3 March 2021
The Weekly
Australia

David Jones has reported operating profit of A$56mn (US$43.8mn) for the 26 weeks to 27 December 2020, up 33.3% on the prior period, bolstered by government support and rent relief, as well as space reductions including the exit from Market Street. However, the 12-week lockdown in Victoria dragged sales down for the department store, declining 8.8% during the half or 10.5% on a comparable store basis. Excluding Victorian stores, the balance of the business including online, grew by 5.9%. Online sales surged by 55.5% contributing 17.7% to total sales over the half.

With the easing of restrictions and the extended JobKeeper relief, coupled with successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns and online growth, sales performance improved in the last six weeks of the reporting period. However, the trading environment should remain challenging and uncertain throughout the second half of the year.