David Jones sales increased by 1.4 per cent with total sales of $417.4 million for the third quarter (3Q) compared to the same period in 2009. Like for like sales also grew by 1.4 per cent compared to 3Q09.
David Jones CEO Mark McInnes said the results were as expected and in line with the company’s forecasts.
“We have not seen anything in the market that we did not expect, other than the unseasonably warm weather,” he said.
“Our core KPIs are in good shape. Our inventory has been tightly managed, our cost efficiency programs are all on track to deliver the savings we had planned, our gross profit is well managed and our financial services business is performing well.”
McInnes said all projects were on track. The new Bourke Street (Melbourne) store is due to be completed and trading by early next year, while the Kotara store will be completed at the end of this year and the new Claremont store is due to open in March 2011.
“As stated in March, we remain very cautious about cycling the government stimulus in the fourth quarter of this year and expect challenging conditions to continue for this quarter. Nevertheless, our business is in good shape and we reaffirm our profit after tax (PAT) growth guidance of five to 10 per cent for the second half of this year.”