Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Super Retail Group's FY 2021 full year results presentation. Today's presentation will be hosted by CEO and Managing Director, Mr. Anthony Heraghty, and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. David Burns. There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. Today's call is for investors only. Media wishing to speak to management should contact Kate Carine, whose contact details appear at the bottom of today's ASX announcement. I would now like to hand over to Mr. Heraghty to begin today's presentation.
Thank you very much. Well, good morning and welcome everyone to Super Retail Group's full year results presentation. In terms of structure, I'll begin by speaking to some of the financial, operational, operating, and ESG highlights for the period. Then I'll provide a brief overview of our corporate strategy with particular focus on three of our strategic pillars. We'll also discuss our divisional performance before asking our Chief Financial Officer, David Burns, who's joining us on the call from lockdown in Sydney. Good morning, David.
Good morning, Anthony.
He will provide more detail on the full year financial results. Finally, I'll provide you with some color on the FY 2021 fourth quarter trading, together with a trading update for the first seven weeks of FY 2022. As always, there'll be an opportunity for you to ask questions at the end of the call. All right, let's get to it. I'm pleased to report that the group has delivered a record full year result, underpinned by strong top-line growth, high gross margins, and disciplined cost management. A very warm thank you to the broader Super Retail team, from our team members in stores to the DCs, management leadership team. It's been a team effort and one that's generated a very pleasing result. Clearly our result was clearly driven by elevated customer demand in all of our categories.
However, it was really the group's omni-retail business model that was critical in enabling the group to successfully capture demand that was there despite the ongoing challenges of COVID-19. The success of our model is evidenced by strong performance in our digital channel, where group sales were achieved of over AUD 400 million for the digital channel. As a result of this strong performance, the board has declared a final and fully franked dividend of AUD 0.55 per share. As we enter an issue-rich FY 2022, the group has a conservative balance sheet with no bank debt. Further, with global manufacturing and supply chains that are clearly under stress, we have proactively responded by fortifying our inventory position. We'll talk about that in more detail later in the call. In short, we're well prepared for what is to come.
As previously flagged, our operating expenses have increased in the second half, especially as we cycle acute cost control in the prior corresponding period, a catch-up on projects deferred due to COVID-19, and also as we reinvested in the core business, specifically the acceleration of our closeness to customer strategy. We go to Slide 5; it really provides a high-level summary of the top-line sales performance of the business in FY 2021 for both the group and on a brand basis. A record sales result driven by strong double-digit growth in each of the four core brands. We go to financial highlights on Page 6; you can see that group sales increased by 22% to AUD 3.45 billion. This top-line growth delivered an 80% increase in EBIT to AUD 477 million. Our statutory NPAT increased by 173%, while our underlying NPAT increased by 107%, reflecting a reduction in below-the-line adjustments.
Online sales grew by 43% to over AUD 416 million and represented 12% of Group sales. Notably, despite the impact of FY 2019 on store foot traffic, click and collect sales outpaced online delivery. In response to an uncertain trading environment created by COVID-19, the Group has adopted a conservative cash position with no bank debt, a strong cash balance, and AUD 600 million in undrawn committed bank facilities. On Page 7, we go to some operating highlights, and this here underscores how we've successfully executed our omni-retail strategy. A sharp focus on inventory management and supply chain have been key in managing unprecedented volumes of demand in both our in-store and online channels. The Group completed over 1.5 million home delivery orders this year, which contributed to a 34% increase in home delivery sales to AUD 224 million. Click and collect sales grew by 56% to AUD 192 million.
Our supply chain successfully absorbed a 54% uplift in shipping container volumes and we delivered over 400,000 pallets from our distribution centers to our store network. Pleasingly, following our recent investment in order management technology, the number of split deliveries to our online customers decreased by 24%. It's a good result. We've also grown our number of active club members during the period by 22% to 8 million. These club members represent almost two-thirds of group sales, and I'll talk later today on how we think we can build an even stronger relationship with these customers through our closeness to customer strategy. On to Slide 8. Super Retail Group is committed to social, ethical, and environmental initiatives that benefit our team, investors, customers, trade partners, and the wider community in which we operate.
During the period, we continued to make good progress towards our objective of adopting a sustainable and ethical approach to our business operations, and some of these key achievements are set out on Slide 7. Further details of our ESG performance are set out in the appendix to this presentation and in our sustainability report. There's always more work to do here, but our company is well on its way. For those who've followed Super Retail Group during my tenure as CEO. Slide 10 and Slide 11 should be quite familiar to you. Our corporate strategy, which we first released at our investor day in November 2019, has served us well over the last couple of years, which have included a bush fire, a global pandemic, and I think from last check, a mouse plague. We're making good progress against our targets.
Our focus remains on growing our core four brands, leveraging our closest to customer, connecting our omni-retail supply chain, simplifying the business, and most importantly, excelling in omni-retail. Slide 11 contains further detail on some of our execution progress to date. With limited time today, I won't talk to the detail on this slide. What I want to do is focus on three of these strategic pillars in a little bit more detail. They're the omni-retail, closest to customer, and our investment in our core four brands. Let's start with omni-retail. As we've spoken, 43% increase in sales to over AUD 416 million, all brands representing double-digit like-for-like sales growth on Slide 13, very credible result.
Online sales representing 12% of total sales, we expect that penetration to continue in the medium term out to 20%-25% penetration levels that we do see in more mature offshore markets. That's our planning assumption. Whilst COVID-19 resulted in an acceleration of this online activity. Chart 14 shows you there's a long-term trend here across all of our brands to online purchasing. As we turn to Slide 15, what becomes clear is the operational leverage that our store and DC network provides the company as we execute our omni strategy. Put simply, as the pie chart, our pie graph on the left-hand side of Slide 15 shows you, 94% of everything we sell requires a customer visiting one of our stores.
While the metrics differ across our brands, the chart on the right-hand side, the table on the right-hand side, shows you at group level that half of our online sales are by click and collect. That tells you that many of our customers value the convenience and certainty of being able to order products online and conveniently pick them up from their local stores. Further, 100% of our online deliveries are fulfilled from the existing store and DC network. The nature of our delivery profile, combined with our investment in order management tech, has ensured that our network can scale to meet what has become very dynamic demand associated with online delivery. In short, stores are our linchpin to our omni-retail strategy, and as we will shortly discuss, the company intends to invest further in this asset. Go to Slide 17 and start talking about closeness to customer.
Again, 17 is a familiar chart for those of you who have been in previous presentations. Look, in short, shows over the past four years, we've been able to grow our active club members four times faster than store numbers. This is important because as we organically scale our business by growing our customer number base independent of opening stores and the capital required, the company can create sustainable operating leverage. Slide 18 provides more detail on a brand-by-brand basis about our growth in customer numbers, customer satisfaction, club members as a percentage of sales. We're pleased to have grown our active club members, and remember, they are members who have purchased from us in the last 12 months, by more than 20% to over 8 million club members. Now we're determined to hold on to those customers.
Our aspiration over time is to grow this club member base to over 10 million club members. Currently, across the group, active club members represent more than 63% of total sales, and we think the stickiness of these loyal customers provides an additional level of resilience for the company. Perhaps just as pleasingly were the strong NPS scores which our brands delivered during the period, despite the logistical challenges and general shenanigans associated with COVID-19. In short, more customers and more satisfied customers. It's a good place to start for FY 2022. When I last updated the market, as we turn to Slide 19, at our half-year presentation, I indicated that we were really accelerating our investment and our ambition for our customer loyalty programs. Now, with an additional 1.4 club members in our system, there's even more worthy price to pay for.
Now, upon completing detailed customer research, we've gone through new segmentation, analytical modeling. We are now proceeding to further invest in the company's customer capability. This investment will enable the company to offer structured loyalty benefits that reward high-value customer profiles, and we'll be able to utilize that rich data through data analytics to hyper-personalize offers to one customer at a time, millions at a time. This program has already commenced in the 2021 year and obviously requires upfront investment. In due course, our brands will be in a position to reduce churn, increase visitation, and ultimately improve annual customer value. With over 8 million customers in our system, it's an ambitious program, and we look forward to updating you on our progress as we move through the execution phase. Turning to Page 20 and Page 21.
As I've indicated earlier in the presentation, our near-term focus continues to be on organic opportunities to grow our four core brands. Over the last 18 months, each of our brands have been shaping their network strategies, trialing new concepts, store concepts, evolving our in-store experiences and the like. With our homework complete, we are confident to commence the rollout of our renewed five-year store network plan. Combined with our customer and omni-digital strategy, we see network optimization as a key opportunity to deliver value for our shareholders. In turn, the group now expects to spend AUD 70 million of CapEx on the network in FY 2022. Slide 22 talks to the key network opportunities for each of our brands.
In Supercheap, we're looking for at a substantial refurbishment across the fleet to upgrade our old format into next-generation stores and continue the rollout of dedicated service areas to provide more fitment options for the do-it-for-me customers. In Rebel, our stores have been, well, they've been a spectacular success, and we intend to prioritize the rollout of that format across our 25 doors or top 25 doors. This will include the opening of our Rundle Street flagship store in Adelaide in the first half of FY 2022, and we also intend to introduce our specialized in-store world of formats in must-win categories of basketball, football, running, kids, and training more broadly across our network. In BCF, having successfully trialed our small format regional stores at Echuca and Victor Harbor, we will be targeting a rollout across smaller catchment regional areas.
This compact 600 sq m format is delivering sales intensity 30% above the fleet average. Given the less demanding regional rents and a modest CapEx requirement, we are achieving quite a bang for our buck. Finally, in Macpac, we'll continue to roll out stores in our colder climate states. Far North Queensland will miss out for now, in Australia, grow our market penetration. The introduction of Macpac sales in Rebel and BCF this winter has significantly boosted brand awareness and supported increased sales in Macpac stores. When combined with our fleet rollout strategy, we think there's a neat recipe for helping Macpac achieve improved brand recognition, and critical scale benefits. Slide 23 provides a little bit more detail around these store network targets in both the short term and over the next five years.
They paint an exciting story around the scale and breadth of the opportunity across our four core brands. Okay. Let's move to the brand-by-brand detail, starting on Page 27 for Supercheap Auto. Supercheap Auto delivered another very strong performance this year, as it does every year. For the Supercheap Auto to deliver such strong growth in COVID-19 disrupted year is a pretty clear demonstration of just how strongly this brand resonates with its customer base. Thanks to a concerted focus from Benjamin Ward and his team on driving club membership, the customer base now includes 2.3 million club members, a remarkable 37% increase over the last 12 months. Like-for-like sales growth was achieved in all categories, with auto accessories and car care detailing being strongest sales growth. Gross margin expansion was driven by lower promotional sales, reduced promotional and clearance debt, and favorable recovery of supply cost inflation.
Segment normalized PBT margin improved 320 basis points to 14.7% due to improved gross margins and cost leverage. A great result. Rebel's performance this year, as we get to Page 28, was underpinned by a very strong online sales performance from Gary Williams and the Rebel leadership team, and an increasingly strategic and accretive promotional program. Promotion activity will, of course, normalize as we get into post-COVID-19 environments, we continue to believe that through improved sourcing, leveraging the capability of our group pricing strategic team, Rebel can rebase its gross margin above pre-COVID-19 levels. Like-for-like sales growth of 17.5% was driven by higher ATV due to increased items per transaction and higher average item value. Like-for-like sales growth was achieved in all categories, with performance sports delivering the strongest growth.
The difference between total sales growth and like-for-like sales growth reflects closures during the period as we continue to address the duplication of Amart and Rebel stores, and the closure of Infinite Retail, which of course we indicated last year. Online sales grew by 36% to AUD 193 million, represent 16% of sales. Gross margins increased due to lower promotional activity, sales mix to higher-margin products, and the favorable net recovery of supply cost inflation. Segment normalized PBT margin improved by 470 basis points to 13.9%. BCF was clearly the standout performer across the four core brands this year. Whilst clearly BCF was beneficiary of COVID-19 tailwinds, there has been a number of initiatives which Paul Bradshaw and his team have undertaken in BCF this year, which really holds the business in good stead for a post-COVID world.
These are specifically delivering very locally relevant ranges through locally tailored store by store, the successful introduction of Macpac winter range in BCF stores to start to mitigate seasonality, and the just general broadening of the apparel and footwear offer. Again, when trading conditions eventually normalize, we're optimistic about BCF to rebase revenue and earnings above those pre-COVID-19 levels. In the meantime, if domestic lockdowns and travel restriction ease, there is potential for a strong summer. Total sales increased by 49.1% to AUD 797.7 million, due to a 48% increase in like-for-like sales growth. Online sales grew 90% to AUD 86 million, representing an 11% of sales. Boating, camping, and fishing categories all grew strongly, reflecting elevated levels of domestic tourism and leisure activities. Gross margins increased due to lower promotional sales, again, reduced promotional clearance debt and favorable net recovery of supply cost inflation.
Segment normalized PBT margin improved by 930 basis points to 12.1%, driven by significant cost leverage. To Macpac, Slide 30. Clearly Macpac's had a interesting ride, a bumpy ride, you would describe, since we acquired the business in April 2018 for AUD 135 million. Nevertheless, we're really pleased with the trajectory of Macpac over the last 12 months. I think it's fair to say Macpac has exceeded our expectations. To put that comment into context, Macpac was the most impacted by COVID-19 this year because of store closures in key markets of Melbourne and Auckland. Also, given the lack of international travel, a disrupted ski season, it's been a very credible performance from the Macpac team, and they're to be congratulated on their execution. Sales increased by 16.3% to AUD 153.4 million as a result of a 14.2% increase in like-for-like sales.
Online sales grew by 38% to AUD 30 million, representing a 21% of total sales. Macpac store benefited from an increased brand awareness associated with the successful launch of Macpac product in Rebel and BCF stores in the first quarter. It's a great initiative, it worked a treat. This activity delivered Macpac's second half like-for-like sales of 31.8%. Gross margins recovered to FY 2019 levels due to increased average selling price, improvement in product sourcing costs, and favorable foreign exchange movements. Segment normalized PBT margin increased by 660 basis points to 11%. All in all, a good result. With the segments or the brand updates complete, I'd now like to pass over to David Burns to talk through the financials in more detail. David.
Thank you, Anthony. I'll turn to Page 31. This segment includes our corporate costs and costs not allocated in segments. This year, it also holds an additional AUD 5.4 million of intangible write-offs and amortizations associated with a new guidance update from IFRIC on the treatment of software as a service expenditure for our IT platforms. You'll note this issue across most corporates this reporting season. The change in this guidance has the potential to impact future project costs being treated as OpEx rather than CapEx. The increase in corporate cost is linked to investment in corporate compliance areas and higher cost for insurance and also performance rights expenses. On Page 32, I'll take you to the group balance sheet. Inventory increased to AUD 194 million.
This was associated with-- which represents a 39% increase on the June 2020 figure, though this should be compared to the June 2019 year of AUD 560 million and representing just an increase of 24%, which is in line with sales. The inventory increase is really due to purchase lead times increasing, supply chain cost uncertainty requiring higher levels of stock reserves, elevated levels of demand, and increased landed cost of products due to the elevated shipping costs. Net inventory investment has increased to AUD 247 million, though this is still lower than compared to June 2019 balance date of AUD 295. The elevated stock turn is, at the moment, is supporting an improvement in the net inventory position. I would note that all temporary extended payment terms that occurred in last June's balance date were normalized by December.
Net cash at AUD 242 million is a AUD 195 million improvement on the prior year. Turning to Page 33. Normalized EPS at AUD 1.36 has increased 81%, which has moderated slightly compared to underlying profits due to the capital raising. The fully franked dividend of AUD 0.55 represents a full-year payout at the top end of the dividend payout ratio of 65% of underlying net profit after tax. Our fixed charge cover ratio at 3.1 times will moderate in future years. Committed debt, undrawn debt facilities total in excess of AUD 600 million. Combined with our net cash position, the group has a conservative balance sheet to support a more uncertain trading environment. Turning to Page 34, cash flow. Operating cash flow of AUD 600 million whilst comparable year on year is a lower cash conversion.
We noted last year that the increase in net inventory— I mean, I noted earlier that the increase in net inventory of AUD 80 million year on year is contributing to the lower operating cash flow. This is a consequence of the extended payment terms that we experienced in June 2020 unwinding during the financial year. Capital expenditure of AUD 85 million has benefited in a cash flow context from some delays in payments, which will occur in the new financial year. Our underlying capital expenditure is AUD 97 million. The finalization of the retail component of the capital raising occurred in early July, and all outstanding debt was repaid in early July of 2020. Now I'll hand back to Anthony to take us through the fourth quarter sales and the performance of our FY 2022 trading.
Yes. Thank you, David. All right. Let's turn to Slide 36, which just provides just a little bit more detail on our fourth quarter trading. Given the significant COVID-19 trading disruptions, which impacted our stores from really late June, this slide is important because it shows the strong trading momentum in the business as we exited the fourth quarter. Fourth quarter sales were 15% higher than the prior corresponding period, and you can see by reference to the bar chart on the left-hand side that the monthly trading reflected a strong run rate consistent with the full-year like-to-like number of 23%. As we turn to the trading update on Slide 37, I think probably the first thing I should note before we get into the detail is that these like-to-like sales numbers on 37 provide or contain no adjustment for store closures or anything else.
They're clean numbers, as are all our like-to-like numbers are presented today and indeed in other forums. The second point I'd like to make is that the July and August trading has obviously been significantly disrupted by lockdowns and store trading restrictions. It is worth noting that today it is only in WA, Queensland and South Australia that our customers can shop without restriction, and I am sure it will be different tomorrow. It is worth noting the group is cycling a 32% like-for-like in the prior corresponding period. All right? With all that said, for the first seven weeks of FY 2022, group like-to-like sales were 14% below the comparative period in FY 2021. Arguably and more relevantly, they were 12% above the comparative period in FY 2020, about half that FY 2021 run rate, which frankly, we are pleased by.
The lockdown impact has seen the decline in store sales being partially offset by a significantly uplift in digital channels, which result in record levels of online sales in July and August. Indeed, in FY 2022 year to date, online sales have grown 62%, with click and collect sales growing by 137%, off an inflated base in the prior corresponding period. As a result, the total group sales in the first seven weeks of FY 2022 are 15% higher than the equivalent period in FY 2020. Given the environment that we're in, again, we're quietly pleased with that. Look, we've got a stretched global manufacturing supply chain is creating delays. There are longer lead times, higher freight costs and shipping delays. This is nothing new and it's certainly not improving. The group has fortified its inventory position.
We're well positioned for the coming peak and indeed, evidence would suggest that underlying customer demand in auto sports, leisure and outdoor remains strong and should lockdown subside, the group is very well positioned to maximize post-lockdown sales opportunities. Entering FY 2022, the group has had a cash balance of AUD 240 million, no bank debt, AUD 600 million of undrawn committed debt facilities. We're ready. We're targeting CapEx in FY 2022 of circa AUD 125 million to fund the expanded store development program and continue our investment in our omni retail transformation. Look, in summary, it's been a strong result driven by unprecedented customer demand, more importantly, the continued successful execution of the group's omni retail strategy. Looking forward, while COVID-19 lockdowns and global supply chain issues are creating some unique challenging for us, the group has a conservative capital structure and more importantly, a fortified inventory position.
The strength of our brands, our large active customer base of 8 million loyal hub members and the long-term health, wellness and fitness trends supporting growing participation in our categories mean the group is well positioned for the future. I'd now like to hand back to the operator for questions.
As a reminder, today's call is for investors only. Your first question comes from Keegan Booysen with Jarden Group. Please go ahead.
Good morning, team. First one from me. I'm just interested in any color you guys can give me on the state-based performance, just comparing New South Wales, Victoria to WA and Queensland, trying to get a bit of understanding on how much weakness is coming from the lockdowns and I guess how margins are tracking in the first seven weeks as well, given there might be a bit of greater clearing activity with seasonal lines into lockdowns.
Yeah, thanks for the question. Look, we've always been very cautious around seven weeks worth of data. It is microscopic as a point of comparison, and so to then start to further carve it up, we're always reticent to do it. The other comment I'd make is, I don't think there is really a clean cohort of stores that hasn't had some sort of lockdown effect over the period. When you start dividing up by state, then trying to make sense of a non-COVID impact, you get to a very, very minor small sample amount. Look, my strong encouragement is it's seven weeks of data. It's clean. Nearly everything has been impacted at some point by a lockdown or some restriction of trade. It's very difficult to sort of draw a true underlying number over a small segment of data.
As we get closer to the AGM and we further update, we might be able to get a stronger sense of trends. I think the last thing I'd sort of say is that's why that run rate out of the fourth quarter chart we put in there just to give you a sense of what was happening just prior to lockdown.
No, sure. I mean, is there anything else you'd probably add just in terms of the lockdown states? I appreciate what you're saying with all states being impacted, but just if New South Wales and Victoria are a meaningful drag or if the trading conditions are relatively similar given the online uplift?
You can't compare. The nature of a lockdown is also different because you've got some stores that are in lockdown, some are in lockout. The timing is different. Queensland locked down over school holidays, that will have a very different impact to what's happening in Victoria. I hear where you're going. I'm just not sure I can give you the answer that you're looking for because it is a very incomplete data set.
Sure
seven weeks, and everything's impacted at some point.
Sure. Thanks. Maybe a second one from me as well. Just on the competitive backdrop into the fourth quarter and the first quarter as well, are you seeing any change in promotional activity or competitive dynamics?
Yes, we have noted that, across a couple of categories, there's either a continuation of promotional activity, which has been sustained through the year, or an acceleration of clearance activity, which is probably a bit more pronounced than we would normally imagine. Which is curious considering some of the supply chain constraints inbound. I think as lockdowns impact different retailers in different ways, there's obviously management of inbound inventory and the like. I would characterize in some segments, there's been an uptick late in the fourth quarter, and certainly in the first seven weeks, although, look, in the situation we're in now, it's very difficult to tell what is what. Broadly speaking, I would say there's been an increase in promotional activity to achieve a clearance of inventory as opposed to drive top line, would be my observation.
That's perfect. Thanks, Chris.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Aryan Norozi with Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. Hope you're well. First one from me, just an accounting one. Just in terms of your depreciation rates, I think the rates you're assuming for PP&E has fallen quite a bit this year, and that sort of explains the step-up in your D&A. What's the new base for depreciation moving forward? I think that was accelerated D&A in the first half of 2021, and then that's continued into the second half. How do we think about that moving forward, please?
Yeah. Look, on a sort of a pre-AASB 16, if you exclude the leases, which you can look through and you can see those, our D&A is going to be in that sort of circle, AUD 100 million sort of level, D&A and amortization. Before you apply the leasing standard D&A in there as well. Hopefully that's helpful.
Circa 100, is that right? 100?
Circa AUD 100 for the year, yeah.
Yeah. Cool. Just higher level, there's a lot of moving parts over the last sort of 12-18 months and there will be moving forward. If you just take a step back and look at your business in a normal setting, can you just give us an idea around some of the key buckets on the cost and gross margin lines and which ones you think are sustainably better post-COVID and/or needs more reinvestment? Just maybe two or three of the things. I think you'd touched on a few in the call around Rebel gross margins, but just a few areas where you think you have sustainably better post-COVID and maybe need more reinvestment as well.
Why don't I start thematically and, David, perhaps, in anything that I miss thereafter. I think probably the greatest driver or one of the biggest benefits has been our gross margin improvement. That's been obviously partially driven by a reduction in promotional frequency as demand's been buoyant and we've sought to preserve inventory through the year. We do think that there is a sustained gain there at gross margin because at the same time we've made significant investment in our pricing promotional analytical capability. We think there's a good bit of leverage there. In terms of the operating leverage delivered by the enhanced revenue, that obviously is going to unwind over time.
As we've been able to grow our online sales, specifically click-and-collect driving harder than delivery, that also provides us a fair bit of continued operating leverage, where I think the previous assumption was store sales would decline, online sales would increase, variable costs would increase. You'd end up with margin compression. That doesn't look like that's holding. It looks like we're getting good online growth, strong click-and-collect growth, which of course has negligible impact or negative impact on operating leverage. That provides, I think, some good confidence.
Just from a pure revenue perspective, walk out of the COVID-19 period with 8 million active club members that you don't have to reacquire, that you're therefore able to use data and insights to mine, and to appropriately target, really does give you a big base to work from in terms of almost a rebasing of revenue brought on by that significant increase of just active customers that are in your system. I think those three drivers, I think, give you a bit of insight. Probably the only additional is if you look at the three things we called out, being omni-retail, we talked about closeness to customer, and we also talked about the step-up in our in-store investment. That also provides some operational leverage as well.
That's perfect. Those 8 million club members, there's a lot of retailers that sort of quantify maybe customers or metrics, for example, average transaction value for a member versus non-member. Have you guys provided that data before? How does that look?
No, I don't think we have.
No. I think one of the things with members, the way we measure it, which is important is, it's not everyone that's in the base. That number is far bigger than 8 million. This is the number that's actually shopped with us in the last 12 months. In order for it to grow, there is a acquisition of a customer, but more importantly, there's a retention and an activation of that customer to drive purchase. It's actually a harder measure, and that's why we keep a very close eye on it.
Yep. Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Mark Wade with CLSA. Please go ahead.
Good morning, gents. Thanks for taking my question.
Morning, Mark.
Look, I'm just trying to understand on the sustainability of these sales. It's been a cracking past 12 months for the business. Even compared with pre-COVID-19, your sales are well ahead. What's in there to lead us to believe, and I think there is, right? What's in there so that we can think that it sustainably can be held up there, those sales? Is it the number of unique customers you've got in the business now that's different? Is it shopper behavior? People are more participating in those outdoor activities that you guys play into. What is there about the business that means you can actually hold these sales for longer?
Yeah, look, I think in the short term, if we declare the obvious, I think the fact that the customer base is effectively ensconced in Australia and New Zealand for the foreseeable future in terms of international travel. That leisure dollar, that discretionary dollar is concentrated here. Whilst I think that is in play, we feel quite confident around that underlying run rate continuing, all things being equal, and clearly, they're not, but just all things being equal. I think it's important to make it clear that there is that COVID macro factor that's driving, right? That's first and foremost. You're quite right. Beyond that, we've always said that health and wellbeing is a driver. It's a macro trend, and if anything, COVID has accelerated people's commitment to health and wellbeing.
We're seeing that in terms of the transformation of the Rebel business from sure apparel, footwear, structured sport's important, but personal fitness is really strong. We're seeing good solid trends there that gives us some confidence. We've always said within the leisure category that reconnecting with nature, getting outside was key. With frankly, half the population seemingly in lockdown at any one time, the notion of getting out and getting back to nature, it's only going to become more attractive. We've got good tailwinds there. This is the reason why we're really pushing hard on this investment in our customer capability. With your 8 million active club members, a movement in ATV, a movement in visitation, a minor movement, just through sheer weight of numbers provides enormous leverage.
Right.
I think that's how we feel confident around sustaining the business, which is why we've increased our CapEx and why we continue to push hard on stores. I think it's a combination of all, but certainly in the short term, those closed borders will continue to be a strong tailwind for the business, and in the meantime, we'll maximize that opportunity, invest in the business to build out those other capabilities.
No, I think it's a crucial point. There's a view from some investors that we're going back to FY 2019 level of sales and profitability, but as you rightly point out, that's not going to happen. It's going to stay up here stronger for longer, so to speak.
No.
Oh, go on then. Okay.
No, you go.
No, that's it.
Okay.
Oh, I was going to change my second question, but is there any other remarks you want to add to that first point?
No. I think you're on the right track.
Okay. Cool. Moving on for David, I'm just kind of confused on these comments on the intention to increase the net debt ratio to earnings, reduce the fixed cover charge. Is this just a normalization of earnings here that reflects, or is it some kind of crazy step up in CapEx in outer years? Given that really we're only on an organic growth strategy for the business, why should debt blow out and fixed cover charge come down in the future?
It's just the elevated level of earnings that we're calling out as you've all got in your consensus, an assumption of our earnings reducing off the top of this great result this year. There will be obviously a playing through of the EBITDA.
Okay
The fixed charge and in the net calculation. We'll just see those numbers moderate. They're still going to be at very conservative levels. There's no intention to increase. We'll likely move back to a small cash or net debt position that you might see through the year. Our intention is not to be in a geared position at all.
Yeah, sure. That's clear. Just to be sure, we're not going to wake up tomorrow and you've made some acquisition of Barbeques Galore or something like that. This is a purely an organic growth strategy that we're pursuing at this point in time.
We've been quite clear our strategy is focusing on the core four. I think Anthony's even said that our focus is to grow the business organically. That's been quite well communicated in the business strategy.
I think that's clear. Look, thanks so much, guys. Look, yeah, spectacular results. All the best. Thank you.
Thanks so much.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Lachlan Costello with Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, Anthony and David. Well done on the results. A couple of questions from me, if I may. Firstly, just on inventory, given you're stocked up there, I was wondering what level of demand you're planning for leading into Christmas. Just following on from that, are you concerned with too much imbalance given the extent of COVID-19 lockdowns and slowdown in sales?
Yeah, good morning, Lachlan. Thanks for the question. With inventory planning, especially with supply chain disruption, you really do need to plan some way out relative to a normal year. We've set out a peak similar to that of last year. We were of the view and still are of the view that with international borders effectively closed, that underlying domestic demand should be similar, and have appropriately purchased inventory accordingly. My observation around supply chain is that there does seem to be only two set of settings, which you either have inventory, or you don't. The ability to moderate, to plan, and finesse your inventory position because of what's happening in the supply chain is very impaired. You're either in it or you're out of it. Of course, our view is it's better to be in it.
Of course as lockdowns continue, and if lockdowns were to take place over the summer peak, I think it would be a reasonable statement for retail in general that that would be problematic, both on frankly every part of the P&L and balance sheet. Retail is entirely seasonal. We're no different. If we found ourselves in a heavy lockdown over the Christmas period, I think we wouldn't be alone in having to deal with some challenges. That said, if you wanted to buy inventory for peak now, you just simply will not get it onshore. It's just not physically possible. It's either here now or it's not here at all. I think the conservative and appropriate position is to have it available to you for the demand that comes.
The second thing I would observe is that our inventory profile is not seasonal or fashion-based. It's not perishable. If we found ourselves in a position where we had exposure to more inventory than we would otherwise want in a non-COVID year, the way we think about that is we would just simply hold at that higher levels of inventory, decrement it over time, noting it's not perishable, and appropriately just plan over a longer horizon with a higher working capital. Given the volatility in the market, that just seems the sensible approach because it's a relatively low risk, but quite a significant reward if you're able to capitalize the demand over the peak in a closed border, open, less lockdown environment. That's how we've concluded our thinking.
That's very clear. Thanks, Anthony. Just a second one from me, if I may. Given the challenging global supply chain environment you mentioned, I was wondering if you could provide me further color as to what extent you're able to pass on increases in manufacturing and freight costs.
Yeah, I mean, if you look at just the movement of the AUD over the last five years and pegging it down underlying gross margin, we've got good form of being able to appropriately manage COGS increases and gross margin. That's either through headline price increases, optimization of promotions, focus on mix. All those tools are available to us in the future. I think you have got a rising tide here of cost inflation, which is across all segments and all sectors. I think it would be fair to say that should this continue, you would expect to see underlying prices increase across the economy as some of these supply chain issues continue to bite. Our view is there's just no sign of them abating.
I think if anything, you could say it's getting more challenging, because you're now starting to see some of the manufacturing hubs impacted by lockdowns and the like. I think the safest place for retailers' inventory at the moment is onshore and in store, and that's what we've got. It's in the shed ready to go, and that means we've got some flexibility of how we think about future inventory planning, and we can afford to pause and pull inventory in as we need it, and where it's most affected from a cost perspective, as opposed to in a panic trying to get things onshore. We feel like we've bought ourselves some breathing room, but it is a very challenging game of chess.
That's very clear. Thanks, Anthony, and well done, guys.
Thank you.
Thank you. As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. As a reminder, today's call is for investors only. Your next question comes from Sophie Kern with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi, Anthony and David. Thanks for taking my questions. Just a couple from me. First on the balance sheet is you've got a pretty strong balance sheet position, and I appreciate that there's quite a lot of uncertainty at the moment. Can you just talk about how you're thinking about capital management over the next 12-18 months?
Yes, sure. Reasonable question. I think we will think about it when we're through this volatility. I think every time you get to a horizon; you have a sense that things are stabilizing. We seem to take a turn the wrong way. Right now, our liquidity settings feel totally appropriate for the environment we're in, and we'll need the environment to change to appropriately impact our thinking around those settings.
Okay. Just on the online sales trend. They've sort of been impacted at the moment by lockdown. How do you think about a longer-term stable level of online penetration for each of the brands?
Look, we think broadly speaking, it's in that 20%-25% over the next three to five years. I think you might see a slight slowing of it over the short term as we unwind COVID-19 impact. Customers are well used to this channel. They like the convenience of getting access to the stock. They like the ability to quickly pop down and get a click and collect order. I think it's a natural part of the retail mix now, and I see no reason why it shouldn't be at those levels before too long.
Great. Just maybe a little bit of color by brand. Do you think that 20%-25% is sort of the achievable range for each brand, or do you think some would be naturally higher or lower?
Oh, look, I think if you look at the penetration levels now, it gives you a bit of an insight as to how each of the brand's play. Supercheap, by its very nature, is a little bit more on the road, literally on the road. A fuse is blown, I'm on the road, I'm going to pop in and get a new one. It's a much more in-the-moment, instant purchase. I think the natural penetration levels for the category will be lower than, say, Rebel, which is obviously a little bit more in line with the broader apparel and footwear trends. I think it's true that they will absolutely have different pegging. I'd say Supercheap at one end of the spectrum and arguably Rebel and Macpac at the other, with BCF somewhere in the middle.
Okay. Great. Thanks for that. That was everything I had.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Paige Hennessey with the ACC. Please go ahead.
Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my call. Just one question from me. I notice in the slide presentation on Slide 32, you've discussed how Macpac's inventory hasn't been built. Can you just talk around why the decision or was it more impacted because of last year's PCP had a buildup of inventory, or was it a specific decision not to build the inventory?
I think Macpac's in a slightly different position from an inventory perspective, where it's obviously highly seasonal and impacted by supply chain influence, probably a little bit more directly just from where it's manufactured. The good news about Macpac is, we're coming out of peak winter season for them. Gives us the opportunity to rebuild that inventory in an appropriate amount of time as we enter into next peak. We would probably observe that sales performance outperformed expectations in the fourth quarter.
Look, I'd also add that the PCP figure in 2020 was. Macpac was in complete lockdown for that in half of the business in New Zealand, because the New Zealand lockdown ran all the way through into June. That PCP figure is more elevated than normal.
You're still confident on the ability to get inventory through before summer?
For Macpac?
Yeah.
Yes. Look, everything will be naturally delayed, and it will be challenging like everything else, but I think that will be less of a concern. Of course, noting that the key inventory period for Macpac is the winter period.
Okay, perfect. Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question is a follow-up question from Aryan Norozi with Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
Thanks for taking my follow-ups. Just in terms of the CapEx profile as well. The AUD 125 million includes the network CapEx for this year. Is that how you're thinking about it moving forward as well, or will that sort of come back down to normalized levels?
No, I think that that level, as we've outlined, there's some pretty good opportunities to improve the quality of the network for Supercheap Auto in terms of its new generation of stores, the rCX format, and World of Running being cascaded into Rebel. The smaller format stores for BCF and certainly the Macpac expansion in Australia. That capital envelope we think is sustainable over the medium term.
Perfect. The rental cost, the negotiations, I think that's about 15% of your fleet that you renegotiated. How do we think about the rent reduction? Is it the sort of typical 5%-10% on renewals, or is it more CapEx contributions that you're receiving?
Yeah, look, it's a more dynamic environment. There's certainly differences that are playing through between stores that are in large format stores versus shopping centers. We're seeing certainly more interest from landlords to support us with the new formats in terms of supporting us with capital, because we're actually driving a stronger traffic into the stores, into the shopping centers, particularly. Yeah, look, I think it's a more favorable environment than we've seen over the last 5 to 10 years in terms of landlord posture and certainly where we're bringing new and effective formats into their precincts or shopping centers.
Thank you.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Heraghty for closing remarks.
Look, thank you. Thank you for your questions and thank you for your participation in the call today. I look forward to seeing many of you or some of you over the next coming days, albeit virtually. Again, thank you for joining us, and I bid you a good morning.
Thank you. That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.