The Australian department store operator today revealed a six-month profit of AU$32.3 million ($23.7 million) on sales of AU$1.52 billion and confirmed it would pay its first dividend since 2017, though it didn’t reveal a specific figure.

That – together with chief executive John King reporting a 15.2-percent increase in sales across the first five weeks trading into the second half – was enough to push the company’s share price up 24.4 percent.

Sales in the six months to Jan. 29 rose by 8.5 percent on-year despite the loss of 23 percent of store trading days to lockdowns.

“The combination of our online platform and store network performed well in navigating the challenges faced during the period including disruptions caused by government-mandated lockdowns to mid-October, the emergence of Omicron in late December, and the mitigation of major supply chain disruption and staffing availability in early 2022,” he said.

With stores closed, customers moved online, resulting in a 47.5-percent boost in e-commerce sales to AU$424.1 million. Myer’s online business now accounts for 27.9 percent of overall sales and King said the company was well on the way to achieving its goal of AU$1 billion in annual e-commerce sales.

“Our online business has grown nearly fourfold in the past four years and is now one of the biggest online retail businesses in the country. In key categories, our growth is significantly outpacing competitors, both multichannel retailers and online pure plays.”

News of the improved financial performance comes a fortnight after Myer announced the closure of its Blacktown store in Sydney’s western suburbs, its fifth closure since January 2019 when the company launched a restructuring plan.

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