A chilly June helped push New Zealand outdoor brand Macpac’s sales up for the year by 15.3% with the clothing retailer reporting double-digit growth thanks to the winter sales boost.

The retailer's sales were up 15.3% to $176.8 million for the 53 weeks ended July 2 and delivered earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of A$40.5m (NZ$44.8m), up from the A$35.7m a year previously.

Macpac had been under the Super Retail arm since it was swept up for $144m back in March 2018, when the NZ outdoor brand joined Supercheap Auto, Rebel Sport in Australia, and boating, camping and fishing chain BCF under the Super Retail umbrella.

Ten new stores

Macpac has operated 85 stores since 2018 on both sides of the Tasman, with 48 in Australia and 37 in NZ. 

The NZ outdoor brand opened 10 stores and closed one store in the year ended July 2. Super Retail chief executive Anthony Heraghty said the group planned to open up about ten new Macpac stores during the FY23 period.

Macpac’s 15% jump in sales revenue was driven by record winter sales in June, Heraghty said in the company’s annual report. 

Online sales also grew by 35% to $40.8m and represented 23% of total sales for the outdoor brand. Click and collect made up 17% of the online sales segment and 4% of total sales.

In NZ, like-for-like sales fell 6.5% due to the impact of covid-19 and reduced tourism and travel, but in Australia, like-for-like sales lifted 12.4% which reflected the growth in rainwear and insulation apparel sales due to cold and wet weather.

Elevated levels of demand

Supercheap Auto – which delivers the bulk of Super Retail’s revenue – total sales climbed by 2.4% to $1.34b. 

Heraghty said in the annual report that due to tight supply limiting new car sales, Supercheap had a “central role” in keeping the older car fleet on the road.

Super Retail group sales rose 2.8% to A$3.55 billion, with digital sales up 44% to over $600m.

While trading across the Super Retail Group remained strong, the company advised shareholders that it expected rising interest rates and higher costs of living to start impacting consumer spending in the second half of the year as the elevated levels of demand, which rose during the pandemic, begin to subside.

Super Retail’s board declared a final dividend of 43 Australian cents, bringing the full year dividend to 70 cents per share which is to be paid on Oct 17.