Retail magnate Solomon Lew will rejoin the board of department store giant Myer, which reported widening losses today.
Lew, the owner of Premier Investments, has been a non-participating observer of Myer’s board since it acquired Just Jeans in December. He was originally scheduled to take a seat on the board in April, and Myer confirmed he will rejoin tomorrow, September 24, as a non-executive director.
Lew and the Myer leadership team are now assessing the retailer’s options after it reported a $276.5 million loss today. But despite a stock price that has declined by more than 61 per cent in the past 12 months, investors reacted positively to the earnings disclosure.
This reflects an 11.3 per cent boost in its groupwide sales following the addition of Premier’s brands, ending fiscal 2026 with more than $4 billion. Its heavy loss was driven by $319 million in one-off write-downs and expenses, the majority of which was a $279.6 million asset impairment. Without these one-off adjustments, the company generated an underlying after-tax profit of $42.5 million.
“The second half of FY26 was characterised by a volatile and significantly more challenging macroeconomic and retail environment than 1H26 or FY25,” said Myer Group executive chair Olivia Wirth.
“While our performance in the first four months of 2H26 was mixed, including a stronger May, we observed a material downturn in consumer sentiment. This was particularly evident in June and July, adding to subdued consumer sentiment and weak discretionary spending.”
Wirth added that the retailer is expecting volatile consumer behaviour to continue over the next 12 months.
Myer Apparel Brands’ sales fell by 1.3 per cent, which Myer said was driven by a soft performance across some former Premier Investment brands such as Portmans, despite the 6 per cent increase in sales at Just Jeans. The wider Myer Retail segment saw a modest 0.7 per cent increase in sales year-on-year.
