Could Myer boss John King be about to stage an exit? The chief executive with a stunning track record of turning around department stores is said to have been spending a considerable amount of time in Orlando, Florida, lately, prompting some to wonder if his time could soon be up running Myer.
It is thought it is not long until his contract ends, and should he leave now he would be staging an exit from Myer on a high.
Mr King has steadied the ship at Myer since he joined in 2018, as evidenced by the half-year profit result on Thursday.
He earlier turned around UK retailer House of Fraser and came into the job after Myer delivered three profit downgrades and was loss making.
Despite the interim profit being down 24.7 per cent to $32.3m, most saw Myer’s result as a positive given the country’s largest department store owner was hard hit by the pandemic.
Myer returned to paying shareholders a dividend and lifted sales for the half year to January 29 by 8.5 per cent to $1.5bn. The shares soared more than 28 per cent as a result.
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