KMD Brands' Next Level reset beat its cost target and grew Rip Curl EBITDA 12.2%

Fiscal 2026 was reset year for KMD Brands, the New Zealand-listed parent of Rip Curl, Kathmandu and Oboz. On the results call covered by SGB Media, CEO Brent Scrimshaw called FY26 'a year of a turnaround': the group reset the product roadmap at each brand, accelerated innovation and seasonal flow, and reset Rip Curl's operating model in the US.

The deepest cut was product. KMD relocated Rip Curl's global product creation teams to the Torquay head office and reset the entire line plan, removing more than 2,000 SKUs versus fiscal 2025. The youth-focused Archive range became the brand's best-selling collection of FY26, backed by a second Farm Rio collaboration and a Stephanie Gilmore capsule. In stores, the group acted 'swiftly to close underperforming stores', delivered what Scrimshaw called a step change in store profitability, and opened beach-location stores in Ibiza and Lacanau under the segmentation strategy.

Digital was rebuilt rather than patched: Rip Curl migrated to Shopify alongside Klaviyo and a PIM, and a ship-from-store trial paid off. Online sales rose 9.1% to NZ$45.5M, 13.3% of Rip Curl DTC. Financially, Rip Curl's gross margin gained 110 basis points, underlying EBITDA grew 12.2% on total sales up 3.8% to NZ$571.2M, and the group banked NZ$27.5M of cost savings for the year — exceeding its own original target, with CFO Carla Webb-Sear saying the Shopify and ship-from-store investments 'paid immediate dividends'.

Rip Curl FY26 sales rose 3.8% to NZ$571.2M, underlying EBITDA grew 12.2%, gross margin +110bps, group cost savings reached NZ$27.5M — above the original target

Resetting the line plan cut complexity: over 2,000 SKUs out let product creation consolidate in Torquay and seasons flow faster.

Closing underperforming stores lifted fleet profitability instead of spreading investment across weak locations.

Owning the digital stack on Shopify, Klaviyo and PIM created a scalable marketplace and produced immediate sales uplift.

Beating the published cost-savings target made the turnaround credible while growth investments continued.

Youth ranges such as Archive attacked brand ageing without abandoning the core surf customer.

A reset earns credibility by beating its own headline number: overshoot the promised savings and pair cuts with growth bets so the P&L shows discipline and momentum at once.

FY27 opened softly: in the first seven weeks Rip Curl DTC comps rose 1% on constant currency (brand stores +4%, Ozmosis down 12.1%), and a remediation plan is closing five underperforming Ozmosis stores. A board review begun in May 2026, advised by Deloitte and Barclays, decided to divest the group's Southeast Asia manufacturing facility, offshore select shared services, and tested external interest in Ozmosis — no proposal beat rationalizing the chain. The board is also weighing a limited number of indicative, non-binding external approaches while management executes Next Level.