It was maybe an afterthought but Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX:HVN) chief executive Bernie Brookes expressed regret on Friday that his company went public last year as he revealed frustrations on dealing with shareholders, alluding to the experience as similar to 'herding cats'.

Speaking before journalists in Perth, Mr Brookes said that running Myer as a private entity was much preferred as more time was required to please the expectations of shareholders whereas private companies could be managed the way it should be.

He said that running Myer now calls for its management team to burn long working hours negotiating with numerous investors with different needs and a great amount of more time studying the market.

Mr Brookes seemed to miss the old days when the company was merely meeting the needs of a single majority owner who could easily be satisfied with a 30-minute weekly briefing.

Nowadays, he has to use up most of his time travelling and convincing investors and if he could have it his way, he would rather spend most of his working hours on Myer's stores.

And much to his disappointment, his company's share values were not even carrying Myer's actual worth as a business as Myer shares were still stuck below its issue price of $4.10 since its entry on the stock exchange.

Though the $2.2 billion float it issued last year may be starting to gather some strength as Myer shares gained 10 cents or 2.79 percent to end up trading at $3.68 by 1142 AEST on Friday.

Mr Brookes revealed that attempts were being made to run Myer like a private company but he assured that government obligations would be met as the company moves ahead in simplifying its operations.

Along that line, he said that Myer is looking forward to raise its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) from the 7.5 percent achieved in fiscal 2009 to around 10 percent by 2015.

Mr Brookes added that "it is a lot easier to run a private equity based business and to reward people under a private equity based business since a large number of staff actually owns the company."