Premier shows way again

Lew shows how it is done again:


Just jeans comps unbelievable amongst others, same store sales growth positive, whereas flat for CCX recently, and on it goes.

“...Chairman Solomon Lew said Premier had delivered a very strong result in a very difficult environment,"Retail sales rose 7.5 per cent to $1.27 billion, beating consensus around $1.26 billion, with strong 7.8 per cent same-store apparel sales offsetting the impact of 35 store closures.Online sales rose 31.7 per cent to $148 million after growing 65 per cent in 2018.Premier shares rose 12 per cent in early trade to $17.53, but remain well below levels 12 months ago, when the company unveiled a new "capital light" global expansion plan for the Smiggle brand last September.Premier Investments profit falls 20 per cent after brand writedownsPremier is opening fewer Smiggle stand-alone stores in the UK, Europe and Asia in favour of a 'capital-light' concession, wholesale and online strategy. It is setting up concessions in leading UK and European department stores such as Selfridges and Harrods, selling Smiggle products on other retailers' websites, including Amazon in Europe, and selling a wholesale range to retailers in Canada, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.Smiggle sales rose 4.6 per cent to $306.5 million in 2019 (and by 4.4 per cent in the July-half), a fraction of the growth in past years. Sales in the first six weeks of 2020 rose 5.2 per cent.However, Mr Lew said wholesale and online growth were exceeding expectations and remains confident the new strategy will lift sales to $450 million in calendar 2021 or calendar 2022, despite Brexit chaos."The four pathways to growth deliver significant global brand presence and a much higher EBIT margin with materially less capital, generating far higher cashflows than the originally planned multi country store rollout," Mr Lew said.Mr McInnes said landlords were giving UK retailers significant rent reductions to keep them afloat and Premier would demand similar rent cuts or exercise lease exit options put in place five years ago."We're now best positioned to get rent reductions from UK landlords that won't just provide for us this year but in other years to come," he said.Smiggle opened 13 stores in 2019 but closed eight, taking its network to 352 stores, 197 of which are outside Australia and New Zealand.One of Premier's strongest brands in 2019 was Peter Alexander, where sales rose 13.3 per cent to $247.8 million, bolstered by nine new stores in Australia and New Zealand and expanded plus-size and childrens sleepwear ranges. Peter Alexander plans to open 20 to 30 stores in the next two years.Just Jeans sales rose 13.7 per cent to $242 million, despite a net two store closures, and Jay Jays sales were up 6.7 per cent to $169 million, with a net three stores closed.In Women's fashion, Portmans sales rose 3.5 per cent and Jacqui E by 3.3 per cent, but Dotti's sales slipped 0.1 per cent as a net six stores closed...”