Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the ARB Corporation 2026 full-year financial results presentation. My name is Lachlan McCann, Chief Executive Officer at ARB, and joining me is Damon Page, ARB's Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary. Today, Damon will take you through a financial update on the full-year results, and I will present an update on ARB's domestic and international sales and general business operations. Some housekeeping before we commence. During the presentation, questions can be made through the chat box. At the top right-hand corner of your screen, you will see a Q&A 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 as many questions as possible. Before I hand over to Damon, I'd like to frame up the year with four key messages.
The 2026 financial year was played out against a challenging economic and geopolitical backdrop. Vehicle supply, and to a lesser extent, demand, softened new vehicle 4x4 sales in a number of countries, including here in Australia, which flowed directly through to our sales. We remain bullish on the prospects for growth in the Australian aftermarket, and later in the presentation, I will speak to increased investments in engineering that we're confident will drive higher revenues. Despite this, our profit was well protected, and improved performance in the second half brought our margins back in line with FY 2025. Given the headwinds and foreign exchange challenges, we believe this is a very resilient result. Underpinning all of this is the strength of the ARB brand and the quality of our products.
This is reflected in strong gross profits, higher accessory attachment rates, and higher revenue per fitment on key vehicle platforms in our key markets. Finally, our strategic investments into global engineering and distribution are delivering strong returns, with even more expansion planned for the years ahead. With that framing, I'll now hand over to Damon to run through the financial presentation.
Well, thank you, Lachlan, and good morning, everybody, and welcome as we present ARB's results for the financial year ended June 30, 2026. Firstly, I can confirm that we've lodged all of the year-end documents with the Australian Securities Exchange earlier this morning, along with a copy of this presentation that we will talk through during this broadcast. All of the documents, including the annual report, the chairman's letter to shareholders, and the dividend notification for FY 2026's final fully franked dividend of AUD 0.35 per share can be downloaded from the ASX website. Commencing with sales revenue to the left of slide five, ARB achieved sales revenue of AUD 702 million for the financial year ended June 30, 2026, representing a decline of 3.8% or AUD 27.9 million compared with last year's sales revenue of AUD 729.9 million. This result was achieved in a challenging economic and geopolitical environments.
Strong sales were achieved in the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia, while lower new vehicle sales in Australia and constrained consumer discretionary spending weighed on the domestic results. The company's compound average growth rate in sales achieved over the last 10 years is 7%. In the middle of the slide, the company's profit before tax declined 8.9% to AUD 123 million. This is a decrease of AUD 11.9 million compared with last year's profit before tax of AUD 134.9 million. Importantly, the shape of the result improved as the year progressed. First half profit before tax declined AUD 13.2 million or 18.8%, where our second half profit before tax grew 1.9%, reflecting the recovery in sales margins. Profit before tax for the year, excluding one-off non-operating transactions, declined 10.5%.
The decline in overall profit was a result of lower sales volumes, while the gross margins and operating expenses were relatively comparable to the prior year. The compound average growth in profit before tax over the past 10 years is 6.7%. Across on the right-hand side of the slide, the company achieved profit after tax of AUD 92.4 million. This compares with AUD 97.5 million last year, a decline of AUD 5.1 million or 5.2%. Excluding non-operating transactions, profit after tax declined 7.5%. The effective tax rate decreased to 24.9% from 27.7% in FY 2025. This reduction in effective tax expense is attributable to a higher proportion of profits being generated in Thailand. Basic earnings per share of AUD 1.11 declined 5.9%, and the profit after tax 10-year compound average growth rate is 6.9%.
Slide six presents the sales performance of ARB's three sales channels being sales into the Australian aftermarket, export sales, and sales to the original equipment manufacturers or OEMs. Sales into the Australian aftermarket declined 3.3% to AUD 390.1 million. With sales of ARB's key Australian vehicle platforms down 4%, which Lachlan will talk to more specifically shortly. Results were mixed across the domestic sales channels, with the dealer and fleet channels most significantly impacted by lower new vehicle deliveries. The challenging consumer market and constraints on discretionary consumer spending also weighed on the result. The Australian aftermarket represented 55.6% of total sales, broadly in line with 2025. Export sales grew 0.5% to AUD 268.4 million, and represented 38.2% of total group sales, marginally up from 36.6% in FY 2025. The stronger Australian dollar in the second half of FY 2026 also resulted in a lower translation of export sales into Australian dollars.
The Americas achieved growth of 10.2% despite difficult trading conditions, while the U.K. was materially impacted by lower new vehicle registrations and trading conditions in New Zealand and the Middle East remaining challenging. Sales revenue to OEMs to the right of the slide in Australia of AUD 43.4 million, declined 27.2% and now represents 6.2% of total sales, down from 8.2% last year. The decline in sales to OEMs is attributable to the timing of new contracts, with the prior year benefiting from new contracts initiated in FY 2025. Lower new vehicle deliveries in the second half of FY 2026 also impacted reported OEM sales, with increased new vehicle deliveries expected to improve in the first half of FY 2027. Slide seven provides an overview of the company's profit and loss statement, including year-on-year movements against last year and expenditures shown as a percentage of sales in each year.
Having spoken to sales already, I will focus on the key movements in the expense line items. Materials and consumables used decreased to 42.4% of sales in FY 2026 from 43.3% in FY 2025. The improved margin across the full financial year reflects the stronger Australian dollar against the Thai baht during the second half, compensating for the significant downside reported during the first half, when the Australian dollar was at historical lows against the Thai baht. Inflationary pressures were largely offset by two sales price increases implemented during the financial year. Overall, the reduction in materials and consumables of 5.7% against the reduction in sales of 3.8% demonstrates the impact of those improved margins. Employee expenses increased 1.9% across the year to AUD 179.5 million, absorbing an annual wage adjustment of circa 3.5%, which was processed in October 2025.
This increase was partly offset by a reduction in the use of contractors in manufacturing operations. Depreciation and amortization increased AUD 3.2 million or 9.8%, reflecting the recent expanded Capital Expenditure program, particularly in property and manufacturing Capital Expenditure. Advertising, distribution, finance and maintenance expenses were each broadly consistent with or marginally below the prior year. Occupancy costs were contained with an increase of 2.5%, reflecting an increased number of sites and higher power costs. Pleasingly, the equity accounted share of ARB's 50% shareholding in the Offroad Warehouse and 4 Wheel Parts retail network and the 49% shareholding in the NACHO Lighting startup, achieved a profit share of AUD 854,000, which compares with the equity accounted loss of AUD 1.2 million reported in the prior year. Other expenses increased 6.3%, driven by IT protection software, compliance costs including sustainability reporting and fleet fuel costs.
The conflict in the Middle East also impacted sales volumes, timing of deliveries, fuel prices, and distribution expenses during the year. Overall, the company's underlying profit before tax of AUD 118.6 million declined 10.5%, with the decline almost exclusively attributable to lower absolute gross profit resulting from the decline in sales volumes. Below the line, non-operating items include AUD 3 million of gains on property sales and a AUD 1.35 million reduction in contingent consideration relating to the MITS Alloy acquisition. MITS Alloy was acquired in FY 2025, and the consideration included a contingent payment subject to the achievement of specified financial performance targets over a five-year earn-out period designed to protect ARB from overpaying on vendor projections. Accordingly, on the bottom line of the table, the company reported profit before tax of AUD 123 million, which declined 8.9% compared with AUD 134.9 million last year.
Slide 8 separates the full-year result into the first and second halves to illustrate the recovery or stronger second half of the financial year. In the first half, towards the middle of the table, underlying profit before tax of AUD 58 million, declined 16.3% compared with the first half in FY 2025. As described at the time, this decline was largely driven by the weaker Australian dollar against the Thai baht, noting ARB's significant manufacturing and distribution operations in Thailand, and an over-recovery of factory fixed costs in the prior comparative period when inventory levels increased to historical highs. Net operating expenses in the first half of AUD 143 million were held consistent with the prior comparative period, despite the relatively high inflationary environments.
In the second half, underlying profit before tax of AUD 60.7 million declined just 4.3% as margins improved significantly with the Australian dollar against the Thai baht returning to levels consistent with the prior comparative period. Net operating expenses of AUD 142.7 million increased 2.8%, reflecting the annual wage adjustment in October 2025 and the flow-on impacts of the conflict in the Middle East. On a reported basis, second half profit before tax of AUD 65.9 million grew 1.9% over the prior second half, a significant improvement on the 18.8% decline reported in the first half. Although non-operating items are excluded from underlying profit, you will note that the AUD 2.2 million Thule discontinuation loss recognized in the first half of FY 2026 was reversed in the second half of FY 2026. The expense reported in the first half related to the write-off of goodwill following the termination of the Australian Thule distribution rights.
The reversal took place in the second half because the goodwill had been allocated to the Australian aftermarket cash-generating unit in 2024, and per accounting standards could no longer be separately identified at the original acquisition level, notwithstanding the loss of the distribution agreements. On slide nine, cash flows from operations broadly equal profit after tax plus depreciation, less foreign exchange movements. Cash flow from operations generated AUD 103.7 million, compared with profit after tax of AUD 92.4 million. Working capital movements were relatively contained, with trade debtors down AUD 7.7 million, inventory up AUD 6.1 million, and trade payables up AUD 2.8 million. The company invested AUD 36.6 million in property plant and equipment, with AUD 24 million spent on property and AUD 12.6 million spent on plants and equipment.
The company paid AUD 83.6 million in fully franked dividends during the year, comprising the FY 2025 special dividend of AUD 0.50, along with the FY 2025 final dividend of AUD 0.35 and the FY 2026 interim dividend of AUD 0.34. All dividends were fully franked at the 30% corporate tax rate. The board has announced a final fully franked dividend of AUD 0.35 per share for FY 2026. At the end of the financial year, the company held AUD 47.9 million in cash and had no debt. Net cash reduced by AUD 21.3 million during the year, reflecting the payment of the AUD 0.50 special dividend. Thank you, and I will now hand back to Lachlan.
Thank you very much, Damon. Let's start with a look at the Australian sales of those vehicles core to ARB's business. As Damon mentioned, FY 2026 was again a challenging year for new vehicle sales across most of the 4x4 pickup and SUV models core to ARB. Australia's top three selling pickups, the Ford Ranger, the Toyota Hilux, and the Isuzu D-Max all declined, as did the top three selling SUVs in the Ford Everest, the Toyota Prado, and Isuzu D-Max. Despite the softer market, the Ranger and Hilux remain ARB stronghold and are still the dominant vehicles in the market. Constrained by availability of key Toyota models, the Prado, the Land Cruiser 300 series, and the Land Cruiser 70 series weighed on our sales through the year. Encouragingly, Toyota is forecasting higher sales of these models in the second half of the 2026 calendar year.
A genuine standout was the BYD Shark, up 64%. As this graph demonstrates, the Hilux and the Ranger, particularly the Super Duty, were the focus of ARB's engineering resource in FY 2026, with the Shark a close third with our lineup for this model continuing to take shape. Looking forward, we expect FY 2027 new vehicle sales to be broadly in line with FY 2026. Although with the improved status of Toyota vehicle supply, we expect the mix to be favorable. ARB's store network now comprises 80 stores nationally. 4x4 accessories require specialist knowledge, specialist facilities, and specialist skill sets to sell and install, and our customer expect a premium experience. ARB has built the best specialized 4x4 aftermarket distribution network in Australia, and we are confidently driving the expansion of this proven formula. In FY 2026, we completed two flagship upgrades with three all-new flagship sites.
Clear evidence of our confidence and the confidence of our network in the future of ARB in Australia is best demonstrated by the 3,527 sq m flagship store in Townsville, Queensland, the newest and largest ARB store in Australia. Congratulations, and thank you to Mike and Kelly Elliott on the opening of the Townsville store. A significant step this year was the establishment of our first dedicated fleet fitting center in Auburn, New South Wales, extending our specialist model into this growing fleet channel. Fleet represents a healthy portion of ARB's Australian sales, and this new center in Auburn provides a seamless one-stop shop solution for our fleet customers. Further work on expanding our presence in regional Australian cities and towns has commenced, and I look forward to presenting more on this initiative at this year's AGM.
We have a long list of independent store owners wanting to invest in future and further stores, alongside a strong pipeline of our own corporate store developments. During the year, ARB migrated its Australian website to the state-of-the-art integrated Adobe e-commerce platform. This site delivers a seamless customer experience, supporting the customer journey by product or by vehicle, providing a single source of product information, pricing, and purchases, and using an integrated fitment database to guarantee accessory suitability. It is a true premium omni-channel offering with direct ship, click and collect online, or quote requests, all directly integrating into private and corporate store inventory management. Importantly, it gives us far better customer insights with detailed analytics on our customers, the products and platforms they most search, and ultimately transact on either online or in store. These insights are already driving smarter decisions on marketing and product development.
The transition has been a success. ARB has maintained its position as the number one visited 4x4 accessory website in Australia. Nearly twice as many customers now use the site to find their local stores and stockists, and we are seeing strong early growth in direct-to-consumer product sales from a standing point. We have a strong pipeline of store enhancements underway, with international expansion to follow. The Australian aftermarket had a challenging FY 2026, with ARB sales excluding subsidiary businesses, performing a couple of points better than the fall in the 4x4 new vehicle market. Retail sales in our corporate stores were resilient, offset by softer sales to wholesale customers, including independent stores and stockists, and fleet customers. Most wholesale customers managed their inventory down in the financial year, relying on healthy corporate stock holdings. Fitter performance and team retention remains a focus.
The success of multiple recruitment and retention initiatives is delivering a sustained improvement in the retention and the reduction in turnover, and we continue to actively recruit for fitters in all states. On customer satisfaction, our Net Promoter Score is an excellent barometer of customer loyalty. Over the last 12 months, ARB's NPS has increased from an average of 68 - 75, an outstanding result by an industry standard, indicating highly and increasingly satisfied customers across Australia. The Ford Licensed Accessory program is where ARB has partnered with Ford Australia and Ford globally to deliver in excess of 180 branded accessory products for the Ranger and the Everest platforms available through Ford dealerships with Ford's full five-year warranty. FLA revenue grew again in FY 2026, a true testament to the program, even as the Ford Ranger sales declined, which speaks to the depth of the partnership.
The Ranger Super Duty was a standout. From being first to market through to strong take-up across the new range. The Super Duty accessory revenue should highlight to investors, which I'll speak to later in the presentation, the importance of vehicle type as a barometer for ARB sales as opposed to the quantity of vehicles sold. Ford engineers and ARB engineers have commenced work on the next model Ranger and Everest, with both companies locked at the hip to enhance this successful collaboration well into 2030. Our local manufacturing gives us a genuine speed-to-market edge, highlighted by the accessory prototyped and rolled out on the mid-model special interest pack, the Raptor Desert Pack. These factory-backed accessories on Ford's key platforms keep us well ahead of our competitors. Ford and ARB continue to discuss further product opportunities and are actively working on the FLA rollout in New Zealand and South Africa.
Now on to ARB's export business. ARB's export business recorded a net increase of half a percent in FY 2026 in a challenging international environment, and now, as Damon mentioned, represents 38.2% of group sales. The U.S.A. was again a major growth region, with sales through our wholesale, formal partner ORW networks, e-commerce, and other channels all delivering strong growth despite significant economic and tariff headwinds. Asia was the other strong contributor to the financial year, partially offset declines in the U.K., Middle East, and New Zealand. The stronger Australian dollar in the second half also reduced the translated value of export sales in Australian dollar terms. The U.S.A. most notably, which grew 13.5% in U.S. dollar terms. The Europe and the Middle East region was impacted by multiple economic and political challenges.
European sales were broadly stable with local sales in mainland Europe growing despite ongoing pressure in part of the light commercial vehicle sector. Our aid and relief business was impacted by reduced funding. However, the increased use of mid-size 4x4 vehicles in the defense space is expected to offset those declines in FY 2027. In the U.K., the pickup market contracted sharply following tax changes affecting double cab pickup sales, with registrations down more than 50% in the second half. Despite this, sales of ARB branded product through the U.K. Truckman business doubled year on year. Conditions are anticipated to improve later in the calendar year as tax-friendly EV and hybrid models arrive, including Chinese models, that Truckman has been successful and awarded canopy contracts for. The capital investment in the Middle East reflects our long-term vision for this region.
The Middle East was impacted by regional conflict, which disrupted shipping routes, container costs and broadly demand. However, much of this decline was offset by servicing regional customers directly from our global distribution centers, a real demonstration of the resilience and our flexibility of our distribution network globally. ARB China Co Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary, commenced operations late in the year, with local and Australian dignitaries attending the official opening in May. Establishing a local presence is a major step for reestablishing China as a key market for ARB. Being important to Chinese OEMs in Australia is beneficial, but being important to Chinese OEMs in China, whilst a bigger hill to climb no doubt, is our goal. Initial demand from the Chinese aftermarket customers is strong, with our focus on marketing investments and continued ARB brand development through Chinese social media channels, which has commenced strongly.
During the last 15 years, ARB has evolved our corporate presence and localized our corporate offering in key markets such as Europe, New Zealand, Middle East, Asia and Thailand and China while expanding our U.S.A. footprint. Africa has been a continent that has remained an opportunity for ARB to enhance our localization strategy. There are a number of great parallels between the African and Australian markets in the type of vehicles sold and the genuine reliance on function of vehicles and accessories. Despite the opportunity in Africa, today's sales materially lag ARB sales in Europe and Latin America. Similar to Thailand, South Africa builds pickups for the local European market, further expanding the opportunity. The Hilux, Ranger and D-Max are all built in South Africa on a CKD basis.
We have a 30+ year heritage as a premium brand in Africa, with a loyal following established by our distribution partners, which have paved the pathway for us to continue to grow sales in the region. We are establishing our own direct in-market wholesale operation in South Africa, beginning operation in the early part of FY 2027, which will let us increase product availability, use pricing to drive volume, and build an even stronger brand, targeting a step change in our African sales over the near to medium term. Now on to the U.S. business. Despite the ongoing economic and political challenges facing the U.S. market, ARB recorded growth of 13.5% in U.S. dollar terms.
All channels performed well, including the wholesale business buoyed by the 4 Parts joint venture, Latin America, e-commerce and the OEM business through Toyota U.S.A., which saw the addition of the ARB branded roof rack for the RAV4. Poison Spyder has performed well in its first year after relaunch, with demand outstripping supply and a strong inventory pipeline now positioning the brand for ongoing growth. ARB U.S.A. has commenced sales of our canopy or truck caps, as they say in the U.S., into local market, starting with the Tacoma. Our canopy offers a unique pre-painted, ready-to-install solution that gives us a competitive edge. In early 2026, we announced an exclusive distribution partnership with Meyer, one of the nation's leading accessory distributors.
The early success of this program has prompted further model developments, including the U.S.A. Ranger. Coming to market this financial year will be the F-150, which will debut at SEMA this year. In June, ARB U.S.A. successfully completed the migration from our distribution center in Auburn, Washington to our new home in Norco, California, bringing our inventory closer to our largest customers and providing a long-term home for our engineering team. ARB's presence in Seattle remains, with the finance, marketing and other administration functions being run from this office. Our U.S. engineering center is now fully operational and scaling, with more engineers and new equipment for local prototyping and product development, bringing development closer to the market with more speed.
The ARB team is building a full range of full-size and mid-size trucks across both suspension and fabricated protection products, targeting the largest and most valuable segments of the U.S. market. The team will also design and develop future Poison Spyder lineup for current Jeep applications. A real milestone this year was the completion of the first fully U.S.-led development of suspension for the latest model 4Runner, which put ARB first to market and marked a major capability milestone. Well done, team. The U.S. also collaborated closely with our Australian engineers on key platforms such as the Tacoma, Land Cruiser 250, with these products now contributing to sales growth in the region. Our joint venture with Offroad Warehouse and 4 Wheel Parts continues to go from strength to strength.
We've achieved high double-digit growth in ARB sell-through, primarily driven by increased sales of ARB accessories, including expanded ranges from our engineering teams, and the business continually and continues to operate profitably. The ARB store install rollout is progressing well, with eight stores completed to date, a further 22 due by the end of calendar year 2026, and the remaining on track for a full rollout across the 48 stores in nine states. Looking ahead, a renewed e-commerce platform launches in the first half of FY 2027. We are planning to transition 4 Wheel Parts to a focused premium retailer aligned with the ARB brand experience from FY 2028, and will continue to grow ARB product availability across the network. Further store expansion opportunities are being considered by the board. Now on to our OE business.
Sales to OEMs were AUD 43.4 million in FY 2026, down 27% on FY 2025, and representing 6.2% of group sales. Note this excludes the OE business outside Australia. Importantly, this decline was cyclical, driven by a lull between major vehicle programs and constrained supply of vehicles rather than any change in ARB's competitive position. We have not lost any OEM contracts by customer or by product fitment. A partial recovery emerged in the second half. Toyota has announced materially improved vehicle supply in the second half of the 2026 calendar year on models core to our OEM business, which will drive further recoveries. Reflecting the ongoing strength of this pipeline, ARB has recently secured contracts for two future platforms with new U.S. OEM customers, which we anticipate will include ARB branding. These new projects typically have a two to four-year development cycle.
Consistent with the depth of our more than 40-year relationship with Toyota, ARB has worked with Toyota to develop and launch a set of accessories for the newly launched Land Cruiser FJ for multiple international markets. The release of this vehicle using ARB branded accessories is a very meaningful reflection of the ARB brand strength in markets through Asia, Latin America, and Africa, where the volume of this model will be sold. Most notably, this model will not be sold in Australia, the U.S.A., or Europe. The vehicle is currently available and accessories are selling well. ARB and Toyota are in discussions about extending this brand partnership to other models. Now on to more products and operations. Products remain the foundation of ARB's success. Our business is built on innovation, high-quality products, and we are reinvigorating our focus on product development to keep it that way.
Matt Mannix, our Head of Engineering, has done a lot of work in the last 12 months to make a step change in the systems and processes used in engineering to deliver products at the pace and the standards the business demands. Very fortunately, my 25 years in the business, there's never been a time where we're navel-gazing, wondering which products to develop next. The list of all new accessories to be developed or the list of platforms that we'd like to develop for us has always been much longer than the resource available to develop those parts. With the expansion in the U.S.A. and increased number of new Chinese entrants, our focus on product development has never been higher.
To back that focus with real capability, we are increasing our engineering investment by 10%-15% per year, which will deliver a high cadence of all new products as well as increased pace and scope of new vehicle applications. Investors will be aware of the changing landscape of new vehicle brands and drivetrains, and I want to be clear about our deliberate approach. There are more opportunities than anyone can pursue, so we invest where we can create the most value for our customers who most value the brand. We prioritize proven high return platforms while carefully testing emerging ones, including BYD evolving as real market data emerges. We've invested in China, not just Chinese brands, and we've established our own company there, and are in direct dialogue, as mentioned, with every major manufacturer. Fundamentally, we are drivetrain agnostic.
Whether a vehicle is Chinese or not, EV or not, internal combustion or hybrid is irrelevant. Great vehicles that owners are proud of will always want to mount great accessories. We've already secured and started to deliver on Chinese OEM contracts with more in negotiation. Two things that really matter in our industry are being first to market for the right vehicles and focusing on the right vehicles. On speed, we were the first to market with accessories for both the new Ford Ranger Super Duty and the new Toyota Hilux. Still Australia's top-selling vehicles, even in a soft market. The fitment rate for accessories on the Ranger Super Duty has been a highlight and higher than we've ever seen on any vehicle platform, and we've seen associated lift in fitment rates on Ranger and the new Hilux over the same period.
Only ARB has the local manufacturing presence and capability to deliver these decisive wins. On focus, we know the price of a vehicle often correlates to a customer's appetite for the quantity and prices of those accessories. For example, the average Land Cruiser 300 series customer spends around twice as much on ARB accessories as the average Mitsubishi Triton customer. It's not just about the volume of vehicles sold, it's about the type of customer that buys them, which is why we prioritize the established high-value platforms rather than chasing volume alone. Finally, onto the outlook. ARB's aftermarket business showed real resilience through a challenging FY 2026, finishing with a stronger second half and an order book and daily order intake close to historical highs. Improved supply of key 4x4 vehicles in Australia, including the reintroduction of the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series, provides more constructive backdrop for FY 2027.
ARB's export business continues to trend positively, with U.K. registrations recovering and the European market performing well, though the Middle East remains impacted by the regional conflict. The U.S. outlook remains positive with strategic foundations laid in prior years continuing to materialize into sustainable growth. Growth in Southeast Asia is expected to continue, while our newly established presence in China and South Africa positions ARB for growth for these market in the coming years. Sales to OEMs are expected to improve in FY 2027 following a cyclical decline, subject to OEM supply chains and future platform release timing. We will increase our investment in engineering over the coming years, supporting a higher cadence of new product releases and faster application development. Further detail on our product strategy, engineering investments, and international expansion, including China and South Africa, will be provided at the AGM.
In summary, the board believes the company is well-positioned to achieve long-term success through continued expansion of the Australian New Zealand markets with new and upgraded retail stores and the launch of our partner program, strategic partnerships with key OEM customers in Australia and internationally, a growing export business supported by ARB's own distribution channels in the United States, an extremely strong balance sheet with AUD 47.9 million of cash and no debt, a deep engineering capability, and a pipeline of new product developments backed by increased investments in product development, and a well-balanced management team with a blend of long-term ARB experienced and external executives. Before finishing up, I'd like to thank the entire team at ARB for their efforts in the FY 2026, particularly the senior leadership team and our state and international business unit managers.
It was a year that tested us, and the resilience of this result is a credit to the hard work, engagement, and commitment of the team. We remain very ambitious for continued growth and are genuinely excited about the new financial year. That now concludes today's presentation, and I'll move on to our Q&A section for questions raised through the chat box during this presentation. I believe Damon has a couple of questions he'd like to begin answering.
Yeah, thanks Lachlan, and thank you to those who have submitted questions, which we will work our way through. We have a number of duplicates, and so we have grouped them into some common lines of questioning. Firstly, on pricing. We mentioned that we had had two price increases during the year, and the quantum of those price increases was questioned. In terms of the quantum and the timing, the first price increase back in August 2025 was just a little over 2%, and that price increase, of course, took effect probably a month or two later. So by October, we probably had about nine months' worth of value from that price increase through the financial year. The second price increase was a little later. That was in February 2026.
Probably took effect from April, so we probably got the benefit of three months of that price increase, and that was a higher price increase sitting at a little under, well, between 3.5% and 4%, depending on weightings. A lot of questions on gross margin. So I will tackle them generally. Gross margins were particularly strong in the second half, and even across the year were at the upper end of margins achieved over the last five or six years or so. So the margins, of course, in the first half were significantly impacted by the Thai baht. We have a large cost base in Thailand, and the impact of the weaker Australian dollar during the first half had a significant impact on the first half margins.
That moderated in the second half and the margins were improved, and the question is whether those margins will continue through, particularly the second half margins. I guess what we would suggest to you without providing guidance, there is a lot of factors that play into our cost of sales. There is a lot of moving pieces. The Thai baht, of course, is a major factor, and it is trending in our direction at the moment. We would expect the impact of the conflict in the Middle East to moderate at some stage, hopefully sooner rather than later, and steel prices, of course, are pushing up with labor costs also remaining under pressure. So there is a number of levers in the cost of sales to consider.
I guess what we would say, moving into FY 2027, we would expect the margins to trade in line at this stage with the average of 2026 across the full financial year. In terms of foreign exchange, there has been some questions asked about what level of hedging do we have in place. We are currently hedged out until November 2026, and we are hedged out at around about the 23 Thai baht to the Australian dollar. A lot of those hedges were taken earlier in the second half, and so, provided the exchange rate continues to trade at the levels that it is currently at, and it has been up as high as 23.6 more recently, then there may be some opportunity there, but the foreign exchange, of course, could go either way. Question as to whether rising inventories in the second half versus the first half contributed to rising gross margins. No.
The increase in inventories wasn't material and certainly didn't have a material impact on our factory throughputs. A question about the quantum of any tariff refunds received by ARB. ARB did qualify for a tariff refund during the second half of the financial year. The tariffs paid, of course, were expensed in an earlier period, either the first half of 2026 or the second half of 2025. The quantum is not material.
Okay. I'll jump in. A lot of questions on the U.S., so we'll work through those. A little bit of repetition, so hopefully these answers cover off the questions being asked. The growth prospects in the U.S., whilst we don't provide guidance, we are confident that all the strategic endeavors are going to continue to allow us to grow in the U.S. We are comping off the OEM business, so the Trailhunter program, which most of you have seen, have matured into like-for-like sales. However, as mentioned during the course of the presentation, we have added the RAV4 roof rack to our sell-through Toyota channels, which will be incremental in FY 2027 relative to FY 2026.
As mentioned, the strategic investments that we've made in 4 Parts and the strategic investments that we are making in the engineering team, we anticipate will allow us to maintain solid growth. Conscious that we are just starting to see some of the products coming through into stores and into our U.S. distribution from the engineering work kicked off six to eight months ago. There's a question about the key platform in the U.S.A., which is the Tacoma. Confirming that is one of the most popular platforms. ARB's association over many years with Toyota is particularly strong, and that definitely includes the U.S. markets. How much CapEx are we planning to invest in 4 Parts to convert the stores to the more premium format? We won't specifically. Really depending on the size of the store.
If you have visited the 4 Parts stores, they do vary in size quite broadly. It is a significant investment that we don't take lightly. We are definitely monitoring the revenues that are flowing from those investments and that customer experience. A lot of work has actually gone into making sure that the stores are trained and educated on ARB products a lot better. There are incentive structures in place to make sure that the store members are rewarded for selling through ARB products, which is resulting in, as mentioned during the course of the presentation, those strong double-digit growth of ARB product sales. I think that covers off the majority of the U.S. questions.
There is a question here about how the business is positioned to fit out the backlog of Toyota vehicles in the coming year to Australia. Well, I think through the course of the presentation, we presented much better data on the retention of our fitter network. One interesting thing to note there is with improved fitter retention comes maturity of those fitters and efficiency of those fitters. It is not just actual volume of fitters that we benefit from, it is the maturity of those fitters and the efficiency. We are in a great position with respect to fitters, relative to the prior two years. We could still absolutely do with more fitters. As mentioned during the course of the presentation, we are actively recruiting in each state, for more fitting staff.
There was a question in here about the product launches, and whether there is going to be anything coming through at the Eastern Creek 4x4 Show in Sydney and the foot traffic for the National 4x4 Show. We had a stunning BYD Shark on display with a MITS Alloy tray on the back and an all-new Summit Mark 2 bull bar, which was a real highlight. I actually thought it was one of the better-looking vehicles at the show. That is really in line with the response that we are seeing on that vehicle through our e-commerce website and the response from the 4x4 Show at the weekend, still not a lot of inquiry. We will have to dig deeper to understand that. With the growth of that platform, it remains an opportunity.
It is a matter for Anthony and the marketing team to make sure that we are messaging the right way to that vehicle platform and presenting products in the right light. That is definitely a great looking vehicle, and there will be certainly all of those new products available at the 4x4 Show. We did import from the Middle East, the new Y63 Patrol. That vehicle is not in market in Australia yet. We have brought it in in advance of the Australian launch, and we showcased a whole range of new products on that vehicle to get ahead of the market, and it was really well-received at the show. Just questions about our investment in China in FY 2027. We have landed a number of containers of inventory. We are selling through that inventory.
There is a small team with an office, and it is mainly a wholesale marketing and business development group sitting in there. The majority of our capital investment will be in stock and inventory, and marketing. We have got work to do to continue to expand our brand. Obviously, social media channels in China are different to the rest of the world, and so we have got dedicated teams and specific marketing agencies working on the brand development of ARB in China, which is where the majority of that investment goes. Questions about the network expansion in Australia. Damon and I have been very consistent in talking about three to five stores per year, and we are on track for that.
I've got Damon next to me. Damon, it's fair to say our next three years of store development and pipeline are reasonably mature. As I mentioned during the course of the presentation at the AGM, we'll be talking in more detail about our new preferred partner program.
Okay. I'll pick up on-
Yeah. Did you want to? Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, pick up and I'll leave those there with you. A couple of more questions following the earlier comments around the U.S. tariff refund, which we haven't quantified. A question here which might give some perspective. A question is around the materiality of it. Is it less than 5% of the FY 2026 NPAT? It's significantly less than that. It's not a material number and hasn't influenced the result materially at all. A question around why not pay another special dividend this year, given the strong balance sheet position. There hasn't been any talk from the directors about paying another special dividend. I think it was 10 years between the one that was paid last year. I think it was 2015 through to 2025. So no discussion, at least in my presence, about another special dividend.
Couple of questions again on the Thai baht, just appreciating the impact or the influence that that has on the results and how far out we have locked in. We have historically locked in the Thai baht three to four months out. I mentioned a little earlier, we are locked in till November around about that 23 rate, and then we will start to take some more position again in the next couple of months, and hopefully the rate will hold steady or perhaps even improve in respect of that.
There is a question here about in the first half 2026 result, we talked about the defense sector as being a big opportunity for export growth, and how are we positioned to penetrate this market. Look, good question, and indicatively, some of the increased ARB sell through the U.K. Truckman business is reflected in some of that defense work starting. Defense work, however, is slow and does take time. A lot of red tape, and a lot of information that needs to be provided off the back of any quote. So, it is a very complex sector to sell into, and we are not afraid of saying it is new to us in the European and the U.K. market.
However, we have got localized team, and particularly as the further you head east, the more activity there is, obviously, and so our guys are on the ground understanding, quoting, and winning contracts on a consistent basis. But again, it is a complex area. Truckman winning the Chinese EV contracts. Can you give us some more color on what products and what content is on those contracts? Absolutely. I will not call out specific platforms, and maybe we can do that at the AGM potentially, as that information will be in the public sphere. However, they are canopy contracts, which is obviously the Truckman's core business, and they have been won with the Truckman brand for those future contracts, not the ARB brand.
So, Rich and the team over there are really mindful of the situation, the really challenging environment they face and have been incredibly proactive in sorting out those new customers, identifying their needs and demands, and then ultimately being successful in winning those future contracts, which is great. So there is another question about manufacturing and R&D, given what looks to be more fragmentation of the 4x4 market, new Chinese EVs. I think this is where size counts. It is well known that ARB's scale, our balance sheet, and the size of our engineering team is a competitive advantage that we have. Our belief is that if we can make sure that the systems and processes we have for our engineering team, and the speed at which we can bring product to market with the more fragmented market will actually be a competitive advantage to us.
We are very aware of that. It is capital-intensive. We will have to manage our inventory really, really well. I do think it will make it quite challenging for the smaller players in the market to keep up with the volume of new EVs coming in. As was presented during the course of the presentation, we also have to monitor and manage which platforms we choose to fit product to. Some more questions about the U.K. contracts, which I have addressed. On the new engineering spend uplift, what is the current level of spend, and is it expensed or capitalized? Damon, did you want to answer the expensed or capitalized R&D question, and I will talk to the actual investment?
Oh, sure. Just give me a quick look at that again.
What percentage is this expense versus capital?
Well, we are fairly conservative in this space and do not capitalize much of our expenditure. Our R&D expense is about AUD 20 million for the year. We capitalize, from memory, it is about AUD 4 million, so we are capitalizing only a fraction of what we spend each year.
Damon is most certainly a conservative accountant, that is true. But it's a great position to be in, certainly for us. Without speaking specifically in dollar terms about the uplift, know that 10%-15% has been cued in. I will just take the time to say in that product space and the focus that we have on products, there is a knock-on effect to manufacturing. We think that largely we have capacity to grow into today, with more products coming through. But we have made allowances for additional investments in manufacturing where needed with more product coming through. Then the third leg of the stool is marketing. We do note that the marketing spend was down year-on-year, but that's not a position we will hold going forward.
We genuinely believe that if we can pump more product through our engineering team and then obviously through manufacturing, we will need to market and promote that product, and do expect and have forecast for an uplift in marketing spend in the new financial year. We are running quite long on time. Damon, did you have any further questions you would like to answer? We think we have addressed most of the questions through the chat. With that, we will close the presentation. Thank you very much, everybody, for attending today. We appreciate your time and hope you have found the presentation today insightful. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday. Thank you.