It is important to recognize that this guidance is pre implementation costs and individually significant items. These will be material amounts and real cash is expended with implementation costs, leaving aside goodwill for a moment.
Also, you would be wise to note that the Stocktake Sale period was down 6.5%.
Note that due to the high fixed costs that Myer has, a material decline in revenue will be felt exponentially at the profit line.
They can talk up their online presence all they like, but the fact remains that sales are decreasing.
Don't blame Lew for the poor change strategy that has failed, loss of the CEO, a H1 result that will be just a fraction of last year's and a 6.5% reduction in revenue for their "key Stocktake Sales period".
The dividend was not even mentioned in the market update. They need a cash war chest to pay for more structural and implementation costs. Giving out 15m in dividends is not something that I would do if it was my business - just have a look at the operating and finance cash flow for FY17. With any update, sometimes it is want they don't say that is really important.
You might want to go back and have a look at their H1 announcements for last year and what their guidance was, compared to what actually happened.
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)