KMD Brands has returned to profitability, with its Kathmandu stores in Australia posting strong sales growth as the lockdowns ended.
The Rip Curl, Kathmandu and Oboz footwear owner on Wednesday announced overall sales were up 34.5 per cent to $NZ547.9 million ($507m) for the six months to January 31. It made a net profit after tax of $NZ14m ($13m), compared to a $NZ5.1m ($4.7m) loss a year ago.
"For the first time since Rip Curl was acquired, the group has experienced a full 12 months of trade without significant interruption from the COVID pandemic, which resulted in group sales of over $1 billion," said CEO and managing director Michael Daly.
"Despite uncertainties in consumer outlook, all three of our brands - Rip Curl, Kathmandu, and Oboz - delivered strong sales growth in the half, and as a group we have improved our gross margin."
The company's gross margin improved 100 basis points to 58.7 per cent.
Kathmandu had $NZ194m in Australian sales, up 51.2 per cent from a year ago, but down from below the pandemic.
It had $NZ204.4m in sales in the first half of 2018/19 and $NZ196.5m in the first half of 2019/20.
KMD's total sales momentum remained strong in February, up 31.4 per cent from a year ago.
The company finished the first half with net debt of $84.9m, with funding headroom of over $NZ200m.
KMD declared a dividend of NZ3c a share, unchanged from last year.
At 3.37pm, KMD shares were up 0.5 per cent to 94.5c.
