David Jones has reported a 325 per cent jump in EBITDA for the nine months to March 2026 in a press release today that immediately followed the completion of a $190 million refinancing deal.
The 188-year-old retailer’s earnings lift is said to be driven by the return to trade of refurbished stores, alongside cost efficiencies and high-margin growth. This followed the completion of a $250 million transformation strategy.
The company did not disclose the actual EBITDA amount.
The lift in earnings joined a 3.6 per cent lift in total sales, which appears slightly ahead of rival Myer’s total sales growth in the first half of FY26.
These results come ahead of the department store’s FY25 financial report, which is yet to be displayed on the ASIC website. David Jones’ owner, Anchorage Capital Partners, reaffirmed its long-term commitment to the brand, noting that the 2025 ASIC filings reflect a period of heavy capital expenditure and planned store closures for refurbishment – investment that has now concluded.
“Anchorage is 100 per cent behind David Jones,” a spokesperson for the parent company said. “We have successfully returned this icon to Australian hands, recapitalised the business with a $190 million facility not due to expire until late 2028, and executed a transformation that many said was impossible. David Jones is now debt-lean, operationally efficient, and remains the undisputed home of premium retail in Australia.”
Other key figures in the YTD trading update show online sales growing by 10 per cent in the nine months to March 2026, which followed a web re-platforming. Meanwhile, cost of doing business (CODB) decreased by 5.6 per cent, reflecting a “leaner, modernised operating model” according to David Jones.
The numbers appear to tell the story of a business that spent the last few years absorbing significant short-term pain in pursuit of long-term gain. In FY24, David Jones reported a $74 million loss. The latest trading update doesn’t indicate what the bottom-line looks like. Ragtrader awaits to see the FY25 financial report.
Under its Vision 2025+ transformation strategy, David Jones closed stores during refurbishment, invested heavily in digital infrastructure and restructured its operations.
Six major stores have been refurbished as part of the program — Chatswood, Bondi Junction, Bourke Street, Chadstone, Southland and Burwood — and their return to trade is cited as a key driver of the earnings surge.
David Jones CEO Scott Fyfe said the results validate the strategy.
"The FY26 performance year-to-date evidences the successful completion of our $250 million Vision 2025+ strategy," he said, pointing to gross profit growth of 2.6 per cent and the reduction in the cost of doing business as evidence that the shape of the business has fundamentally changed.
With Vision 2025+ now complete, David Jones is turning its attention to what comes next. The company is pivoting to a new five-year strategy called INSPIRE30 — which it calls a data-led plan centred on premium positioning and omnichannel dominance.
David Jones has 38 locations across Australia and New Zealand, as well as davidjones.com and the new mobile app in Australia and is the oldest continuously operating department store in the world still trading under its original name.
All this followed reports earlier this year that the department store was facing troubles, with supplier payments being behind by up to 16 days overdue, according to data from CreditorWatch. A spokesperson for David Jones had indicated the business was streamlining its payment processes.