Lew turns the screw

RETAIL billionaire Solomon Lew says Myer’s chairman is presiding over an organisation where “value destruction” has become “culturally entrenched”.

This blistering assessment forms part of a attack on the performance of Myer issued as part of Mr Lew’s campaign to topple the board at its coming annual meeting.

Mr Lew’s retail vehicle Premier Investments is the biggest shareholder in Myer.

His latest attack – which savages Myer chairman Garry Hounsell – is made in an eight-page letter sent to each of the retailer’s 48,000 shareholders calling on them to vote against its remuneration report at this month’s annual meeting.

Premier is also calling for shareholders to vote in favour of a resolution to appoint it as a proxy to decide on a resolution to grant performance options to Myer chief executive John King.

“Since Garry Hounsell joined the board, Myer’s share price has fallen 35 per cent and Myer has stopped declaring dividends for the first time since its ASX listing,” Mr Lew wrote.

Mr Lew, whose empire includes Smiggle, Peter Alexander, Just Jeans and Portmans, last year drew a first strike against Myer’s remuneration report.

If 25 per cent of shareholders vote the report down at this year’s general meeting, they will then vote on whether all board members should stand for re-election.

Such an outcome would open the door for Mr Lew to put forward a hand-picked team of directors he says are needed to save the department store. Myer’s other large shareholders, Investors Mutual and Wilson Asset Management, have to date publicly backed the board.