Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR) shares are leaping higher today.
Shares in the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) department store owner closed yesterday trading for 74 cents. In morning trade on Friday, shares are changing hands for 80.5 cents apiece, up 8.8%.
For some context, the All Ords is up 0.2% at this same time.
This outperformance follows on Myer's preliminary trading update for the second half of the 2025 financial year to date (H2 FY 2025 YTD).
Here are the highlights for the 16-week period.
Myer shares leap on sales growth
Myer shares are charging higher today after the company reported growth at its Myer stores, while its Apparel Brands segment saw revenue slide.
Management cited numerous headwinds over the half year to date, including margin pressure from increased promotions, increased costs – driven by wages and other inflationary factors – and unfavourable foreign exchange movements.
Still, Myer managed to post a 1.9% year-on-year increase in sales to $837 million, with comparable sales up 1.5%. Myer's online sales posted particularly strong growth, up 9.0% from the same period last year and now making up 21.4% of total sales.
But Myer shares will be facing their own headwinds today from its struggling Apparel Brands business, which saw sales fall 3.9% year on year over the 16 weeks to $211 million. Comparable sales were down 3.7%, while online sales were down 3.5%, representing 16.8% of total sales at Apparel Brands.
The company noted that its half-year performance to date was also negatively impacted by a sales mix shift to concession. And Myer has faced issues getting its National Distribution Centre (NDC) in Victoria operational, which it said has delayed the realisation of expected benefits.
What did management say?
"Consumers remain cautious and focused on value in response to cost-of-living pressures and the current macroeconomic headwinds and uncertainty," executive chair Olivia Wirth said of the results helping boost Myer shares today. "This has resulted in volatile trading conditions with widespread promotional activity across the retail sector."
Wirth added:
Despite challenging trading conditions that were compounded by a subdued retail environment in the lead-up to the May federal election, Myer has reported growth in its year-to-date sales.
This was driven by our strong MYER one loyalty program, which has a record 4.6 million active members and a 79% tag rate, as well as our strong online performance and our diverse mix of categories…
While recognising FY25 is a year of transition for Myer Group, we have taken steps to strengthen our leadership team and are making good progress in implementing our strategy.
With today's intraday gains factored in, Myer shares are up 30% since this time last year and down 34% in 2025, not including dividends.
