(Adds detail on results, background) Sept 16 (Reuters) -...

(Adds detail on results, background)

Sept 16 (Reuters) - Australian retailer Myer Holdings (MYR) swung to an annual profit on Thursday from a loss a year earlier, boosted by strong online sales and benefits from government schemes despite COVID-19 curbs impacting footfall at its physical stores.

For the year ending July 31, the high-street retailer's net profit after tax excluding one-off costs was A$50.7 million ($37.21 million), compared with a loss of A$11.3 million in the previous year.

Store closures due to pandemic-led curbs in early 2020 and parts of fiscal 2021 severely hurt the retailer's profitability, forcing Myer to lean on the government's JobKeeper payment scheme.

The impact on Myer's bottomline provoked top shareholder Premier Investments, which owns about 15.8% of the department store firm and has been critical of its strategy to shore up profitability through the years, to aggressively push for a revamp of the company's board.

Despite facing strict statewide lockdowns during the final quarter in fiscal 2021, Myer's total sales for the year rose 5.5% to A$2.66 billion on the back of online sales, which jumped about 28% from last year.

Myer did not declare a final dividend for a fourth consecutive year.

($1 = 1.3626 Australian dollars)