Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew has once again raised his stake in Myer, buying another 3 percent to a holding of about 29 percent.
The Australian Financial Review reports that Lew was behind 24.6 million Myer shares purchased on Wednesday. The purchase was via Blue Ocean Equities, it says.
“Premier used Brent Potts at Blue Ocean Equities, who has been at Lew’s service for his Myer shopping trips for at least the past six years. It follows a similar trade on February 27, which took Premier to 25.79 per cent ownership of Myer. Wednesday’s trade should put it just under 29 per cent,” the paper’s Street Talk column reports.
The buy is a savvy move by Lew given Myer shares crashed 12 percent three weeks ago when its earnings revealed that second half-year sales grew just 0.4 percent with a small profit after tax of $4 million to $8 million. They are now about two thirds their value compared to March when Myer shares soared after it reported more stellar H1/2023 results.
The small H2/2023 results have sparked concern about Myer’s performance this new financial year given a reported 94 percent of 2023 profit was in the first half.
In its recent financial update, Myer CEO John King says the company expects the uncertainty around the macroeconomic environment to continue. Nevertheless Myer is currently rated as a ‘buy’ by some analysts. Lew, like they, is looking longer term.
Lew and Premier Investments has been building up Myer stock for years with an earlier three percent buy in February before those buoyant H1/2023 results. He began with a 10.8 percent stake in March 2017 and has been adding stock since.
