Myer first quarter sales up 5.2%

Myer Holdings Ltd has increased its first quarter sales by 5.2 per cent, reaffirmed its annual guidance and says it's going into the Christmas trading period in good shape.

The department store group said total sales for the three months to October 24 rose to $717.1 million from the previous corresponding period, building on growth of 3.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.

Like-for-like sales were up 2.9 per cent for the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

After including sales from the refurbished stores in central Sydney, Castle Hill in Sydney's north west and Geelong in Victoria, the like-for-like measure was up 4.5 per cent.

"The work we have done to improve range and fashionability, refresh our stores to make them more inspiring and shoppable for customers, and improve in store execution is starting to bear fruit," chief executive Bernie Brookes said.

"We are pleased to report that we have made a strong start to the year."

Myer confirmed that it is on track to achieve the prospectus pro forma forecast for growth in total sales revenue for fiscal 2010 of three per cent and pro forma earnings before interest and tax growth of 10.7 per cent.

Myer said cosmetics continued to perform strongly, confirming its position as the market leader in this category.

Apparel categories also performed well as customers responded well to the Spring/Summer range.

Homewares, and in particular furniture, reported a marked improvement reflecting a more confident consumer.

"The business is in good shape as we approach the important Christmas trading period," Mr Brookes said.

"Consumer sentiment is stronger than this time last year."

Mr Brookes said the performance of Myer's Doncaster store in Melbourne during the quarter, since its refurbishment last year, had also been pleasing and that the store was on track to deliver annualised sales of $85 million.

He said by Christmas all stores will have undergone its refurbishment program, dubbed Project Batman, with the exception of Canberra, which will be fully refurbished in calendar 2010.

"Project Batman delivers an immediate customer and sales impact," Mr Brookes said.