Outdoor apparel retailer KMD Brands has witnessed an increase in sales and net profit in FY23 on the back of improved performance across all its businesses – with the Rip Curl and Oboz brands achieving record sales.
Sales grew 12.6 per cent to $1.01 billion, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rising 15.1 per cent to $97.4 million and net profit after tax jumping 8.6 per cent to $39.8 million.
Gross profit increased 13 per cent to $599.7 million while gross margin inched higher to 59.1 per cent.
“Customers returned to shopping in stores, with retail store sales increasing 17.5 per cent. This had an impact on online sales, a trend noted across the industry as customers returned to pre-pandemic shopping behaviours,” said Michael Daly, CEO and MD at KMD Brands.
“Online sales remain significantly above pre-pandemic levels. Despite a challenging wholesale market, group wholesale sales grew by 11 per cent.”
Rip Curl sales went up 8.3 per cent to $535 million attributed to strong direct-to-consumer results in Australasia following the lockdowns in the previous year and the return of international travel to Hawaii and Thailand.
Oboz’s sales surged 61.8 per cent to $91.4 million due to the recovery of its wholesale channel from supply chain constraints last year and strong online sales growth.
Meanwhile, Kathmandu’s sales increased 10.6 per cent to $388.5 million on the back of strong growth in the first three quarters, however, softened by consumer sentiment due to economic headwinds in the fourth quarter.
“The fourth quarter for Kathmandu was more challenging with increased cost-of-living pressures softening consumer sentiment, and the warmest winter on record in Australia, which cycled the best-ever winter trade season last year,” said Daly.
