The good times continue to roll at
David Jones. The trend in their sales
growth is very positive. Sales growth
for the four quarters of FY06 was in rough terms: -3%; even; +3% and +5%. This is a strong upward
trend. In spite of
interest rate rises, tax cuts will keep well-heeled shoppers
spending.

DJs sales
rose 5.4% to $450 million in the fourth quarter, at a time when more
downmarket retailers are being squeezed by rising interest rates and petrol
prices. Sales grew 1.2% to $1.82
billion for the year.

Anthony
Waters from CCZ Equities sees a number of favourable
pointers. FY06 has
shown consistent improvement in sales growth.
Sales are strong on a national basis and across all categories. Their pitch to a wider female audience has
been superb. They have lowered the
average age of their shopper by attracting sub 35 females, while maintaining the
resilient middle aged woman by backing product behind a more chic contemporary
marketing campaign. Witness US TVstar Mischa
Barton at a recent DJs summer launch.

CEO Mark McInnes said he still had not
seen any evidence of a slowdown in spending at DJs despite higher interest rates
and petrol prices, and didn’t expect any major fallout if interest rates rose
again prior to the crucial Christmas shopping period. But while things
look rosy,
the shares slipped.