Lew on the prowl as Myer shares plunge

MYER shares have hit another low after it issued its third profit warning in a year, handing Solomon Lew fresh fuel for his campaign to overthrow the board.

In a gloomy trading update, the struggling department store chain warned shareholders to brace for writedowns in upcoming first-half results as it reviews the value of its brands and goodwill.

Mr Lew, a billionaire fashion magnate, immediately sized on the update yesterday, saying Myer was now “in peril” and shareholders “must unite to save the company from its failed board”.

His company Premier Investments, whose stable of brands includes Just Jeans, Smiggle, Portmans and Peter Alexander, has a 10.8 per cent stake in Myer.

The latest ructions came as struggling retail chain Specialty Fashion Group announced it had appointed former Myer deputy chief Daniel Bracken as its chief executive.

Mr Bracken left Myer last year after it issued a trading update that largely wiped out its full-year net profit.

The retail executive takes over a suite of brands including Rivers, Millers, Katies and City Chic at Speciality Fashion, which is also struggling to attract shoppers amid growing online and international competition.

Myer, which also issued a profit warning leading into Christmas, yesterday said its January stocktake sales had been poorer than expected.

Total sales for the 26 weeks ending January 27 fell 3.6 per cent, compared with the same period a year earlier, to $1.72 billion.

The retailer now expects underlying profit — which excludes one-off items such as asset writedowns — to range from $37 million to $41 million when it reports its first-half results next month.

That compares with the $62.8 million it posted for the same period a year earlier.