Premier Investments threatens Myer over quarterly disclosure change

Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments has threatened to take legal action if Myer fails to release its first quarter results, including sales and trading profit losses, before its upcoming AGM on 30 November.

In a letter sent to Myer directors, Premier Investments said that by withholding this information, the department store is being “disingenuous” to shareholders.

“In the Notice of the AGM, the Chairman described the 2018 AGM as ‘an extremely important event for Myer and for… our valued shareholders’,” Arnold Bloch Leibler partner Jeremy Leibler wrote in the letter.

“The Chairman’s statement is inconsistent with the decision to withhold information from the shareholders that will affect their voting decisions at the forthcoming AGM.”

Premier wants Myer to explain why the business no longer provides quarterly updates, and whether any third party financiers or advisors have been provided with trading updates since then.

Leibler said that a refusal to provide this information may lead to Premier taking “further action” without further notice.

A Myer spokesperson said that the business had advised the market in May that it would no longer provide quarterly sales updates, that it is well aware of its periodic and continuous disclosure obligations, and that it will update the market on its trading position when it is required to do so.

Just a few weeks ago, Premier Investments encouraged Myer shareholders to put pressure on the department store during the upcoming AGM in an effort to “regain control of our company from the banks and Myer’s failed Board of Directors.”

“Myer’s Board is constantly reacting after the event. Premier Investments has, over the past 14 months, consistently called out issues in advance. The current Myer board has refused to listen until it has simply been too late,” Lew said, following calls to remove the board earlier in the month.

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