After six years, KMD Brands' Oboz is yet to find its footing

KMD Brands has reduced the value of Oboz by $40 million in its books. (Image: KMD Brands)

Fri, 29 Nov 2024

Retail analysts and KMD Brands shareholders are struggling to find evidence that buying Oboz in 2018 for $103 million was a good idea. The segment, which primarily sells outdoor shoes wholesale to American retailers, provoked frank questioning at KMD Brands’ annual general meeting last week. “Oboz has been a perennial loss maker, notably suffering from cost blowout over the last few years, with sales only slightly higher than in 2019 largely due to the currency translation effect of a very weak NZ dollar,” one s...

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