Myer said in a statement to the ASX on Tuesday it now expects net profit to land somewhere around $49 million to $53 million – a sizeable drop from its 2023 half-year profits of $65 million this time last year.
Wilson Asset Management lead portfolio manager Oscar Oberg said last year’s figures were boosted by shopper exuberance after the end of lockdowns and their eagerness to be out and about again – a very different economic environment to the present,which has caused analysts to slash expectations of retailers over darkening consumer sentiment.
“Starting from around January last year,clearly a lot of the interest rate increases and inflation started to bite the consumer. What we saw was that analysts heavily discounted earnings forecasts[…] for most of the retail sector,” Oberg said.
“I think it’s a simple case of the results are not as bad as people thought.”
‘I think it’s a simple case of the results are not as bad as people thought.’
Wilson Asset Management’s Oscar Oberg
Oberg said retail analysts were forecasting that Myer would notch $51 million in profits for the entire year,which its half-year results will nearly reach or surpass.
“The expectations were low,and it’s better than what the market had thought. More importantly,the valuations are very cheap,” he explained.