Super Retail Group has reported a 4.4 per cent lift in sales for its sporting subsidiary Rebel in the first half of FY25, driven by footwear and apparel.
Total sales hit $706 million, adding to an $80 million lift in sales across Super Retail Group to $2.1 billion. The group also manages outdoor gear brand Macpac, outdoor supply business BCF, and Supercheap Auto.
According to the group, Rebel’s growth accelerated in the second quarter, culminating in a record Christmas trading period.
Footwear and licenced products – such as NRL apparel – delivered strong growth in the performance sports category, Super Retail reported. All apparel and health and wellbeing categories delivered growth, “with fitness tech the standout.”
Despite the bump up in sales, gross margin at Rebel declined 150 basis points, reportedly due to a combination of mix shift to lower margin items, elevated stock loss activity and the full period impact of establishing the loyalty program according to Super Retail.
Segment profit before tax (PBT) declined to $60 million. PBT margin fell by 110 bps reflecting the lower gross margin, partially offset by a favourable movement in the cost of doing business as a percentage of sales, as operating costs were “well managed” in the half.
Active club membership grew by 4 per cent and club members represented 80 per cent of total sales.
Meanwhile, Rebel’s online sales of $138 million represented 20 per cent of total sales. Click & Collect represented 28 per cent of online sales. Rebel opened four stores resulting in 163 stores at period end.
Like-for-like sales also grew by 2.6 per cent with growth in both number of transactions and average transaction value.
Super Retail Group managing director and CEO Anthony Heraghty said the overall growth across the group is a pleasing outcome considering the challenging consumer conditions in the half, “especially in New Zealand.
“Super Retail Group delivered solid first half sales growth of four per cent - a pleasing outcome considering the challenging consumer conditions throughout the period, especially in New Zealand.
“Our brands maintained pricing and promotional discipline amidst pockets of elevated promotional activity in the market,” Heraghty said. “The business successfully navigated the peak trade period through strategic initiatives across supply chain, stock availability, merchandising and ranging.
“These efforts drove accelerated growth in the second quarter at BCF and Rebel.
“We successfully cycled our first full year of the Rebel active loyalty program, meeting or exceeding targeted KPIs, and continued to deliver on the strong pipeline of new store openings for FY25.
“Ongoing inflationary pressures on the cost of doing business have impacted PBT growth and margins in the period. While some of those pressures may be easing, we remain focused on actively managing our cost base in this environment.”
Group-wide like-for-like sales grew by 1.8 per cent, with group gross margin decreasing by 70 bps to 45.6 per cent.