Retail veteran and chairman of Premier Investments, Solomon Lew, has again hit out at weekend penalty rates, asserting the current regime “is incompatible with the world we live in” in an address to shareholders.

In his AGM address, Lew also said technology has had a profound effect on the international retail industry, with Premier’s management team focused on “aggressively competing with any direct competitor – domestic or international – if we do so on a level playing field.”

“For a number of years there has been no level playing field for Australian retailers who have competed for sales with offshore retailers who were effectively exempted from collecting the GST and therefore provided with a potential price advantage,” he said.

Turning his attention to weekend penalty rates, Lew said the current system functions in a way that is economically unproductive and provides less jobs.

“Our experience in the the United Kingdom shows that, without penalty rates, we can employ more people who want to work on weekends.

“This is enhancing the shopping experience for customers whilst raising the level of productivity.”

Lew said it costs over 100 per cent more per hour to employ a worker on Sunday in Australia than in the UK, Singapore or New Zealand. “In a global market this is uncompetitive and stops growth,” he said.

Premier reported net profit after tax of $103.9 million for FY16, representing a 17.9 per cent increase from 2015. The owner of brands including Smiggle, Peter Alexander and Just Jeans, saw total sales exceed 1$ billion for the first time, which it attributed to its continuing international expansion.

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