DJ to open new stores while Harvey Norman signals large profit fall

Retailer David Jones plans to open three new department stores and refurbish three of its existing outlets over the new two to three years.

Retailer David Jones plans to open three new department stores and refurbish three of its existing outlets over the new two to three years.

David Jones will open three new stores in shopping centres in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia.

The agreements do not require additional debt funding by David Jones.

The new stores will be at the Pacific Fair shopping centre in Queensland, Macquarie in NSW and Whitford in WA, and will open from mid-2011 to early 2012 with 25 year leases.

David Jones said the lease terms satisfy the requirements of its three year strategic plan for new store benchmarks.

They are expected to deliver more than $40 million of sales per annum by year two.

David Jones will also refurbish three existing stores in NSW, South Australia and Western Australia at shopping centres in Kotara, Marion and Karrinyup, respectively.

Meanwhile retailer Harvey Norman says its profit before tax for the first quarter of 2008/09 is likely to be 31.5% lower than the previous corresponding period.

Unaudited preliminary accounts for the period from 1 July to 30 September forecast profit before tax and minority interests of $71 million, compared to $103.6 million for the corresponding prior period, chairman Gerry Harvey says in a statement.

He says the like-for-like written sales for the 28 days ending 23 November decreased by 3.1% on the corresponding period last year.