Myer reports quarterly sales dive, affirms full-year guidance

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
May 11, 2017

Australian department store Myer said total sales fell 3.3% to A$653 million, hurt by several store closures, despite recording strong online growth and higher sales per square metre.

For the three-month period ending April 29, Myer said same-store sales dipped 2%, falling short of a 1% drop predicted by experts. After nine months of trade, Myer's total sales for the fiscal year are down 1.3% to $2.4 billion, silencing Myer's predictions of a 3% annual sales growth target.

Revenues were hurt by store closures at Wollongong, Orange and Brookside, severe weather in Queensland and northern New South Wales associated with Cyclone Debbie, and poor consumer sentiment. 

Fashion brand sass & bide, which Myer bought in 2011, continued its weak trading and accounted for $1.5 million of Myer's third-quarter sales shortfall, signalling a dip in designer women's sales for the department store.

However, online sales grew 36% in the year to date and sales per square metre had improved 5.1% since mid-2015, Myer said.  

Myer chief executive Richard Umbers said the poor showing would not stop the department store from hitting its full-year guidance.

"We have remained strongly focused on driving productivity, lifting efficiency and deducting our historic dependency on discounting, all of which have impacted the result," said Umbers.

Myer shares were hit hard on Monday with a 10% drop after a downgrade by Credit Suisse, which stock slipped 2.5¢ to 98.75¢ in early trade. 

The share price fall comes after Australian retail entrepreneur Solomon Lew spent A$101.7m to scoop up a 10.7% stake at a higher per-share price during March. He bought the stake through his Premier Investments vehicle and is the firm’s biggest shareholder.