Super Retail Group Limited (SUL) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to the Fiscal year 2026 Half Year Results Presentation for Super Retail Group. Today's presentation will be made by the group's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr. Paul Bradshaw; and its Chief Financial Officer, Mr. David Burns. There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. This call is for investors only. Media wishing to obtain access to management should contact [ Kate Carini, ] GM, Corporate Affairs; whose contact details appear on today's ASX announcement. I would now like to hand over to Mr. Paul Bradshaw to begin today's presentation.

Yes. Thank you, David, and good morning, and welcome, everybody, to the Super Retail Group FY '26 half year results presentation. It is both a pleasure and a privilege to present my first results as CEO this morning. Since taking on the role on the first of November, I've spent much of my time of those 100 days listening that's listening to our shareholders, listening to our team to our trade partners and importantly, to our customers. It's been a genuinely energizing experience, highlighting the passion of our team. And I'd just like to reflect and say a big thank you for the commitment, the hard work and effort that all of our team members have put into the first half. We have a clear strategic opportunity ahead of us. We are wasting no time in putting the plan in place to realize that potential. First things first though, I will begin this morning by speaking to some of our financial and operating highlights for the first half of F'26, before discussing the performance of each of the brands. Our Chief Financial Officer, David Burns, will provide you with some more detail on the financial results. I will then provide a trading update for the second half. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions at the end of the call. So moving to Slide 3, the full year highlights. We are pleased to be able to provide positive like-for-like growth in what was an increasingly competitive retail environment in the first half of FY '26. We Together with ongoing contribution from network expansion, the group delivered a further 4% growth on last year's record base. Super Cheap Water was able to sustain their positive momentum from the end of FY '25 and Mapa delivered a standout year with strong revenue growth and even stronger profit growth. We continue to gain market share in key categories over the 6-month period. Super Cheap Water gained share in the core auto category. Rebel continued to gain share in sport and Mapa gained further share in the adventure category. We were particularly pleased with the progress during the period of our team member safety scores, with targeted initiatives delivered a 22% improvement in the total recordable injury frequency rate. The investments in our network and loyalty programs continue to yield positive responses from our customers. And during the year, we saw continued growth in our Active members, customer Net Promoter Scores and club member percentages of total sales for all 4 of our brands. And we are making good progress with our new DC in Victoria. We have now completed testing of the automation facilities, and we are on track for a phased migration of all our brands through this calendar year. Moving to Slide 4, the financial and operating highlights. The group delivered another year of record sales with revenue up by 4.2% to $2.2 billion, driven by 2.5% like-for-like growth and supported by continued network expansion. Gross margin declined by 20 basis points over the full year to 45.4%. Normalized profit before tax declined by $6.9 million to $173 million, representing a PBT margin of 7.9%. That was down 90 basis points from the prior year. And normalized NPAT was $122 million. Details of the items not included in normalized NPAT are set out in the segment note in the appendix and includes costs associated with team member wage remediation as well as net legal and professional advisory fees and other adjustments related to a number of regulatory and litigation matters. The Board has determined to pay a fully franked interim dividend of $0.32 per share in relation to the first half of FY '26, which is in line with the prior year interim. The group entered the second half in a strong financial position. Strong cash conversion in the period has resulted in a net cash balance of $107.8 million with no drawn bank debt at period end. I'll take you to Slide 5, the first half sales. I will make further comments on growth for each of the brands in the following slides, but we'll take the opportunity to note here. Firstly, -- the group has delivered record half year sales. Sales growth of 4.2% was driven by a 2.5% like-for-like growth and 1.7% from new store openings. Like-for-like sales was mixed with the portfolio with a strong performance from Macpac, solid results from Revlon Super Cheap Auto and a disappointing outcome from BCF. Turning to Slide 6, the operating PBT. Slide 6 outlines the drivers of the decline in profit before tax, both in absolute dollars as well as margin over the half year. On the left-hand side, you can see the margin evolution expressed in terms of gross margin and cost of doing business with the majority of the overall decline due to an increase in the cost of doing business as a percentage of our sales. In the waterfall chart on the right, we have presented the PBT drivers in terms of the operational outcomes. That is PBT outcomes from the brands, including corporate costs. and FY '26 project outcomes, which is specific to the previously flagged project costs that will impact FY '26 earnings. Operational outcomes contributed a net $1.3 million decline or 0.7% to group PBT in the half. Solid positive contributions from Supercheap Auto and Macpac during the period were offset by declines at Rebel and BCF, with a modest improvement in the corporate costs amounting to a net operational decline of approximately $1 million in the half. I will discuss the individual drivers of performance in the brand reviews later in the presentation. Project outcomes contributed $11.5 million to the overall PBT decline in the half. We have previously guided to 2 significant projects in FY '26, which include the duplication costs associated with the new national distribution center in Victoria and the implementation of the new human resource core and payroll system. The combined costs of those 2 projects is expected to be approximately $29 million in FY '26 with $15 million realized in the first half. The year-on-year increase in these project costs amounted to $11.5 million. And these projects are progressing well and planned through the second half of this financial year. I'll now take you to Slide 7, the customer highlights. Slide 7 shows what we have added -- that we've added a further 1 million active club members over the past 12 months. To now have 13 million members representing almost 85% of our sales. Club member spend as a percentage of our sales has continued to increase across each of the 4 core brands. Across the group, our Club members NPS score has improved well from a 71 to 74. I would also note that the largest increase in club membership and Globe member NPS was SuperCheap Auto following a concerted effort at improving customer engagement in a period of heightened competitor activity whilst delivering the new spend and get customer loyalty program in the period. Turning to Slide 8. The store network highlights. We continue to deliver on a strong pipeline of store openings with 16 new stores opened in the first half of '26 and we plan to open a further 12 in the second half. I would note that the majority of the new store activity was concentrated in the Rebel and Supercheap Auto in the period, with Rebel also engaging in an elevated level of refurbishments and relocations. By contrast, BCF network activity will be second half weighted in the financial year. BCF added to their superstore fleet in the period with the highly successful opening of our Palmerston superstore in Darwin in November and the opening of our first superstore issuing New South Wales at Taren Point is planned for the second half, and I'll look forward to that store launch. Turning to Slide 9. Digital and omni highlights. Full year online sales grew by 9% to $312 million and represented 14% of our total sales. Importantly, Click & Collect, which is the most profitable channel grew faster than home delivery within online and accounted for 48% of online sales, meaning that 93% of our sales are completed in a store. Our new distribution center will further enhance our capacity to meet those growing customer expectations for fast and reliable service. Slides 11 and 12, group performance and segment performance. Slides 11 and 12 are self-explanatory, so I'll move straight to Supercheap Auto. Supercheap Auto also delivered a solid performance in the first half, maintaining its momentum from the second half of the previous financial year. Importantly, the team was able to deliver top line growth whilst maintaining gross margins despite the still elevated promotional environment. After a challenging prior comparison period, it was also pleasing to see that Supercheap once again grown its market share of the core auto category. And underscoring the strength of the Supercheap market-leading position was a substantial increase in customer Net Promoter Score, which climbed from 68 in the prior comparison period to now 75 despite the heightened competitive activity in that category. The team completed over 500,000 fitments across the network in the first half, and that is an increase of 15% on the prior year, that's just solidifying a key point of differentiation, not only amongst the core auto peers, but in particular to generalists operating in this space. A summary of the financial performance of Supercheap Auto is set out on Slide 14. In particular, I'd like to make the following call outs. Total sales grew by 5% to $813 million, like-for-like sales growth of 3.5% with a 3.7% in Australia and 2.1% in in New Zealand. Despite the elevated competitive intensity, the gross margin was in line with the prior year. Cost of doing business was also well managed, remaining flat as a percentage of sales. With full year PBT margin was in line with the prior year at 12.6% and PBT increased by 4.5% to $102 million in the half year. A solid half year on the team at Supercheap Auto. Now turning to Rebel. The Rebel team delivered credible like-for-like growth in the period in an environment which included heightened levels of promotional activity and challenges with inventory and availability. Despite these challenges, Rebel continued to increase its market share, both online and offline in the half. The team was highly active across the network, delivering 7 new stores closures and 4 refurbishments and relocations in the half, almost matching Rebel's total network activity the prior year for the full year. Whilst the top line performance was solid, we believe we could have done better. Over the past few years, the team have made really good progress in broadening the overall range Fort wear is just a good example where we've extended the offer, both in terms of brands and categories to better meet our customer needs and drive engagement. However, during the half and in particular, over the peak trading period, we did not consistently have the right depth of inventory available to our -- on our key ranges and our key sizes to really fully capture the customer demand. This was driven partly by disruptions by some of our key suppliers and by our shortcomings in our own planning and execution. As a consequence, we believe we did leave sales on the table. The important point is that this is entirely within our control to address. The actions required are well understood and are already underway. And we are confident in our ability to improve our in-stock positions and into better convert demand into sales and sales into profits moving forward. A summary of Rebel's financial performance is set out on Slide 16. Total sales grew by 4.8% to $740 million. Like-for-like sales grew by 3.8%, driven by growth in a number of transactions. The gross margin declined by 40 basis points, driven primarily by an increase in the promotional activity throughout this period. And cost of doing business increased as a percentage of sales due to the increased property-related expenses which includes those large new stores in the lights of [ Bondi ] Junction and Broadway as well as the elevated level of network activity in the half. Profit before tax declined by $11.4 million to $53 million. And turning then to BCF on Slide 17. Total sales for BCF were in line with a record prior year. We said in August that BCF's strong FY '25 results was assisted by favorable conditions at key times of the year. And whilst we expected growth in FY '26, it was always going to be a challenge. We didn't anticipate the extent of disruption that will be posed by the extended Algibloom in South Australia and the disruption to those coastal conditions in Victoria, not seen for more than 20 years. Encouragingly though, we saw growth in the northern states at WA, the Northern Territory and Queensland. However, those environmental factors had a strong negative impact on key categories such as fishing, marine and water sports, particularly in South Australia and Victoria, resulting in a modest like-for-like decline over the half. BCF added 1 superstore in the period at Palmerston in the Northern Territory with early performance tracking very well indeed. And as a summary of the financial performance of BCF is set out on Slide 18 and in particular, I would call out the following. Total sales increased marginally to $520 million. Like-for-like sales declined by 1.6%, driven by a reduction in the number of transactions, particularly in the marine, fishing and water sports categories. Gross margins improved by 20 basis points. Growth in cost of doing business was well managed, however, increased as a percentage of sales negatively impacted the PBT margin in the period. Segment PBT decreased by 12.3% to $39 million. BCF opened just 1 new store in the period with the majority of its network activity weighted towards the second half, including that new superstore in TurnPoint in Sydney. Turning now to Macpac on Slide 19. I Macpac delivered a standout performance in the first half of the year. Record sales growth driven by high single-digit like-for-like and a strong contribution from new stores that we opened back in FY '25. Macpac continues to gain market share and brand awareness in Australia as more and more customers experience our stores, our products and our amazing team members. Pleasingly, the strong revenue performance translated into even stronger profit growth in the half. A summary of the financial performance of Macpac is set out on Slide 25. Total sales grew by 13.1% to $122 million. Like-for-like sales grew by 7.8% with 8.9% growth in Australia and 5.9% in New Zealand. Growth was driven by an increase in both the number of transactions and the average transaction value. Gross margin declined by 60 basis points due to the clearance activity early in the half to manage seasonal inventory. Segment PBT increased by $5.4 million to $7.1 million. And the PBT margin of 5.8% was up 420 basis points on the prior year. I would now like to hand over to David Burns to talk in some more detail to the financials.

Thank you, Paul. Group unallocated costs on Slide 21 increased by $10 million in the period. This increase was primarily due to the increase in previously flagged project costs with the transition of the new Victorian distribution center and the implementation of a new HR core and payroll system. Both projects are proceeding as planned in the second half. Turning to Slide 22. Total inventory increased by $19 million or approximately 2% reflecting the expansion in the store network with overall net inventory per store in line with the prior year. Supercheap auto inventory per store was lower following a solid sell-through over the Christmas trading period. whilst Rebel's inventory levels were impacted by delays in the receipt of stock from key suppliers. BCF inventory per store increased reflecting a softer-than-expected peak trading period. although the strong in-stock position at the period end has been an enabler of a stronger sales momentum in the first 8 weeks of the second half. Inventory quality remains high with aged inventory levels below target. Moving to Slide 23. Operating cash flow of $416 million represents an increase of $27 million or 7% above the prior year, reflecting favorable working capital movements, which are standard in the first half of the year. Operating cash conversion of 125% remains strong. Total capital expenditure of $62 million was $37 million lower than the previous corresponding period, reflecting a lower weight of CapEx in the first half of FY '26 due to project activity being skewed to H2. Dividends were lower than the prior period, reflecting the lower special dividend payment relative to the prior year, partly offset by higher rent and rent lease payments in the period. I'll move to Slide 24, dividends and capital management. The Board is determined to pay a fully franked interim dividend of $0.32 per share, in line with the prior year and within the group's 55% to 65% payout range of underlying earnings. Surplus cash on hand at the end of FY '25 was returned to shareholders by way of a special dividend during the period and the group finished the second half with a strong balance sheet and net cash position of $107 million. Returns and capital ratios. The group delivered normalized EPS of $0.54 in H1, down 6.7% on the prior year. Pleasingly, post-tax return on capital was 18.1% and for the 12-month period to December 2025, comfortably above the group's weighted average cost of capital. The average net cash position was below the prior year following the return of surplus cash special dividend payment. Turning to Slide 26. We're pleased to report the further progress on our new Victorian distribution center, which is open and operational, serving Rebel stores in the Southern states with no disruption to fulfillment activity. Operational testing of automated capabilities was successfully completed in the period and are due to come online in this second half of FY '26. We're progressing through a phased opening schedule to minimize the risk to operations with the remaining brands scheduled to transition to the new DC throughout this calendar year. Once fully operational, the new distribution center will provide a step change in our online and home delivery capabilities, whilst allowing us to optimize our national distribution center footprint and deliver operating efficiencies, greater scalability and working capital savings. Turning to Slide 27. Capital expenditure envelope has evolved with various projects over recent years. Investing in new stores and refurbishments is a constant element and will continue to underpin the CapEx envelope in the short to medium term. CapEx on loyalty peaked in FY '24 and is now largely complete following the rollout of the rebulactive and Supercheap Auto spendings loyalty programs. FY '25 represented the peak period of investment for supply chain with the new Victorian distribution set are now operational, spending is expected to moderate in FY '26. Investments in systems and technology commenced in 25 and is anticipated to grow within the capital expenditure envelope in the coming years. That's the summary of the financial information. I'll now hand back to Paul.

Yes. Thank you, David. I'll now take you to Slide 29, the group strategy. This slide at the 5 pillars of the previous strategic ask, and we're pleased with the progress that we've made in each of these areas. Focusing on our 4 core brands has really allowed us to continue to deliver strong revenue growth over the -- over and above the step change from that COVID period. Our customer metrics have improved substantially across all 4 brands. leveraging through our personalization, our loyalty program in ways many of our peers cannot. However, our recent focus and attention has been on the opportunities that lie ahead. And I'm excited about the opportunity to share our new strategic vision for the next 5-year arc. -- at our Investor Day in June. More information around that event will follow in due course. Now taking you to Slide 32, the trading update. Group like-for-like sales momentum has been positive in the first 8 weeks of the trading first half. Supercheap Auto has continued to deliver solid top line growth, led by stronger growth in Australia and consumers responding positively to the improved ranging initiatives that the team have delivered in the stores. Like-for-like growth at Rebel continued to be impacted by inventory availability challenges following supply chain disruption at a number of key suppliers. BCF reported a pleasing return to growth, cycling double-digit growth from the prior comparison period. moderating headwinds from the first half and strong in-stock position at the end of December contributed to an improved momentum. And Macpac has continued its strong growth momentum into the period, and the team is focused now on delivering the fourth quarter all important peak winter trade. With that said, I will now hand back to David, the operator for questions.

[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Michael Simotas with Jefferies.

The first question for me is on the trading update. In the past, you've called out some timing impacts of Boxing Day, Boxing Day is getting very close to the end of your half. Did that materially impact either the period that you've disclosed in the trading update for the first half results that you've reported?

Yes. Look, I think the -- it's obviously getting very close with our financial close on the Saturday -- so we are within 2 days of Christmas. So we do include Boxing Day in the results and the day after, but we don't have the benefit of the post-Christmas period. Just to highlight, we will be moving out over 53-week year next year, and so that will move out. But yes, there is a -- it's a stronger trading period, but it's only one day difference, Michael...

I guess had a modest -- would have been a modest drag for the first half results, a modest benefit for the trading up there. Is that the right way to think about it?

Yes, one day being modest yes.

Yes. Okay. -- that's helpful. And did you see any change in consumer behavior that you can see when you look across your brands or across your regions from the interest rate hike in February or the rhetoric and the lead up to that interest rate hike?

Yes. I would call out that the the RBA sort of started to raffle savers in mid-December. And we -- that did coincide with the Bondi event. And so we certainly did see a softness in that run up to Christmas, and it is difficult to distinguish between what was what there. But certainly, the consumer was more cautious running into Christmas, and that was certainly across all businesses. And so that was certainly something to consider. We haven't seen I don't think the benefits yet from the original rate cuts coming through. That takes up to 9 months to pass through. And so similarly, I don't think we're yet seeing the impacts of the rate rise, but certainly, I think the time of that change is probably a cloud over the consumer at the moment that's -- that will take time to play through.

Makes sense. And then just a quick one on Rebel gross margins. any particular stock loss. So you stabilized stock loss, so it was no headwind in the first half. Just mathematically, does that mean that even if you don't get any more or any improvement, it should flip to a tailwind in the second half for gross margins for Rebel.

Michael, now I'll take that one. We've been having a really good look in this space right the way through from Black Friday all the way through to current performance. The important thing in this space is retail. It goes back to retail for many years, is really focusing on -- if you're going to dilute those margin rate, you've got to increase the volume of product that you bring in to mitigate the offset. And we didn't do a great job in that space. We've learned from that. And as I said in the presentation, that is what we are completely focused on.

Okay. So you promoted with not enough inventory is what you were saying. So you should have had more stock weight to fulfill the demand and the benefit from the promotions.

That's correct. Yes. If all the retailers are going to reduce the price, you've got to stick to your own plan, and you've got to plan that well in advance. As you know, with Rebel, it's a long lead time. So that has to be really well planned. And you've got to drive the volume of those key products in to offset the margin decline.

And the stock loss piece set -- should that flies...

The stock loss has been stabilized, and we're pleased with the initiatives that were put in place. We would say we would see that as an opportunity, but I think it is a very -- the external environment continues to be very challenging, and we would -- we're just cautious as to whether that's the time frame by which we were able to convert that from being stabilized to actually returning to historical levels. So we wouldn't say that it is an opportunity in the calendar year ahead. I wouldn't say it's an opportunity in the half ahead.

I think what I -- just to build on that, Michael, what I would say is we've got many initiatives those trial stores, I think we talked about it in August. Those are performing well for us. The team are actually pushing me, can we push some capital into to land those initiatives, but it's important we measure to identify exactly which ones of those initiatives are really performing well for us. So our job then will be greatly stabilized. Now we've got to really go after a saving in that space.

Yes, that makes sense.

The next question comes from Shaun Cousins with UBS.

Maybe just a question on Rebel and the availability issues in the first half and then into the second half to date. Was the responsibility or the cause of the availability issues you've highlighted, how much of it was Rebel, not ordering enough stock or not having enough stock behind promoted items? maybe how much of supplier partners, was it skewed one way or another? And then into the second half to date, has the discounting that you saw in the second quarter, has that continued on into the new year? Or has that moderated a little?

I'll answer the second one for us because that's probably a bit easier. Yes, it's moderated a little. So -- and we're staying out of that space because as I said earlier, if you don't have the volume, there's no point in going in hard in that space. What I would say is the Rebel team delivered a credible top line performance, Shaun. So we've seen that both in market share and the like-for-like performance against many of our competitors that have delivered weaker numbers. So we've done the right thing. I wouldn't comment on the split between our key brand providers who are supporting us really well. In fact, we've got weekly meetings with them, and we're making good progress to stabilize our position on availability. But I would say we've let some goals in there. That is absolutely in our hands. And as I said on the call earlier, we will be absolutely focused and are on the team of focused in that space right now. So -- and we start to see that product flow through.

Fantastic. My second question is just on currency. I think in the first half, you've got a lower realized currency, so it feels somewhat of a headwind sort of there as well. But David, maybe you talk a little bit about how you anticipate the rising Aussie dollar to help you to assist in the second half and the fiscal '27 period maybe with a reminder of sort of broader hedging practices, please?

Yes. Look, we -- our hedging requires us to hedge for next 4 months, we -- the 4 months ahead of us, we're at about 75%, between 55% and 75% hedged -- and then the period 8 months after that was sort of between 0 and 50%. We are sort of slightly higher on the hedge book. We will get the benefit of this higher currency environment over time as a consequence of the hedging policy. So it will be a potential tailwind for us in this calendar year with it getting a stronger tailwind as we go into the second half of the calendar year.

And the next question comes from Bryan Raymond with JPMorgan.

Just a further one on Rebel. I just wanted to get a feel for how the relationship is going with the key brands in more detail. There was quite a gross margin impact as there's competition in the November, December period coming from a number of competitors. I assume some of your brands and their own retail stores are part of that. And you've developed this loyalty program, Rebel Active, which is quite generous to customers. I'm just trying to work out how much that contributed to the performance that you saw over the period and whether that's an attractive channel for these brands and competitors to be clearing stock if that is what they need to do. Yes, that would be my first question.

Yes. Thanks, Brian. I would say we've got a good relationship. Guarantee seemed a really good relationship with our trade partners. I was actually with some of our trade partners over the last couple of weeks. And I think we both sat down and kind of said, we've both got opportunities here to grow together, and I would echo that last comment. It is really important that we grow together. And that's vital. And that's planning over the long term, not the short term. Quick Win Games, that's not what we're after. We are absolutely for the long term and planning those volumes together is really important.

Okay. And then just to continue on the loyalty team as well. Within Supercheap Auto, you've had gone through the first peak season with the new program. I'm just interested in sort of how that contributed, do you think to like-for-like sales and gross margin, if there's anything you can call out there is the first well test for.

Yes. I think it's early days to say. So the program has been in just 6 months. So a little bit early to comment. But talking about the success of the program, the right move was removing best price credit a year ago. So we took that out of the market. You'll recall, so that the team could focus both on giving great value to the customer as well as the spend and get program. So we're pleased with that. We're pleased to maintain those gross margins that we've just posted.

Okay. Okay. Just a final one for David, if I could. Just on the longer-term CapEx trajectory, you talked through a few lumpy elements of the CapEx in recent years and system supply chain loyalty, et cetera. Should we be thinking about $150 million sort of envelope per annum going forward? Or is there scope for that to fall back to where it was prior to FY '24 or in that direction at least.

There'll be an aspect of it being more elevated than historically, just as a consequence of the store activity that we see as an opportunity over the next number of years. And also just there's other opportunities that we see to improve performance through some investment in systems and the like. So -- we -- as you can see, we've got a strong cash position, and we're quite comfortable to be putting more capital down for growth. And so I would be allowing that circle 150 level to be retained for next -- in the sort of foreseeable future because we -- that's probably -- we'll obviously expect to it in more detail when we do the Strategy Day in June. But certainly, that circle 150 level is we think would be appropriate.

The next question comes from Adrian Lemme with Citi.

Sorry, more questions on Rebel. -- just interested, you talked about a lot of refurb activity. If you could give an update on specifically how CX that concept is doing in Rebel, -- how many have been completed? How many have left -- and are the older ones starting to fade -- are you happy with how those are performing, please?

Yes. Look, the CX format has been a successful initiative. We've pretty much got to the end of the major top 25 doors, which was the basis of that initiative. We then look to Cascade, CX format in terms of its -- the opportunity to improve the experience in stores through the network now. And so we would say that, that that's complete in terms of the top 25 doors. There's still a couple that haven't been done. But overall, our focus is now on extending certainly, the benefits of the experience, you'll see that in sort of the world of football or basketball, you'll see that in a number of the new stores that we've opened in regional areas as well, which have got high quality execution. And that's allowed us to bring a stronger range to those marketplaces as well. So our initial -- the initial activity was to get the top 25 doors done and then now it is about cascading that through the rest of the network in a more moderated -- certainly, you won't have those experience zones, but the benefits of merchandising improvements in the store, you'll see quite an uplift over time.

And so the original ones that were done, you're still happy, obviously, they saw a big uplift certainly on, but you're happy that those have held.

No, we're happy with those uplifts. We are certainly always looking for opportunities to improve them. And so there'll be those sort of adjustments that we'll make to those stores to continue to maintain strong management on them.

And just 1 quick one. World Cup this year. How material should that be for grabble in June? Or do you think it's more of a July thing, please?

Look, it's certainly always an opportunity, but there's always it will be cycling the lines. And so I'm just going to be careful of adding in additional upside because it will be on top of something that occurred in the prior year. So yes, it will be both a June and July benefit, but it will also be cycling on top of the mine activity the center.

The next question comes from James Leigh with Goldman Sachs..

My question is just on the BCF trading update at plus 4.1% like-for-like, which was very strong, considering a double-digit comp in the year prior. Can you help us understand how much of that contribution is from that better availability? And how we should think about kind of the underlying trend in that market?

Yes, James. Thanks for the question. It certainly played into the performance. I'll go back a year actually, and we knew we left opportunity on the table, in fact, 2 years ago. And really focused on getting the right product in the right stores. And we maximize that opportunity last year, so delivered some strong growth, as you saw. And then this year, you've had -- yes, the product was there. but more importantly, the weather was pretty rough right up to Christmas, and that was a real challenge for the BCF team. And then as soon as it turned and you literally saw return, particularly down in Victoria in January, we got the upside. But -- and it puts us in a good place as we go into Easter trading.

Great. And maybe just a follow-up on that, in terms of the exit rate from that period, like do you feel comfortable that like it's still a reasonable comp from last year that was kind of some of those tailwinds like that you'll be able to kind of achieve like that sort of normal run rate?

Yes, I do. I think you just look at the 2-year growth for BCF. I think it's pretty close to 20 points. So that is a really good number in January performance, yes.

Yes, just across the board for all the businesses, we did have the [ cyclone ] come through in March in through Brisbane. So that did have some disruption in H2 last year. And so there will be some some slight noise in the comp there.

Just remembering, James, we've got some big numbers to comp in the remainder of the year. Eats a little bit later. So that's more of a challenge for the BCF team.

And the next question comes from Craig Woolford with MST Marquee.

Just 2 questions I can. The first one, just on this new distribution center. Can you just clarify for the online piece, how significant the changes to online fulfillment as you ramp up the use of the Victorian D.C.? How much -- is it all direct from store at the moment? -- what do you see as the benefits for the online part of your business from the new DC.

So the new DC has got good person technology that it's fairly mature technology, but it is -- that's what we have invested in. And so that -- the benefit will be be able to do -- and there are specific online picking stations that are in the facility. And so the benefit will be we'll be able to execute more efficient and with the person and then the location of the Truganina facility also allows us to interface effectively with Australia Post. So the opportunity then is to execute that for the Southern region and have a reduced need to pick from stores. The challenges, obviously, with stores is that you've often got inventory, both in the back of house and on the floor, which is expensive to get people moving between both locations. And so it's a far more efficient pick, and it's also a better interface for online for freight, I should say. So both those are going to be advantageous to the entire southern part of our network. That will be the benefit.

Right. But only for delivered, right, because click and collect is still quite big in some of the businesses.

Totally. So you're going to still have -- it's going to have a stronger impact certainly for Rebel, which has the circa 20% online. A higher proportion of home delivery. And then you've got, obviously, Click and Collect in is around 2/3 in BCF and Supercheap because we've got more dangerous goods and bulky items.

Yes, understood. Question about lease costs. I'm using the combination of right-of-use asset amortization and the lease interest numbers are correct. That was up 12.5% year-on-year. in first half 2016. It looks like a very significant increase. Can you give a bit more background as to the magnitude? And is that going to continue?

Yes, certainly, it stepped up in H2 last year, and it's particularly Revel sort of borne a higher proportion of that. There is a bit of -- as major leases are signed, you do tend to get a higher upfront cost on those larger leases. And so we had Bondi, Broadway, or actually, if you look at all the store activity that we highlighted with Rebel, where you had old leases running off and new leases commencing, you do get a step change, and that occurred both in H2 last year and H1 this year. I think on a half-on-half basis, it's going to be more neutral as against H2. So it's -- we have -- there has been a step change that's right, but it's been probably more acute in this presentation in H1 than it will be in H2.

And the next question comes from Josephine Forde with Bank of America.

My question is on -- can you just talk through some of the ranging initiatives for auto for state leaks of trading? And then maybe in the half, did transaction volumes grow I know you've called out transaction value growth, but did volumes actually grow for auto?

Yes, I'll answer the second question first. Yes, it did grow. There's no doubt about it. And ranges such as RhinoRack, NGKs landing, but Rinow landed middle of last year. And as consumers, and we let them know we've got that key product, which I think it's 50% of the volume of all Australian vehicles have got Rhino on, their key products, key ranges you've got Avenue stores. So that's just 1 example.

Okay. And then maybe just on the strategy update. I don't want to get ahead of what you'll show us in June. But should we anticipate that the business would look at potential inorganic growth opportunities going forward or assume more of a status quo grow the network and omnichannel strategy?

Yes, Josephine, we're focused on our organic growth internally. We've got a huge opportunity I just look at the 3 categories that we play in with leisure, sport and auto, those 3 categories are worth $60 billion across New Zealand and Australia. We're going to post a number of will have 4, and you go, that's where the opportunity lies. And that's where we've got to get after it and you took on the question with super cheap auto. That's just one area increase the range and will benefit, and we'll get a fair share of that $60 billion market.

And the next question comes from Mac Ross with Morgan Stanley.

Just a couple on Rebel, if I may. It's good to say that stock loss isn't getting any worse, but are you able to quantify the cumulative GP impact from stock loss?

No, we haven't quantified it previously. So we did last year for Rebel. It's not been a substantial item in the other brands. There's been some some headwind there. But I think last year, we did quantify the stock loss figure, but we've not -- which was 70 basis points impact..

We haven't gone and communicated the total figure previously.

Okay. And then maybe just on Revel loyalty program. Obviously, it's been a promotional period, and you've had some inventory issues, but just curious if that program has performed versus your expectations against this backdrop?

Yes, Matt, the Rebel loyalty scheme, it's now been in what, 2 years, and there's much to be positive about. You look at the gold and silver customers. we measure those customers that are frequent are increasing the amount of times they visit our stores. their basket is higher. So we've got some strong performance in that -- in those categories. But that mid-tier where you probably recognize as, I don't know, silver frequent flyers I think we've got opportunity in that space to be more effective with how we talk to those customers to get them with more visits and a bigger basket. And I think -- at a recent example with Lear in our Everton Park store just recently, and she was challenging me on -- are we clear enough is the clarity and the message to our customers clear enough, particularly for those customers. And I think he's absolutely right. And then I ended up talking to 2 customers as they left the store and the first customer was very clear. This is the reason I come to Rebel. And they're our goals and probably shifted from a silver to a gold and then equally add another customer that was very clear on no, didn't realize she obtain the value, and that's what we've got to address within the program. So that's been completely transparent with you. Thanks, Matt. I think we've got time just for one more question.

And the next question comes from Michael Toner with RBC.

Supercheap, just following up on Josephine's question. What is it can be done here in terms of store format and the range to continue to build on some of those positive market share trends you're experiencing because you have specifically called out ranging as a driver of that positive comp performance.

Yes. Ranging is absolutely a key driver of that, and we will continue focusing on those new brands -- they are juicy secure over just the last 2 weeks seriously, the numbers that, that has delivered for us is outstanding. And we have got to ride those ways. We've got to get those products and we've done that, we've done that well, and there's more opportunity in that space. on what our formats will look like. I think we've got opportunity in that space. But I'll hold until June to share with you exactly what's in our mind in that space.

Okay. Great. And sorry, if I may, just on Rebel, I just wanted to clarify what you said in response to Mike's question earlier. Just in terms of getting light of sight on getting those availability challenges resolved at Rebel. Were you saying that that's more of a calendar year '26 story instead of a 2 half '26 story? And then sort of, I guess, in terms of the controllables today, you can make sort of some immediate adjustments to your pricing strategy. Am I thinking about that correctly?

I think the way I'm thinking about availability is, it's not a short-term fix. And I reflect on the playbook actually in BCF going back 5 years ago where we saw the opportunity on the table pre-Christmas with key 80 SKUs at 80 lines that we're chasing. And we've maximized our opportunity, learn every single year, and that's what we need to do in the Rebel space. And I think we will make significant improvements this year, but it's retail, we'll find further opportunities. We won't fix every single availability piece, and that's just retail. So -- but that is the focus. That's where the team are focused and that's where we'll see the benefits in the year ahead.

There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Bradshaw for closing remarks.

Well, yes, I'd just like to say good morning to everybody. Thank you for your time on the call. I want to say a particular thank you to our team members who delivered the numbers that were just put in front of you. And I look forward to seeing many of you over the course of the next few days. Have a great day.

That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.