The Reject Shop Limited has announced the appointment of Phillip Bishop as its new Chief Executive Officer from 11 July 2022 and also provided an update on FY22 and capital management.
Mr Bishop is an experienced retailer with 30 years of experience, most recently holding senior roles at Bunnings, including the role of Director Merchandise & Marketing, and prior to that in various senior roles at Officeworks, including the role of Chief Operating Officer. In these various roles, Mr Bishop has helped to deliver sustained growth through successfully developing and implementing strategies focused on the needs of customers.
Mr Bishop joins The Reject Shop “at a time when the Company has executed on the initial phases of its turnaround strategy. The Company is now well positioned with a lower cost base, an experienced and talented senior leadership team and growing national store network supported by a strong balance sheet, all of which will underpin the growth phase of the turnaround strategy.”
The Chairman of The Reject Shop Steven Fisher says: “On behalf of the Board of The Reject Shop, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Phil Bishop as the new Chief Executive Officer.
“Phil is an experienced retail leader with a proven record of contributing to the growth and transformation of businesses through clarity of strategy, innovation and cultural change, which has delivered value for shareholders,” he said.
“As the Company transitions into the ‘grow’ phase of the turnaround strategy, I am confident that Phil is the right person to lead the Company.
“Phil’s expertise in product, customer and managing a large store network will assist to make The Reject Shop even more relevant to its customers and accelerate the Company’s turnaround and growth plans.”
Mr Bishop said: “I thank the Board of The Reject Shop for appointing me to the role of Chief Executive Officer. It is a great opportunity and I am excited to work hard to make a difference.
“My retail journey started nearly 30 years ago when I joined my local Target (Australia) store as a people greeter. Since that time, I have had opportunities to grow and develop through collaboration, creativity and innovation to make a real difference to customers in a variety of market segments.
“In my view, there is a significant opportunity to grow The Reject Shop through better understanding its customers, continuing to evolve the product offering and continuing to expand the store network. I’m excited to work with such a great team and I look forward to executing the turnaround strategy and delivering comparable sales growth and creating value for shareholders,” he said.
FY22 and capital management update
The Company continues to trade in line with management’s expectations and consistent with broker consensus estimates of FY22 pre AASB-16 EBIT.
The Company expects to release its FY22 result in late August 2022 following completion of the external audit.
As part of its capital management strategy, the Company confirms that it is assessing an on-market share buy-back.
“If the Board formally resolves to proceed with a buy-back, it is expected that an announcement of such a decision will be made next month or in August at which time the Company will disclose further details of the size of the buy-back and the proposed timing (as well as further required documentation such as the Appendix 3C (notification of buy-back)).”
