KMD Brands, slated to report annual results on Sept. 25 formally, said its Rip Curl and Kathmandu business units showed improvement in both Q3 and Q4 for the 12 months ended July 31. The company suffered a 30-basis point drop in gross margin to 58.8 percent in FY24 due to increased promotional activity in the final period, as group sales declined by 11.2 percent for the year. Annual Ebitda is expected in the NZ$49 to $51 million range (€27.1m-€27.6m).
Rip Curl, whose annual sales were down by 7.3 percent year over year, continued to experience stronger Direct-to-consumer sales last year. While the brand’s DTC sales were down by 2.8 percent year over year, annual wholesale revenues declined by 13.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand group said its Kathmandu had stronger results in FY24 amid the challenging consumer environment. The company ended the FY with an annual sales decline of 14.5 percent after a -6.9 percent sales drop in Q4, with Australia (-4.5%) outperforming New Zealand (-16.5%). The brand’s better performance was aided by enhanced in-store execution and new products, the company said.
At Oboz, the Q4 sales decline dropped to -7.9 percent following double-digit contractions in H1 and Q3. The segment’s online business rose by 31.7 percent year over year, but its wholesale revenues were down by 23.1 percent.
