Myer’s decision to postpone revealing its turnaround strategy from October to the end of this year, coupled with disappointing full-year earnings results announced last week, is causing increasing uneasiness among some of its investors.

Myer reportedly appointed Boston Consulting Group to conduct a company-wide review of the department store. The external consultants have been tasked with reimagining the department store model and identifying where Myer needs to be positioned in the next five to seven years.

Myer, which operates 56 stores, said that its net profit fell 28 per cent to $43.5 million, and it also saw a 26 per cent fall in profit before restructuring and impairments to $52.6 million for the 12 months to July 27.

Wirth told AFR Weekend that Myer was facing “challenging trading conditions”. She said combining Myer and Premier’s Apparel Brands division would make the business more profitable. She is referring to a proposal which surfaced in June wherein Myer would buy brands such as Portmans, Just Jeans and Dotti from Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments, and take on more than 700 stores.

The combination of Myer with Premier’s Apparel Brands business was proposed via an all-scrip merger. Investment bank brokers have estimated the merger could result in $55 million in annual savings, and give the combined company a market capitalisation of more than $1 billion.

Former Qantas executive Olivia Wirth was appointed Myer executive chairwoman last month

“The due diligence process for apparel brands is ongoing, but specific details cannot be shared at this time. The goal is to deliver both the strategic review and due diligence by the end of the year, with a focus on ensuring a comprehensive review,” she said.

The lack of immediate clarity as to how a merger with Solomon Lew’s ageing but profitable apparel brands will work to Myer’s advantage, is not helping Myer’s case in front of its shareholders.

The Myer One programme has more than 10 million customers, 4.4 million who have made purchases in the last 12 months. About half of its members are under 35. Wirth noted that adding brands such as Dotti and Just Jeans would attract younger shoppers to Myer.

But Oscar Oberg, a portfolio manager at Wilson Asset Management, a Myer shareholder, said investors expected more details about the strategy, according to the Australian Financial Review.

He was particularly interested in knowing why Myer had decided to keep fashion brands Sass & Bide, David Lawrence and Marcs.

“I’m disappointed around David Lawrence, Marcs and Sass & Bide brands,” said Oberg. “How are they going to get that $9 million in lost profits back? Why is it part of the strategy? I would have thought all the focus would be on Premier’s apparel brands.”

Myer plans to shut 10 Sass & Bide boutiques, while four will remain open. Wirth will also open eight Sass & Bide stores at Myer, and will expand Marcs and David Lawrence’s presence inside the department store. Wirth has said that Myer needed to be “famous for our brands”.

Myer’s accounts show a 2.9 per cent fall in sales to $3.3 billion in the 12 months to July 27. The department store needs to break beyond its average annual sales of about $3 billion, where it has been at for several years. Myer hit sales of $3.285 billion in its first year as a public company in 2010, and 14 years later in 2024 its sales are still at $3.226 billion.