Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the ARB Corporation 2025 Half-Year Financial Results Presentation. My name is Lachlan McCann, Chief Executive Officer at ARB, and joining me to present today is Damon Page, ARB's Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary. Today, Damon will take you through a financial update on the half-year results, and I'll present an update to the company's sales and operations. During the presentation, questions can be made through the chat box.
At the top right-hand corner of your screen, you'll see a blue circle with a hand icon. By clicking this, it will open a chat box for you to enter your questions. At the conclusion of the presentation, Damon and I will answer these questions, and I'll now hand over to Damon to take you through the financial update.
Thank you, Lachlan, and I extend a warm welcome to everybody on the call. Thank you for joining . We're pleased to present ARB's Results for the First half of the financial year ending 30 June 2025. I've turned to slide three of the presentation, which highlights the company's sales revenue, profit before tax, and profit after tax. To the left of the slide, ARB achieved sales growth of 5.9% in the first half of financial year 2025, with total sales revenue of AUD 361.7 million. Sales growth of 5.9% is broadly in line with the first quarter results we announced at the company's annual general meeting in October 2024, where we advised sales growth of 6.5%.
We note that this sales growth was achieved in a challenging environment, with the sale of new vehicles declining globally and consumer sentiment at its lowest in recent years, and accordingly, discretionary spending is constrained. Sales into international markets were the standout contributor, with export growth of 15.4%. ARB's reported profit before tax of AUD 70.3 million declined 0.7% with last year. However, the company's operating profit after adjusting for non-operating items was down 4.5%. I'll address the non-operating items first, which are highlighted on the second bullet point under the middle graph. This year's result includes two non-operating items.
Firstly, the exclusion of a AUD 2.4 million gain on the sale of a recently exited retail property. And secondly, the exclusion of AUD 1.3 million in transaction costs incurred in the purchase of two retail stores, the restructure of our shareholding in ORW, and ARB's equity-accounted share of ORW's cost to acquire 4 Wheel Parts. Last year's operating result includes an add-back of AUD 1.7 million related to the Truckman acquisition. While margins were maintained at the high end of the historical range, costs increased across most categories due to inflation discussed further on slide five below and include the operating costs of businesses acquired.
The major callout, however, is the increased employee costs, which grew AUD 14 million or 18.1% over last year. The impact of employee cost growth became evident in the second half of FY 2024 and has continued its impact through the first half of FY 2025. ARB continues to invest in its people and in its growth strategy.
Increased employee costs relate to new headcount to drive sales initiatives, including a new e-comm platform, the establishment and diversification of new sales channels, an increased engineering team here in Australia and in Thailand, and also now in the U.S. to drive new products, a new warehouse in Texas to facilitate the Toyota U.S. contract, and market adjustments, for example, to fitters as previously announced and other strategic roles.
The increased employee cost base is a step change in the cost base. However, management is confident that it will drive and be covered by future growth. Reported profit after tax of AUD 51 million declined 0.6% compared with last year, in line with the reported profit before tax. Likewise, the operating profit after tax, after excluding the non-operating items described a moment ago, was down 4.6%. Earnings per share of AUD 0.61 declined 1.2%.
Turning to slide four, we look at sales across the three channels. The Australian aftermarket to the left of the slide achieved growth of 1.9% over the corresponding half year, despite a significant decline in the number of new vehicles sold in Australia, which we'll expand on later in the presentation. Further, consumer sentiment remains weaker and discretionary spending down. The Australian aftermarket achieved growth in all Australian states except Victoria.
Pleasingly, ARB's Australian retail store sales grew by 5.6% in the first half of FY 2025, which excludes the addition of ARB Toowoomba's sales, which we acquired on 1 July 2024. Sales to fleet customers continued to grow in first half FY 2025, while sales to dealers and stockists remained relatively stable, as ARB's strong inventory position and ability to supply product at short notice enabled stockists to reduce their inventory holdings.
The addition of sales from ARB Toowoomba and MITS Alloy, the two businesses acquired during the half, were offset by declines in the sales of GoActive, the distributor of the Thule brand here in Australia. GoActive is currently impacted by weak consumer demand in this specific market segment. The open customer order book has also reduced over the last six months, driven by shorter lead times for new vehicle deliveries, effectively reducing the time between customers placing an order with ARB and ARB fitting the accessories to the vehicle.
In the middle of the slide, export sales increased 15.4% during the half, with growth achieved in each of the international regions, that is, the Americas, Asia Pacific, and in Africa and the Middle East. It is important to be aware that ARB's branded sales to Toyota North America are reported through the export sales and not through the original equipment sales channel.
ARB is also increasing its investment in the development of new products to accessorize a wider range of U.S. models, with sales through the ORW and 4 Wheel Parts networks growing consistently. The decline in sales to original equipment manufacturer customers of 1.3% follows strong sales growth of 40.5% last financial year. Despite the decline in new vehicle sales, sales to OE customers are expected to remain steady through financial year 2025. Slide five presents the company's profit and loss statement for the financial year ended 31 December 2024.
It highlights sales revenue up 5.9%, underlying profit before tax down 4.5%, and reported profit before tax down 0.7%, as discussed on the previous slides. Key items to call out include: firstly, ARB has maintained its margin at the upper historical end. Materials and consumables represent 41.4% of sales, which is an improvement on the 42.5% in the prior half year.
The improved margin was achieved through previous price increases processed and reduced freight rates. A second and key driver against the result is the increase in employee expenses discussed earlier in this presentation. That is, ARB continues to invest in its people and in its growth strategy to develop a new e-comm platform, establish and diversify new sales channels, drive product development through more engineers, and in the facilitation of the new Toyota contract in the U.S.
The increase in depreciation reflects ARB's expanded capital expenditure program over the last three years. Now, while advertising increased 41%, the total spend reasonably represents 2% of sales value. Occupancy costs grew by 16.6%, reflecting additional sites, including sites of the three new businesses acquired during the half, and it also includes the impact of increased power costs to run our manufacturing sites.
Equity-accounted losses of AUD 772,000 for the half relate to ARB's investments in Nacho and ORW. This expense line excludes the transaction costs incurred by ORW to restructure and to acquire the 4 Wheel Parts business, both of these costs being reported below the line. Nacho is a startup company developing a lighting range and is making good inroads with consistent monthly growth. ORW's result reflects current challenging trading conditions in the U.S. and the impact of acquiring 4 Wheel Parts loss-making business. Lachlan will talk to ORW and 4 Wheel Parts later in the presentation.
Overall, the underlying operating profit of the business declined 4.5% despite the 5.9% increase in sales and the healthy margin due to the company's longer-term investment in people, marketing, and infrastructure. The gain on property sale, transaction costs, and Truckman consideration below the line were spoken to earlier in the presentation.
The underlying profit represents 19.1% of the sales value, down from the previous year for the reasons outlined earlier. Slide six calls out major company cash flows during the half. The company generated cash from operating activities of AUD 45.9 million, which is below the profit after tax of AUD 51 million, and the non-cash depreciation and amortization of AUD 15.4 million. The key callout in cash from operating activities is the increase in inventories from AUD 240 million to AUD 278 million.
The increase reflecting, one, the weaker Australian dollar with the cost of a significant volume of ARB's inventory denominated in Thai baht and U.S. dollar, two, the new Toyota contract in the U.S. with supply being manufactured in Thailand, shipped to the U.S. over six weeks, and mandated safety stock warehoused in the new Texas distribution center, three, an expanded product range, including the new Earth Camper, and four, inventory taken on with the acquisition of three businesses during the half.
The company invested AUD 23.7 million in property, plant, and equipment during the half, AUD 10.9 million on land and buildings, including the corporate head office located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and AUD 10.9 million on plant and AUD 12.8 million on plant and equipment.
In one of its most exciting strategic acquisitions, ARB increased its shareholding in ORW from 30% to 50%, which facilitated ORW's acquisition of 4 Wheel Parts and its 42 retail stores in North America, which was previously announced to the market. The increased investment was AUD 37.6 million, which includes a AUD 12.6 million loan expected to be repaid over the next five years.
The company also invested AUD 13.3 million in the acquisition of the ARB Toowoomba retail store in Queensland, the Peter Munro 4x4 accessory retail store, and stockist distribution network in Christchurch, New Zealand, and MITS Alloy in Newcastle, New South Wales. We note the MITS Alloy acquisition also allows for contingent payments over the next five years based on prospective earnings, for which ARB has provided AUD 4.5 million in the accounts.
We note, not shown on the cash flow slide here, that the final dividend for FY 2024, which was paid in October, was fully underwritten, i.e., there was no cash outflow for the company, and the dividend was fully franked at 30%. The company was holding AUD 22.8 million in cash at the end of the half year and has no debt. This was a decrease of AUD 30.8 million from 30 June 2024, reflecting the investments just spoken to.
On slide seven, the board has declared an interim fully franked dividend of AUD 0.34 per share. This represents a dividend payout ratio of 55.1% and compares with last year's interim dividend of the same amount being AUD 0.34 per share. The dividend reinvestment plan and bonus share plan will both be in operation for this dividend with a 2% discount and will be paid on 17 April 2025.
On slide eight, we show a number of vehicles here, being the number of new vehicles sold in Australia, which declined significantly, including practically all of ARB's target vehicles, with the exception of the Ford Everest, which grew 61%, and the Isuzu MU-X and the Mitsubishi Triton, which both grew by 12%. Very notably, the number of new Ford Rangers sold during the half declined 21%, the number of new Toyota HiLuxes sold declined 23%, the number of new Isuzu D-MAXs sold declined 21%, and significantly for ARB, the Toyota LandCruiser and Prado declined 17% and 54%, respectively. Pleasingly, though, the release of the new Prado model, which was delayed for several months, is now back in full supply. I'll now hand the time back to Lachlan.
Thank you very much, Damon. Starting with the Australian aftermarket, ARB's store network comprises of 75 stores nationally, 31 company-owned and 44 branded stores which are privately owned. In the first half of the financial year, ARB's domestic aftermarket grew by 1.9% to AUD 207 million, representing 57.2% of group sales. Considering the decline in new vehicle sales presented by Damon and a weak economy, this result demonstrates the resilience of ARB's domestic business.
With renewed focus on the flagship store program, ARB and our independent store owner group continue to invest in this fantastic retail business, which I'll discuss in more detail on the following slide. The committed customer order book has come down from record levels as a result of shorter workshop lead times and improved new vehicle availability. Based on historical averages, however, the order book remains in a very healthy position.
The ARB store network continues to see improvements to retention of mechanics and fitters and continues to take positive steps in workshop efficiency. The partnership between Ford Motor Company and ARB continues to flourish. Both companies are driven to expand our collective offering to Ranger and Everest customers in both the recreational and commercial space through a deeper and more integrated product offering.
ARB, alongside its partners, continue to invest nationally in both the quantity and the quality of our retail sites. In the last six months, ARB and our partners have completed flagship upgrades in Bundaberg, Queensland, Penrith, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, and our own head office site in Kilsyth, Victoria. We've also converted our long-term partner in Warrnambool, Victoria, to a flagship store, which is now operational.
For the balance of the 2025 financial year, we have a further five stores due for completion nationally and a further seven new and upgraded stores in the 2026 financial year. This emphasizes the company's confidence in the Australian aftermarket and our position as the market leader. To touch on the Australian acquisition updates, during the first half of the financial year, we were thrilled to add two new entities to the ARB family in MITS Alloy and ARB Toowoomba.
On the 21st of October 2024, ARB strategically acquired MITS Alloy, a design and manufacturing company based in Newcastle, New South Wales, that specializes in functional service bodies for 4x4 pickup vehicles designed for recreational customers as well as a tool of trade.
As delighted ARB is to welcome MITS to the family, the MITS founder, Tim Lightfoot, is super excited to have joined ARB and have access to 75 ARB stores to help present his class-leading product to customers nationally. The integration of the business is well progressed, and the ARB store network is equally thrilled to have access to this innovative product. It is a high-value technical product, so a lot of work is being put in to train and educate the ARB team members to ensure a great customer experience.
Further opportunities exist through engineering and manufacturing integrations, as well as sales development through ARB's international distribution network, which we'll work towards in the first half of the new financial year. On the 1st of July, ARB took ownership of the privately held store of ARB Toowoomba.
Dave Archer, the owner, has built an excellent business over many years and has cemented ARB as the four-wheel drive accessory brand of choice in Toowoomba. Dave has decided to retire, and we've undertaken a very collaborative process to bring Toowoomba into the ARB family, inclusive of 19 fantastic team members and an extensive PMA that encompasses the territory, highlighted with five Ford dealerships and four Toyota dealerships.
Moving on to international. The headline result for today's presentation is the performance of the export business, which is up 15.4% at AUD 47 million, achieved through double-digit growth in all regions. The export business to the half represents 31.8% of group sales. Sorry, my apologies, 34.7% of group sales. More pleasing is the U.S. result, where the business achieved 18.7% growth to the half. More details on the U.S. growth will be presented in the following slides.
However, it is important to note that Off Road Warehouse, 4 Wheel Parts accounts are not consolidated, and therefore this revenue excludes out-the-door sales of this business. Asia, New Zealand, and Pacific Islands grew by 17.1%. The team has produced a ripper first half result, led by New Zealand aftermarket sales being up 20%, a fantastic step forward following the repealed government taxes coupled with ARB's recent investments in this high-quality market.
This result is even more pronounced given the declining sales in the first half in China, a market where we're keen to turn business around. Europe, Middle East, and Africa also grew handsomely up 11.5%, which is a strong result given the modest growth through Truckman in the U.K. and a pleasing growth, in particular, in the Middle East and Africa. Onto Off Road Warehouse and 4 Wheel Parts.
Strategically, the first half of 2025 financial year was one of the most significant in the company's history with our investments in U.S. distribution. On September 9th, 2024, ARB announced that Off Road Warehouse, ARB's associate company in the USA, had entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire 4 Wheel Parts business, which includes 42 retail stores in the USA and all associated IP, including the 4 Wheel Parts e-commerce business. The acquisition was finalized on October 18th, 2024 for a provisional amount of $30 million.
Combined with ORW's existing 11 stores, the significantly expanded Off Road Warehouse 4 Wheel Parts retail network of 53 stores provides ARB with a major opportunity for long-term brand and sales growth across the U.S.A. To facilitate ORW's funding of the acquisition, ARB increased its ownership interest from 30% to 50% for $16.7 million and provided loan to ORW of $7.5 million.
The main shareholder partner in Off Road Warehouse is Greg Adler. Greg's family founded 4 Wheel Parts in the 1960s, and Greg has spent the majority of his working life in the business, including over two decades as CEO of 4 Wheel Parts. Greg is happily back at the wheel, driving the family business back to its former glory.
Now onto an update of the performance of the business. Through the balance of October when the company was acquired and the months of November and December, the management at ORW have focused on business integration with an eye to profit. Conscious that the business was acquired through the bankruptcy process and has been under significant financial strain in recent years, there's been a real focus on right-sizing the company for profit. People, culture, and IT systems have been the core focus of management's time and resources.
Two-way communication and efforts in receiving feedback and providing strong direction to the stores and business leaders has been our big first step. This includes in-person strategy sessions across the USA attended by the ORW executive, ARB executive, store managers, and senior leaders. Rich Botello, our U.S. president, and I attended these sessions along with Greg and his team, and I'm pleased to report we have an engaged team of employees, many long-term, who want to see 4 Wheel Parts be great again.
There's a lot of work going on in the supply space to improve margins. We'll also rationalize six stores into three, where the economics of neighboring stores provides for a better business outcome to merge two stores to one. At this time, we believe key acquisition transition costs have been incurred. Going forward, we don't foresee any further material transition costs.
ARB product sales through Off Road Warehouse and 4 Wheel Parts stores continue to move forward. With our out-of-the-door sales up 25%, we're seeing some immediate results. Merchandising, training, and education promotional packages are all moving forward with confidence. This, coupled with ARB's strategic investments in U.S. engineering, will support long-term product sales growth for ARB.
Finally, we're pleased to announce that unaudited results from January 2025 show our profit. This was the first month of trading unburdened by transition and acquisition costs, which we're cautiously optimistic the profits will continue through the balance of the 2025 financial year and beyond. Harmonized with 4 Wheel Parts acquisition are the ongoing U.S. strategic developments headlined by our design engineering office developed in Southern California. The localization of engineering is expected to drive speed to market along with more considered U.S. application engineering within the ARB DNA.
The ARB USA e-commerce platform continues to outperform the original expectations. The insights into sales demographics, buyer geography, and product type provide fantastic insights for distribution expansion as well as our new product development and engineering center. The Trailhunter program with Toyota USA is now fully launched, and product is being delivered daily. Recently, the recently released 4Runner Trailhunter edition is now available through U.S.A. dealerships and features an ARB roof rack and Old Man Emu suspension. A further program with Toyota USA is expected to be announced in the 2026 financial year.
Poison Spyder was acquired by ARB from Wheel Pros around the same time as 4 Wheel Parts. Poison Spyder is an iconic Jeep-focused accessory brand that has an enthusiast fan base that we look forward to exciting. Investors and customers can expect the relaunch in the first half of the 2026 financial year.
We're excited to connect with Jeep customers in the U.S. and around the world. Poison Spyder products and merchandise today in 4 Wheel Parts showrooms in the U.S. We expect these merchandising displays to be updated shortly after the relaunch. As mentioned, Toyota USA are now promoting the 4Runner Trailhunter. This vehicle is equipped with ARB factory-fitted roof rack and ARB rear end suspension, as mentioned.
To have the largest U.S. OEM endorsing our Australian brand ARB is beyond question one of the company's most significant achievements and validates ARB's brand in the U.S. market beyond any in-house brand and marketing campaign. You'll note on the image on the screen the ARB Earth Camper used by Toyota in its marketing of the 4Runner Trailhunter, and we expect to have the Earth Camper in market in the U.S. in financial year 2026.
The export business outside the U.S.A. achieved fantastic growth at 13.9% with a positive outlook to the balance of the financial year. On the 1st of November 2024, ARB acquired our long-term South Island distributor partner, Peter Munro Commercials. Peter and his wife, Faye, have driven ARB's business in New Zealand, South Island, for around three decades and have recently decided to retire. Peter and Faye will remain in the business in the medium term to support the transition.
ARB's business in the Middle East has performed well in the last six months following a leadership change. Spurred by our confidence in the market, ARB is investing in a corporate-owned head office and distribution center in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai. The 3,000 sq m site is expected to be completed in April 2025, and just a quick update on Truckman, ARB's U.K. business.
Sales have stabilized following a strong recovery in the 2024 financial year. The business continues to perform well and the establishment of a second site in Bristol in Southwest England is expected for completion in the second half of this financial year. Sales of ARB accessories continue to grow, albeit off a low base.
Onto ARB's original equipment business. OEM sales to the half decreased marginally by 1.3% following a 40.5% increase in the prior corresponding period. The OEM business had revenue of AUD 29 million representing 8.1% of group sales. The result reflects slower vehicle sales in Australia. Supply of renewed contracts on new model vehicles will commence in the second half of the 2025 financial year, which will buffer declining new vehicle sales. Sales to OEMs in the second half of the financial year are projected to remain steady to the prior corresponding period.
New products remain the cornerstone of ARB's competitive advantage, and we're proud to have a Melbourne-based engineering team of over 100 innovators working on the world's next best accessories. A somewhat vehicle-based hidden gem is the ARB Compressor. Designed and manufactured in Melbourne, Australia, this globally recognized class-leading product has just taken a huge step forward in output and efficiency through brushless technology. I'll now play a quick video.
Apologies. I believe the audio may not have worked for that video. The video is available with full audio through ARB's YouTube channel and on our website. Originally developed as a solution to drive the Air Locker, the ARB Compressor embodies ARB's desire to drive for continual design and performance improvement.
Announced a winner at the SEMA Show and the new product awards, the ARB Compressor has been a hit across all popular markets, where its brushed counterpart has inflated customers' tires across the best part of 15 years. Web, social media, and EDM feedback has been outstanding, as have the orders. Production volumes will ramp during the second half of the 2025 financial year. Air freighted from the U.S. by ARB in July 2024 to get ahead of the anticipated demand around the world, we tip our hat to Toyota on their newest model, the Land Cruiser Prado. It's a good-looking truck.
Squared up beautifully for the ARB Summit MKII Bull Bar, ARB is working on a full lineup for this iconic vehicle. With most popular products now available to purchase from your ARB store and a handful of secondary products on the way, we're excited with this Toyota icon that is now in market and available at dealerships around the world.
2025 marks ARB's 50th year celebration. From our humble beginnings at a family garage in Croydon, Victoria, in 1975, the company has come a long way in 50 years to be a true global leader in the design, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of 4x4 accessories to outdoor and off-road enthusiasts around the world. This year, we're going to take our time to say thank you. Thanks to our over 2,500 employees globally. Thanks to our fantastic ARB customers, distribution and industry partners, and of course, our shareholders around the world.
The year will be celebrated on the road with employees and customers and industry partners to be invited on one of a number of iconic four-wheel drive excursions in Australia and key international landscapes. Of course, we look forward to the next 50 years as our bright future domestically and internationally continues to take shape. Finally, to the outlook. ARB's aftermarket order book remains healthy relative to historical averages, and daily order intake remains strong.
The company continues to invest in both product and distribution for the Australian aftermarket, reflecting confidence in future growth. ARB's export book has increased. The company is delighted with the first half result in export sales and is confident of continued export growth in the second half of this 2025 financial year. Sales to original equipment manufacturers will be steady in 2025, excluding Toyota USA, with new contracts under negotiation for future years.
ARB's sales in the month of January 2025 are in line with January 2024. Exports continue to perform well with a slower Australian aftermarket. Off Road Warehouse and 4 Wheel Parts achieved a profit in January 2025, and the management is cautiously optimistic about the ongoing performance. ARB has invested significantly in its future growth in the U.S. market through its strategic investments in 4 Wheel Parts and Off Road Warehouse, its engineering center in California, and distribution expansion in Texas. These are exciting medium to long-term strategic investments, and the board is delighted with the progress of ARB USA's expansion strategy.
The board believes the company is well positioned to achieve long-term success through expansion of Australian and New Zealand aftermarket with new upgraded retail stores and stockists, developments in both distribution and product dedicated to the U.S. market, increased distribution and manufacturing capacity to accommodate future growth, a strong balance sheet with AUD 23 million of cash, a pipeline of new product developments and releases.
And finally, I'm delighted to be working alongside a professional and balanced management team who continue to drive ARB's business into the future. My thanks to the senior leaders who continue to pursue excellence in everything we do. That concludes today's presentation. I'll now move to question and answer and hand over to Damon to answer the opening questions.
I'll field the first few questions, give Lachlan a bit of a break, and he can take a sneak peek at some of the other questions that are coming through. Just firstly, a question about the relative performance between company-owned stores and independents and stockists. What we're seeing is that the customer-facing businesses are trading relatively consistent across the various channels. So our experience in the retail space is seen in the independents and stockists.
What we have seen, though, is that our sales to the independents; we're seeing sales flat to a little bit down because those independent stores and the stockists are destocking and reducing their inventory levels because of the availability of our stock with the increase and strong inventory position that we're in. A question about the ARB stores and whether we closed any stores.
I might just quickly just flick back to slide 10 in the presentation. On the left-hand side there, where we outlined the number of stores and the movement in stores during the first half of 2025 and what we're expecting in the second half. During the first half, we opened one new corporate site, and that was in Mornington, Victoria.
We also upgraded two sites, ARB sites to the flagship format, and that was in Bundaberg, Queensland, and Kilsyth in Victoria. Three independent ARB stores upgraded to the flagship format being Warrnambool, Newcastle, and Penrith, and then in terms of what we're looking for in the second half of financial year 2025, we're currently scheduled to open five new independent ARB stores, so that will add five new stores to the network.
Just be a little wary, though, that four of these sites are stockists, current stockists and buying from, I say, will just convert to full ARB stores exclusively, ranging our inventory line. A question about the higher cost of living and whether we're seeing customers spread out their purchases and whether we expect any smoothing to help in second half 2025. We're seeing less foot traffic through the stores and less phone calls coming through, but we haven't really seen a change in the behaviors of consumers.
Committed buyers are still kitting out their vehicles, and we're not seeing any smoothing. They're still buying the full range of products, or not any material change, I should say. In terms of another question here about what we can expect to see on margins moving forward. Yeah, a good question.
The weakening of the Australian dollar will have more impact in the second half than it did have on the first half, just with where we managed to secure our forward positions for the first half. So we'll need to counter that through efficiencies and volume and possibly price increases, which at this stage we're discussing, but we don't have one slated in the near term.
Steel prices, aluminum prices are running fairly flat, so we don't expect to see more impact there. But yeah, FX is going to be the key impact on our margins into the second half, which we're working to mitigate at the moment. And then just a final question before I hand back to Lachlan, a question about why the Toyota sales are reported in the export segment rather than in the OE segment.
The reason there being that the OE segment reports sales that are OE branded, and because the products being sold to Toyota in the U.S. are ARB branded and attract a different margin, we attribute those to the export market and leave the OE market solely being OE branded products. Lachlan, I'll hand back to you if you want to pick up those questions there.
Hey, thank you, everyone, for all the great questions. No doubt there'll be another three and a half days of questions coming through, which Damon and I look forward to. Just the first question here, providing some color on the underlying trading conditions in the U.S. market. It's still a challenge, and I'm sure for the financial analysts, there's a lot of comparable companies posting results, listed companies in the U.S. Trading conditions are difficult.
However, we believe, moreover, that we're sort of masters of our own destiny. One of the reasons that we've made these investments, particularly in 4 Wheel Parts, Off Road Warehouse, is so that we can control our destiny a lot more, and we do believe that with the right product through our own distribution channels with trained and educated salespeople, we should be able to continue to grow.
There's a further question about the profitability, and is this a guide to what we can expect in the second half? Look, sitting here today, the answer to that question is yes. However, it's very early. We acquired a distressed business. We've been working feverishly to right-size the business, to make it profitable.
We were absolutely delighted with the result in January, and there was nothing in the result that was a one-off from a revenue perspective in January that might put us in a position to believe that was only a one-off. However, we are cautiously optimistic about the balance of this financial year, but I'll remain cautious as trading conditions in the U.S. are difficult.
There was a question further on 4 Wheel Parts about any initial observations or low-hanging fruit that we can share. It's a bit of a boring answer, but I'll definitely refer back to the people and the team. One of my observations in spending time on the road with Greg and his team and the 4 Wheel Parts group is how many long-term employees sit within the business that have real experience.
These people, store managers, workshop managers, regional managers, marketing teams, they really want to see this business successful, and we can see how we think we can drive them to future successes through some reasonably simple strategies, imp roved engagement with suppliers, better merchandising and marketing plans, etc. So the key message is the quality of the team that we have and the tenure within that team.
The majority of the guys have been around when that business has performed very well, and I'm a firm believer that if you know what success and performance looks like, you can get back there. So that would be my key takeout. The Toyota USA contributions, yes, we did see contributions from Toyota USA in the U.S. result. We believe these are going to continue to increase through the balance of the 2025 financial year.
As to the split between the growth in the aftermarket and the growth in the work with Toyota, we won't be disclosing at this stage. I think that largely covers off the demand piece for the U.S. Okay, I'll hand back over to Damon, who's got a couple more questions that have come through.
Thanks, Lachlan. A question around potential risk with proposed steel and aluminum tariffs in the U.S. We're obviously monitoring this very, very closely and following the commentary and messaging out of the U.S. At this stage, we don't know the impact. We'd only be speculating, but be assured that we're watching it very closely and considering what our options may be should they impact on ARB moving forward. A question about what proportion of purchaser heads from a currency perspective and at what rate.
ARB, following the weakening of the Australian dollar, ARB exhausted its forward positions, and we're largely trading on the spot market at the moment. So forward positions are minimal, very minimal at the moment. Is the OpEx increase in first half, particularly employee costs, a fair reflection of the run rate into the second half? The answer is yes, it is a fair reflection of what we expect in the second half.
And then just finally, a view on the gross margin outlook through second half 2025, given a peak result in the first half. We expect the margins to hold at the current levels with the exception of any movement in currency moving forward. So we're watching that closely. If the Australian dollar strengthens, that will assist our margins. If it continues to weaken further, then that will obviously hurt our results.
And just in response to the order book, whether that will impact on the second half. The order book's still strong. It's down from its peaks, which remained high post-COVID for a couple of years. So while they've declined, they are still twice as high as they were pre-COVID. We still have plenty of work. Daily order intake is still sitting at high levels, and so we don't expect to have any, or at the moment, into the short term, we don't expect any impact there. A question about whether we'll be underwriting the dividend for the first half 2025. The board hasn't taken a decision on that at this stage. I think that wraps up the questions for me. Lachlan or fill some final questions, and then we'll close the presentation.
Excellent. Thanks, Damon. And again, thanks for all of the questions.
One of the things I love about these questions. You can tell we've got a couple of enthusiasts out there because I've got some questions on the pricing for the 100 amp hour slimline battery that we just released. I will make that information available to the person lodging the question, but we're excited for the product, and it has taken some fantastic orders in the first month.
What are the nature of the options pricing timeline mechanism for ARB to acquire the remaining interest in our 4 Wheel Parts? At this stage, that does remain confidential. We have discussed those with the board, and we believe in the next 12 months we'll be disclosing more about that.
I will answer by saying that we do have options in the future to acquire the balance of the business, although we're very comfortable by the fact that as an equity owner and somebody who's put their own cash on the table, money to buy equity in 4 Wheel Parts, Greg is there driving the business, which we find particularly attractive.
And then the final question is, where are things at with the Earth Camper? Are we still planning to launch internationally? How has the order intake been affected by macroeconomic conditions? Look, the Earth Camper is ramping again, both in production and orders. It's a tough sell. The camper market is challenging, particularly in a tight discretionary consumer environment.
However, just in the last sort of four weeks, we've seen some really nice orders coming through for that product, and we are anticipating a push from a marketing perspective on that product domestically. And we are seeing more of that product get out to the store network so customers can see them. So we remain optimistic. The build of the Earth Camper progresses in Thailand.
And then as to the U.S. market in particular for the relaunch, the U.S. edition of the Earth Camper, which did require technical changes to electrics, brakes, windows, etc., is very well progressed. That version of the Earth Camper is due in the U.S. later in this financial year for validation and sign-off from a homologation perspective. And then in 2026, we anticipate we'll be in market with that product, which is fantastic.
Okay, well, thanks again for all of the questions. That concludes today's presentation. Thank you very much for everybody online joining, and we look forward to talking in the very.