I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Mark Teperson, CEO. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Baby Bunting's FY 2026 full year results conference call. I am Mark Teperson, CEO, and joining me today is Darin Hoekman, our CFO. We will be going through the presentation that was lodged earlier today with the ASX, and there will be time for questions at the end. FY 2026 has been a defining year for Baby Bunting. We delivered record sales, a record gross margin, and pro forma NPAT growth of 33.9%. More than that, it was the year our strategy moved from proof of concept to scale. We are here to speak to the numbers, but before we do, it is worth reflecting on what sits behind them. The first years of life are formative. They shape confidence, security, and curiosity in ways that last a lifetime.
Anyone who has watched a child grow knows how quickly that window passes, and how much it matters that parents feel supported while it is open. At Baby Bunting, our vision is clear: To give every child the best start in life so they can grow into their brightest future. That vision guides every decision we make, from the products we curate to the way we design our stores. Our mission, to support and inspire confident parenting from newborn to toddler, sits at the heart of our culture. It is our team right across the business who bring this to life. This year, that took something extra. Behind this result sits 19 capital projects undertaken in a single year. 12 refurbishments, three new large-format stores, three small-format pilots, and a relocation, all delivered while continuing to trade the business and hold our service standards high.
That is a remarkable effort, and I thank every member of our team for it. This alignment between purpose and performance is what underpins our results and the difference we make for families.
Turning to slide six. Total sales of AUD 556 million was up 6.5% on the prior year, with comp store sales growth of 3.5%. Gross margin of 41.2% was up 100 basis points and our second consecutive record, with the second half stronger again at 41.4%. EBITDA of AUD 37.6 million or 6.8% of sales was up 140 basis points and pro forma NPAT of AUD 16.1 million was up 33.9%. The balance sheet is in good shape. Net debt of AUD 16.2 million with more than AUD 60 million of undrawn headroom and cash conversion of 96%, up from 82% in the prior year. Our Store of the Future cohort delivered 18% sales growth against the prior year.
We now have 15 refurbished stores open and trading, with Melrose Park in South Australia reopening on the 8th of August after the balance date, so that is excluded from the growth calculation. Slide seven sets that out in a five-year context. Two consecutive years of comp sales growth after two of decline. Gross margin up 440 basis points in two years. EBITDA margin has more than doubled from 3.2%- 6.8%, with CODB leverage now also contributing to this metric. We are rebuilding earnings power, not just recovering it. Slide eight sets out the operational progress behind those numbers. We undertook 12 Store of the Future refurbishments, opened three new large-format stores, and continued to actively optimize the network, exiting one and relocating another. We launched three Baby Bunting Junior small-format pilots. On gross margin and new revenue.
This was the first full year of Baby Bunting Media, generating AUD 5.8 million of revenue. We signed an exclusive three-year brand partnership with Stokke, a leading international children's brand. We deployed endless aisle across every store, giving customers our full online range from any location. We scaled online delivery to 100% fulfillment from stores. On operating leverage, we used existing store labor to service growing online demand. New Zealand overhead reduction is tracking to plan. We strengthened the executive team. A GM of merchandise and planning, an executive head of property, and a GM of people and culture all recently commenced. Their details are in the annual report. I will now hand over to Darin for the financials.
Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everybody. We are on slide 10. Mark has already called out our headline sales performance. Looking across the year, as the macroeconomic environment tightened, we did see transaction values moderate slightly through the second half. Delays in new car seats range, our biggest category, and a greater number of refurbishment-related store closure days also had an impact on the growth rate in the second half. Rotating car seats have been a significant innovation in the Australian market and an important growth driver for Baby Bunting over the last 12 months. Our planned expansion of this range was impacted by supply delivery delays in the second half. This product has now started to land in FY 2027, and we are seeing improving comps as a result.
In addition to car seats, we also have a pipeline of new range landing in both prams and feeding, with car safety our largest categories. Of the 1,000 retail trading days lost due to refurbishment closures, 60% of these occurred in the second half. This had a net drag on the 2H comp of 0.5% relative to the first half. Broadening out the lens, our marketing investment and execution continue to drive our new customer acquisition, up 4.2% year- on-y ear. This is a very healthy metric in the context of the store closures I spoke about and bears well for future sales growth. Online sales continued to perform strongly, driven by the annualized benefit of launching same-day and next-day delivery, endless aisle online shopping in stores that was launched in the second half, and some website enhancements and improved traffic conversion across the year. Turning to slide 11.
Our gross margin improvement of 100 basis points to 41.2% had two primary drivers in PLEX expansion and Baby Bunting Media. PLEX is now 50.3% of sales and accelerating, noting it was 52.9% in the second half. This was achieved without any significant contribution from Stokke's stable of products, which started trading on an exclusive basis for Baby Bunting late in the fourth quarter. Baby Bunting Media, AUD 5.8 million of revenue was up AUD 2.5 million and contributed around 25 basis points of margin to the result. Turning to the P&L on slide 12.
We have already discussed sales and gross margin, which have been the material contributors to our improved profit performance in FY 2026, in particular in the second half of the year, as we enjoyed the full benefit of the nine refurbished stores trading for the half, and we cycled through some large one-off costs we incurred in the first half. Looking at CODB, where our material year-on-year cost investment related to the opening of the new stores, we were very pleased to achieve 30 basis points of leverage on last year. This was primarily delivered through the second half, despite the lower sales growth profile. On our full-year EBITDA of AUD 37.6 million, this was achieved at a margin of 6.8%, up 140 basis points. EBITDA margin in the second half was 8.1%, up 280 basis points year-on-year.
Below EBITDA, PP&E depreciation increased due to our Store of the Future investment program, which did include accelerated depreciation of around AUD 2 million for the 12 refurbished stores and two stores closed during the year, Hornsby and Bentley. Profit after tax was AUD 16.1 million, up 33.9%. Our second half profit grew 54% year-on-year. Slide 13. Cost of doing business leverage is a key pillar in our journey to achieving our targeted 10% EBITDA margin. It is great to report improvement in this metric delivered through sales growth plus improving execution efficiency. We absorbed 3.5% of inflation through labor productivity initiatives and lowered our warehouse expenses in New Zealand by close to AUD 1 million through improved operational planning, which allowed us to contract our 3PL space requirements.
Looking to FY 2027, we will deliver a further cost out in the New Zealand supply chain, and whilst the Fair Work Commission increase of 4.75% is significant, we are well progressed on plans to defray this cost increase. Moving to slide 14. Our balance sheet is well funded to support the growth plan. Net debt finished at AUD 16.2 million. During the year, we put in place a new AUD 90 million facility with NAB, our long-term banking partner, and extended this partnership out to September 2029. Our covenant headroom is meaningful. Our FCCR ratio improved to 1.9x , comfortably above the minimum of 1.5x , which infers EBITDA headroom of AUD 17 million. Our leverage ratio came in at 0.7x against a ceiling of 2.5x, which leaves more than AUD 60 million of debt headroom available. Our return on funds employed improved to 15.1%, up from 12.1%.
Moving to the cash flow statement on slide 15. Net operating cash flow of AUD 36.2 million is up from AUD 23 million, with a cash conversion ratio of 96.4%. This result does include a year-on-year timing benefit on tax payable. Going forward, we expect to track back to our historical conversion ratio average of 80%.
Capital expenditure of AUD 44.5 million reflects the record 19 store projects undertaken. It also includes some additional investment on prepaid refurbishment items and replacement IT equipment that locked in some significant savings by purchasing early. This unscheduled cash flow pushed us above the top end of our AUD 43 million CapEx range, but will help deliver lower store build costs in FY 2027. Looking back at our 12 refurbishments, net of landlord contributions, these were executed at an average build cost of AUD 1.7 million in the first half and AUD 1.5 million in the second half.
On capital management to support future growth, including the new store rollout and the refurbishment program, no final dividend will be paid. I will now hand back to Mark for the strategy update.
Thanks, Darin. We are now on slide 17. Baby Bunting is the leading specialist baby retailer in Australia and New Zealand. 80 stores serving a AUD 6.3 billion market where the majority of spend remains outside the specialist channel. That is the opportunity. Our long-range plan establishes a 10%+ EBITDA margin business on the same three pillars we set out when we first announced our new strategy. That being how we grow our market share, doing this by extending our category leadership in hard goods, where we hold around 23% share, and by winning share in a AUD 3.4 billion soft goods market. We will grow the network towards 120+ large format stores and by owning the parenting journey with the customer. Next, grow EBITDA. Critical to this is expanding gross margins beyond 43%, led by mix, retail media and offshore consolidation.
We will take PLEX to around 60% of sales and leverage the cost base as the fleet and systems scale. Finally, grow return on invested capital. This is about completing the transformation of our store fleet, backing the highest returning opportunities first and funding growth from operating cash flow. Slide 18 shows how the strategy compounds. There are two levers that improve the economics of every dollar, our gross margin and our operating leverage. On gross margin, we have upgraded our medium-term target by 100 basis points to a total improvement of 600 basis points. Note that this is measured off our FY 2024 base. Further, we are starting to see positive inflection on our operating leverage after a period of capability investment and store-based productivity initiatives.
Our 31.6% target represents an improvement of 290 basis points from our FY 2026 result, where the material overhead leverage will come through continuing to grow the sales base. There are also two levers that grow the sales base, our refurbishment program and our network growth. Our refurbishment program still has another 60 stores remaining, targeting 15%-25% growth and a sub three-year payback. Our network growth program of an additional 43 large format stores and potentially 37 small formats subject to the success of the pilot rounds out the material drivers of our sales growth strategy. That is the pathway back to a 10%+ EBITDA margin business. Our results delivered to date prove the strategy is working. The chart on the right-hand side illustrates this in action. Over the last two years, we have delivered 440 basis points of gross margin improvement and 12% sales growth.
That has driven 136% improvement in EBITDA over that same period. Slide 19 sets out our focus areas for FY 2027 against those same three objectives with the targets and deliverables for each. I will take you through the deliverables underneath them. Moving to slide 20, with our new store formats, exclusive ranges, expanded delivery options and digital experience, we are driving new customer acquisition and lifting lifetime value through more repeat purchasing. The chart on the right-hand side shows how the FY 2027 comp growth range of 3%-5% is built. The FY 2026 refurbishment cohort annualizing is the largest contributor to this growth. Support also comes from continued online delivery growth and a modest contribution from the rest of the network. Net of the drag from the FY 2027 refurbishment closures. The range reflects the spread of outcomes across those formats and channels rather than a single point estimate.
Over on slide 21, PLEX, our private label and exclusive product underpins our differentiation and our margin expansion. You can see the relationship on the chart as PLEX has grown from 45.3%- 50.3%, total business gross margin has moved from 38.6%- 41.2%. In FY 2026, we appointed a commercial manager for exclusive brands, and in the last few weeks, we have established a dedicated private label team by redeploying some of our existing merchandise team to drive at our goal of private label being 20% of total sales. I am now on slide 22. Range innovation and differentiation is very important, and it needs to be supported by availability. On innovation, the pipeline speaks for itself. We were the first to market with rotating car seats in Australia.
We have just launched the Lucevo Infrared Light Therapy Breast Care, a world first, and excitingly, we have the Bugaboo and Stella McCartney collaboration exclusively coming soon. On availability, our Always Available program keeps top-selling products in stock across the network. We are uplifting forecasting and replenishment planning to drive better in-stock rates on our core lines. That was a specific learning from the refurbishment stores, where demand ran ahead of our replenishment settings, and it is a direct sales opportunity for us in FY 2027. Now on gross margin on slide 23. The bridge on the left sets out how we have grown gross margin by 440 basis points from FY 2024 to 2026. Those actions are complete, so I will not walk through them again. What matters is the forward path. The step to 42% in FY 2027 comes from initiatives already in progress.
The full year benefit of Stokke, the offshore consolidation pilot now live with two suppliers and five more in discussion, and growing retail media to 1.3% of sales. Beyond FY 2027, we have also outlined the pathway to 43%+ , which builds upon the progress of these strategies underway. Let's now look at New Zealand on Slide 24. Our five stores and online delivered AUD 19.1 million of sales, and we opened our first Store of the Future at Westgate in Auckland. This is a AUD 1.1 billion market opportunity, and we have a network plan of 10+ stores still to scale, where we can grow share while leveraging the cost base we already have. The drivers of the FY 2027 results are set out on the slide. In short, we have a clear pathway to profitability in the second half of FY 2027 and beyond.
On slide 25, three levers drive our operating leverage in FY 2027. First is labor productivity. The Fair Work increase of 4.75% took effect on the 1st of July. We offset its impact through AUD 2.2 million of productivity-led initiatives. Second, the introduction of offshore consolidation, where big and bulky items ship directly to our third-party logistics centers around Australia and then to stores, which reduces line haul freight costs. This is worth AUD 700,000 in FY 2027 and AUD 1.2 million annualized, with more benefits to come in future periods as we onboard more suppliers. Third, artificial intelligence. We are still early in this journey with two frontiers of focus. The first is enterprise leverage, driving productivity and cost out opportunities across the business, and the second is customer experience uplift.
We are targeting 30 basis points - 80 basis points of CODB leverage over the medium term with structured governance and a staged rollout, proving value before scale. Over the page on slide 26, the refurbishment program is the engine of this strategy. Average build cost moved from AUD 1.7 million in the first half to AUD 1.5 million in the second half of FY 2026 through value engineering and execution efficiencies. In FY 2027, we are targeting AUD 1.4 million for A and B grade stores. From FY 2028, the refurbishment program will move to C and D grade stores where we are targeting store builds of around AUD 1 million, with a new purpose-built redesign for that capital envelope. Refurbished stores delivered an 18% sales uplift in FY 2026, with gross margin ahead of their peer stores and payback maintained at under three years.
We plan 10- 12 refurbishments in FY 2027, with six to six in the first half. On small formats, in the second half, two of the pilot stores were EBITDA positive, with the third one flat. We have decided to pause the rollout at this time while we continue to refine the pilot's performance. We'd rather get the model right for earnings growth than chase the store count in the short term. Slide 27 sets out where the rest of the capital goes. We have new stores. Average return on invested capital from new stores is strong. In FY 2027, we will open three new large formats and relocate one large format store. Then on digital. Online sales have compounded at 19% CAGR over eight years at a 20%-plus EBITDA margin. We'll invest AUD 1.5 million- AUD 2 million per year to keep that going. Third, core systems.
We have completed the assessment of our ERP and in-store systems and committed to an initial phase being general ledger replacement and data platform upgrade with AUD 1.5 million of investment in FY 2027. Slide 28 brings the funding picture together. In FY 2026, there was AUD 36.2 million of net operating cash flow, 96.4% cash conversion and more than AUD 60 million of undrawn facility headroom. Importantly, FY 2027 capital expenditure steps down to AUD 33 million-AUD 37 million against the pipeline of 13- 15 store projects. We feel very comfortable with our existing funding capacity and with the trajectory of our current expenditure program.
To close, let's move to the trading update on slide 30. In the first six weeks of trade to the 9th of August, total sales growth was 6.1% and comparable sales growth was 4.3%. In Australia, we had comparable growth of 3.9%, cycling 3.7% in the prior year.
Excluding three stores closed for refurbishment during the period, our underlying comparable growth was 5.5%. New Zealand continues to outperform, up 15%, cycling 13.9% last year. Focusing now on the outlook. The next scheduled trading update will be at the AGM on the 13th of October. Comparable store sales growth is expected to moderate, reflecting the ramp-up of the first half refurbishment program. This trend is expected to normalize once those stores reopen. Guidance for FY 2027 is pro forma NPAT in the range of AUD 19 million-AUD 21 million, with an approximate one-third, two-thirds earnings split across the year, consistent with our historical earnings profile. Our guidance assumes full-year total sales of AUD 585 million-AUD 600 million with comparable store sales growth of 3%-5%. Our guidance also assumes gross margin of 42% and capital expenditure of AUD 33 million-AUD 37 million, fully funded through operating cash flow.
All up, we see another year of disciplined investment and growth as we continue to scale and build the business. We have great confidence in our strategy and a clear pathway to 10%+ EBITDA margin. Before we move to questions, I also wanted to acknowledge Darin. As announced in July, Darin will be leaving Baby Bunting in the coming months, and this is his final year results presentation after 12 years with the business. Darin has made an outstanding contribution over that time through periods of significant growth, change and transformation, and has been a trusted leader of the finance function and a valuable member of the executive team. On behalf of the board, the leadership team, and everyone at Baby Bunting, I wanted to thank him sincerely for everything he has contributed and wish him well for the future. Thank you, everyone.
I will now open the line for questions.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you are on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Sam Teeger with Citi. Please go ahead.
Hi, Mark. Hi, Darin.
Good morning, Sam.
What is our level of confidence that the FY 2027 refurbs would deliver the same level of uplifts and sales redirection compared to the ones we have done over FY 2025 and 2026? Is there anything different about this FY 2027 cohort that we should take into account?
Thanks, Sam. There's no material difference in the store grades or the profile of stores that we have scheduled to refurbish in FY 2027. As we called out in the comp update for the first seven weeks, we've actually started the refurbishment program a little bit earlier than what we did last year, and that's a benefit as a result of us having a program on foot. But the program of the stores or the profile of the stores, there is nothing material to note that should suggest that it'll be different at this stage.
Right. How do the returns we're achieving on refurbishments compared to new stores? Conscious that there's only three new stores planned for FY 2027, how much of this is a function of cash being diverted to the refurbs? Should we expect free cash flow in 2027 to be negative again, like 2026?
I'll take that one. We're expecting positive free cash flow. The rollout of new stores is really around discipline on the quality of only taking up quality new store opportunities, Sam, as opposed to managing it relative to the Store of the Future refurbishment pipeline. That's covered two elements.
I think the first question, Sam, was just the returns from the new format, new stores. I think what's important to note there is that they're still very early on in their journey. I mean, most of them only opened in the second half with a couple of months of trading. It's something that we will obviously continue to track, but the overall format performs well. We've been very pleased with the initial top line that we're seeing out of those stores.
Right. Just following on from that, Darin, is it becoming more difficult to find stores to open, new stores, when you say driven by opportunities?
No, we have got healthy pipeline locked in for FY 2028 and close to FY 2029. While the occupancy rates are high, Baby Bunting is a unique offer and landlords will always find ways, I think, to get our usage into their assets if and when the opportunities present themselves. That has been a consistent theme over a number of years now.
Okay. Of those three stores planned for FY 2027, how many would be in New Zealand? Following on from that, given the success that we are having in New Zealand right now, why are not we opening stores faster over there so we can move towards that longer-term target? I guess that will help.
Yeah.
Scale the business.
Well, I think we have been, again, very disciplined around our approach to New Zealand, and we have focused on optimizing the stores that we had live in the network and then bedding in our new Store of the Future in Westgate. We have only really reactivated the search into the New Zealand market recently. That will mean, roll out. At this stage, we do not have anything planned for FY 2027. Something may come onto the horizon, but that would be late in the year. That is only recommenced that sort of rollout. On the basis of we are feeling really confident about what we are achieving there.
Right. Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from James Bales with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. Just a question on the composition. These stores that you have already refurbed and you are now cycling the refurb, how are they performing relative to the stores that are yet to go through that refurb process?
Well, I can tell you that in the year-to-date comp numbers for the three that we opened in FY 2025, two are moderately positive and one is flat. What they are cycling is they are cycling high growth profiles from the prior year. So we are very happy with that. I think that is in line moderately below the rest of the network.
Yeah. James, it is a great question, but if you just consider that these stores were very early on into their openings this time last year, to see low single-digit comp holds and flat in the third store, that is a tremendous, I think, achievement to have held the massive sales step change that we saw. That is giving us good confidence that the durability of what we have built can endure into the second year cycles.
Is that saying that you are confident that post-refurb, the network should deliver positive or more positive durable comps?
Yeah. Effectively that. We have said prior to facing into some of the macro challenges in the second half of FY 2026, we had set targets of those stores being able to achieve around 4% comps on an ongoing basis in their second year. We have got two stores that are largely delivering that. One store was flat. We see that as a massive win, I suppose, in the current climate and against what we have seen.
Got it. And maybe a follow-up question just to sort of help with the modeling. In D&A, you talked about accelerated D&A in FY 2026, bringing the number to AUD 12.7 million. How should we think about the moving parts there in FY 2027?
I think it's going to be relatively consistent, in that the only delta really is we closed two stores last year. We closed one, relocated another, and in the first half of this year, we're relocating one. That's really the only delta. Then you've got incrementing D&A from the refurbishment program from last year, and that will be in the order of AUD 2 million-AUD 3 million in the current financial year.
Okay, got it. Then maybe one cheeky one. If you look at slide 18, you've given gross margin long-term targets and operating leverage targets. Is that an upgrade to the long-term EBITDA margin guidance to 11.4%?
Well, we've always said that it would be a plus 10% EBITDA margin business, James. I think you can infer from the gross margin improvement that that helps to perhaps lift above the 10%, with the one thing to kind of factor in, which is the operating leverage really comes as a result of the refurbishments and continuing to grow the store network. The timing of it, that does have a determining factor in terms of time. But in terms of if you were to do the math and we executed everything, yes, your math that goes above 10% is right.
I might add, James, on that point is that when we launched the strategy and we talked about 42% gross margin in June 2024, we hadn't really quantified the opportunity around offshore consolidation. We're getting a good read on that now. Also, it's fair to say that we're really pleased with how our PLEX performance has been. That's also been very encouraging on the upside.
Got it. And maybe just one follow-up on that gross margin point. If, I think your target on Baby Bunting Media was 2% of sales, you are about 1% this year. If you achieve that, doesn't that sort of already get you to the FY 2027 target just from Baby Bunting Media?
Well, that's an aspirational target, James. We have got to prove to ourselves that we can do it. In FY 2027, the target for us is 1.3%. That's a great build and lift, but there's a runway of maturation of this business that we still need to get through. Whilst I have always called out that if you look at mature peers in the retail landscape, somewhere between 1% and 2% of sales is typically what a retailer has been able to achieve. That's informed how we are thinking about the size of the opportunity. But we have got to prove that we can do it within our industry and with our partners.
Perfect. I appreciate the help, guys.
Thank you. Your next question comes from James Casey with Ord Minnett. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Mark. Good morning, Darin. Mark, just following your comments earlier. Darin, thanks for your assistance over the last few years, been much appreciated. Darin, could you give me some assistance on that CapEx figure of AUD 33 million- AUD 35 million this year? Can you just step through that in terms of the refurbs, the new stores, and the IT spend, if that's okay?
Well, we're targeting 10- 12 refurbs. That'll be coming in around AUD 1.4 million.
The new stores, that'll be an investment of around AUD 4 million. In addition to that, the program costs or the capitalizable program costs are around AUD 3 million for that. So that's all design and execution to get those stores up out of the ground. Then, we've got an investment in our data platforms and our digital platform around AUD 3 million. IT CapEx will be around AUD 3 million. So we're replacing our handheld devices across our store network over the course of the next 12 months. I also have some contingency in that number as well. So they're all the key moving parts in the CapEx numbers.
Okay. For FY 2028, as you move to those C and D stores for the refurbishments, what would be the step down in capital expenditure expected?
As we've called out on the slide, we're targeting around AUD 1 million, which is informed by us still wanting to achieve a sub three-year payback on the incremental growth that we drive out of those stores. Those are the parameters that we're setting up. The reason why we're embarking on a redesign for those store grades is, whilst we have worked hard, and I think we've done a great job of moderating the CapEx build for the C and D grade stores, we don't want to rip out the soul of the design as we get to C and D grade stores, which just become expensive capital exercises without delivering those returns. We've learned a lot from this program. We think we can retain the most exciting elements for customers in C and D grade stores and moderate the CapEx build at the same time.
As I said, instead of just continuing to strip elements out, we're going to approach it in a very deliberate way.
Okay. Then just one final one. You've obviously seen significant improvement in the earnings profile in the second half and expect that to continue. What does that mean for the dividend policy going forward?
The board continues to assess the dividend policy against our capital opportunities and the returns that we can generate for shareholders. With the Store of the Future program delivering sub three-year paybacks, that's still determined to be the best use of capital at this point in time. But as the earnings base grows through FY 2027, that will create different free cash opportunities for us to assess from FY 2028 and beyond. This is, as you noted, an issue for the board, and it is an important topic that's being considered. The board also notes changes to the taxation policy in Australia as it is considering its future strategy and position.
Okay. Thanks, Mark. Thanks, Darin. Cheers.
Thank you. Your next question comes from James Wilson with Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Morning, guys, and thanks for taking my questions. Darin, best of luck with your next opportunity. Just firstly on the comp sales guidance you've given us for FY 2027, it assumes 0%- 2% for the rest of your network stores. But in the trading update you've given us, it looks like they're doing about 5.5% growth excluding the refurbishments. Is the gap between the two driven by view on promotions coming down relative to the trading update period, or perhaps a view on consumer weakness perhaps?
Yeah, James, it's a good question, but what you're missing is that rest of network includes the online growth. So it's a blend. Rest of network is referred to as a blend of those two numbers. If you refer to slide 20, you can see online growth targeted at 10% and the rest of the network at 0%- 2%.
Right. Okay.
That lifts. In the guidance slide that we provided, those two numbers are effectively combined. On this slide, we have separated them out to show you the components of comp.
Okay, great. All right. Thanks. Darin, maybe one for you. We saw a bit of a step-up in below the line items this year. Are we right to think that that gap between stat and underlying NPAT should actually widen next year given the equity incentives in the ERP? Is that right?
Oh, no, the equity expense will come down in the next financial year. We picked up two cost items in the one reporting period last financial year. That won't repeat. In terms of the other items outside of equity expense, which of course is a non-cash expense, we have started the journey on ERP and point of sale. We incurred around just over AUD 500,000 of cost in relation to that last year. Next year, that will be around AUD 1.5 million of one-off build items in relation to getting our general ledger and financial planning systems up in association with that program.
Okay. Makes sense. Thanks. Just one final one from me. Can you just talk us through the moving parts into next year of your build costs? I mean, it looks like they've come down in the second half. I am just wondering how we should be thinking about those for 2027 on a per store basis.
The per store build cost, as we guided to on slide 26, is we are targeting AUD 1.4 million builds for the program in FY 2027.
Yeah. I think what we have been doing is there has been an initiative committee that has been really driving the design costs down on our store builds. In my CapEx commentary, I noted that we did get some bulk buy discount opportunities that will help sort of feed into lowering that CapEx number in the next financial year also.
Makes sense. Thank you.
Thank you. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one. Your next question comes from Wei-Weng Chen with RBC Capital. Please go ahead.
Hey, guys. Most of my questions have been asked already, so I will ask kind of clarifying questions. Just on that last point about your ERP costs going up next year, can you maybe give us a guide on how to think about the adjustments to perform at next year relative to the AUD 4.9 million this year? Is it going to be higher or lower than that AUD 4.9 million?
It is going to be lower. The share based payments expense will come down. Just to reiterate what I said, there were two items that were picked up in the prior financial year. Our ERP costs of AUD 1.5 million relate compared to AUD 600,000 incurred in FY 2026.
Yeah. But net-net, everything should be, the adjustments should be lower than the AUD 4.9 million.
That is right.
One way up, one way down. Yeah, cool. Then the store costs coming down, does that factor in any element of materials inflation, or is this like you are getting the benefits of bulk purchasing? Is there any element of construction savings? We are just trying to wonder where the benefits are coming from specifically.
The benefits are coming from a very focused program to re-engineer the fixture sets that we have built out in the stores. In addition to that, we have embarked on bulk procurement for the known store program so that we can negotiate better prices instead of doing them each individually. The other thing that I would say is we look at our building costs. Whilst there has been pressure on building costs over the last six months, because we have now done 15 of these stores, our ability to better manage the scope and tighten up the processes with our building partners has enabled us to defray a lot of the one-off or last-minute elements as a result of not having a well-specced build scoped. So that continues to improve our ability to bring store build costs down.
Yeah, cool. Thanks. Then I guess just last one from me. I guess just looking at guidance, it looks like if you piece it together, free cash flow should be positive next year. I know there was a question about kind of dividends next year, but just wondering whether you guys would want to be in a net cash position before dividends are reinstated.
Oh, look, that's not something we're going to comment on the call. Mark gave a very clear answer about how the Board are thinking about dividend policy and the way forward.
All right, cool. Thanks. That's all.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Sam Teeger with Citi. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. Just a quick follow-up. The trading update to start at FY 2027 was better than expected, even though you are guiding to a moderation from here. I'm just wondering to what extent did prams and car seats improve relative to the fourth quarter? Have there been any new product launches or promotions that have driven their better-than-expected trading update?
Yeah. Sam, we have seen some NPD drop in from the start of this financial year, which has been good. Prams performance, as we noted in many of the kind of catch-up calls that we had in the fourth quarter, was soft in the fourth quarter. We have seen improvement in the back half of the first six weeks of trade. That is certainly positive signal and execution coming through. As we noted, we do have an exclusive capsule coming in shortly for the Stella McCartney and Bugaboo collaboration. Then we note that there are more NPD important programs coming through, both in car seats in the first half and then prams running from around Q2 and into Q3. So, the NPD pipeline looks good. We were pleased to see an improvement in that prams trading position over the course of the first six weeks.
We will continue to kind of push at the opportunities that we have got with our supply partners to drive that exclusivity and excitement with customers while the trading conditions remain challenging out in the general market.
Great, thanks. Then last one, just on the small formats. Appreciate the comments you made earlier, Mark, but to what extent— How has your confidence evolved as to whether the Junior small formats can be a material growth driver for the business? Can you just talk about some of the initiatives and progress you might have made bringing in that traffic outside the store, inside the store?
Yeah, sure. Firstly, Sam, it will not surprise you to know that I have a healthy level of confidence that we will be able to get these to an improved position. But it also speaks to the discipline that we have got around not moving before we get them right. As I noted, two of the three stores are now EBITDA positive, with the third one at breakeven. So they are not a cash drag on the business from the second half, which is positive.
We made some of the changes specifically to the store in Robina, where we worked with the landlord. We have seen some good improvements since those changes have been made. Then we are also working on some changes to the merchandise assortment and some of the store layouts to just further tweak the way that the customer is engaging with us as they pass the lease line.
As I've called out previously, it's the traffic crossing, passing the store, that's the thing that we want to continue to work upon. We are piloting that. We'll see the impact that that makes. And we'll continue to assess the forward strategy off that basis. But I still remain with a very healthy level of confidence that this can be something important for the business.
Good stuff. Thank you, Mark.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Teperson for closing remarks.
Thanks, everybody. We look forward to updating you again at the AGM. Look forward to catching up with you all again then.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.