Premier Investment financial results are in, showing a 2.9% drop in total retail sales to $1.595 billion. But the ASX-listed retailer, which is in the midst of merger discussions with Myer, has couched FY24 as the second-highest sales results in its history, up 25.5% on pre-Covid FY19 levels.

Across the group, Peter Alexander was a strong performer with sales up 6.2% to $508.6 million for the full-year, 105.3% higher than FY19 and its first full-year earnings exceeding half a billion. Peter Alexander will open its first three UK stores by the end of November and opened nine stores locally during FY24. Another four are planned in ANZ in H1FY25.

Smiggle by contrast dipped 7.4%, with sales coming in at $296m. Over the past five years, 43 Smiggle stores have closed.

Apparel Brands sales also declined 6.4% year-on-year at $790.7m. The portfolio includes Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Dotti and Jacqui-E – 719 stores in all across ANZ. However, Premier noted second-half sales showed improved momentum, down 4.5% year-on-year.

The company also revealed it’s launching a new customer loyalty program across all five brands in October. Currently, only Just Jeans has a loyalty program with 1.8 million members, a base that has higher sales and transaction value. Having a cross-brand loyalty program will provide valuable data and insight to deliver more relevant offerings and improve customer experiences, the company said.

Overall, online sales were down 2.9% for the year, representing 19.8% of total FY24 sales.

Off the back of this, Premier reported gross profit of $998m (-2.4% on FY23) at a gross margin of 62.6%. EBIT came in 6.9% lower at $340.9m, or $325.9m pre-AASB16. Premier also noted its share in Breville Group was worth $981.5m and now had a balance sheet value of $347.2m.

The results were announced as Myer continues due diligence on a potential merger with Premier Investments Group’s Apparel Brands, something PMV is also prioritising. According to the FY24 report, its investment in Myer has a market value of $215.3m and balance sheet value of $161m.

A strategic review conducted over the last 12 months identified significant future opportunities for each of Peter Alexander, Smiggle and the Apparel Brands. Chairman, Solomon Lew said the Premier board determined the proposed combination of Apparel Brands with Myer warranted further consideration.

“The board’s focus in assessing the proposal or any strategic review outcome will also be on creating shareholder value, while maintaining the potential and integrity of each of the businesses,” Lew said.

However, Premier said it’s no longer looking to demerge Smiggle by end of January 2025 and said any future plans for Smiggle and Peter Alexander will be subject to the outcomes of its Myer discussions.

Lew described FY24 as another challenging year for discretionary retail.

“Notwithstanding the tough environment, Premier Retail delivered global sales of $1.6 million, an increase of 25.5% when compared to our pre-Covid FY19 business. Premier Retail yet again delivered a strong EBIT result through careful management of gross margin and operational costs,” he said.

As to FY25, Premier said it’s starting the year with a clean inventory position (down $13.3m) and said the first seven weeks of sales are up 0.2% on the prior comparable period. Group overall global sales are down 3.5% for the first seven weeks.