Aussie retail giant records $276 million loss, second-largest in company’s history
Retail giant Myer has blamed a “volatile and significantly more challenging” economic environment as it recorded its second-largest loss in its history.
The retailer’s latest financial results, released on Wednesday, show the Myer Group posted a $276 million loss in the last financial year.
Myer recorded the second biggest loss in its history, and the difficult economic climate could remain for some time. iStock
The only time the company recorded a larger loss was in 2018, when it recorded a $486 million deficit.
While its total sales rose by 0.7 per cent to $4.1 billion, its underlying post profit was $42.5 million, which was about three per cent lower than last year.
The biggest impact to the bottom line was caused by a one-off, non-cash, post tax impairment of $279.6 million, which was caused by “goodwill, brand intangibles, and store impairment across [the] Myer Group.”
While sales in some brands of the company were solid, this was offset by poorer performances in others, including Portmans, according to the company’s announcement to shareholders.
Myer Group executive chair Olivia Worth said the company was forced to deal with a difficult climate in the second half of the financial year.
The second half of FY26 was characterised by a volatile and significantly more challenging macroeconomic and retail environment than 1H26 or FY25,” she said.
“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.”
This coincided with the outbreak of the Middle East war, which contributed to a rise in general cost of living, meaning customers were less willing to spend in the retail market.
Worth also admitted the company may experience economic headwinds for some time.
“Consistent with the trends we observed in June and July, trading through the early part of FY27 has remained uneven, with softer conditions experienced in August,” she said, as cost of living pressures continue.
She predicted there would be a small rebound towards the end of the calendar year, with Black Friday and Christmas sales contributing to this.
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