LEW LIVID AT MYER AS SMIGGLE SAVES THE DAY
RETAIL billionaire and Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew has savaged Myer’s turnaround strategy, saying the department store chain’s inventory belongs at the “Salvation Army” and the management team has “lost its way”.
The retail mogul, who bought a 10.8 per cent shareholding in Myer in March for $101 million, had a spray at the company yesterday after revealing his shares were now worth just $67.7 million.
Mr Lew, a former chairman of Coles Myer, said he was “bitterly disappointed” in his investment and the Myer board for talking up the company in late 2016 despite the challenging retail headwinds.
“At the time when we bought in (to Myer) ... the market was given the impression that the company was on the up and up and that they have seen the worst behind them, which wasn’t the case,” he said yesterday.
“I am bitterly disappointed … We are not in the ‘lose money business’; Lew doesn’t like to lose money.”
Mr Lew was speaking after the release of the results for his company Premier Investments, which lifted its full-year net profit by 1.2 per cent to $105.1 million.
Mr Lew and Premier chief executive Mark McInnes said the result was helped by strong growth in the children’s stationery chain Smiggle and sleepwear chain Peter Alexander.
Smiggle posted global sales of $238.9 million, up 28.8 per cent on the year prior, helped by the opening of 58 new stores globally and continuing like for like sales growth in all countries.
The brand, so popular with children, now has 300 stores around the world.
Premier shares fell 35c yesterday to close at $13.40.