Myer (MYR) has delivered its best start to a new financial year since 2006 while the company delivered its best 2nd half results since 2013 and the board even announced a 2.5c dividend – this household name has unfortunately probably been the ASX’s largest “dividend trap” of the last decade.
- MYR’s department sales grew almost 75% in the first 6 weeks of the fiscal year, a good indicator, net profit also rose 16.5% to $60.2mn.
- The board are understandably optimistic towards Christmas sales with basically full employment offsetting rising inflation pressures when it comes to retail spending – for now.
Moving forward the position of the consumer is obviously a precarious one as interest rates & energy bills rise but at least fuel and food prices are starting to offer some relief. Only a few days ago we received further confirmation that global consumers remain strong with iPhone orders beating expectations although they do have a habit of doing that! The key for us is mortgage stress, while this beast remains under control retail spending should be just fine.
- The Australian consumer is healthy today but investors remain concerned that a recession is on the horizon e.g. US bond spreads suggest it’s highly likely although how deep is another question that is very hard to answer.