Department store Myer has revealed uplifting results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2013, as it moves towards a heavy Christmas trading season.
The company confirmed first quarter total sales for the thirteen weeks to October 27 2012 of $688.0 million, up 1.0 percent compared to last year. On a comparable store sales basis, sales were up 0.8 percent compared to last year.
Key categories of menswear, womenswear, cosmetics and childrenswear were the strongest performers during the quarter, with Western Australia and Queensland the best performing states.
Commenting on the results, Myer CEO Bernie Brookes, said that while the trading environment during the first quarter continued to be difficult, the quarter benefited from a modest improvement in consumer sentiment.
“While we welcomed the October interest rate cut there are a myriad of factors currently in the mix and influencing discretionary spend, so we continue to be cautious about the trading environment,” he said.
“In the context of this environment we have been pleased with continued progress in executing our five-point strategic plan to improve customer service, to enhance our merchandise offer, strengthen our loyalty program, build a leading omni-channel offer and optimise our store network.”
Brookes also alluded to the continued strong performance of Sass & Bide in both the standalone and Myer stores as “particularly encouraging”.
Looking forward, he said the retailer has started refurbishments at Indooroopilly (Queensland) and Highpoint (Victoria) and will start a major refurbishment of its Adelaide (South Australia) store in the new year, in addition to other initiatives.
“We are looking forward to our busiest time of year during the Christmas and stocktake trading period. We are delighted with how the stores look, in particular showcasing our many new brands and highlighting the bright colours in this season’s merchandise,” he said.
“We are making good progress on improving our website and there remains a strong pipeline of future improvements. We are confident that we are continuing to make good progress on improving our customer service as well as enhancing our loyalty program for our 4.9 million Myer One members.”
As previously reported on ragtrader.com.au Myer suffered a significant drop in profit for the 2012 fiscal year. The results, for the year ending July 28, saw Myer's full year sales down 1.3 per cent to $3.19 billion, with comparable store sales also down by 2.0 per cent.