Rip Curl owner KMD Brands on track to exceed $1 billion in annual sales for the first time

​KMD Brands on Wednesday provided a trading update and guidance for the full year ending July 31, revealing sales are expected to be approximately NZ$1.1 billion (US$690 million) for the 12-month period.

The owner of Rip Curl and Kathmandu brands said sales are expected to be a full-year record for the group, exceeding $1 billion for the first time, following strong sales growth from all brands in the first three quarters of the financial year.

Recent trading in the fourth quarter has been “more challenging,” with increased cost-of-living pressures softening consumer sentiment, added KMD in a press release.

The company said that Kathmandu has so far experienced a slower start to its winter trading period, “cycling its best-ever winter season performance last year.”

Meanwhile, sales and retail footfall have been impacted by a warmer start to winter in Australia, and softening consumer sentiment overall, it added.

However, the company said that full-year gross margin remains resilient, and is expected to be in line with last year, underlying EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $105 million to $110 million, with three weeks of trade still to come.

“With three weeks of trade still to come, we remain focused on delivering our key Kathmandu winter and Rip Curl northern hemisphere summer results while continuing to moderate our cost base for the year ahead,”  said group CEO and managing director, Michael Daly.

“We’re looking forward to delivering over $1 billion in sales at year-end – a first for KMD Brands.” 

Last week, the New Zealand-listed brand company announced Chris Kinraid has resigned from the role of group chief financial officer, with effect from December, to take up a position as chief executive officer with another NZX-listed company.