Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is JoAnne Stephenson, and it's my great pleasure to welcome you to the 2021 annual general meeting of Myer Holdings Limited as your Chairman today. As we gather today for this virtual meeting, let's take a moment to recognize the various traditional lands on which we do our business today, as well as acknowledge elders past, present, and emerging. From my location today, I respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. Today is Myer's second virtual AGM, and I do thank you for your understanding with this. While restrictions are beginning to ease, taking into account public health advice, we're once again holding our AGM today online, with board and management team members joining from different locations.
We have made every effort today to make the meeting as interactive as possible, with the opportunity for shareholders to ask questions in a number of different ways and to vote online. We look forward to taking your questions later in the meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, of course, technology being technology, in the event that we have a technical issue, please be patient with us, and we'll resolve it as quickly as possible. I'll let you know what's happening if that does occur today. Joining me today, either in Melbourne or virtually from various locations, are our Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, John King; our Chief Financial Officer, Nigel Chadwick; our Company Secretary, Paul Morris; and our Executive General Manager of Property, Tim Clark; and my fellow non-executive directors, Dave Whittle, Jacquie Naylor, and our new director, Ari Mervis. Ari, welcome to your first Myer AGM.
I will say more on Ari and other directors shortly. I'd also like to welcome Alison Tait from our auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Dan Reed, representing our share registry, Link Market Services. With a quorum present, I now formally declare the meeting open. The notice of meeting has been distributed to shareholders, and a copy is posted on the investor section of our website. I will take that notice of meeting as read. The items of business to be covered at today's meeting are set out in that notice of meeting and are now shown on your screen. As in previous years, we will introduce all of the agenda items, following which we'll take shareholder questions on all of the agenda items together. I'd like to take a moment now, if you bear with me, to run through some procedural matters relating to your participation in this virtual meeting.
For an easy-to-follow guide on how to participate, how to vote and ask questions, please refer to the Virtual Online Meeting Guide, which can be downloaded from Myer's investor website, if you haven't done that already. If you have any issues in using the online platform during the meeting, you can dial the help number shown on the screen and also contained in that guide. In order to participate in the AGM, shareholders will need to log in to the online platform provided by our share registry, Link Market Services, at the website address specified in the notice of meeting. Once you've logged in to the platform, you'll be able to register to vote by clicking on a Get A Voting Card button on the bottom of the screen and entering your shareholder number and postcode. If you're an overseas shareholder, it will ask for your country details.
Proxy holders will need to provide their proxy number. Information on how proxies obtain a proxy number is also set out in the Vote Online During the Meeting section in the notice of meeting. To place your vote on a resolution, simply click on the For, Against, or Abstain voting button for that resolution. Once you've finished voting on the resolutions, click on the Submit Vote button. You can edit your voting card at any point while voting is open by clicking on Edit Card. This will reopen the voting card with any previous votes made. Voting will close today on all resolutions five minutes after the formal close of the meeting. Now to questions online. If you wish to ask a question online, please click on the Ask a Question button, again on the bottom of the screen, and follow the instructions on the platform.
Shareholders may submit written questions online at any time during the meeting, but I would encourage you to do so as early as possible in the meeting. A facility has also been made available for shareholders to ask verbal questions during the meeting. In order to do so, as set out in the notice of meeting, you will need to have obtained your unique PIN from Link Market Services before the commencement of the meeting. If you have your PIN now, please follow the steps in the Virtual Meeting Online Guide to ask a verbal question. I'd like now just to turn to giving an update on the 2021 year. Our full-year results released in September demonstrated that the Customer First Plan is gaining momentum and delivering results despite the challenging trading conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
We've remained focused on bringing our Customer First Plan to life to be a truly data-led retailer using the combined strength of our store network and online capability as we responded to the dynamic environment created for all retailers by COVID-19. Throughout the year, we've continued to see Australians living through various lockdowns across the nation, with large parts of the population having to navigate some form of stay-at-home measures during this time. The Myer support office team, like many other Australians, largely performed their roles remotely and with great commitment and focus. We continued to meet the protective measures implemented by the various levels of government with a lens on protecting the health and safety of our customers, our team members, and the broader communities in which we operate.
While there were temporary closures of stores in various states and territories, we continued to offer our customers our popular and free contactless click and collect service, as well as online shopping via myer.com.au. Our Myer team members did a fantastic job in responding to these closures with agility and resilience and doing all they could to provide the service our customers expect and love from Myer. To put those closures in perspective for you, they represented more than 2,000 individual trading days lost within the 2021 financial year, which is very significant for our business. More recently, it has been great to have our New South Wales stores open for a number of weeks and our Victorian stores opening just last weekend. Customers have been thrilled to be back and our team have loved welcoming them.
We've seen strong trading in New South Wales stores since they reopened, with department store revenues up 35% year-over-year in just those first two weeks. Obviously, only two weeks of a three-month trading period, showing the positive response from our customers to stores being open again. I'd like to now briefly speak about our full year results. Our financial year 2021 results reflect the continued transformation of the business under our Customer First Plan since it was launched just over three years ago in September 2018. The improved fundamentals were key to the improved profitability in the 2021 year. The board and executive team were disappointed that the closures experienced in New South Wales and Victoria in June and July impacted the achievement of an even stronger result for the 2021 financial year.
Of particular note, the FY 2021 results reflected continued rapid growth in our online business, an improved operating gross profit margin, sustained and disciplined management of costs and cash, and the company delivered a second-half net profit after tax for the first time since FY 2017. Other key highlights included the fact that we had total sales up 5.5% to AUD 2.65 billion, despite government-mandated store closures and travel restrictions, particularly in the first and fourth quarters. Continued strong growth in group online sales up 27.7% to AUD 539.5 million, now representing 20.3% of total sales. Net profit after tax, excluding implementation costs and individually significant items, was AUD 51.7 million, up from a net loss after tax of AUD 13.4 million in the prior year.
Net cash improved by AUD 103.9 million to AUD 111.8 million at the end of the year. A solid second half performance with comparable store sales up 8.4%, EBIT of AUD 61.5 million, and net profit after tax, again excluding implementation costs and individually significant items of AUD 8.8 million in the second half. Despite our solid result in FY 2021 and a strengthened balance sheet position, with the ongoing uncertainty around the timing of the lifting of restrictions, the board took the prudent decision to continue the pause of dividends. From a board and executive team perspective, as our performance continues to strengthen, the recommencement of dividends is a priority for us.
We've remained focused on the delivery of our Customer First Plan, using the combined strength of our store network and online business to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by the external operating environment. The provision of leading service, experiences, and brands to our customers, whether they shop with us in-store or online, is at the very heart of the plan. Myer has recorded increasingly high levels of customer satisfaction, being named Department Store of the Year once again in Australia and rated the seventh most trusted brand in Australia by Roy Morgan. John will make some more detailed comments on the momentum we're seeing through the Customer First Plan, but again, I wanted just to highlight some of the key achievements. We've delivered significant growth and scale to online. We've lifted the customer experience in-store and online to record levels.
We've been driving improved engagement and growth through our MYER one loyalty base by delivering improved rewards and much greater personalization. We have improved product ranges and key categories with a more disciplined approach to purchasing and inventory. We've been focusing on core lines and supplier relationships. Making the big brands bigger is something that John says all the time, and we are focused on adding brands that our customers want and expanding the ranging of the most popular brands. We continue to strategically review, optimize, and reduce our overall physical store space and remain focused on reducing cost. In July, we announced our new national distribution center, which is a critical step in getting products to our customers in the quickest and most efficient way.
At this point, I wanna take the opportunity to thank our Myer team members, our suppliers, and brand partners, as well as the executive team for their hard work, commitment, and agility in responding to the challenges and opportunities of the past year. We are pleased with the progress to date, but there is more to come. The board and executive team see great potential in some areas of our business where further inherent value can be unlocked. We've been actively reviewing our online business and the MYER o ne program with the input of strategic advisors to ensure that the decisions we're taking are positioning the business to demonstrate the embedded value of these assets as we continue to invest and grow them. Now to board matters. In mid-September, we announced two changes to the board.
Firstly, I was appointed as chairman, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with the board and executive team on the work underway through the Customer First Plan. At the same time, we announced that Ari Mervis would join the Myer board, and his election is on the agenda for shareholders today. Ari's executive career included more than 25 years with SABMiller plc, including nearly 10 years as managing director of the Asia Pacific region. Ari was responsible for the acquisition and integration of Carlton & United Breweries by SABMiller as the chief executive officer, while he retained responsibility for the Asia Pacific region. Ari is currently a non-executive director and chairman of McPherson's Limited and brings global experience spanning a range of industries in branded goods and consumer staples and bringing a deep understanding of consumer markets.
With his executive experience in driving sustainable top-line growth, cost reduction, and unlocking value through portfolio optimization, Ari is already bringing valuable insights to the Myer Board and the broader business. We also have highly skilled directors in Dave Whittle and Jacquie Naylor. Dave brings considerable brand, data, technology, omni-channel retail, and digital transformation experience. Over the last six years, Dave has led Lexer, a global software company helping brands and retail, retailers internationally to genuinely understand and engage their customers. Jacquie brings to the role a wealth of experience and knowledge of both women's and men's apparel, homewares, and outdoor brands. Jacquie has had extensive experience in strategic planning, logistics, marketing, and e-commerce, together with corporate restructuring and global business expertise. As Ari, Dave, and Jacquie are on the agenda later today for election or re-election, they will speak more on their skills and experience shortly.
We have a board with a mix of skills and experience across key areas relevant to Myer's business now and into the future. With your support today, we will continue to ensure the board remains majority independent with an independent chairman, and we will continue working to ensure that any board changes have the support of and mandate from all shareholders. Before closing, I wanted to touch on Myer's role in the community. Myer has a long-standing history of supporting local communities and is proud to partner with more than 60 charities across Australia annually. Myer's founder, Sidney Myer, was a well-known philanthropist, and it is in his tradition that the Myer Community Fund remains committed and focused on charitable work.
In the 2021 year, the Myer Community Fund was proud to raise over AUD 825 thousand to support children and families across Australia, including those experiencing family violence or requiring emergency financial relief. Funds were directed to our national charity partner, The Salvation Army, and also to local charity partners nationally. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, an emergency relief program was implemented to provide grants to charities experiencing increased service demands due to the pandemic. Furthermore, the Myer Community Fund supported communities impacted by flood and storm damage by GIVIT and pediatric health care through The Royal Children's Hospital Foundation. In 2022, we are partnering on a national level with two charities, Polished Man and The Salvation Army Australia. Both partnerships are focused on supporting vulnerable children and families in Australia.
I thank everyone at the Myer Community Fund, including Chairman Tony Sutton, as well as our committed charity partners for their tireless work that makes such a huge difference in our community. Once again, in closing, thank you to our team, partners, suppliers, and customers, and today to you, our shareholders, for your ongoing support and commitment. We remain focused on the delivery of our Customer First Plan to build further momentum in improving the performance of the Myer business and demonstrating the value in the combination of our store network, our online business, and the MYER one program. Our CEO and management team are focused and committed to executing those plans, and I seek your support today for stability so that they can remain focused on the upcoming critical trading period and the delivery of the medium- and longer-term benefits of the plan.
We have achieved a great deal during the past three years, despite the impacts of COVID-19 through half of that three-year period. We know there is much more to be done, and we are really excited to continue to execute and deliver results to our customers and to you, our shareholders. Let me now hand over to John, and he will speak to the achievements during this year. John, over to you.
Thanks, Jo, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our virtual annual general meeting today. I'd like to acknowledge our shareholders, our investors and analysts, and also the media who joined us all today as well. On to today's agenda. I will touch on our financial year 2021 results, an overview on the momentum that our Customer First Plan is delivering, including further opportunities that will unlock further value for this business. I'll also touch on the all-important Christmas period, including observations of our trading to date this year. After that, Jo and myself, as well as other directors, look forward to taking your questions. To our results that we announced in September on slide six. The result we delivered in financial year 2021 was testimony to our team, brand partners and of course, a recognition of the loyalty of our customers.
It's also demonstrated that the Customer First Plan is getting real traction. From a trading perspective, we returned to growth with total sales up 5.5% to AUD 2.658 billion, despite the implications of forced store enclosures with over 2,000 individual store trading days in lockdown, including key trade periods and our recent stocktake sale and of course, the extended Melbourne lockdown in Q1. The scaled expansion of our group online business means it is now one of the biggest retail online domestic businesses at AUD 539.5 million. This is up from AUD 208.6 million in FY 2018 when we started the Customer First Plan, and it continues to be a key focus for our business, representing 20.3% of our total sales today.
Importantly, the underlying performance results in EBIT increasing 117% to AUD 170.5 million with a statutory profit after tax of AUD 46.4 million. We've continued to strengthen our balance sheet with a focus on cash up AUD 103.9 million to AUD 111.8 million. Inventory stock turn improved to 3.87 times, and there is substantial headroom in our banking covenants. Importantly, we outperformed against key customer metrics, recording record level of in-store customer satisfaction and online NPS scores. We were recognized as the seventh most trusted brand in Australia by the Most Trusted Brand Index by Roy Morgan. Our Myer one program has really started to reignite our business with more detail to come on that later on in the presentation.
Now to slide seven. While these are full-year results, I would like to take you through some of the second half highlights which demonstrate a strong finish to the first three years of our Customer First Plan. We have remained focused on the delivery of our Customer First Plan throughout this period, using the strength of our store network as well as online, and responding to the challenges and opportunities associated with COVID-19. From three years ago, we are now a more resilient business because of the execution of this plan. Second half 2021 was profitable for the first time since FY 2017. Our bricks and mortar network traded well when we were able to trade and was well supported by online when we couldn't. With comparable sales improving as the year progressed up 8.4% in the second half with Q4 outperforming Q3.
We have had a clear focus on the customer, as I previously mentioned, and our inventory has never been in a better position. Importantly, we remained in a net cash positive position throughout the second half and for all but 21 days of the full financial year 2021 period. We continue to progress key initiatives to deliver benefits as we continue on the evolution of our plan. Online growth has been significant, and as many of you would know, we announced our new national distribution center or NDC as we call it in July, which will provide further online efficiencies and also enable stock to be allocated to our stores in a much more efficient way. I'll talk more about this later. We continue to reduce, optimize, and enhance our space through strategic exits, refurbishments, and relayering of stores.
However, the outlook still remains cautious, in particular in our CBD stores in Sydney and Melbourne as remote working and lack of tourism subdue city retail. However, we have seen positive signs from both New South Wales and Victoria coming out of prolonged lockdown, and we are closely monitoring our supply chain to minimize any disruption during peak trading periods. Now to slide eight. Our Customer First Plan is now in its third year and it's delivering on its objectives. The plan is focused on accelerating the scale of our online business, improving the customer experience in stores, pursuing profitable sales, maintaining discipline with respect to our costs, cash, and inventory, and deleveraging the balance sheet. All of which combine to underpin Myer's delivery of growth across all key metrics in FY 2021.
The focus on our plan has kept us disciplined in the delivery of our strategy, and we have made strong progress against this plan since 2018, despite the challenges of COVID-19. I will talk on this in more detail, but with COVID, we've accelerated, re-sequenced, and expanded many initiatives to continue driving growth and progress across the business. You can move to slide nine. We have accelerated online, building on the success and growth of previous years. We are focused on pursuing strong, profitable growth for online, scaling this business significantly, now representing more than 20% of our business in FY 2021. As I said before, we have aspirations for this to be a billion-dollar plus business in the medium term.
To put it simply, Myer online is now one of the biggest online retailers in the country and has increased its share significantly and profitably since FY 2018, and we are building on its success. To put this scale into context, a few examples. David Jones online is AUD 365 million, BIG W AUD 415 million, Adairs AUD 187 million compared to our AUD 539 million. From a pure play perspective, who seem to get all the press, and we are very respectful of them, Temple & Webster is AUD 326 million, Adore Beauty is AUD 179 million. Again, measured up to the scale of online business at AUD 539 million.
Moving on, we continue to improve the experience for our customers with enhancements across our navigation, filtering, search and product sequencing, including the launch of Threadhopper in the last month. It's another step allowing us to leverage data and automation to create a personalized customer experience. As you know, we have one of the largest non-grocery product catalogs in the country, and helping customers find the right product is key, and our focus in curating what a customer wants when they need it. On that, our promoter score online has improved since the start of our Customer First Plan, and conversion is also up, showing this investment is resonating with our customers. We have made improvements with fulfillment.
As you know, our third-party logistics center has been operating since October 2020, getting product to our customers in a faster way, ensuring a better experience and material cost efficiencies for our business. You will see that it has delivered more than 2.2 million units with a 6% reduction in cost per order. We have improved our range online. We continue to integrate brands through our dropship vendor marketplace offering and introducing more options with a data-led ranging of brands and products in response to performance and customer feedback. A great example of this is our new turbocharged sport and leisure offering with the new and expanded range of sports most in-demand brands. To our future growth plans, we will continue to accelerate into customer experience and multi-channel capabilities.
We have a number of exciting online partnerships that are close to execution, and I look forward to saying more about that in due course. We will continue to expand our range of products and services, as well as making the big brands bigger online following the work we are doing in store to great effect. Customers have loved our same-day delivery option during COVID, and we will continue to make improvements to delivery, especially once the NDC launches, which will give us this capability. Improving the interaction between online and MYER one to improve the engagement offer and rewards for our most valuable and loyal customers remains a key objective. To wrap this slide up, our online business is outpacing our peers. There's a focus of the business to make online even bigger and better, and by being more data-driven in our approach to engaging with our customers.
We have a clear focus to expand and drive more value in this space with key strategic investments. Moving to slide 10, I'd like to talk about our factory to customer project. Getting products to our customers in the quickest and most efficient way is a priority for our business. That is why we announced in July this year we've secured a lease on a new 40,000 sq m facility in Victoria as our NDC for both store replenishment and online fulfillment. This NDC with various sustainability measures represents the next phase of the supply chain factory to customer initiative following enhancements to online operations that were undertaken last year. Having an NDC is incredibly important as it will ensure we can accommodate the growth in online business and providing the service levels our customers expect from Myer.
There are widespread customer benefits and efficiencies anticipated for both the stores and online businesses. It will allow us to be more data-led in stocking our stores, to allow stores to draw from the NDC as they meet demand, ensuring we continue to fulfill the stores more efficiently to meet where our customers are demanding and buying products. Today, this is largely a push model and is pre-allocated to stores with limited ability to move stock around. This will provide huge benefits to our business, and it will ensure through automation that online purchases are serviced even quicker. In the meantime, our current online DC partnership with Australia Post continues to perform well. This operation will continue to play a key part in supporting our online growth as we transition to the NDC. We can move to slide 11. MYER one is a pivotal pillar of our business.
We are seeing significant momentum and have delivered some standout results, which have resulted in our members receiving more value from Myer in return for increased engagement in the program. By improving the new member joining processes, both online and in store, we have seen a significant rise in acquisition in the last year. In hard numbers, this was 168% higher than we achieved last year, or over 860,000 new members in the last three years, all without significant promotion. Importantly, we are seeing higher acquisition for MYER one members in the 18- to 30-year-old demographic, which is good news as we attract the next generation of Myer customers and advocates for the brand. We've also sought to engage the customer in the MYER one program in every interaction they have with us.
Our increased focus on driving MYER one in-store engagement and online experiences and process, more relevant and exclusive promotions, and greater rewards have seen MYER one engagement improve significantly in FY 2021. MYER one sales improved to 69.7% of total sales, up from 64.9% in financial year 2020. In response to customer feedback, we've also enhanced the MYER one value proposition to provide customers with more value by reducing the threshold for receiving a reward card from 2,000 to 1,000 shopping credits, meaning that customers now only need to spend AUD 500 to receive a AUD 10 reward card.
This has meant that in FY 2021, we have rewarded 2.2 million more customers than FY 2020, and in turn, this has resulted in total sales from redemptions of reward cards increasing by 60% versus FY 2019. We are increasingly using our customer data and own channels, such as EDMs and SMS or email and text, to provide our customers with relevant tailored offers and promotions. We've embarked on a program to accelerate the deployment of always-on strategies that optimize customer lifetime value. These initiatives have increased the incremental revenue delivered from owned channel communications by 55.3% since FY 2019. To our future plans, MYER one is part of the fabric of Myer and core to the Customer First Plan. It is part of the work underway on being a customer data and insights-driven organization.
As such, we will increasingly focus on utilizing data to provide insights that drive customer-driven decisions and the provision of a personalized experience and offer to customers. To enable this, we will progressively invest in building our data sciences capability and technology. This investment will underpin our program to accelerate the deployment of always-on strategies that optimize customer lifetime value. We plan to commercialize this program via greater ad sub and partnership structure opportunities with third parties. In the next two years, we also plan to relaunch the MYER one program with an enhanced overall customer value proposition, with the aim of further boosting customer engagement and increasing the membership in the program. MYER one is one of the country's leading retail loyalty programs. Our aim is to make it bigger, better, more rewarding. Our future plans will deliver on that. Slide 12.
As mentioned, we are data-driven when it comes to merchandise. We respond to what our customers want and need. This has led to more than 100 brands going and 200 brands coming in. We will constantly evolve our product mix to ensure we are delivering for our customers. With COVID, we have shifted more into the in-demand categories such as casual, activewear, and home, to name a few. We've also changed our merchandise model, but this results in a better offer for our customers. For example, women's footwear converted to Shoe HQ, now Myer's biggest concession within the company. Our inventory health position has significantly improved, ensuring newness for our customers. We've put in place a more disciplined merchandise cycle, and we continue to strengthen partnerships with key brands. As you know, we make the big brands bigger, and we'll continue to do so.
New brand introductions include examples like Gucci Beauty, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Barbour. We'll also launch exclusively Martha Stewart for Myer Home. These are much sought after additions to our portfolio. We've also launched the movement at Myer, representing new brands or brand extensions of the brands people love across sport, lifestyle, and technology, making it one of the more formidable lifestyle offerings in the market. Going forward, we will continue to remove underperforming categories and add brands our customers want, expand ones that are popular, including to continue to build on their portfolio. These new additions are just a small proportion of the breadth of exciting innovations and exclusive launches, which will ensure customers continue to choose Myer as their favorite Australian department store. Moving to slide 13. We know the customer experience is key, whether it's online or in physical stores.
We have again recorded our highest levels of customer satisfaction results. Our internal innovative M-Metrics app is driving continuous improvement, and it's great to see Myer named again Department Store of the Year by Roy Morgan. Across our stores, we are continuing to improve the customer experience with redevelopments and relayering taking place at a number of stores across the country. We have responded to our customers and their changing behaviors, providing new brands and formats in stores like Werribee, Bondi, Eastland, to name a few. A major refurbishment at Karrinyup in WA is complete, as well as other major refurbishments at our downsized Cairns and Belconnen stores. Eastland and Morley stores have been downsized, relaid, and refreshed. These stores look fantastic, and the customer response has been extremely positive.
We're also relayering, refreshing our store at Chadstone, which will be completed by November 2021, and further improvement works are planned for our Albury, Toowoomba, and Ballarat stores. All of these targeted works are aimed at giving our customers the best possible in-store experience when shopping with us. We're also continuing to invest in technology to improve the efficiency of our store operations. We have completed our first successful trial of our replacement point of sale system with further pilots. We rolled out before Christmas. The team are focused and ready to deliver a strong Christmas, of which I will speak soon. Moving to slide 14. Space reductions have been and are continuing to contribute to optimizing profitability as part of our multi-channel strategy. We continue to reduce space across our store network.
In total, we have exited 83,000 sq m or 8% of our space since the first half of 2018, including 42,000 sq m executed or agreed to exit in FY 2021 alone, which includes the closure of the Knox store. We have a further 70,000 sq m in the pipeline. We've also reduced the weighted average lease expiry from 12.1 to 10.2 years. As announced in early 2022, we will move to a more appropriately sized store support office at 1,000 La Trobe Street in Docklands, ensuring the best environment for our team members while significantly reducing costs to the business. Importantly, we have made these changes to stores. We are seeing vastly improved productivity with stores like Cairns, Belconnen, and Morley, all significantly outperforming state averages, as you'll see in the bottom section of the graph on the slide.
Our approach still remains to have the appropriate balance between the right amount of physical space and online to serve our customers' needs. Turning to slide 15. I'd like to talk about active plans in place to drive future value for you, our shareholders. As I've talked about today, we've seen three years of delivery through our plan, where we have focused on the fundamentals of our business. We are now a more resilient business. We are profitable with future growth plans. We have a strong balance sheet. We have scaled online significantly with continued scale and opportunity. Our Myer one program is bigger, better, and more rewarding than three years ago, and we have an experienced management team and board with a clear track record of delivery.
It is the work that we've done through the plan now provides us a strong platform for our future growth aspirations, where we can unlock significantly more value across the business. For some time, we've been looking closely at our online and loyalty businesses, where we believe there is significant value for the business that is unrealized at present, which provide us with a huge opportunity. Underpinned by the growth and engagement in our loyalty base, we have the ability to explore greater ways to commercialize this, providing further value for both shareholders and customers alike. As I mentioned, we have a focused plan that is gaining momentum as we exit mandated store closures from lockdowns and see greater certainty in how governments approach future COVID impacts with a vaccine-led strategy. To slide 16.
When we look at this slide, we believe it's about unlocking our value in our business, not looking at Myer as simply a department store, but a multi-channel marketplace. Online is our biggest potential source of growth in value. It has delivered and will continue to deliver in scale and growth. It has doubled in three years and increased its share of our core business. We have continued to improve the site, give it the technology and capability it needs to grow and meet the expanding needs of customers, as well as increase our range and offer. In addition, we'll have the NDC in place to drive future profitability, especially in light of our growth aspirations for online. We know that this asset really has considerable value and is also our biggest potential source of growth in value.
We watch with interest the considerable multiples that other online businesses like Saks, Hudson's Bay, and more locally, online pure plays have attracted. Furthermore, we have a growing loyalty base which is expanding rapidly, more engaging, and more rewarding for our customer. This provides us greater options to not only underpin the initiatives within our Customer First Plan, but also explore more commercial opportunities should we wish to. Underpinned by the momentum of our plan, we believe there is significant unrealized value in our company. Moving to slide 17. We move from the inherent value of our business to what we play for in our biggest quarter of the business. We are Christmas ready. As mentioned, we are focused on the season ahead. We are well planned and have launched earlier to meet demand. The Christmas outlook looks positive.
To date, we have extremely strong online sales throughout lockdown and strong sales in non-lockdown affected physical stores. This has translated into New South Wales, where we've seen sales growth in department stores of 35% versus last year for the first two weeks post-opening, and we're optimistic this will translate to Victoria now we are open also. Myer is Australia's home of Christmas gifting, and we will have a larger Giftorium offer with an improved online and in-store shopping experience for our customers, as well as elevated experiences in stores nationally. We are well stocked and prepared for Christmas. Our new Christmas marketing campaign is strong and distinctive, and a great follow-up to last year's highly successful Bigger than Christmas campaign, which was well received by the community.
In addition, we have developed a strong promotional plan and will leverage a more engaged customer through MYER one over this period. I mentioned in our results, we have exciting plans for Myer Melbourne to again showcase our 66th year Christmas windows, and we'll have a new Giftorium within the iconic Mural Hall. This will ensure we remain the go-to for everything Christmas store again this year. In summary on slide 18, we will continue to deliver against our strategy, our Customer First Plan, which is clearly getting traction despite the extraordinary market conditions we've been operating in. It has been and continues to be the right plan for our business. We have delivered for our customers an improved service and a more engaged customer base. We have scaled online and improved fulfillment. We have strengthened our balance sheet through better merchandise, inventory management, and control of costs.
We've continued to optimize space. It's through this hard work, the work we've done to get the fundamentals right, that gives us the strong platform to look at initiatives to drive growth and unlock shareholder value, as I've mentioned through our Myer one and online businesses. As mentioned, our sales performance as we head into the Christmas period is strong. We are well stocked and plan to capitalize. In closing, our recent results demonstrate we're on the right track. We have achieved a lot over the past three years, but we know there is a lot more to be done, and we have the plans and the team in place to continue to drive us forward. Finally, I want to thank you, our shareholders, for your support of the board, the executive team, and our plans for the business. We look forward to continuing to deliver for you.
Thank you.
Thanks, John. We'll now move to the rest of the formal agenda of today's meeting. The remaining items of business to be covered at today's meeting are now shown on your screen. I now formally propose each of these resolutions, which are specified in the notice of meeting. Voting on each of the items of business will be by way of poll. Item four, which is the adoption of the remuneration report, is a non-binding resolution. Items three A, three B, three C, five, and six are ordinary resolutions, which require a simple majority of the votes cast. The poll is now open and will remain open until five minutes after the formal end of today's meeting. If you wish to leave the meeting in the meantime, please ensure that you vote before doing so.
Once again, just to recap, to place your vote on a resolution, simply click the for, against, or abstain voting button for that resolution. Once you've finished voting, click on the Submit Vote button. Following the discussion of each agenda item, we will display on the screen the votes that have been received for and against that item. The voting restrictions for all items are included in the Voting Restrictions section of the Notice of Meeting. Dan Reed of Link Market Services is appointed as the Returning Officer for the purposes of the polls. When voting on a poll, proxy holders must vote as directed, subject, of course, to any applicable voting restrictions. Any directed proxies that are not voted at the meeting will automatically default to the chairman, and I'm required to vote those proxies as directed.
Subject to any applicable voting instructions, restrictions, the board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of items of business three A, B, and C, four and five, and against item six. Any open proxies that have appointed me as Chairman of the meeting or any of the company's directors, will be voted in favor of items of business three A, B, and C, four and five and against item six. Finally, a reminder to refer to the virtual online meeting guide if you have any issues in using the online platform to vote or indeed to ask questions during the meeting. Alternatively, please dial the help number on the screen and also contained in the guide. Let me now introduce the remaining items of business on the meeting agenda. Item two is the financial statements and reports.
This second item of business is to receive and consider Myer's financial statements and the reports for the period ended 31st July 2021, and the reports of the directors and the auditor. These statements and reports were released by the company on the ASX on 16th September 2021, and are included in the 2021 annual report, which was released by the company on 5th October. As per the notice of meeting, it is now time to consider items 3A, 3B, and 3C, the election and re-election of directors. Resolution 3A is that Mr.
Ari Mervis, appointed as a director of the company on the 20th of September 2021, who retires in accordance with Rule 8.1C of the company's constitution and being eligible, offers himself for election, be elected as a director of the company. The proxy and direct votes received prior to this meeting are now shown on the screen. In relation to this resolution, I confirm that the board, excluding Ari, unanimously supports Ari's election and recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. The board makes this recommendation because it considers that Ari will be an invaluable addition to the board, given his deep consumer markets experience and extensive operational and corporate experience across a range of industries. I will now get Ari to speak more about his credentials and experience. Ari, over to you.
Thank you, Chairman, and thank you, too, to all the shareholders that have joined us this AGM today. I appreciate the opportunity to introduce myself as I seek election as an independent non-executive director of this terrific company. For those who have not had the chance to meet us yet, my name is Ari Mervis, and for the majority of my corporate career, I've been involved in driving the success of FMCG companies. Branded companies that focus on placing customers and consumers first while delivering superior returns to all stakeholders in a responsible and sustainable manner. Some of these companies require turnaround strategies, and others were focused on acquisition integration and synergy delivery. While I certainly enjoyed all these varied aspects of management, my primary ambition has been on driving enduring strategies that deliver profitable top-line revenue growth.
I was most fortunate to have spent a large portion of my executive career working for a global beverage company that grew and evolved from humble beginnings, focused on emerging markets to become the second-largest brewer in the world. My personal journey took me and my family from our home in South Africa to spending several years in Swaziland, in Russia, Sydney, Hong Kong, and finally Melbourne, which we now call home. With a background in finance and marketing, I rose through the organization to become managing director of various subsidiaries and was a member of the Global Executive Committee when the company was taken over for $120 billion in 2016.
I will always be grateful for the enormous opportunities I was presented with, which exposed me to such a wide array of different cultures and people, but equally for the opportunity to have landed in such a marvelous country as Australia and in the special city of Melbourne. After my time in the brewing industry, my experience included having been MD and CEO of the largest listed dairy in Australia, Murray Goulburn, where I learned of the importance of local iconic companies and how to operate in an environment with wafer-thin margins. It also ensured that I had a relentless focus on governance and control matters and increased my interactions with the ACCC, ASIC, the ASX, FIRB, and regional, state, and federal government departments.
My non-executive experience includes having been a director and chairman of joint ventures, as well as a director of listed and unlisted companies in countries including China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, and Australia. I've also been executive chairman of a private equity-owned portfolio company and was a non-executive director of the Melbourne Business School for several years, which helped develop my appreciation for societal contribution and not-for-profit involvement. I'm currently an independent non-executive director and chairman of ASX-listed McPherson's Limited, which specializes in the health, wellness, and beauty categories. In Myer, I see a company clearly with a tremendous history and enormous potential. I'm confident that the current customer-first strategy is well articulated and beginning to deliver the anticipated results. The leadership team and the board are strongly aligned on ensuring the ongoing execution of the strategy to improve outcomes.
I believe that I bring to the Myer board a fresh and different, although relevant perspective of how to optimize the many facets of management of consumer good companies to improve performance and results. My experience in whole of business with complex challenges and evolving channels to market will complement the skills of my fellow directors and ensure that we support and challenge management to deliver the best results for all stakeholders. I thank you again for attending today, and I hope that I can rely on you to support my nomination.
Thank you, Ari. Resolution 3B is that Ms. Jacquie Naylor, who retires in accordance with Rule 8.1(d) of the company's constitution and being eligible, offers herself for re-election, be elected as a director of the company. The proxy and direct votes received prior to the meeting are now shown on the screen. In relation to this resolution, I confirm that the board, excluding Jacquie , unanimously supports Jacquie 's election and recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. The board makes this recommendation because Jacquie brings extensive retail, merchandising, and brand experience and expertise to the board. Jacquie will now say a few words in relation to her nomination. Jacquie , over to you.
Thank you, Chairman. Good morning. I am honored to be here today seeking re-election as a director of this iconic company. As many of you know, retail is my life and continues to be my passion. Of note, it all began at Myer, where I was invited to participate in a cadetship. This was a pivotal moment which put me in great stead for what was to become my exciting and rewarding journey in retail. I have extensive board-level experience across the retail industry and have held multiple non-executive advisory board and committee appointments with the ASX and private equity-backed organizations, as well as not-for-profit. This includes as Group Executive Director of Merchandise and Marketing at the Just Jeans Group and Non-Executive Director at Macpac Limited, the PAS Group, and Cambridge Clothing Company.
In these roles, I contributed not only a governance perspective, but also a mix of robust strategic planning, logistics, and marketing, together with corporate restructuring and global expertise. At the Just Jeans Group, where I was Executive Director of Marketing and Merchandising and a member of the board, I was responsible for brands including Jacqui E, Portmans, Dotti, Just Jeans, and Jay Jays, where we delivered an increase in EBIT from AUD 20 million in 2001 to AUD 65 million in 2004. At Macpac, a New Zealand-based company specializing in outdoor gear, we implemented a growth strategy which included building a store portfolio in Australia, establishing a retail partnership in Japan, and refining the e-commerce platform.
Macpac was purchased by private equity for AUD 80 million in 2015 and successfully grew to an enterprise value at the time of sale in 2018 of AUD 150 million. As an entrepreneur in 2007, I acquired Huske Lifestyle Stores and successfully transformed the business prior to the sale in 2011. I am proud of the result and remain on the board in an advisory capacity. I was also an advisory board member for Practicology, a multi-channel e-commerce global agency based in the U.K., specializing in consumer-facing businesses with offices in China, Dubai, Australia, and New Zealand. Some key accounts included Woolworths Group, Lane Crawford Hong Kong, and Priceline.
Utilizing my retail expertise, I have also consulted to several brands, including Sportscraft, SABA, Bras N Things, and Blue Illusion, and continue to consult for a number of private equity firms specializing in retail. Most recently, I have taken on the role as Non-Executive Director at Michael Hill International, a multi-channel retail jewelry chain operating 290 stores across Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, which is also partway through its transformation, where we are seeing improved results for shareholders with significant improvements in sales, margin, online, and loyalty. I believe I bring to the Myer board a detailed knowledge of how to maximize all the many facets of retail to deliver results and improve shareholder value.
I am so honored to be on this board, a board that is strong and independent, that is 100% focused on the delivery of the Customer First Plan, which is gaining momentum and delivering results. I put myself up for re-election today, offering my extensive experience in retail and give you my absolute commitment that I will be putting your interests first to drive shareholder value and to continue delivering results for our customers. Thank you.
Thanks, Jacquie . The final director resolution is Resolution 3C, which is that Mr. Dave Whittle, who retires in accordance with Rule 8.1D and 8.1E of the company's constitution and being eligible, offers himself for re-election, be elected as a director of the company. The proxy and direct votes received prior to this meeting are now shown on the screen. Once again, in relation to this resolution, I confirm that the board, excluding Dave, unanimously supports Dave's election and recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. The board makes this recommendation because Dave brings deep expertise in brand, data, technology, omni-channel retail, and digital transformation, which is invaluable as Myer continues on its transformation journey. I'll now hand over to Dave to speak further about his experience and expertise. Dave
Thank you, Chairman. I joined the Myer board 2,176 days ago, and today I stand, or rather sit, for re-election. My name is Dave Whittle, and I'd like to share a little about my background, focus, passion, and commitment to Myer. Firstly, my background. I've spent the last 25 years helping brands and retailers. I spent a decade at advertising agency M+C Saatchi , culminating in three years as group managing director, where we provided world-class brand, PR, advertising, direct and digital marketing services to the number one or two in most Australian consumer categories. During my time in advertising, I spent many years helping organizations that were disrupting incumbents, being disrupted, and companies going through transformation. More recently, and since 2014, I've been the CEO and co-founder of the world's leading customer data platform for retailers.
As a tech entrepreneur, I've become obsessed with data and software for retailers. Helping clients all over the world use customer data and AI to truly understand who their customers are and enabling them to personalize the entire customer journey to drive profitable incremental sales. Secondly, my focus beyond due attention to typical board matters, my focus at Myer will continue to be on three areas: Myer's brand, MYER one, and e-commerce. They're three of the most valuable individual parts of our company and critical elements to Myer's Customer First Plan. Myer is an Australian household name like Woolworths and CommBank. As such, it must be nurtured. I'm delighted with the work that Geoff Ikin, our Chief Customer Officer, and his team have done continuing to build our much-loved brand. Modern retailers must be customer-led and data-driven, so the increased focus and improved usage of MYER one has been essential.
Not only is the loyalty program compelling for customers, as we've seen with Virgin Australia, it can be incredibly valuable to shareholders as well. Evolving with our customers' switch to online shopping has been critical. It's fantastic to reflect on our e-commerce growth in recent years. Our key metrics online are excellent. We have a constantly optimized website, more products available than ever before, more sales, and more profitable sales. Thirdly, my passion. Not only am I passionate about retail, but I'm passionate about Myer. As I sit here in my home today, my coffee machine, my towels and linen, my rice cooker, my blender, my Dyson, my cookware, my children's LEGO, my wife's cosmetics, all from Myer. Myer is still most definitely my store. Finally, my commitment.
Alongside JoAnne and the rest of the board, I'm committed to continue helping Myer navigate its transition from the old to the new world of retail. Thanks for voting for an independent Myer and supporting my election to a third and final term as Non-Executive Director.
Thanks again, Dave. Item four today is the adoption of the remuneration report for the period ended 31 July 2021. The remuneration report was included in Myer's 2021 annual report. It sets out Myer's remuneration policy and the arrangements for non-executive directors, the CEO, and executive key management personnel. This is a non-binding advisory resolution only, but the board will take account of any feedback it receives from shareholders for future policies. I will now speak briefly about the remuneration report. Firstly, for FY 2021, we made a number of changes to the remuneration framework, as we discussed at this AGM last year. Those changes was to further align the remuneration of our executive management team with the interests of our shareholders. They included the introduction of the transformation incentive plan to replace the short-term incentive plan for the FY 2021 and 2022 years.
The 50% of the TI award which is delivered in equity is now deferred over two years. We extended the life of that plan over a three-year period. The long-term incentive plan being delivered in performance rights as opposed to performance options. All performance rights under the LTI are now subject to a positive absolute total shareholder return gateway measure. The pay mix for the CEO and the executive management team changed for FY 2021 and 2022, with increased weighting towards the transformation incentive and a decrease in the weighting towards the LTI. No overall change in the amount, but a weighting focus towards the transformation of the organization. These changes reflect our ongoing commitment to creating a strong link between transforming our business performance and executive remuneration outcomes.
With respect to the 2021 remuneration outcomes, these were carefully considered by the board, taking into account all relevant factors, including the team's performance in delivering the FY 2021 results, the impacts of COVID-19 on those results and ensuring the best interests of our shareholders and other stakeholders. Those outcomes included the freeze on executive pay continued in FY 2021, with no salary increases awarded for the executive management team. When assessing performance and associated remuneration outcomes for the transformation incentive plan, the FY 2019 LTI for both of those plans, the impact of net JobKeeper subsidies and rent waivers was removed. On the other hand, we made no positive allowance or discretion in relation to the loss of revenue and gross margin as a result of store closures.
Following the exercise of board discretion to remove the impact of net JobKeeper subsidies and rent waivers, no performance options vested under the FY 2019 long-term incentive plan. The board further exercised its discretion to adjust transformation incentives outcomes downwards by 20%. During FY 2021, the board maintained the reduced base fees for its directors, which took effect on July 1st, 2020. I would like to acknowledge the stakeholders who've shared their feedback with us in relation to executive remuneration. The board remains committed to ensuring the views of our shareholders are fully considered in the development and implementation of the remuneration framework as we go forward. The proxy and direct votes received prior to this meeting for resolution four are now shown on the screen.
As you will see, although the resolution appears that it will receive majority support from shareholders, we will fall short of the required 75% support to avoid receiving a second strike on the remuneration report. As a result of this, we are required to put to the meeting the conditional spill resolution. This will be covered in item six of the agenda. Moving now to item five, which is the approval for the company to grant performance rights to our CEO and Managing Director, John King, as described in detail in the notice of meeting. Under the ASX listing rules, Myer is required to obtain shareholder approval to grant securities, including performance rights to John under our long-term incentive plan. We are seeking approval to enable the company to grant performance rights to John for his FY 2022 long-term incentive plan entitlement. Mr.
King's remuneration package for FY 2022 includes an award under the long-term incentive plan, subject to this shareholder approval. Each performance right entitles John to one fully paid ordinary share in the company if the applicable performance hurdles are met and subject to adjustments for any capital actions. Subject to shareholder approval at the meeting, Mr. King will be granted performance rights to a maximum value of AUD 840,000, which represents 70% of his total fixed compensation. Key aspects of the performance rights, including the performance testing, are described in detail in the notice of meeting. Importantly, though, the performance rights will not vest as shares unless the performance hurdles over the three-year performance period are met. The proxy and direct votes received prior to this meeting for resolution five are now shown on the screen. I will now move to item six, the spill resolution.
As item four to adopt the 2021 remuneration report has attracted an against vote of more than 25% of voting shares, we now put this conditional spill resolution to shareholders. The spill resolution is considered as an ordinary resolution, and if passed, a special meeting of shareholders, known as a spill meeting, must be held within 90 days of this meeting. All of the directors who were in office when the 2021 directors' report was approved and who continue in office, excluding the CEO and Managing Director, will cease to hold office at the end of the spill meeting unless they are re-elected at that spill meeting. These directors are Mr. Whittle, Ms. Naylor, and myself. Mr. Whittle, Ms.
Naylor, and I would need to be re-elected at the spill meeting to remain in office, even though both Dave and Jacqui are re-elected at this meeting today. The board recommends that shareholders vote against the spill resolution. The reasons are set out in our notice of meeting, but in summary, the three directors, the subject of the spill, have been part of the implementation of the company's Customer First Plan, the benefits of which are reflected in the FY 2021 results, as well as the company's continuing response to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The board and CEO and his leadership team have worked and continue to work cohesively, and any spill could significantly undermine this stability.
The board has taken significant action over recent years to address concerns in relation to its remuneration strategy, including reduced directors' fees, executive pay freezes, and the implementation of the transformation incentive plan for FY 2021 and 2022. We also note the material expense that would be caused by holding another shareholders' meeting within 90 days and the significant disruption to Myer's business during the critical Black Friday, Christmas, and New Year trading periods. Finally, each of the relevant directors has previously been elected as a director and received strong support from shareholders for their election. The proxy and direct votes received prior to this meeting for conditional resolution 6 are now shown on the screen.
On the basis of the proxy and direct votes that have been lodged, subject to voting at today's meeting, it appears that the conditional spill resolution has not been carried, and accordingly, we will not be proceeding to a spill meeting. We thank shareholders for their support on this resolution. That is the last of the resolutions to be dealt with at today's meeting. Before we move to shareholder questions, I'll remind shareholders that the poll in each of the resolutions will remain open until five minutes after the formal end of today's meeting. Again, if you wish to leave the meeting, please do ensure that you vote before doing so. Let's now move to shareholder questions. Shareholders were invited to submit questions in advance of the meeting, and I thank those shareholders who took the time to do so.
John and I have sought to answer many of these questions through our remarks earlier in the meeting. There were three questions which were frequently asked by shareholders, and I'd like to take a moment before we go to individual questions to answer those questions. The first was on the dividend, why it wasn't paid, and when it would be paid. As I indicated in my remarks earlier, the board fully understands the importance of dividends to shareholders. Despite our solid result in 2021 and our strengthened balance sheet position, with the ongoing uncertainty around the timing of the lifting of restrictions, the board took the prudent decision to continue the pause of dividends. From a board and executive team perspective, as our performance continues to strengthen, the recommencement of dividends is a priority for us.
The second question related to our largest shareholder, Premier Investments, our dialogue with Premier, and whether we will offer board representation to Premier. We have endeavored to have constructive dialogue with our largest shareholder, and this has included the discussion of board representation. Unfortunately, to date, we have been unable to reach agreement. The Myer board remains open to constructive dialogue. In engaging in any such dialogue, the board has been and will continue to be focused on some key underlying principles, including the majority independence of the board at all times with an independent chairman and proportionate and appropriate representation. I note that Premier made the choice not to nominate directors for the consideration of all shareholders at this AGM.
The third question was regarding our online business, what we're doing to further expand this part of the business, and will we continue to join online events such as Black Friday. As mentioned in John and my remarks earlier, the group online sales continue to grow, making it one of Australia's biggest online retail businesses, now at nearly AUD 540 million, which is up from just over AUD 200 million in FY 2018 when we started our Customer First Plan. It now represents over 20% of our department store business. Looking forward, John has outlined, and I'll just touch on very quickly, the fact that we continue to drive our online growth by a number of means. Continued focus on improvement of the online customer experience, the introduction of new and expanded online partnerships so that we deliver scale and audience growth.
Continuing to expand the ranges offered online through marketplace and brand extensions. Improving delivery options and speed, and particularly following the rollout of the National Distribution Center. Further upgrading our technology, including programs to enable a seamless interface between myer.com and our MYER one base. As far as promotions are concerned, we have a really strong promotional plan that underpins our trade. This obviously includes those big events like Black Friday. You know, Black Friday really started out as online only, particularly overseas, but it is well and truly a big event across both our online and bricks-and-mortar business now. I will now turn to other questions which have been submitted before the meeting and also take questions submitted either online or verbally during the meeting.
Just, if you would like to ask a question, can I just reiterate, if you are submitting a question online, please do so now. You can also ask a question verbally by calling 1800 416 511 and using your unique PIN, which you will have obtained from Link Market Services. Again, please follow the instructions in the virtual meeting online guide. Once you have asked your verbal question, you may follow the same process to ask further questions. You can also ask questions of our auditors. Today we have with us, as I said earlier, Alison Tait from PwC, who is available to respond to questions relevant to the conduct of the audit and the contents of the auditor's report.
I do remind you that the directors and management are responsible for the preparation and presentation of the financial report. The auditor's responsibility is to conduct an audit and give an independent opinion of the financial report taken as a whole and not on individual elements of the financial report. So questions on specific aspects of the financial statement should be addressed by the directors or management, and we will do that. Before commencing the Q&A, I'd like to state that it is my duty as Chairman to allow reasonable opportunity for shareholders as a whole at the meeting to ask questions or make comments on the management of the company, audit matters, the remuneration report, and other items of business before the meeting today. Where it's not possible to answer all questions, we'll endeavor to ensure that the most commonly raised questions are addressed today.
As with last year, our Executive General Manager of Property, Tim Clark, will assist me during this part of the meeting by reading out questions on behalf of shareholders. Tim, over to you.
Thank you, Chairman. The first question is from Bandusena and Leilani Abeyanayake . Many times I visit Myer in Sydney for purchasing day-to-day wear. Always, I was frustrated that the similar items were not together. Instead, brands were together making it so difficult to check similar items against each other. After going through the floor for quite some time, I decided that's enough and did shopping elsewhere. This happened to me many times. I believe it would have happened to many others. Why don't the floor managers change this practice and make it easier for the shoppers to check for what they want and purchase them?
Thank you very much for that question, and indeed, for the feedback. We are doing a lot of work in this area with the relayering of stores. It's obviously a balance in terms of leading with our brand propositions, which are a key reason that customers come to Myer and/or grouping the offer based on similar categories. Over the past year, we've actually relayered more than 20 of our stores to improve this experience with categories that you've, as you've referred to, co-located for a better shopping experience for our customers. Just a recent example, really just launched this for coming out, of lockdown is Myer Melbourne, where we have grouped all of the sporting and athleisure now in one location in the basement. I really appreciate your feedback and assure you that management are focused on dealing with those issues.
Great. Thank you. Our next two questions have been submitted from Rainbow Principal Holdings. Firstly, why does Myer think it appropriate to pay incentives to their executives while the share price remains at only 13% of the IPO price? Shareholders have seen their investment value destroyed with no recompense. Why does Myer think it necessary to incentivize its executives to do what should be considered as their core job? That is, to deliver maximum shareholder value and to build a long-term viable organization. There is no incentive required or proposed for the rest of the company's employees, and yet they are also expected to do their best for the company.
Thank you, again for those two questions and, very relevant for us for the board today. Look, I did refer in my comments on the remuneration report that in determining remuneration outcomes for the 2021 year, the board did take careful account of a range of factors to arrive at what we do consider an appropriate outcome. As I said, the only senior management incentives delivered were actually under the transformation incentive plan. That plan really is aligned to both financial performance and the improvement of key performance measures that are connected to the Customer First Plan. We do believe the delivery of this plan will continue to drive improved shareholder value, and the board and management team is really focused on achieving that outcome.
In 2021, despite the headwinds of COVID, we did see overall sales growth, significant growth of the online business, an improved net profit performance, and a profitable second half with the strongest second half results since 2017. Addressing the second part of your question, Myer employees throughout the business are appropriately rewarded, in our view, for excellent performance, not just the executives. There are a number of reward and incentive programs for our broader teams, and it's also important to note that the transformation incentives were extended to a broader proportion of our team nationally.
Thank you. Our next question has been submitted by Joe Wollongong. Shall there be any discussion with regards to Solomon Lew and his apparent takeover plans? If so, please explain on behalf of shareholders your defense strategy, so we're able to sign.
Joe, thank you very much for that question. As mentioned earlier in relation to board composition, we remain open to constructive dialogue with Premier Investments, and in doing so, will continue to be focused on those key underlying principles that we've previously outlined. They include majority independence of the board at all times with an independent chairman and proportionate and appropriate representation. In relation to the second part of your question, Premier has stated recently that they have no current intention to launch a takeover. However, if that were to eventuate, the Myer board would be focused on ensuring appropriate value is realized for all shareholders.
Our next question is from Andrew Burns Superannuation. Has Myer taken full advantage of online shopping? Are loyal customers with the MYER one card generously rewarded?
Thank you, Andrew, for that question. We have made quite considerable comments on the online business, so I won't go back and re-answer that question again. We absolutely have plans to continue investment and focus on that online business. I'll make a couple of comments in relation to MYER one, our loyalty program. We have made pretty significant changes to better reward our most loyal customers. We're seeing more members join and more rewards are being given, and we've significantly improved our engagement with customers to better target brands, promotions, and events that they're interested in so that they can get better outcomes from this membership. As John referred to, we've also made enhancements to the program itself, including the introduction of a lower minimum of AUD 10 rewards.
As John referred to, that meant in 2021 we rewarded 2.2 million more customers than in FY 2020. For us, this resulted in total sales from redemption of reward cards increased by 60% over 2019, the last normal year of trade. Our increased focus on driving MYER one in-store and online experiences and the process of signing up and getting rewards has seen MYER one engagement improve significantly in the 2021 year. Our MYER one tag rate has improved to 69.7% of total sales, which is up from 64.9% in FY 2020.
Thank you, Chairman. Our next question has been submitted by John Appleby. Myer is a listed public company that has successfully proved that the shareholders' interests can be neglected. Does the Chairman and the Board agree that the shareholders' interests have been neglected? Does the Chairman recognize the poor return on capital? Does the Chairman recognize loss of capital value? Does the Chairman and the Board admit negligence, or does the Chairman and Board admit a lack of competence?
Thank you, Mr. Appleby, for that question. Look, I absolutely acknowledge that the share price remains below IPO and historical levels. I can only comment on the more recent years, and I believe that we are now building positive momentum through our execution of the Customer First Plan. We're really focused on that improved performance and driving shareholder value. The benefits we think of that strategy launched in 2018 are visible in our 2021 results. Those results really show that the plan, which is really focused on improving the fundamentals of the business and growing the online business, we believe it's really gaining traction despite those significant COVID-related headwinds. Our focus continues to be on profitable sales, growing the online business, disciplined management of costs, cash and inventory, and really strengthening the balance sheet.
We believe it is the right plan to drive performance and continue to build shareholder value. I do acknowledge your frustration, Mr. Appleby.
The following question has been submitted by PIN Capital. Why does the board continue to adopt an adversarial position with Premier Investments and its representatives when the likely better outcome would be to cooperate and work collaboratively?
I do believe that we have largely answered this question, but just a couple of points. We have engaged in constructive dialogue with Premier Investments in relation to board representation and the nomination indeed of independent directors. However, as I said earlier, we could not reach agreement, and I noted that Premier did not nominate any directors for consideration of shareholders at this AGM. We do remain open to further constructive engagement with Premier, and our position has been a constructive one, but with the interests of all shareholders as a priority.
The next question has also been submitted by PIN Capital. Why does Myer accept persons as a director who either have little confidence in the business and/or a lack of financial success? The directors are appointed with little to no material shareholding in the company. Any director should hold at least 200,000 shares.
Thanks again for that question. We did implement a policy in 2018 that within a three-year period, directors need to own shares to a value equivalent to their base director fees. I do note that directors do in fact all hold more than 200,000 shares. Subsequent to our annual report, Jacquie Naylor acquired further shares subsequent to the announcement of our FY 2021 results in the trading window allowed. Our new director, Ari Mervis, invested in Myer shares immediately following his appointment. All are in compliance with that policy.
Thank you. The following question has been submitted by Jason Laurier. How does management aim to bring the share price to what it was like years ago? What are the short, mid, and long-term strategies?
Thank you very much, Mr. Laurier, for that question. Again, I do think I've answered the heart of that question previously, but John has outlined today the progress against our Customer First Plan in its first three years, and then looking forward, the key areas of future focus. We are, as I said earlier, focused on continuing to deliver key improvements to the business which are underpinning that strategy and further investing, as I've said, in the online business and MYER one, which we believe represent very significant embedded value within the Myer business. We think this is the right path to continue to build and restore shareholder value.
Chairman, I'll now switch across to some questions that have been submitted via the online portal. The first one being, I have many questions this year for Myer. As an original public offer shareholder of Myer first, and as a Myer employee of one year second, I would like to know why Myer has not issued any dividends to shareholders. I asked this question last year, but will ask again one year on. How is the Amazon Hub doing, and was it worth the investment? Does Myer actually get any kickbacks from offering this service, or is it just another liability for Myer?
Thank you for that question. The first part of the question in relation to the share price performance and the dividends, I don't want to discount the question, but I do believe I have addressed those two parts of the question previously. I do acknowledge the frustration that you have as a shareholder. In relation to the second part of the question in relation to the Amazon Hub, the Amazon Hub and Myer arrangement is a non-financial arrangement. It provides more convenient options for Amazon's customers by leveraging our point of difference, you know, which is the click and brick, so they can come into the store.
From Myer's perspective, obviously, it gives us the opportunity to drive more customers into the store and convert their business, which as I referred to earlier, with, you know, our MYER one, it's the same proposition for us. We're looking for them to come and transact again, you know, with the business. We're still in review in terms of that arrangement, but we're very comfortable that it's going to plan to date.
Thank you. The next one is, there has been three months of trading since the first of August. Are you able to give us any guidance for the half year through to the thirty-first of January, bearing in mind the unusual COVID-19 impositions?
Yes, thank you very much for that. The question on everyone's mind, I think. Whilst we have been very pleased with our customers' response to the openings in New South Wales for a little bit longer, and more recently, Victoria, we do not have any broader update for the market today. As we've said on previous occasions, the trading in our second quarter is our critical trading, and so we don't have anything to update the market on today.
Thank you. Third one, is there any reason why we cannot see Ari?
We have made the choice, as I said earlier, to have this online meeting today, and most companies have gone with the verbal solution or the oral solution rather than having all of the cost of a video solution. Only the largest companies, I think, in Australia have been doing that. It also provides much less risk in terms of failure of technology. We do really hope to be in person with you at our 2022 AGM.
Thank you. Our next question on the online portal. Jacquie Naylor was last elected at the 2019 AGM. Given that the constitution only requires two directors to be up for election at each AGM, and we have two other directors up for election today, why is this needless resolution being put today? Does Jacquie or the board fear that re-election next year might be more difficult, hence the decision to get a new three-year term in the bank for Jacquie today, one year ahead of time?
Thank you very much for that question observation. It is actually not correct under our constitution. The requirement for at least two directors to stand doesn't include Ari, who, given he was appointed by the board since the last AGM, is separately required to stand for election at this meeting. It was certainly not us wanting to bank a three-year term for Jacqui, but rather just operating within our constitution.
Thank you. The next portal question is, since I have quite a few questions, if I wrote a letter to Mr. King, would he actually read it?
Absolutely. We'd welcome your feedback and report and questions within a letter.
Our next question is, in light of the long and controversial history between Solomon Lew and Coles Myer, why not fully disclose all of the company's dealings with the Lew interests, especially given that related party transactions were at the heart of the Yennora scandal, which cost Coles Myer shareholders AUD 18 million and led to Mr. Lew being ousted as Coles Myer chairman in the mid-1990s?
Again, thanks for your question, Mr. Mayne. I understand why you've asked this question, but given we do not disclose information on our other suppliers, it's not commercially appropriate that I answer this question.
Next question. Did any of the five main proxy advisors in the Australian market, ACSI, ASA, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, and ISS, recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions, including the election of Mr. Mervis? Which of the proxy advisors are covering us, and has there been a material proxy protest vote against any of today's resolutions? Will you disclose the proxy votes before the debate on today's resolutions so shareholders can ask questions if there have been any protest votes?
Yes, Mr. Mayne, again, thank you for that question. We are covered by some of those proxy advisors. However, their reports are expressly copyrighted, and we're unable to publicize the recommendations contained in those reports. Mr. Mayne, you would be aware that we have disclosed the proxy votes before the debate and this question and answer session. Shareholders had the opportunity to see that position coming into this meeting or through this meeting today.
Thank you. I may now just switch across to a couple of questions that are on the telephone. I might go firstly to a Mr. John Whittington. Mr. Whittington, your question please, for the chairman.
Thanks for your time. My name is John Whittington, and I'm a volunteer for the Australian Shareholders' Association. Madam Chair, we would like to thank you and the whole Myer team for improving your performance and making a profit in such a challenging year for department stores. With that in mind, how has your profitability this year compared with locally DJs and other department stores around the world? What do you see as a longer-term trend in your cost of doing business?
Thanks very much for being here today and for that question, Mr. Whittington. We believe that the side-by-side analysis with DJs is the appropriate analysis, and we do that to see if there are areas where we're different. Obviously, the David Jones business still has a financial services element to it with their cards. Our analysis on all of the underlying areas of both profitability and other key areas of trade show Myer comparing very well in the majority of those areas. In terms of the future projection of the cost base, we're absolutely focused on continuing to manage that cost base down. I might just get Nigel Chadwick, who's here with me, just our CFO, just to make a couple of further comments for you.
Thanks, JoAnne. Yes. The company's CODB in non-COVID impacted years has run historically at about AUD 1 billion, with the primary costs included in there being the occupancy costs associated with our store leases and also our store wages. We've continued to look at how we rationalize those, and John spoke earlier about the reductions we are making in terms of our floor space, and we're continuing to drive that down. We've also made some major progress with the store costs, including wages, as we sort of have implemented better rostering within our stores, et cetera. Importantly, we've done that with a priority of not reducing our customer service metrics, which as we spoke to earlier, has been achieved. We'll continue to, you know, drive those things down as quickly as we can.
Thanks, Nigel.
A second telephone question is from a Mr. Simon Kroger. Mr. Kroger, your question for the chairman, please.
Chairman, if I may, I have two questions, one of a general business nature and one for Mr. Mervis. The first is that Mr. King mentioned Myer is well-stocked and Christmas ready. However, there has been much discussion in recent news about global supply chain issues and how this may impact product availability for this year's Christmas trading period and the balance of the financial year. In addition, today, there are several news articles about the significant increases in freight costs and bottlenecks in the supply chain. How is Myer dealing with these issues, and what impact will they have on the current first half and full year results? My second question is for Mr. Mervis. Mr. Mervis, you have recently been appointed as the chairman of McPherson's Limited.
I note that McPherson's stated on page 17 of their full year FY 2021 results that one of their key growth avenues for the current 2022 year is starting and building a relationship selling products to Myer. Interestingly, this statement was released before the announcement of your appointment to the Myer board. I also note that McPherson's this week released a trading update that included a forecast downgrade and resulted in a drop in McPherson's market value by over 10%. Its share price is down 60% in the last 12 months. Mr. Mervis, from what I can see, you don't have retail experience. You are a chairman of McPherson's that has downgraded and seen its share price fall over 60% in the past 12 months. To change this trend, this same company has identified Myer as one of its key growth targets.
Do you believe it is appropriate that you sit on the Myer board at a time Myer desperately needs directors with appropriate retail skills? Thank you.
Thanks very much, Mr. Kroger, for those questions. What we might do is go to the first question in relation to the stock supply chain bottlenecks, issues. John, I will get you to comment on that question. You have made a couple of comments, but I'll get you to come back to Mr. Kroger's specific question.
Yeah. Thank you, Jo. A great question, Mr. Kroger. In terms of the Christmas product, it's pretty much all delivered, so that's Christmas-specific product. We planned to bring it in earlier, in terms of with the concerns that we had around specific supply chain issues with specific Christmas type products, like gifts, trees, decorations, et cetera. We're pretty confident, we are very confident that we've got everything we need for Christmas. With regard to other merchandise, we are very much supplied by brands, and we've been working with them to make sure that we hold stock reserves or they hold stock reserves for us to meet demands into the second half of the year. I think we're well protected for certainly the first half of the financial year.
I think you're right to raise the ports issues. I think it is Australian ports were voted some of the worst ports in the world today, in the reports we've seen from the ACCC, et cetera. It's the same worldwide with port delays around container ships, et cetera. However, we feel that with the supply chain changes that we've made with our brand partners, we only source directly about 20% of our products as opposed to, say, a Kmart or a Target, which sources 100% of their products. So we're less vulnerable to the product that we control. So for us, priority has been about the partnerships, working with the brands to make sure we ring-fence stock for us.
We are watching it closely, and we are concerned, as you rightly pointed out, about what is happening with regards to container ships, and I think and the ports. I think this situation will probably continue well into next year, and it's when, where we need to wait and see and watch and work carefully with our partners. Two parts to that question that you asked. You know, we're well-placed for Christmas. I think we have more than enough stock to take us through the financial year. We are careful and mindful of where the issues are and the bottlenecks are with regards to ports and shipping. Thank you.
Mr. Kroger, if I could just come to the second part of your question. We can't believe this in a technology perspective, but Ari has just dropped off the line before you asked that question. I'm going to actually address his experience, and when we get him back on the line, if you'll bear with me, I'll come back to his answer to the first part of your question. In terms of Ari's experience, I did speak specifically about his experience as consumer markets experience. Really a deep understanding of consumer markets in different industries. But also his executive experience, given where we are with Myer in our transformation plan. Now, Ari is back online. It would be not right for me to answer those questions in relation to McPherson's.
Ari, I'll get you to answer those couple of questions in relation to McPherson's from Mr. Kroger.
Thank you, Chairman, and apologies for dropping out. Unfortunately I also didn't manage to hear the second part of Mr. Kroger's question. If I could please just ask the question to be repeated or phrased for me, then I'll try and respond.
I can do that for you, and hopefully I will cover Mr. Kroger's couple of points. The first was that, in the annual report, he noted that one of McPherson's key strategies was growth in its relationship with Myer in relation to some of those products. The second comment he made, which I think I've addressed, is that you have no retail experience, and I talked about the consumer markets and brands focus. I think the third comment that he made was really that McPherson's has just made a trading update that you have, you know, adjusted expectations in relation to the results for this year, you know, how are you qualified to be a part of the Myer board on that basis?
Thanks for that, Chairman, and thanks, Mr. Kroger, for the question. Certainly the McPherson's AGM is scheduled in 2.5 weeks' time or three weeks' time. I would welcome the opportunity at that forum to answer questions specifically around McPherson's. What I think is appropriate is to address your questions around my retail experience. The way I see it is that there's basically two sides to the retail. There's firstly the side of being a retailer, and then the side of being a supplier and/or a customer to retail. As the Chairman mentioned, over the last 25 years, I've had extensive experience being a supplier to major retailers around the world, which has given me an insight as to dealings from the other side of the fence.
I think, if we have a look at the very competent and experienced management team, as well as our fellow directors who have got experience in retail specifically, hopefully the skills that I bring to the board will complement and support and assist as we drive the Customer First strategy. Thank you.
Thank you, Ari. Just in relation to the specific relationship between McPherson's and Myer, can I just confirm that within our compliance management process, that there is a declaration of any interest that is on the table from any of the directors?
Thank you, Chairman. Another telephone question is from a Mr. Rod Partridge. Mr. Partridge, your question for the Chairman, please.
Good morning, Chairman. Nice to speak to you again. My question is in the area of risk and ethics. It seems that the vastly degraded Myer house brand portfolio has some questionable supply chain issues. My first question is, what steps will the board take to address the issues of ethical supply, and not just for house brands, but across the entire merchandise range offered by the company?
Thank you, Mr. Partridge, and thanks for being here today. I'll take that question. We do have a very broad ethical supply audit program, which actually does more than 1,500 audits across the year in those countries that we consider on a risk analysis to actually provide risk. You know, in terms of the key areas of ethics in the production process. The results of those audits are actually reported through on a risk analysis basis through the audit and risk committee. For those that we regard as high risk issues in relation to, for example, work hours outside a certain set of thresholds, there is immediate action. For those lower risk issues, there is time taken to actually address those issues.
I'm confident that we have a very comparable audit program across those key supply issues from an ethics perspective. Thanks for your question, Mr. Partridge.
I'll go to one more telephone question, which is again from a Mr. John Whittington. Mr. Whittington, your question, please.
It's John Whittington from the Australian Shareholders' Association again. We will be supporting the remuneration report, as you've made good improvements on what was already a fairly good report and remuneration scheme. We appreciate that you now have 50% deferral, half for two years on your short-term transformational incentive plan. With your long-term incentives have moved to performance rights rather than options and have an absolute total shareholder return gateway. We believe these changes further align remuneration with performance and shareholders. We would also like to add that the ASA does not support the use of the two strikes provision for reasons other than remuneration. We believe that improvements in executive pay, for example, lower rates of base pay and incentives, better alignment with shareholders and closer alignment with community expectations, have all been as a result of the two strikes policy.
If the two strikes policy were to start being used as a lower threshold for corporate actions, then there is a fair chance that changes would be made to the policy and executive pay would be back to its bad ways in no time. We therefore call on other shareholders to vote on this item purely based on their views of the remuneration report. Thank you.
Thanks, Mr. Whittington. I'll take that as a comment, but thank you very much for the feedback.
The next question has been submitted via the online portal from Stephen Mayne. I own 10 shares in Myer and my wife, Paula Piccinini, only owns 11 shares. Why did you waste shareholders funds sending both of us a snail mail letter last week urging us to support the board in all resolutions of today's AGM when the tiny size of our holdings makes us irrelevant? Surely a company-funded solicitation campaign should focus on retail shareholders above a certain size. How much did you spend writing to all shareholders?
Thank you, Mr. Mayne, for that question. We actually, as a company, seek to engage with all of our shareholders, larger shareholders and small shareholders, and we respect their views. We believe that because the spill resolution was tentatively on the agenda today, that we should really send a short letter to all shareholders, not discriminating among them. Thanks for your observation.
Thank you, Chairman. The following question is also from Stephen Mayne. The voting results after last year's AGM failed to disclose the proxy votes for then Chairman Garry Hounsell, who resigned on the morning of the meeting. This secrecy was contrary to what happens with the various climate-related contingent shareholders' resolutions, where the proxies are always disclosed regardless of whether the motion is put. Please advise if the proxies showed Mr. Hounsell faced actual defeat, or was it just that the two biggest shareholders, representing less than 20% of the total shares, had voted against him.
Mr. Stephen Mayne, again, I appreciate your question. Because the resolution wasn't put to the meeting, I don't feel it's relevant to today's agenda, so I won't address that question.
The following question is asked by Edmund Carew. How are container shipping delays, including missed port calls and ships running late, impacting on the ability of Myer to obtain sufficient seasonal, including Christmas and forthcoming summer and autumn inventory? Have you had a land bridge stock between capitals due to these delays? If in containers, are you using environmentally friendly rail for longer hauls instead of more expensive road transport?
Thanks, Mr. Carew. You know, these issues are on everyone's mind as retailers and indeed across other industries at this point in the year. I will pass this one to John to give you some more detail as he and the executive team have really been focused on these issues around transport, shipping, and how we can reroute our stock. John, that one over to you.
Thanks for that question, Mr. Carew. As I said to, well, Mr. Kroger's question, we're fine on Christmas and our forthcoming initial hits on summer into autumn merchandise. We're big fans of the rail and we'll use that wherever we can. You know, we will be looking as part of our environmental and sustainability plans to look at more carbon friendly methods of transportation. In terms of the shipping, the areas that have concerned us the most are what's coming out of India and Singapore. We have rerouted into WA, and we are using rail to bring that product across the country. In terms of where we are today, I would go back to my answer to Mr. Kroger's question.
We're okay, but we're keeping a very, very close eye on it, and we have, I have a daily call with my Executive General Manager of Supply Chain, as we do with all of our brand partners and also all of our shipping and logistics companies. Great question, and we are looking at how do we mitigate any potential opportunities or problems that we have in the future, but we're well set for this period. Thank you.
Our next online question is being asked by Stephen Mayne. When disclosing the outcome of all resolutions, including this LTI grant for the CEO, will the chair agree to publicly disclose how many shareholders voted for and against each item, similar to what happens with the scheme of arrangement? This will provide a better gauge of retail shareholder sentiment on all resolutions, and was a disclosure initiative recently adopted by Metcash and Southern Cross Media after their AGMs. It will also demonstrate how much retail voting interest the board solicitation campaign triggered.
Mr. Mayne, thank you again for that question. Look, I will actually, and the board will have a look at those disclosure initiatives recently adopted by the other companies after their AGMs. We intend to disclose the voting outcomes on all resolutions today by reference to the votes in total, as per our normal practice. That does reflect, as you know, the regulatory requirements, and we understand it's in accordance with widely accepted corporate practice. I do in fact take on board what you're putting on the table today, so thank you for that feedback.
Thank you, Chairman. I'll now flick back to a telephone question from a Mr. Rod Partridge. Mr. Partridge, your question for the chairman, please.
Thank you. As I said, I had two questions, but you do like to get rid of me as quickly as possible. Walking through, this is again on risk and ethics. Walking through the Myer stores is pretty depressing as it is. It's even more so with the fuchsia, turquoise, and forest green motif we're currently experiencing in the name of Christmas. The online experience delivers a similar problem, and that is it's clear that Myer is failing to match the standards of its international peers in the critical area of climate change and global sustainability. The plastics scattered throughout the business alone is enough to be testament to that. What action will Myer take to address this issue seriously and turn us into a leading company in this area rather than running second and third tier as usual?
Thanks again, Mr. Partridge, for that second question. Myer is actually committed to the continuous improvement of packaging and recycling, really focused on that 2025 national packaging targets. We've committed to reviewing at least 80% of our packaging to fall in line with those guidelines. You know, initiatives currently underway in the soft home merchandise area. We've eliminated 70% of the plastic packaging utilized in that product, replacing it with 100% natural fiber packaging. You will have also seen that we have replaced our plastic bags through the stores. I think, Noel, I'm right in saying that that's reduced, you know, the number of bags that we've purchased by some million of bags. I think it was 2.2 million bags since introducing that initiative.
In that environmental and sustainability area, we have three key focus areas, and packaging, sustainable packaging is one of those. The other two are energy use and sustainable merchandise. We're working very hard to come up with some key targets that we will publish over time. Thanks, Mr. Partridge, for your second question.
The following is an online question asked by Kim Yong regarding the grant of performance rights to the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. The recent experience of shipping delay from Australia Post is extremely frustrating. With the growth in online sale, can Myer provide a better shipping service?
Thanks very much for that question. I will get John to comment a little on his interactions with Australia Post. We do acknowledge the frustrations with Australia Post. We do have multiple options for our customers and they include other delivery partners as well as the click and collect option. We extensively offer that to our customers. I know that John has had recent interactions with Australia Post in relation to performance. John, could I get you just to address that last part of the question?
Yeah, sure, Jo. No problem at all. Great question. Yeah. Look, everyone knows Australia Post has been under pressure because of lockdown. Everybody's been ordering products, whether it's from us or any other retailer, and you know, Australia Post is the go-to shipper. We've been through with them. I sat down with their CEO and senior management team last week. We've been through how we're gonna manage peak, and we've got a plan for that. The key thing for us is this is a short-term issue, and we move into, you know, we will partner with them for the next number of years, obviously. As we move to our NDC, this will allow us to augment our range of services, whether it's click and collect, same day, one-hour, two-hour pickup, et cetera.
We think with the NDC, we believe with the NDC, and it will be semi-automated, that we'll be able to provide a better shipping service as we go forward. Clearly that is the absolute aim of our whole factory-to-customer program. I think there will be some short-term issues. I think it's the same the world over. We've seen it in other countries, but it's not an excuse. We've got a plan with Australia Post to get through peak and through into next year, and then our NDC will come online in the middle of next calendar year. Thank you.
The next online question is asked by Gavin Smith regarding the election of Mr. Ari Mervis as a director of the company. For Ari, how can you have a conflict of interest being employed for McPherson's and Myer towards cross sales?
Mr. Smith, thank you very much for that question. As we do with all of our directors, when they're joining or as conflicts of interest actually arise, they are tabled. We have, you know, depending on the nature of that conflict of interest, we will decide how that is dealt with. In some cases, it will mean that if there is a discussion which very likely there wouldn't be in this case at the boardroom, that the director would be out of the room and not participating in that discussion. We have, depending on the conflict of interest that might be on the table, the processes in place to deal with those.
The next question is coming from Stephen Mayne regarding the financial statements and reports. When is Myer going to disclose its full JobKeeper experience to the ASX in line with recent legislative amendments passed by the federal parliament? Also, have you heard that rival David Jones received more than AUD 100 million in JobKeeper? Did we get more than David Jones? And what consideration did we give to refunding some of the JobKeeper money, like what fellow retailers Premier Investments and Harvey Norman did?
Thanks very much, Mr. Mayne, for that question. We have made full disclosure in our financial statements and results presentation on JobKeeper. In the 2021 year, I'll get these numbers right, hopefully. The gross JobKeeper was AUD 51 million, with AUD 19 million of that going straight through as passed through to employees. The balance of AUD 32 million was essentially wage subsidy, if you'd like to call it that. Myer was not a beneficiary as some other retailers were of an uplift in sales. You've mentioned there, Harvey Norman, who are focused in that home and entertainment area. In fact, the JobKeeper received did not go to replace or compensate for the loss of sales and gross margin as a result of times closed with stores.
It did achieve its purpose from a Myer perspective in terms of allowing us to retain the connection with our employees. We will certainly submit the new JobKeeper notice disclosure as required to the ASX prior to the due date, which I think is 60 days after the release of our FY 2021 results. I wouldn't make any comment in relation to other companies.
Our next question is from Stephen Mayne regarding the financial statements and reports. Given the interesting discussions across a range of topics today, could the chair undertake to make an archived copy of the webcast plus a full transcript of proceedings available on the company's website? AGM transcripts have been recently provided by other major companies like ASX, Woolworths, Crown Resorts and AGL. Given the antics of Mr. Lew, all shareholders should have access to a full transcript.
Thanks again, Mr. Mayne, just drawing our attention to that best practice in terms of other major companies. As per our normal practice and similar to many other companies, we will actually be making available on our website the webcast of today's meeting. We don't intend to publish a full transcript, but we're happy to consider that for future meetings. Thank you again.
Thank you, Chairman. Our next question is from Sasha Golubovic regarding financial statements and reports. Myer has appointed a consulting firm to evaluate the possibilities of extracting more value from the loyalty program. Can you please update us on when you expect that report to be completed and perhaps discuss any preliminary options that have been outlined? What could the unrealized value range be within this unit?
Thanks again for that question. You know, it's a really good topic looking forward. We've been taking advice from different advisors in relation to really making sure that in the expenditure that we are investing in both our loyalty program and the online business, that we are positioning both of those well in terms of future growth and in terms of the embedded value that we believe that they have in the business. I think on one of John's slides, you will have seen that continued focus on embedded value does not relate back to any specific transactions. There isn't a report still coming to us. It is a program that has been an engagement between those advisors and our senior management team.
I would refer you to John's slide there, where he talks about the further investment in both online and the MYER one program to ensure that we accelerate growth in both of those areas.
Thank you, Chairman. Our next question is asked by Stephen Mayne regarding the election of Mr. Ari Mervis as a director of the company. Could Ari outline if he has any history of dealings with Solomon Lew or his associates? Does Ari know why Premier Investments appears to have voted against him as part of the 33% protest vote on the proxies? Also, what was the recruitment process for Ari? Was a headhunter involved, and did he know any of the existing Myer directors before joining the board?
I'm not in a position to comment on specific dealings between Ari and Premier. I will ask Ari to comment very briefly on that. Any questions in relation to Premier Investments' votes should be directed to Premier. In regards to Ari's recruitment, yes, we did engage a thorough process in looking at directors, and that involved a headhunter firm and the usual checks that we would undertake in relation to Myer directors before joining the board. Ari, I wonder if you might just comment very quickly on that first part of the question about previous dealings between yourself and Mr. Lew.
Sure. Thanks, JoAnne. Just to confirm, I've had no previous dealings with Mr. Lew's entities directly. Thank you.
Very much, Ari.
Thank you, Chairman. The following question is asked by Stephen Mayne regarding the re-election of Mr. Dave Whittle as a director of the company. We have seen Solly Lew try to destabilize the company with today's 33% protest vote against some of the independent directors. Could Dave outline any history he has with Mr. Lew or his associates? Also, what does Dave think about Myer unveiling a AUD 30,000 share purchase plan for all shareholders pitched at a 2%-5% discount to the VWAP? Such a move would dilute the Lew interests and give a retail shareholder a chance to expand their investment in Myer.
Thank you, again for that, question and observation, Mr. Mayne. I'm not in a position to comment on specific dealings between Dave and Premier, and, as I did with Ari just now, I will get Dave to comment very briefly on that. As I said in relation to Ari, any questions regarding Premier Investments vote should be directed to Premier Investments. In relation to the second part of the question, I will certainly answer from a corporate perspective regarding the share offer. It is not something that we're considering, but I'll leave the comment there. Dave, could you just address that first part of the question, personally in terms of any history that you may have with Lew or Mr. Lew or his associates?
No problem. Personally, I have no history with Mr. Lew or his associates. Although the company that I'm the chief executive of provides services to a company that Mr. Lew is involved in. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll now flick to our final question of the day, which is on the telephone, which is from a Mr. Rod Partridge. Mr. Partridge, your question to the chairman, please.
Thank you. My question is on recruitment also. Supposedly, a virtually tireless quest was undertaken to sort out a new chairperson. A global undertaking according to reports. Apparently fruitless, we ended up with Ms. Stephenson taking the position permanently. Now, to provide some transparency on this, could you give us some detail as to how the process was conducted? If outside organizations were engaged to conduct this rigorous research, and who were they? What was the cost to the company of this process? How many other candidates were listed? Why were none of them suitable, and what criteria did you apply in judging them so?
Thank you again for that question, Mr. Partridge. So yes, we did engage an external headhunter firm for that search around the chairman. There was extensive research undertaken by that organization. A large number of conversations. We had very clear outline of what we were requiring in terms of that chairman's position. We really took the decision with advice from that firm and as a board that in the external operating environment and indeed in relation to activity within our share register, that we should have me step into the permanent role to provide the stability and continue the momentum that we're achieving within our Customer First Plan. Thanks for the question.
Thank you, Chairman. There are no further questions at this time.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much for that. Look, I just want to thank shareholders for their engagement and participation today. I think there is quite a different level across various companies in terms of the engagement through this new technology. We appreciate the questions about the business, about the board, about our remuneration, and thank you for your participation today. Thank you, Tim, also for assisting with those questions. The shareholder question session is now closed, and we'll proceed to voting on all of the resolutions. If you intend to vote online and have not cast your vote, you should do so now. Voting will close approximately five minutes, as I've said before, after the end of the meeting, and you will be notified on the online platform exactly how much time is left to vote.
The results of the vote will be advised via the ASX this afternoon and will be made available on the investor section of our website. There being no further business, I now declare the meeting closed, subject to the finalization of the poll. Again, in closing, can I thank all shareholders for their attendance at our second virtual AGM. We really look forward to catching up with you in person at our 2022 AGM. In the meantime, please take care and stay safe. Thank you.