Emerging from the trading halt it sued for at the start of the week, David Jones laid out on Wednesday a new plan that hopefully would enable the country's second biggest department store to recover from the slumps it suffered lately.

Part of the plan, David Jones said, is for the company to slash its operating cost over the next three years with aims of realising savings of up to $30 million.

David Jones also hope to expand its reach within Australia by adding at least 42 more stores across the nation while at the same time partly re-engineering its operation into an 'omni-channel' retailer.

The blueprint was revealed as the company admitted that its full-year income would likely be sliced by as much as 40 percent, no thanks to the continuing challenges confronting the retail sector.

The affliction was not uncommon to major retail players as Myers, David Jones' chief rival, had earlier reported that its net profit dipped by 19.8 percent to $87.3 million.

Retailers have been blaming Australia's two-speed economy, with the mining boom generating a constantly rising Australian dollar that bears down on the manufacturing and retail sectors.

Experts also cited the prevailing high levels of debt and interest rates working against the much-awaited recovery of the retail industry.

All those elements, David Jones said, contributed to its shrinking net profit in the last six months leading to January 28, which shrunk by 19.6 percent to $85 million but still within the slide projections of 15 to 20 percent earlier set by the market.

David Jones had netted $105.7 million in the same period last year.

Also within the cited period, overall sales decreased by 6.7 percent from the $1.08 billion seen last year to $1.01 billion.

The figures, which represents the initial weeks of the company's second half sales, remain in line with the trend that was seen in the second quarter, David Jones said.

"This outlook for the full year reflects both current trading performance and the cost of new strategic initiatives," David Jones said in a statement.

Inclusive on that prospect is David Jones' confirmation that it could take a hit of as much as 50 percent on its credit card business once its arrangement with American Express concludes next year.

The company's general state only highlights the importance of implementing the new strategies it had outlined for recovery, David Jones said.

"While the transformation of the company will take time and initially involve major investment without immediate return, it will provide the company with a sustainable business model that can deliver medium long-term profit growth," the company said.