Ann: Investor Strategy Day - Presentation, page-4

To be in print in 'The Australian' tomorrow:

"...And while the presentation was not heavy with financial targets, she did promise Myer would aim to be a top quartile Australian retail performer in terms of total shareholder return.

The strategy day gained immediate plaudits from one of the toughest analysts in the sector, Bank of America analyst David Errington, who called the presentation and ambitions of Ms Wirth “absolutely spot on”.

He did sound a note of caution, saying the transition to the new Myer Ms Wirth was trying to fashion would take more than 12 months.

“(It is a) great project and all power for doing it, but for shareholders the thinking is the transition … it will take a bit more than 12 months,” he said.

Mr Errington also dismissed the attempts by previous Myer management to grow the business after decades of stagnation.

“The execution to date has been appalling. Absolutely dreadful,” he said.

It was a sentiment shared by Myer bull and investor Angus Aitken of Aitken Mount Capital Partners.

“I cannot think of another business doing circa $4bn of sales that has been more poorly run over 20 years than Myer,” Mr Aitken said. “The previous people running this company have been total and complete battlers.”

Mr Aitken, whose share price target for Myer is as high as $5 compared to its current price of about 70c, said Ms Wirth’s presentation and strategy day was one of the best he had ever seen.

“This is a person who knows how to grow businesses. There is a total mindset change in Myer. They now think and act as owners, which was never the case in the last 20 years.”

Myer shares ended slightly weaker at 72c."