Myer executive chairwoman Olivia Wirth expects the retailer will have to continue discounting stock as shoppers watch their budgets, pointing to lower sales at the department store and its fashion brands.

The department store chain – which is in the midst of merging with five new brands including Jay Jays and Just Jeans, which were owned by ASX-listed Premier Investments – said earnings had slumped in the first half of the financial year, dragged lower by discounting and a major problem at a distribution centre which had made it hard to get stock to stores.