Photo credit; Timothy H on Flickr
The Myer department store chain says it is cautious about the year ahead, given the difficult economic environment and weak consumer sentiment, but insists its online division will start seeing a profit by 2015.
Chairman Paul McClintock said that while sales in the first quarter reflected a modest improvement in consumer sentiment following the September election, the challenging conditions have continued.
The group remained “cautious about the year ahead given the challenges of the economic outlook and consumer confidence,” McClintock said, speaking at the group’s annual meting in Melbourne recently.
He said the business would be affected by major refurbishments and face increased operating costs in 2014 and that Myer would benefit the following year from “stronger fundamentals as a result of the completion of major refurbishments, the online business becoming profitable and the ongoing optimisation of our store network”.
During the current financial year, three of Myer’s top 20 stores will be refurbished.
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