High interest rates, a slowing economy and soaring inflation - it’s not really the backdrop one would associate with timing the sale of a high-end department store chain. But it is the window that David Jones’ owner has chosen to drum up some interest in an auction.
During that time, David Jones’ performance has not paired with the expectations the South African owners nursed. DJs management has been turned over a number of times, the value of the assets have been written down while the owners turned to selling landmark property in Sydney and Melbourne to generate cash.
He believes the billions of dollars that Australians stashed in their bank accounts during COVID has fortified consumers against rising interest rates and inflation and the impact this would normally have on retail spending. It could be that Woolworths Holdings is looking to capitalise on David Jones’ more positive earnings profile to delete it from the portfolio of other retail assets it owns back home and in Australia - which includes the Country Road group.The structural decline in higher end department stores over more than a decade is well documented.
The appeal for any buyer of David Jones would be that between maybe 5 and 10 years, a decent number of these leases will begin to roll off. Myer’s lease profile is still arduous with 36 of its stores still under contract for more than eight years.
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