There was one error above in my initial post: the 'tag rate' of...

There was one error above in my initial post: the 'tag rate' of MYR ONE cards refers to the 70 per cent of MYR sales made using a card, not the percentage of cards in active use. Apologies!

At the briefing, Mr Niger Chadwick, CFO, said that in FY 21, when stores have been open, trading has been solid. Much later, during analysts' questions, MD/CEO Mr John King said that as soon as stores (re)emerge from lockdowns, shoppers go back in as they're depsperate to get out of the house.

Mr King said in response to an analyst that the lockdown strategy was a 'one pony trick' strategy.

Mr Chadwick said that in June and July 2021, when stores had been open, trading was up 15 per cent compared to the previous year. (I think this was a nationwide figure, and may relate only to stores that had emerged from lockdown).

The A$51 million received in FY 21 from JobKeeper subsidies and landlords' rent waivers compared to A$66 million in FY 20. Importantly, those JobK monies flowed through to staff in one way or another. Had it not been available, MYR may have been forced to make different decisions re staff (the implication being far less favourable to staff).

With rent waivers, only $1 million was booked thus far re 2 H 21. Discussions are underway, including in Sydney where in relation to an analyst's question later after the presentation, Mr King acknowledged that MYR had excess space in the Sydney CBD. He said if any rent waivers result from various lockdowns, these will (naturally) be booked as an FY 22 item (to the advantage of holders).

MYR did not qualify for JobKeeper 2.0.

Capital expenditure for FY 22 is estimated at $60-$80 million. The cost of doing business increased marginally by $6 million to $511 million in FY 21.

Inventory is still down compared to FY 19 and FY 18 (these were pre-COVID-19).

Importantly, only 5.6 per cent of stock is clearance inventory, lower than previous years. The view was expressed that a few years ago, MYR carried too much stock. Now, just 18 per cent of stock is more than six months old, against (if I heard correctly) 36 per cent in (FY 20?) (Apologies: the line was choppy).

MYR was net cash positive for its entire second half.