Late 2008 launch for second David Jones card

Management of David Jones said yesterday they planned to introduce what they call a general purpose card, or credit card, some time between August and December 2008.

DJs has said before it will choose between Citibank and American Express as the issuer.

Management's commentary on the card business appears to confirm that DJs will continue to issue two cards from then: the new general card and the company's store card.

DJs is managing to extract a higher yield from its store card business even as the receivables on that card continue to slowly decline (and in contrast to growth in credit card debt generally).

EBIT profit from the David Jones store increased six per cent to $36.1 million. Interest revenue from the David Jones store card increased two per cent to $48.6 million. Fee revenue from the store card increased seven per cent to $22.9 million. Receivables increased two per cent to $399 million.

David Jones said it was budgeting for EBIT growth for between five to 10 per cent from the cards business in the current year.