KMD Brands, owner of Kathmandu, Rip Curl and Oboz, reveals rising sales in the third quarter
The Kathmandu, Rip Curl owner’s third-quarter sales growth has defied household spending pressures, as it heads into a crucial trading period.
KMD Brands, the owner of retail chain Kathmandu, surfwear brand Rip Curl and Oboz footwear has defied broad economic pressures on household spending to post sales growth across all its brands continue into the third quarter.
The retail owner said gross margin remained resilient as it prepares for the key fourth quarter trading period, which is important for its Kathmandu retail chain and the northern hemisphere summer for Rip Curl and Oboz.
In a trading update issued before an investor briefing on Thursday, KMD said third-quarter sales for Kathmandu were up 11.3 per cent, Rip Curl sales up 7.9 per cent and Oboz sales up 120.3 per cent, compared to a year earlier.
Total sales for the quarter were up 15.6 per cent.
“We are pleased to report that Rip Curl, Kathmandu, and Oboz have achieved another quarter of year-on-year sales growth,” said KMD Brands chief executive Michael Daly.
“We now begin our key Kathmandu winter and Northern Hemisphere summer trading periods. The group is well positioned to benefit from the return of international travel and tourism and is continuing to invest in the long-term international expansion of our brands.”
The growth came despite a string of Reserve Bank interest rate hikes which have pressured consumer spending.
At the end Kathmandu’s third quarter, the cash rate sat at 3.6 per cent, up from 0.10 per cent a year earlier.
Meanwhile, in the presentation to investors, KMD Brands revealed that e-commerce sales were now significantly above pre-Covid-19 levels.
In the last twelve months, consumers have returned to shopping in stores with its omni-channel offer supporting this consumer choice, investors were told.
Online sales have stabilised at around 66 per cent above 2019 pre-Covid levels, with online comprising 14.1 per cent of direct to consumer sales in the rolling 12 months to January 2023.
Rip Curl has migrated global online platforms since acquisition by KMD Brands, and has a significant opportunity to accelerate online growth, the company believes, while Oboz, its footwear brand, had its online trading site launched in 2021, with significant runway for growth.
At the investor day KMD Brands also said it believed it had further opportunities to enhance its digital experience wit shoppers, with a business-to-business platform roll out to all brands in the regions and a range of initiatives to lift customer experience including membership, gift cards, in-store returns, click and collect and ship from store.
KMD Brands has a long-term target of around 25 per cent of all sales generated by online.
In March KMD Brands revealed that it had returned to growth in the first half of 2023 after the Covid-19 pandemic clobbered the retail, tourism and sports industries that saw shortages of wetsuits, shuttered factories and other disruptions to its business.
The company reported that first-half revenue rose 34.5 per cent to $NZ547.9m ($A509.5m) as net profit lifted 352.2pc to $NZ13.977m.
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