Australia's Myer reports fall in Q3 sales

Australia’s biggest department store chain, Myer Holdings Ltd, posted a 2.7 percent drop in third-quarter sales on Wednesday, hit by an unseasonably warm start to winter.

The firm added that the weather could impact fourth-quarter profit and that it would no longer provide quarterly sales updates from fiscal year 2019.

Sales were A$635.3 million ($474.6 million) in the third quarter ended April 28, from A$653.0 million a year earlier. Analysts do not release quarterly sales forecasts for Myer.

Online sales grew 49.4 percent over the course of the quarter.

“The unseasonably warm start to winter has impacted sales, particularly in winter apparel, shoes and accessories,” Executive Chairman Garry Hounsell said in a statement.

In March, Myer posted its biggest half-yearly loss since listing as it wrote off underperforming assets. It also ousted its CEO and replaced him with John King, a former head of Britain’s House of Fraser Ltd, in an effort to speed up its recovery.

The 118-year-old company has been closing stores, cutting prices and beefing up its online offer to lure back shoppers from online rivals like Amazon.com Inc and discount brick-and-mortar specialists like Uniqlo Co Ltd.

Myer has seen its market capitalisation shrink to a fraction of its 2009 listing value as it battles online competition and a revolt from shareholder Solomon Lew, who is trying to oust the board.