This morning, popular Australian luxury retailer Myer Holdings [ASX:MYR] revealed a 24.8% uptick in total sales for the five months through to 31 December 2022, compared with the same time the previous year.
In its most recent trading report, the retailer chose to compare its performance for the period 31 July to 31 December, with a rise in store and total sales as consumer momentum increases post-COVID.
Shareholders were tipping the Myer share price more than 4% earlier today (24/01/2023). A MYR share was worth 85 cents apiece.
Over the past month, Myer has seen a surge of 33% in its share value, and it has expanded by 130% over the last full year.
Source: Ttradingview.com
Myer’s five-month trading update
This morning Myer Holdings touted growth in sales both within and without COVID-19 parameters and shared its expectations for the end of January 2023.
In terms of sales growth for the five months to 31 December 2022, total sales had risen 24.8% on December 2021.
Store sales likewise saw a significant boost, with an increase of 37.9%, contributing to the surge in overall sales.
Online customers were not as enthusiastic, however, decreasing online sales by 9.4%.
Myer sought to look at the bigger picture and compared the result against corresponding periods that were not affected by COVID-19.
As it happens, total sales had also increased by 19.9% on the first half of 2020 and went up 14.3% compared with the first half of 2019.
The group pointed out that its store sales were unfavourably impacted by store closures in the first quarter of 2022, negatively affecting group performance, especially in combination with the Omicron variant through the Christmas and stocktake periods in the second quarter.
Having said that, Myer also admitted that Group online sales were positively impacted during those periods, which were up 39.9% in the five months to 1H 2021.
Myer’s 1H23 guidance
Myer said that its stocktake trading sale period has been outperforming 1H22, which comes as no surprise as it is compared to the period burdened by the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Now the group expects its first-half net profit to be between $61 million and $66 million, which is a leap of between 89% and 104% in comparison with the first half of 2022.
It’s also a 54–67% jump on the first half of 2020 before the pandemic made its impact.
The stocktake sale period is currently ongoing, and Myer will conclude its interim reporting period on 28 January, with results to be released in March.
Myer CEO, John King, commented:
‘The results, which reflect our best sales on record for the first five months, are particularly pleasing and more importantly also reflect improved profitability within the business.
‘As with most retailers, we remain cautious on the macroeconomic environment for the remainder of the calendar year but are equally confident in the continuing momentum we have within the Customer First Plan and a range of initiatives we are executing.’
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