A “particularly strong” run-up to Christmas saw department-store chain Myer achieve solid sales growth in the five months to January 1, despite the company losing 27% of its brick-and-mortar store trading days due to Covid-related trading restrictions. Myer reported sales growth of 12.3% year on year, and a 17.1% boost in the two months to the end of December, which were not impacted by lockdowns. Myer’s momentum in online sales growth remained strong, with group online sales 54.3% higher than in the same period a year earlier. Online sales now account for 27.7% of group turnover, up from 20.2% the prior year.  However, the company warned that while operating gross profit had improved, other factors were likely to impact on final profit. While sales were up for the five months, the cost of sales had increased as well – particularly with the absence of government JobKeeper support. And since January 1, the advent of Omicron has negatively impacted trading.