Super Retail Group's activewear and outdoor apparel brands have demonstrated resilience amid mounting headwinds, with both Rebel and Macpac delivering like-for-like sales growth in the second half of FY26.
Super Retail Group's latest trading update, covering the first 44 weeks of FY26, shows Rebel’s total sales lifting 4 per cent in financial year-to-date, with total sales between weeks 27 and 44 up just 2.8 per cent.
The brand’s like-for-like sales in the early second half was lower still, up just 1.4 per cent.
The sporting retailer credited ongoing participation in sport and exercise as a key demand driver, with men's wear, recovery gear and football categories performing strongly. Licensed fan gear held steady, and fitness tech delivered a positive contribution off the back of recent promotional activity.
Super Retail Group added that Rebel’s result is particularly notable given the broader sports category recorded declining sales through March and April. Management flagged that Rebel gained market share over the period.
The headwinds weren't insignificant, though, with demand for higher-value sporting equipment subdued and performance footwear growth softening amid intensifying competition.
Macpac was the standout performer across Super Retail Group – which also manages Supercheap Auto and BCF. For the first 44 weeks of FY26, the outdoor clothing brand clocked 8.9 per cent total sales growth. Second-half like-for-like growth of 2.5 per cent reflected solid momentum, though the outdoor apparel brand wasn't entirely immune to the period's disruptions. Elevated fuel prices and concerns around fuel supply dampened outdoor activity participation through March and April, pulling on a key demand lever for the brand.
Management noted Macpac has been actively managing inventory and ranging as it positions for its peak winter trade season in the fourth quarter.
Both brands were caught in a broader consumer sentiment slump that the group attributed to the onset of the Middle East conflict, higher fuel prices, rising interest rates, and fuel availability concerns. The Easter trading period proved particularly difficult across all four of Super Retail's brands.
Group like-for-like sales grew just 0.4 per cent in H2 to date, with gross margin described as modestly below the prior comparable period.
BCF – which sells a range of outdoor clothing across fishing, hiking and the like, among a wider assortment of outdoor lifestyle gear and equipment – saw the harshest results, with total sales for the first 44 weeks down 0.3 per cent, which appeared more impacted in the second half. BCF’s total sales for weeks 27 to 44 were down 1.2 per cent, with like-for-like sales in the same period down 3.3 per cent.
Alongside fuel constraints, management noted this was compounded by an unfavourable calendar arising from the separation of Easter and Anzac Day, with the overall impact broad-based across all regions and categories.
On the cost side, Super Retail revised its group and unallocated cost guidance upward to $66 million from a prior estimate of $60 million, reflecting the early commencement of projects originally slated for FY27, including a new Victorian distribution centre and a HR and payroll system implementation.