choices have implications in almost every single step of the manufacturing cycle, and yet their cost implications are grossly overlooked. Too stringent of tolerances can escalate machining costs, drag production down, and soar scrap rates. A high level of scatter, on the other extreme can create assembly rejects, warranty build-ups and discontent customers.

These costs are rarely isolated. One tolerance problem can reverberate through suppliers, production lines and logistics networks, snowballing its effects. For high-volume industry and regulated industries, the effects could be recalls, compliance breaches or reputation damage.

There’s a business benefit to Tolerance Management being not a channel for the pursuit of perfection. It’s sort of striking the trade-off between precision and practicality for realizing predictable results at scale.

Why Tolerance Management Is Not Only an Engineering Problem Anymore

In the past, tolerances were pretty much in the hands of design engineers. Technical skills are necessary but not sufficient in today’s manufacturing, which requires a more expansive responsibility. Modern products are created through interdependent design, procurement, quality and production teams that frequently work across multiple companies and in exchange across geographies.

Executives need to appreciate how tolerance choices influence cost structures, supplier relationships and time-to-market. Organizations fail to capitalise on performance and profitability if tolerances are viewed as uncoupled technical parameters rather than strategic variables.

As the production becomes data centric, tolerance management is increasingly affecting executive level KPIs such as yield, uptime and ROI.

The influence of tolerance management on supply chain stability

Longer, global supply chains have made manufacturing more complex. Parts from various suppliers have to work well together, run on different production capacities and quality standards simultaneously.

Good tolerance management helps manufacturers to predict and control variation between suppliers. It allows for better-defined requirements, more realistic supplier expectations and less surprises during assembly. Poorly defined or misunderstood tolerances needlessly add friction to the supply chain, resulting in delays, rework, and damaged joints.

Those that do manage tolerances proactively have stronger supplier ecosystems and more resilient production schedules.

Quality, Compliance, and Customer Trust

In automotive, aerospace, medical devices and electronics the decisions about tolerances have a direct impact on compliance and safety. Regulatory requirements sometimes specify the need for manufacturers to show control of both variation and repeatability.

Requirements Tolerance management supports characterization of these requirements as it helps in more accurate risk assessment and validation activities. It also improves traceability to be able to prove due diligence during audits or investigations.

Quality is key for customers Customers and quality also go hand in hand. Reliability of a product over time positively supports the brand and lowers lifecycle cost. Tolerance management is one of those unsung principles that helps maintain that consistency.

Digital Manufacturing and The Call for Intelligent Tolerance Approaches

The advent of digital manufacturing tools has disrupted the way products are designed and made. Advanced simulation, model-based definition and digital twins enable manufacturers to predict performance before the physical production even starts.

Tolerance analysis is an integral part of such digital ecosystem. When introduced into the design process early, it lets teams analyze trade-offs, assess risk areas and determine options before costs are committed.

Companies investing in tolerance knowledge have a competitive advantage through less late stage design change and faster product to market.

Building Organizational Capability Through Training

It’s ironic, but tolerance management is the most neglected skill in organizations despite its criticality. Engineers are forced to turn to rule of thumb estimates, and management doesn’t have clear insight on how tolerance decisions translate into business outcomes.

Structured education can help to helm this deficit. Tolerance theory integrated with application in the shop floor marries academia and manufacturing best practice, where teams can make informed decisions involving cross-functional considerations. Aside from the big picture, in a training targeted at business goals and technical precision like Sigmetrix, specific learning experiences are supported.

Manufacturers who invest in training related to tolerance are reinforcing cross-functional teamwork and will become less dependent on individual experts.

Tolerance Management and Cost Optimization

Cost Saving This is one of the areas where tangible benefits for a Successful tolerance management are witnessed. By matching tolerances to functional needs instead of random values, manufacturers can minimize over-machining, inspection and reworking.

This is an overall but not a one part optimization. More predictable assembly processes, lower inventory buffers and improved throughput result. These savings compound over time, leading to better margins and more scalable operations.

By doing so, tolerance management turns into a lever for continuous improvement in the eyes of companies rather than be perceived as something static.

The Role of Leadership on the way to Tolerance Excellence

Leaders who realise the strategic potential of tolerance management foster to its success in their organisations. When leaders focus on controlling variation, and facilitate data-informed decision making, teams can address causes of problems rather than just the symptoms.

Leadership participation also guarantees that considerations to tolerance are developed in conjunction with other enterprise wide initiatives like lean manufacturing, 6 Sigma and digital transformation. The alignment ensures that silos don’t develop and fosters a culture of quality and accountability.

In today’s manufacturing, tolerance management is not a “one and done” practice but rather an enduring regiment that grows with products and processes.

Preparing for the Future of Factory Work

Tolerance struggles are only going to get worse as more and more customization, automation, material alike continues to flood the market. Manufacturers that don’t have close control over their tolerances risk getting left in the dust by more nimble rivals.

Organizations that are future looking see tolerance management as a core capability that enables innovation and yet maintain reliability. They spend on tools, training and teamwork to be proactive about complexity.

Where precision must co-habit with speed, tolerance management is the platform for growth.

Conclusion: From Technical Detail to Competitive Advantage

“Tolerance management is the fastest growing skill in manufacturing.” Once viewed as a technical detail, it is now strategically positioned to impact cost-efficiency, quality of service, compliance and customer satisfaction.

Manufacturers who move tolerance management out of the drawing room and onto the boardroom table are in a position to achieve precision, power and peace of mind. By coordinating technical accuracy and business objectives they turn variation from a danger into an opportunity.

In a tough, dynamic world of manufacturing, competence in tolerance has become anything, but an option. It is a business-critical even puts resilient manufacturers ahead of the game.

Its credit cost for the quarter was seen at 3.3%, well below the guidance of 4-6% for the fiscal. Provisions in absolute terms were at Rs 106 crore as against Rs 164 crore in the year ago quarter, in line with a fall in gross non-performing assets ratio to 4.4% at the end of December from 4.6% three months prior.

Pre-provisioning operating profit however stood lower at Rs 175 crore as compared with Rs 252 crore.

The lender’s net interest margin for the quarter stood at 12%, up 11 basis points from the preceding quarter. Its gross loan portfolio grew 5.4% year-on-year to Rs 13,079 crore.

“The microfinance sector has emerged from a challenging phase with industry gradually returning to a sustainable growth path,” chairman Thomas Muthoot said.

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GIC Housing Finance reported Rs 44 crore net profit for the third quarter of the fiscal, reflecting a 12% drop from the year-ago period’s Rs 50 crore. The lender’s total expenses stood higher at Rs 218 crore against Rs 214 crore while total income was higher at Rs 273 crore against Rs 270 crore. Its gross non-performing assets ratio rose to 4.24% at the end of December 2025 from 3.47% a year prior. The lender’s net profit margin declined to 16% from 18.4% a year back.