I'd now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Sacha Laing. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everybody. My name is Sacha Laing, CEO of Adore Beauty Group, and I'm joined by our interim CFO, Kylie Archer. Thank you for joining us today as we present Adore Beauty's results for the 2026 financial year. FY 2026 was a significant year of investment and transformation for Adore Beauty Group. We delivered record revenue on materially expanding our retail network, completing the major infrastructure investments required to support our growing omni-channel operations. At the same time, challenging retail conditions and the upfront investment associated with our still maturing store network impacted earnings. Our FY 2026 result highlights include record revenues of AUD 207.3 million, up 4.3% over the prior year. In-store revenue of almost AUD 19 million, reflecting the expansion of our national retail network and omni-channel customer momentum. New customers increased over 14% to almost 419,000, while active customers grew 2.6% to nearly 860,000 customers.
Gross margins at 34.8% were down 52 basis points over the prior year, pleasingly up 134 basis points on FY 2024, in line with our long-term strategic plan. An underlying EBITDA of AUD 3.8 million was at a margin of 1.8%. Turning to our key achievements on slide three. FY 2026 marked the largest period of growth investment in the group's 26-year history. We opened 13 new retail stores across Adore Beauty and iKOU, taking our national network to 20 stores. We also secured locations for a further five stores opening in the first half of FY 2027, in line with our strategic plan set out in November 2024 to have 25 stores across the group by the end of FY 2027. Alongside the store rollout, we built and commissioned our new semi-automated national distribution center and completed the rollout of our new ERP platform.
Both projects were delivered on budget and on schedule, with the efficiency benefits expected to begin flowing through FY 2027. We also delivered strong new customer growth while significantly reducing customer acquisition costs. While the expected earnings benefit from our omni-channel growth strategy is not evident in our FY 2026 results, we are very pleased with our progress to date with key positive indicators, including store led contributions from new customer growth up 14.4% and a 37.4% decline in customer acquisition costs to AUD 35 per customer. With omni-channel customers generating a lifetime value 2.5 times greater than online-only customers, and with a further five stores planned to open in FY 2027, we remain confident that our omni-channel growth strategy will translate into improved earnings as our store network continues to mature over the next 18-24 months.
High-margin own brands continue to grow, contributing 5.8% of group product revenue, and retail media delivered another strong performance. We materially strengthened the foundations of our iKOU business with investment in the brand, in infrastructure, customer experience, and data analytics. The successful execution of our strategic plans in FY 2026 provide a solid foundation from which to grow revenue and profitability as our store network and operating infrastructure mature. On slide four. Slide four demonstrates the changing composition of our revenue and earnings as we progress our strategic pivot to omni-channel retailing. We delivered record revenue of AUD 207.3 million despite challenging retail conditions. We are particularly pleased with the composition of this growth, with strong performance from our expanding retail network and strong contributions from our high-margin owned brands and retail media.
Gross profit margin was 34.8%, down 52 basis points over the prior year, primarily reflecting increased promotional activity in the first half. Pleasingly, we saw margins stabilize in the second half, finishing 18 basis points ahead of the prior year corresponding period, benefiting from increased contributions from our high-margin owned brands, growth in retail media, and of course, our growing store network. Of note, gross profit margin lifted significantly against FY 2024, up 134 basis points, in line with our long-term strategic goal. Underlying EBITDA declined 39% to AUD 3.8 million, and this reflects the higher fixed cost base associated with our still maturing store network and investment in capabilities required to support our omni-channel strategy. With most of our retail network still in its early maturity curve, we expect a greater financial contribution from retail stores in FY 2027 and beyond.
I will now hand over to Kylie to take you through our key financial results.
Thank you, Sacha, and good morning, everyone. Turning to slide six, being the group financial statement. The first thing I just want to quickly touch on here is the change in how we are reporting profit compared to FY 2025. Consistent with our approach at the half year, and due to our growing retail footprint and the requirements of AASB 16 from FY 2026, we have commenced reporting EBITDA on an underlying and pre-AASB 16 basis. This measure takes account of rental costs, and we feel it best reflects the underlying performance of the business. Moving now on to the financial results, and while Sacha has already touched on the key aspects of the headline results for the year, it is worth calling out the substantial improvement in marketing efficiencies.
We see for FY 2026 a significant reduction in marketing and advertising costs declining 22.8% over the prior year to finish at 8.8% of sales. This is 316 basis points lower than the prior corresponding period. This was achieved despite continued investments in brand awareness and customer acquisitions, and reflects both ongoing refinements to our data-driven customer acquisition strategies and our strategic pivot to omni-channel retailing. In parallel with these targeted marketing efficiencies, we also remain focused on operational costs more generally. Having completed throughout FY 2026 a head office restructure, an ERP system rollout, commissioning of our new semi-automated national distribution center, as well as AI implementation across the business, and a new freight partnership with Team Global Express. Together, these initiatives are expected to deliver significant cost and productivity benefits over the year ahead. Turning now to our balance sheet on slide seven.
FY 2026 has represented the most significant investment cycle in Adore's 26-year history, with investment across our growing store network, new national distribution center, and supporting operational infrastructure. The group closed the year with cash balance of AUD 0.7 million and net debt of AUD 9.3 million. In June, we successfully refinanced our debt facilities with our longstanding banking partner, CBA, under a new three-year agreement, increasing our working capital facility and establishing an asset-backed facility supporting the new distribution center. At 30th of June, we had AUD 14.4 million of undrawn facilities available, providing a significant level of liquidity headroom as we enter FY 2027. Inventories remain tightly managed at AUD 23.2 million, despite the addition of 13 new stores carrying close to AUD 5.3 million of stock at year-end.
We're now nearing the end of this major investment cycle, with the infrastructure and funding capacity in place to support the group going forward. I'm happy to take questions at the end of the presentation, but for now, I'll hand back to Sacha.
Thanks, Kylie. Great to have you here today.
Thank you.
Now in detail for Adore Beauty business specifically. Expanding Adore Beauty retail network is supporting a more cost-effective customer growth while helping us deliver a more engaged and valuable customer base. Stores accounted for 26% of total new customers in FY 2026, compared to with just 3% in the prior year, helping us to offset a deliberate reduction in lower-value customer cohorts. Our loyalty program is also increasing customer value. Loyalty revenue increased 18.7% to AUD 151.8 million, with loyalty members accounting for 81% of total product revenue, up from 70% in the prior year. Together, stores and loyalty are helping us acquire customers more efficiently, strengthen engagement, and improve the quality of group revenue. Moving to slide 10.
Our national Adore Beauty network now comprises 14 stores and remains in its infancy, with more than half of our network less than a year old and only five stores trading for the full 12 months. Adore Beauty store revenue increased 40% from the first half to the second half to AUD 8.8 million and attracted 1.4 million customer visits during the year, with strong in-store conversion at 15%. Importantly, omni-channel customers have a lifetime value 2.5x higher than customers shopping through a single channel. Omni-channel revenue increased from 5.1% of product revenue in the first half to 11.9% in the second half, making up almost 10% of total revenue for the year. We have secured leases for a further five Adore Beauty stores opening in the first half of FY 2027, including, most excitingly, a national flagship store in Melbourne's CBD.
Slide 11 demonstrates the improvement in our store performance as the network and our retail capability mature. In-store conversion increased from 13.1% in the first half to 17.4% in the second half, a 420 basis points improvement and comfortably above our 13% success benchmark. We are also seeing emerging online halo across new store catchments, particularly in markets where the Adore Beauty customer base had previously had very low penetration. Omni-channel customers spent 52% more than online-only customers during FY 2026, reinforcing the opportunity to increase share of wallet as more customers shop across both channels. Broadway in the state of New South Wales is currently our best performing store, while Western Australia, Queensland, and South Australia are outperforming our Victorian stores, which obviously has a much higher penetration of existing Adore customers.
The Adore Beauty retail channel delivered an underlying EBITDA loss of AUD 1.1 million in FY 2026, with more than half of that network less than a year old. However, as stores move towards operational maturity over the next 18-24 months, we expect a higher contribution from stores to group earnings. Importantly, we do not expect the store network to represent a material impact on group profitability in FY 2027. Moving to slide 12. While our retail network is gaining momentum, continuing to grow and enhance the online business remains an absolute priority. Active Adore Rewards members increased 22% to 538,000, supporting average order frequency and value growth. Customer acquisition costs declined to AUD 37 compared to AUD 57 in FY 2025, demonstrating the increasing efficiency of our acquisition strategy. Mobile app revenue increased 21% and now represents 36% of all online sales and 34% of product sales.
We continue to refine our brand portfolio, launching 16 new brands including Dolce & Gabbana Beauty, Celine Paris, Prada, and Miu Miu, alongside a significant expansion of our K-beauty range with now over 20 K-beauty brands in our portfolio. We also deployed proprietary AI across customer-facing and internal channels. Ask Dora, our online AI agent, is improving product recommendations and customer engagement on-site. Abby, our customer service AI agent, is supporting customer service and answering over 40% of total customer queries today. Dora, our internal AI platform, is enhancing internal analytics and reporting. Through our partnership with Google, as a launch partner for the ANZ region, Adore launched Agentic Retail in Australia, enabling customers to purchase directly from Adore Beauty within Google Search, including AI mode and the Gemini app. Turning to our new national distribution center in Broadmeadows in Victoria.
The transition to our semi-automated 6,300 sq m facility is now complete, with the efficiency ramp-up commencing from the second quarter of FY 2027. The NDC combines leading-edge robotics and technology and provides more than seven years of capacity to support our future growth ambitions. With its automated picking and replenishment capabilities, we are anticipating approximately AUD 2 million in labor efficiencies while materially increasing our dispatch capability and speed. The AUD 8 million investment is split across both FY 2026 and the early part of FY 2027, and is largely funded through a project-backed facility from the CBA, and we expect to achieve a payback within four years of the center being operational. Slide 14 brings together Adore's broader efficiency initiatives delivered across marketing, inventory, and operations.
Our more targeted customer acquisition strategy supported growth in new customers despite an almost 30% reduction in marketing spend and continuing investment in brand marketing. Marketing return on ad spend increased to 14x compared to 9x in the prior corresponding period. Inventory closed at AUD 23 million, including approximately AUD 5 million held across the 13 new stores that we opened during the year. On a like-for-like basis, excluding these new stores, inventory was back 11.3% on the prior period as the team diligently managed our inventory levels, and we saw stock turn increase up to 6.9x from 5.9x last year. Operationally, the new ERP is improving planning and productivity, while the reshaped head office team is expecting to deliver more than AUD 2.5 million in annualized cost efficiencies, along with greater, broader omni-channel organizational capability.
These benefits will be complemented by our new freight partnership, revised shipping revenue thresholds, and the broader use of AI across the entire organization, all playing a significant role in keeping the cost of doing business under control as we scale. Moving to the Blue Mountains and our iKOU business. iKOU delivered double-digit revenue growth in FY 2026 with stores, online, and wholesale all contributing to growth during the year. During the year, we opened new stores in Berry and Sorrento. The Berry store is particularly significant as it includes iKOU's first in-house day spa treatment facility, building on our legacy in wellness and to capture the greatest share of wallet from existing customers. The retail network now comprises six stores across New South Wales and Victoria, with a seventh store currently under construction in Hobart and scheduled to open in September this year.
Active customers increased 49% to 35,000 customers, reflecting both the expansion of the store network and improved brand awareness. Stores accounted for 45% of new customers, up from 20% in the prior year, highlighting the growing role of physical retail in customer acquisition. Over the year ahead, iKOU will launch its first loyalty program, just now in September, and a new digital wholesale platform in Q2, supporting customer engagement and further growth across its retail, online, and wholesale channels. Slide 17 highlights investments made during the year to strengthen iKOU's operating capability and to support its next phase of growth. In FY 2026, we completed the rollout of a new e-commerce and point-of-sale platform in both of those two channels, launched a customer-facing AI shopping agent on-site, and fully integrated iKOU into Adore Beauty's data and analytics infrastructure.
We also strengthened the leadership team with the appointment of a dedicated managing director, established a formal customer service capability, and completed a full packaging refresh, which will be progressively rolled out through FY 2027. Taken together, these initiatives have significantly strengthened the iKOU brand, customer, and operational foundations and position us well to scale in the years ahead. On to group outlook. We expect revenue growth and the benefits of investments completed this year to drive significant improvement in underlying profitability over the years ahead. Revenue and margin growth will be supported by continued momentum in our online business, an increasing contribution from higher-value omni-channel customers, and the maturation of our existing 20 stores. Finally, on slide 20, we summarize our step from this year's AUD 3.8 million to our current target of AUD 9 million-AUD 13 million in EBITDA, with revenue growth of at least 10%.
Omni-channel customers are expected to drive online revenue growth as the contribution from this higher value cohort continues to increase. Four new Adore Beauty stores and one new iKOU store will open in the first half, taking our national network to 25 stores across both brands. The completed infrastructure investments are expected to deliver significant operational efficiencies across the business. FY 2026 was a year of significant investment and operational progress. With our omni-channel strategy gaining momentum and the key infrastructure required to support growth now in place, we enter FY 2027 with confidence in our ability to deliver a material step up in revenue and profitability. I am going to hand back to the operator to open the call for questions.
Thank you. If you would like to ask a question via the phone, you need to press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to cancel your request, please press star two. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. If you would like to ask a question via the webcast, please type your question into the Ask a Question box and click submit. Your first question from the phone today comes from Leo Armati from Bell Potter Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good morning, Sacha and Kylie. Just wanted to start, just on that record revenue for you guys, just with the retail store network only partially contributing about AUD 18.6 million of that print. Can you just give us an idea of how much of that is iKOU versus the Adore banner?
Yeah. So we break that down in the Adore section of the presentation, Leo. The Adore stores made up around AUD 15 million of that 18.
Yeah, great. Then just on private label, you just spoke to iKOU, but that double-digit growth and the seventh store that is going to open outside of New South Wales and Victoria, shows pretty good momentum. I just want to know what the long-term vision of the brand is, maybe in terms of footprint, if it can rival Adore. And considering that you flagged that partnership for an entrance into Asia in FY 2027.
Yeah. Two very different businesses from a customer perspective. iKOU, very much based in wellness, and the iKOU brand translates to rest, restore, and relax by origin. We will continue to look for locations, and we have several targeted, in locations where customers do go to holiday. And if you look at the locations that we are in today, like Byron Bay, like Berry, like Sorrento, like Leura in the Blue Mountains, where people go and spend their weekends relaxing, restoring. We will continue to seek out locations very much in the same vein as those existing stores. Hence why we are opening our next store in Hobart, which is obviously a key tourist destination where customers do go to spend some time away and to restore.
The iKOU brand's very much anchored in wellness, with skincare being a primary part of that, and the rituals of skincare, how they lean into the rituals of relaxing with our home fragrance and bath products. Very much a different proposition compared to Adore, which finds its stores located in high-traffic shopping center locations around the country. We absolutely have aspirations for the iKOU business beyond the ANZ region. This year we will continue to develop and explore partnerships into Asia. We will talk a little bit more about that at the half-year results.
Yeah, okay. Great. Just on customer acquisition cost, obviously, a 37% reduction is quite good when you are growing new customers at the same time. Just give us an idea of the change in marketing mix or the targeted approach. I presume stores are quite a large part of that, but any color would be great.
Yeah. If you look at both businesses, I will just talk about Adore, given that is the material component of that marketing spend. 26% of new customer acquisition came through the store network. We are seeing a significant and meaningful portion of those customers now shopping online and then shopping back in stores again. So truly becoming omni in the way that they are engaging with the brand. Pleasingly, the only way we know who those customers are is because they have joined our loyalty program. So, as we start to see them benefit from the rewards of that loyalty program and redeeming the benefits of that program, both in-store and online, their frequency continues to improve. What that enables us to do is obviously focus on acquisition both through stores and online and lower those acquisition costs online.
Historically, the only channel that the business had to acquire new customers was obviously digitally. Digital acquisition at the top of the marketing funnel can be quite expensive as you see quite broad audiences. Clearly, when a customer is in store, you describe them as a customer with intent or interest in beauty. Therefore, we find those customers immediately become more valuable. As they shop from stores into online, particularly, we see their increasing mix of skincare being a much higher proportion of their basket. That is a key focus for us, as skincare is what sets us apart in market.
Great. Thanks for the color. That is all from me, Sacha.
Thanks, Leo.
Thank you. Once again, if you would like to ask a question via the phone, please press star one and wait for your name to be announced. There are no other phone questions at this time. We will now pause a moment before addressing webcast questions. Your first webcast question today reads: Can you talk about the individual stores that have worked really well, and why, and some that have not worked so well?
Yeah. Thanks for the question, Mark. I think what I will talk to there is the journey that we have had since opening our first store in Southland in February last year, through to today as we opened our 15th store just recently in Hurstville here in New South Wales. When we opened our first store in Southland, Victoria, we opened with 60 brands in that store. We did not have a treatment space. And maturity operationally was obviously at the very early stages. As we opened our most recent store in Hurstville in New South Wales, in the Westfield Center there, close to 140 brands in that store, so almost more than double the number of brands that we introduced initially in Southland.
A dedicated treatment space, dermal therapists permanently on staff, and that's now the case in 14 of our 15 stores outside of Southland, where our typical product assortment is around 120- 140 brands. A treatment space, dedicated private treatment space in every store, dermal therapists on staff, a very strong skincare and pro hair, professional hair mix from a product perspective. When I answered that question around what's worked individually or not, it's more been about the progression as we've gone through the store rollout, and we've provided customers with a greater elevation, particularly in skincare and pro hair. And that's really where our learnings have been and what customers are looking for when they're coming into store, has been advice, service, and consultation. We've significantly invested energy in improving our experience in-store for customers in that area.
Individually, I won't comment on stores that have out-traded or under-traded. I think we've talked to our non-traditional markets outside of Victoria seeing significantly higher acquisition of new customers. That's not surprising. That's been pleasing, and that was certainly what we hoped to achieve by opening stores in those markets. And we're continuing to consider other store opportunities as we move forward. There's a further question there on, it's 25 stores, the extent to which we will cap the network or will we continue to open more stores. We're very much still in the early stages of our store strategy. And with four more Adore stores opening in this quarter, sorry, in this half, one of those already being opened, as I mentioned, in New South Wales. We'll continue to consider the opportunity for more stores as we move forward.
We've certainly got a long runway of benefit to come from the 15 stores that we've already opened and the four stores that we're soon to open. Sorry, the three further stores that we're soon to open in this half.
Thank you. Your next question reads: What was LFL for online sales and retail sales, respectively?
Yeah, we haven't broken those out specifically. We won't be breaking them out specifically. Our view is that we're creating an omni-channel ecosystem where customers are shopping both the online channel and the store channel and conversely and inversely. What we will continue to share with you is the growth of that omni-channel customer as a contribution to total revenue. How those customers are adding value on a lifetime basis across all of our channels. Certainly wouldn't consider them as individual businesses as they are very much integrated in the way that our customer transacts through the two channels.
Thank you. Your next question asks: You mention a return on ad spend of 14x . How much of that is online, or is that number elevated because of an increasing share of sales offline? Doesn't that number and its magnitude point to operating leverage from the pure online model? With an EBITDA of under 2%, where does the board actually see operating leverage? Where is the return on invested capital coming from in the next 12 months?
Yeah, thanks, Nick. I'll start just on that first question around the ROAS of 14x . That is online only. We don't attribute any of the revenue in the store network against marketing spend from a return on investment in the digital channel. I hope that answers that question. The question just disappeared off my screen. If the moderator wouldn't mind just bringing that question back up, please, so I can answer the other components. Otherwise, we might move on to another question and just come back to your question, Nick, once I can see the rest of that. Oh, there it is there now. In terms of the operating leverage across the business more broadly, again, a little like what I touched on from the earlier question.
What we're looking to achieve with our omni-channel model is to create an omni-channel ecosystem where customers are shopping across both channels. They're doing that on a frequency basis that's improving as a consequence of our loyalty program. We're seeing all of the positive trends and signs that that's working across the network. Again, we're not looking at individual channels and assessing the performance of those channels on their own. We're understanding how our customer is engaging with us across both channels and how those channels are interacting. In terms of operating leverage, really, it's about scaling the business. Scale comes from both the fixed cost base, obviously, that we've now seen lift as a consequence of our investments over the last 18 months, an increased store network, the national distribution center.
We continue to look for revenue growth in the way that our customers are engaging with us across multiple channels. Hence our revenue targets for FY 2027 are greater than 10%. That is really where the operating leverage comes from as the business scales.
Thank you. Your next question asks, how does your FY 2027 EBITDA translate to free cash flow and NPAT?
Kylie, would you like to comment on that? I am happy to jump in.
Yeah. I guess it is quite a broad question. Obviously, the underlying results were 3.8. In terms of how that relates to cash flows, obviously being a significant investment in capital spend through the year, being our biggest year of investment across the business. Sacha, sorry, can you add to that?
Yeah. No, the only thing I would add to that, because obviously EBITDA does translate to free cash flow and NPAT just by the very nature of its definition. I think a further question from Ron Sharma just commented on when do you expect net debt to peak? As we have suggested, net debt will peak in the first half of FY 2027 as we complete that sort of final phase of the current investment cycle in stores and the NDC in this particular quarter. Then we will see net debt step back as we move into half two.
Thank you. Your next question asks, at the current share price, do you consider yourself vulnerable to a takeover by someone with deeper pockets to continue in the group's expansion?
I will probably answer that question not so much in the context of a takeover, because that is a question for shareholders and existing investors. What I would comment on is that our current working capital relationship with the CBA, the asset-backed facility that we have put in place to support the NDC, and the current future stores that we have already got planned to open. Our expansion is not being limited by, as the question sort of indicates, deeper pockets. We would certainly like to see the share price move materially in the context of what we think is a very solid plan moving forward. I will not comment on the next price around historic offers against the business.
Thank you. Your next question then says, cash closed the year at AUD 0.7 million and the accounts include an ongoing concern note. Pardon me, that question just disappeared.
Yeah, saw that too.
I do not think there is a going concern note. I think your going concern is always something that we assess each year as part of the accounting process. I would not say there is a going concern over the business.
Yeah. I would probably just summarize that question from that particular person, just in terms of the forward confidence. We have today reaffirmed that we believe our assumptions leaning into our FY 2027 targets of revenue growth greater than 10% and EBITDA guidance of 9%-13% remain sound. We have commented on those targets being set in the context of the backdrop of what is a more challenging retail climate at the moment. Certainly a number of the initiatives that underpin our FY 2027 targets were put in place through FY 2026 and, might I say, successfully put in place. So we are feeling really confident about the foundations that we have established in terms of omni-channel capability, in terms of operational leverage and scale through the efficiencies of the NDC, the head office team, and the ERP platform that we now have live across the business.
I would probably summarize those last few questions just in the interest of time around what has been a very strong year of delivery in terms of foundational investment in the group. We are seeing very strong lead indicators from the way that customers are behaving across the omni-channel network. We have commented on omni-channel revenue making up 11.9% of total revenue in the second half at a 2.5x more larger LTV from that customer cohort. That will continue with momentum, and we are seeing that already into FY 2027. The board remains confident in our targets as set out, and we believe that we have done so with the appropriate consideration for the backdrop of what is happening more broadly economically.
Thank you. As there are no further questions at this time, I'll now hand back to Mr. Laing for any closing remarks.
Thanks very much. I'd like to thank everybody for joining us today. The FY 2026 year was the most significant year in Adore Beauty's 26-year history from an investment perspective. We've reshaped the business as an omni-channel retailer. It gives us great confidence going into FY 2027 that we've got the right operating indicators showing strong trends through customer acquisition, store conversion, omni-channel penetration, marketing efficiency, gross margin gains, and our large major infrastructure investments are now complete. That combination gives us a clear line of sight to a material improvement in revenue and profitability in FY 2027. I thank everybody for joining the call today.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.