2323 GMT - Premier Investments' appointment of a permanent boss for its laboring stationery business is encouraging, Citi analyst Adrian Lemme says. He tells clients in a note that focus at the Smiggle chain had drifted toward customers even younger than its core 6-12 year-old audience, and welcomes the appointment of Georgia Chewing to lead a reset. He observes that weakness in Smiggle's first-half sales was driven by an 8.7% reduction in store numbers ahead of its inventory reset through the second half. Lemme tells clients that he currently forecasts a 4% drop in second-half Smiggle sales. Citi has a "neutral" rating and A$16.70 target price on the stock, which is up 7.4%, at A$13.45. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 19, 2026 19:23 ET (23:23 GMT)

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