This morning adventure wear retailer Kathmandu Holdings Ltd (ASX: KMD) reported a net profit of NZ$12.3 million on sales of NZ$204.8 million for the period ending January 31 2018. The profit and revenue were up 23% and 4.3% over the prior corresponding half. The group recorded EBITDA (operating income) of NZ$25.1 million, up 16.7%, on a margin of 12.3% that was supported by less discounting of stock that tends to sell at relatively premium prices.
The group will pay an interim dividend of NZ4 cents per share and benefits as the NZ dollar falls as the majority of its revenues and profits come from its Australian operations.
It also provided a strong trading update for the six weeks ending March 11 2018, with same store sales up 7.5% for Australia and 5.1% for New Zealand, with both regions delivering improved gross margins.
Kathmandu rules off its books at the end of January and July to separate out the key Christmas and autumn / winter selling seasons for the outdoor adventure wear business.
It also announced a bold US$60 million acquisition of US adventure footwear retailer Oboz that may include an additional US$15 million in earn out payments. The deal is to be funded via a NZ$48 million capital raising and new debt facilities. It is expected to be mid-single-digit accretive to earnings per share in financial year 2019 and is priced at 10.6x EV/EBITDA.
