Promotional activity at sporting retailer Rebel in the first half of FY26 has impacted margins across its parent company Super Retail Group.
The group shared this in its trading update, noting that its group gross margin was down by 20 basis points to 45.4 per cent. This is driven down by a 40 basis point drop in gross margins at Rebel, with a 60 basis point slip at the group’s smallest subsidiary Macpac also adding to the slip.
These slips were offset by a 20 basis point lift in margins at BCF, the brand’s boating, camping and fishing retailer, which also sells a wide range of technical gear. Super Retail’s other key subsidiary Supercheap Auto’s margins were in line with prior year.
Rebel’s margin challenges come as total sales lifted by 4.8 per cent to $740.4 million. Super Retail added that demand patterns were variable throughout the period for Rebel and promotional intensity increased in the second quarter.
Like-for-like sales at Rebel increased by 3.8 per cent driven primarily by growth in the number of transactions. Footwear and licenced goods (such as NRL apparel) continued to perform strongly while sporting equipment, hydration and recovery categories also showed strong growth.
The group also noted that stock loss levels remain elevated at Rebel. However, actions taken to date have halted the upward trend, resulting in no incremental negative gross margin impact in the half.
Rebel’s cost of doing business increased by 7.3 per cent. An elevated level of store activity – which included seven openings, six closures and four refurbishments/relocations – added to increased property related expenses in the period.
Rebel’s profit before tax (PBT) declined by 11.4 per cent to $53.1 million. PBT margin of 7.2 per cent declined by 130 bps reflecting the lower gross margin and operating deleverage from higher CODB growth.
The sporting retailer’s online sales grew 5.9 per cent to $146.3 million and represented 19.8 per cent of total rebel sales. Click & Collect represented 28.8 per cent of online sales, up from 27.6 per cent recorded in the prior year.
Active club membership grew by 6.7 per cent to 4.3 million in the past 12 months and represented 82.4 per cent of rebel sales. Rebel ended 2025 with 163 stores altogether.
For Super Retail Group overall, total sales lifted 4.2 per cent to $2.19 billion in the first half of FY26. The slips in profit before tax at Rebel, alongside a 12.3 per cent fall at BCF, led to a total PBT fall of 6.9 per cent for the group to $173 million.
At the bottom line, Super Retail Group’s statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) plummeted by nearly 20 per cent to $104 million.
Super Retail Group managing director and CEO Paul Bradshaw called the top-line sales result a “solid outcome” considering the competitive retail environment and challenging conditions.
“Rebel delivered credible growth given variable consumer demand, elevated competitor activity and inventory availability challenges during the period,” Bradshaw said. “BCF sales were in line with a record prior year level, with growth in the northern states offset by weather impacted declines in the south. Macpac was a standout performer in the half, with strong like-for-like growth supported by network expansion from the prior year.”
Alongside the top-line growth, Bradshaw added that there were improvements in customer outcomes, such as growth in active club members, higher customer NPS, and an increasing share of sales from club members across all four of its retail brands.
“Safety remains a core focus, with a 22 per cent improvement in total recordable injury frequency rate, from 14.2 in 1H25 to 11.1 in 1H26, reinforcing our commitment to providing a safer working environment for our team members.
“An increase in the cost of doing business driven by store activity, together with additional project costs associated with the new national distribution centre in Victoria and the HR Core and Payroll system, impacted PBT growth and margins in the period. These projects are proceeding as planned through 2H26.”
The group employs 16,000 team members across Australia and New Zealand.