KMD Brands – owner of Kathmandu, Rip Curl and Oboz Footwear – has called for a further suspension of trading on the Australian Securities Exchange and the New Zealand’s Exchange.
The retail group was expected to release its half-year FY26 trading update on March 25, but has continued to delay this release as it attempts to secure funding.
Last week, KMD called for a trading halt up until Friday, March 27. This was then extended to Monday (March 30), and has now been delayed again to tomorrow.
The company is currently undertaking a capital raise, and is aiming to finalise terms for a refinancing of its existing bank facilities with help from Goldman Sachs. Amid all this, KMD reported that it is not presently in a position to make an announcement regarding the capital raise and refinance, as the final details, including pricing, are still being determined.
“Discussions regarding these matters remain ongoing,” the company shared.
“In order for the directors to approve the HY26 Results, and KMD’s auditors to complete their review of the HY26 Results, the final details of the refinance and the capital raise will need to be confirmed. Accordingly, KMD is unable to finalise the HY26 Results.”
The Australian Financial Review recently reported that the company is aiming to raise NZ$65 million (~A$54 million) in equity based on sources close to the action. The AFR added that this is below the NZ$200 million it was calling for last week, noting further that even the lower figure is proving hard to acquire.
That came after KMD rejected a proposal by US surfwear company Stokehouse Unlimited to essentially acquire the Rip Curl brand.
Stokehouse is the former owner of Billabong, and currently manages Vissla and Sisstr.
The proposed transaction would have involved KMD demerging Rip Curl into a separate NZX and ASX listed company and subsequently merging Rip Curl with the US entity.
Stokehouse proposed that after the full transaction is complete, Stokehouse shareholders would own 22 per cent of the merged Rip Curl entity.
According to KMD Brands, this proposed ownership structure is misaligned with the earnings delivered by the Stokehouse and Rip Curl businesses “given Stokehouse’s immaterial contribution to combined EBITDA”, and added it would unfairly dilute KMD Brands shareholders.
All this follows KMD's preliminary trading update in early February that showed Kathmandu posted a double-digit lift in revenue for the five months between August and December 2025, outpacing its sister brands Rip Curl and Oboz Footwear under its overarching group KMD Brands.
For the five months to December, Kathmandu sales grew by 12.9 per cent, with sales stronger in the three months to October (up 13.9 per cent) compared to the last two months of 2025 (up 12.1 per cent).
Rip Curl’s sales were still quite modest, up 5.6 per cent in the five months to December, with similar movements to Kathmandu in the first three months and the last two months.
In the same release, dated February 2, KMD shared that it expects first half underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to hit within the range of NZ$8 million to NZ$11 million, which is up from NZ$3.9 million recorded in first half of FY25.
The group also told shareholders that it had extended its existing debt facility term to April 2027 and had adjusted the fixed cover charge ratio for July 2026 and January 2027 measurement periods with no restrictions in place. The group has also reduced its total syndicated bank facilities to approximately NZ$283 million.
The group added that its net debt at 31 January 2026 should be in the range of NZ$85 million to NZ$90 million (1H FY25 NZ$76.2 million) impacted by the weakening of the NZ dollar year-on-year.