After registering record sales for its financial year ended on July 31, boosted by the acquisition of Rip Curl in October 2019, Kathmandu Holdings kept the momentum going during the start of its new financial year. In a trading update, the company said that its revenues for the first fiscal quarter ended on Oct. 31 soared by 72 percent from the year-ago quarter, led by Rip Curl. It reported robust sales by the Australian surf brand of summer-weighted product categories in its key markets of Australia, Europe and North America, despite the impact of Covid-19. The company said that the wholesale order book for the second half year is now broadly at pre-coronavirus levels. A previously acquired brand, Oboz, also recorded a robust performance with strong sales to key accounts, and the forward order book is even tracking above pre-pandemic levels, but the Kathmandu brand of outdoor products did not fare as well. On a pro-forma basis, relative to the same period last year including three months of Rip Curl pre-acquisition, the group’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) same-store sales for the 16 weeks ended on Nov.15 dropped by 7.6 percent from the year-ago period, adjusted for lockdown closures. On this same basis, Rip Curl’s sales soared by 26.8 percent, but those of Kathmandu’ tumbled by the same percentage at -26.8 percent. Excluding adjustments for lockdown closures, DTC same-store sales fell by 24.1 percent, with Rip Curl down by 1.7 percent and Kathmandu by 37.7 percent. However, the group’s overall online sales were 37.0 percent above last year. More in The Outdoor Industry Compass.

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