Adventure apparel retailer Kathmandu has bucked the weak retail trend, revelling in a sales increase of 24.5 per cent for the 2011 financial year.
The New Zealand-based retailer, which suffered store closures after the Christchurch earthquakes, reported consolidated sales for the year ended July 31 were NZ$306 million ($244 million), with same store sales also increasing by 15.7 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
Sales by country for the year were also up, with Australian sales experiencing a 26.3 per cent rise to $143.4 million (up $29.9 million), and New Zealand sales up 18.0 per cent to NZ$111.3 million.
The company has also announced it expects earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to be between $NZ63 million ($50.3 million) and $65 million ($51.8 million) for the financial year, which would represent an increase of between 31 and 36 per cent overall.
Chief executive Peter Halkett said he attributes the increase in sales in Australia and New Zealand to increased investment in inventory, generally favourable weather patterns in both regions over the Easter and winter promotional periods, and better than expected results from new store openings.
Halkett also said the company was pleased with the results for the FY11, given the tough retail landscape and difficult trading environment.
“Our key strategies of new store roll-out, upgrading of existing stores and ongoing growth in our product range have all delivered increased sales,” he said.
“However, we also have to acknowledge that autumn and winter weather was overall positive for us, and we also believe the strong Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar has encouraged growth in travel overseas, which has a flow on benefit for us.”
Kathmandu chairman James Strong echoed Halkett's sentiments and said that the company had delivered a substantial improvement despite an very uncertain economic environment.
“It is clear that market conditions throughout this year have been particularly difficult for retailers dependent on discretionary consumer spend, particularly in the apparel category. The winter season appears to have been especially tough, and give these circumstances we considered it was appropriate to update the market as soon as possible on Kathmandu's trading performance,” he said.
The company said further details on Kathmandu's performance will be provided when the full year audited result is released on September 21, 2011.