Specialty Fashion, which owns Millers, Katies, Autograph and Rivers, has announced it will close hundreds of underperforming stores.

The closures are an attempt to revive the company’s fortunes, following a massive shareholder revolt.

A majority of stakeholders (51 per cent) voted against the group’s remuneration report at its annual meeting on Tuesday – twice the amount required to register a “first strike” that will put the board at risk of being split if there is a protest vote again next year.

The protest vote comes after Speciality Fashion ran at an after-tax loss of $8.8 million last year, a $2.1 million loss in 2016 and a $4.4 million loss in 2015.

On Tuesday the group said it would close about 300 under-performing stores over the next three years, to bring it to a footprint of about 700 outlets.

It is not yet known whether any of the Warrnambool outlets are facing closure.

- This article first appeared on the Sydney Morning Herald website.