Myer defies expectations

Myer expects profit for the year to be between $66 million and $72 million.

The department store revised its previous guidance of between $64 million and $72 million. 

This excludes implementation costs associated with the New Myer turnaround strategy.

Total sales for the first half of the year were up 1.8% to $1.8 million, with comparable sales up 3.3%.

Myer CEO Richard Umbers said there are encouraging results, despite a 4% fall in profit to $59.7 million.

“Only months into the first year of our five year strategy, we are pleased with the early progress and positive customer response to initiatives delivered under the New Myer strategy, particularly in our flagship and premium stores.

“Our first wave of initiatives to deliver wanted brands, enhanced customer service and an improved omni-channel experience have helped deliver comparable store sales growth of 7.1% across 12 Victorian and New South Wales flagship and premium stores.

"This is a very encouraging result. We have a significant pipeline of further improvements and the team has a strong focus on execution,” he said.