KMD Brands says its Kathmandu brand had a “record performance” in its key winter period, but warned that while trading conditions did improve in the second half, COVID-19 affected footfall in the third quarter and staff absences caused by illness forced some stores to close.

In a trading update published to the ASX on Wednesday morning, KMD Brands, which also owns Oboz and Rip Curl, said it expected total sales for the full year to July 31 to be between $NZ995 million ($903 million) and $NZ965 million. Underlying earnings are forecast to be between $NZ88 million and $NZ94 million.