Welcome to the FY 2026 full year results presentation for Super Retail Group. Today's presentation will be made by the Group's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mr. Paul Bradshaw, and its Chief Financial Officer, Mr. David Burns. There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. This call is for investors only. Media wishing to obtain access to management should contact Kate Carini, GM Corporate Affairs, whose contact details appear on today's ASX announcement. I would now like to hand over to Mr. Paul Bradshaw to begin today's presentation. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome everybody to Super Retail Group's FY 2026 full year results presentation. I will begin by speaking to some of our financial and operating highlights for the period before discussing the performance of each of our brands. Our Chief Financial Officer, David Burns, will provide you with some more detail on the financial results. I will then provide a trading update for the first seven weeks of FY 2027. There will be an opportunity, as the operator stated, for you to ask questions at the end of the call. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the country on which we are each present and recognize their continuing connection to lands, waters, and communities. We pay our respects to the elders, past and present. Moving to slide four, the full year highlights.
Our more than 15,500 team members at the heart of our success, and their safety remains our top priority. We are pleased to deliver another year of improvement in workplace safety, with TRIFR reducing from 12.1 in FY 2025 to 10.9 in FY 2026. We have embedded a new leadership team that combines extensive Super Retail Group experience with high-caliber external talent. The blend of deep business knowledge and fresh industry perspectives is enhancing decision-making, driving performance, and positioning the group for sustainable growth. In June, we shared our new five-year strategy to capture a greater share of the AUD 65 billion total addressable market and deliver our growth ambitions through to 2031. Our customers are absolutely at the center of all we do.
In FY 2026, we continued to grow our active club member base, our Net Promoter Scores, and total percentage of sales from our active club members. We are pleased to be able to once again deliver positive like-for-like growth over the full year. After a positive first half, the group experienced significant disruption over the keys to trading period with the onset of the fuel crisis. Like other retailers, we also faced several other challenges to trading, including a series of interest rate rises and a warmer than expected winter, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria. I am pleased to report that while our team navigated these tough trading conditions, we also made strong progress throughout the year on several key strategic investment initiatives.
We successfully transitioned our southern supply chain operations to our new Truganina distribution center in Victoria and remain on track to unlock that national distribution center functionality in the near term. We implemented a new HR Core and Payroll platform, which is now fully operational across the group. Turning to slide five, the financial and operating highlights. The group delivered AUD 4.2 billion of sales in FY 2026. Total sales grew by 3.2%, driven by 1.8% like-for-like growth and supported by continued network expansion. Gross margin increased by 10 basis points to 45.7%. Normalized profit before tax declined by 7% to AUD 306 million, representing a profit before tax margin of 7.3%, down 80 basis points from the prior year. Normalized NPAT was AUD 226 million, and normalized earnings per share was at AUD 1 per share.
The Board has determined to pay a fully frank final dividend of AUD 0.33 per share. Together with the interim dividend of AUD 0.32 per share, this represents aggregate annual ordinary dividends to shareholders of AUD 0.65 per share at the top end of our payout range. The group is entering FY 2027 in a strong financial position with just AUD 14 million of debt at the end of the period. Now turning to slide six, like-for-like growth. The group has delivered record full-year sales. Sales growth of 3.2% was driven by 1.8% like-for-like growth and 1.4% from new store openings. Full-year like-for-like sales was mixed within the portfolio, with a solid result from rebel, a resilient performance from Supercheap Auto offset by softer trading conditions for BCF. Macpac generated strong sales momentum over the first nine months before demand moderated in that fourth quarter.
Group like-for-like sales momentum was negatively impacted in the second half by the onset of the fuel crisis over the key Easter trading period. Now turning to slide seven. Profit before tax declined by 7% in FY 2026. While this is not the result we are aiming for, it does reflect the deliberate decisions that we have made to invest in the long-term future of our business. On the left-hand side, you can see the breakdown of the 80 basis points decline in profit before tax margin. From an operating perspective, a 10 basis points increase in gross margin was offset by a 30 basis points increase in operating costs. Operating costs were well managed in the period, increasing by 4%, which includes the network expansion and underlying inflation across key cost categories such as rent and wages.
The increase in Project investments associated with the new distribution center and that payroll system contributed a further 50 basis points to the overall margin decline. In the waterfall chart on the right-hand side, we have presented the margin drivers in terms of operational outcomes, financing, and project outcomes associated with near-term strategic initiatives. Operational outcomes delivered a net AUD 2.4 million or 0.7% of profit before tax growth in the period. Profit before tax growth for Supercheap Auto, rebel, and Macpac was partially offset by a decline in BCF and slightly higher corporate costs in the period. Financing costs drove a further AUD 6.6 million profit before tax decline, as the group held lower average cash levels throughout the year following payments of the special dividend in that first half.
An increase in project investment contributed AUD 19 million to the profit before tax decline, reflecting costs associated with the transition to the new DC and our Payroll system. Turning to slide eight, the customer highlights. We now have 13.1 million club members. They are active club members that have shopped with us at least once in the last 12 months, representing over 85% of our sales. Club member spend as a percentage of sales has continued to increase, with BCF once again a standout at 92% of sales. Our group club member NPS score has improved from 71 to 74. On slide nine, this shows the strong momentum for the group across our club member metrics over the past six years. Turning to slide 10, store network highlights.
We continue to deliver a strong pipeline of store openings with a net 15 new stores in FY 2026, with 28 openings and 13 closures. We plan to open a net 18 new stores in FY 2027. In addition, we converted a further two BCF stores to superstore format and continued to refurbish the Supercheap Auto and rebel fleet. Slide 11, our digital and omni highlights. Full-year online sales grew by 5.3% to AUD 552 million and represents 13% of total sales. Importantly, Click & C ollect, which is our most profitable channel, grew by 10.3% and accounted for almost half of online sales, meaning that 93% of all sales are completed in-store. Slides 13 and 14 are pretty self-explanatory, so I will move to the brand slides, starting with Supercheap Auto on Slide 15. Supercheap Auto performed strongly across the first three quarters of FY 2026.
The momentum moderated in the fourth quarter as fuel supply disruptions affected customer traffic and spending. Despite an elevated competitive environment, Supercheap Auto delivered market share gains over both the full year and the second half, with customers responding very well to the ranging initiatives that the team have put in place. Club member Net Promoter Scores increased by six points to 75, which is an outstanding result and reflects the team's concerted focus on both ranging and service. Over one million fitments were completed across the network in FY 2026, an increase of more than 12%, solidifying a real key point of differentiation with both core auto peers and generalists operating in this space. Slide 16 sets out the financial performance. Total sales grew by 3.9% to AUD 1.6 billion. Like-for-like sales growth of 2.8% in Australia exceeded a 1.4% improvement in New Zealand.
Gross margin declined by 30 basis points due largely to negative product mix. The team maintained promotional discipline in a competitive environment. Cost of doing business declined by 20 basis points. Full-year profit before tax margin declined by 10 basis points to 12.8%. Profit before tax increased by 3.3% to AUD 203 million in the full year. Turning to Slide 17, rebel highlights. rebel produced a solid revenue outcome with 3.8% like-for-like growth generated amidst a softer sporting category performance and elevated competition. rebel maintained its positive market share momentum with solid share gains over six months, a year, and the two-year frame. rebel has enjoyed continued positive market share momentum since October of 2024, coinciding with the introduction of the rebel loyalty program.
At the half year, I spoke about the opportunity for a sharper focus on retail execution, and I have been pleased with the team's progress in the second half. Finally, rebel enjoyed a successful FIFA World Cup campaign with strong customer engagement supporting the second-half performance. A summary of the rebel's financial performance is set out on slide 18. Total sales grew by 4.5% to AUD 1.4 billion. Like-for-like sales grew by 3.8%, with growth in both the number of transactions and the average transaction value. The gross margin improved by 60 basis points in the full year, reflecting improved promotional discipline and favorable product mix in the second half. Full-year profit before tax grew by 4.3% to AUD 105 million, with the profit before tax margin in line with the prior year. Turning to BCF on slide 19.
BCF faced a challenging FY 2026 following an exceptional FY 2025, where favorable conditions aligned to deliver a strong result. In contrast, we experienced headwinds during peak trading periods in FY 2026 that materially impacted performance. At the half year, I flagged the impact of the unfavorable weather conditions on trading, which is an inherent part of operating a business such as BCF. However, the fuel crisis was more significant, hitting during BCF's critical Easter trading period. The combination of higher fuel prices and concerns around fuel availability materially reduced participation in outdoor leisure activities. I am very proud of the response from the BCF team, who showed good discipline on pricing, protecting gross margins, and managed costs appropriately. The team continued to deliver on their network plan with successful launches of large format and superstores during the year.
We also opened our first fitment store powered by Ironman over in Cannington, across in Perth. I saw the facilities myself last week firsthand with a good customer response already, and we have our next locations lined up. A summary of the financial performance for BCF is set out on slide 20. Total sales grew by 0.2% to AUD 953 million. Like-for-like sales fell by 2.1%, driven by a decline in transaction volumes. Gross margin increased by 20 basis points. Segment profit before tax margin declined by 90 basis points to 5.5% as a result of the operating deleverage. Segment PBT increased by 14.3% to AUD 52 million. Now turning to Macpac on slide 24. Macpac generated strong sales growth across both New Zealand and Australia through the first nine months of FY 2026.
Trading momentum softened over Easter as the fuel crisis weighed on outdoor recreation before unusually mild weather, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria throughout the winter, negatively impacted demand during the critical winter trading season. Following some clearance activity early in quarter one, the team has been disciplined on gross margin and pricing and has managed costs very well, delivering strong operating leverage and profit growth over the full year. A summary of the financial performance of Macpac is set out on slide 25. Total sales grew by 3.5% to AUD 240 million. Like-for-like sales grew by 1.5%, with 3.7% growth in New Zealand and 0.3% in Australia. Subdued demand in New South Wales and Victoria was offset by robust growth in other states. Gross margin declined by 30 basis points.
Profit before tax increased by 120 basis points to 5.7%, and segment profit before tax increased by 32% to AUD 13.6 million. I would now like to hand over to David Burns to talk more detail to our financials.
Thank you, Paul. Just turning to group and unallocated. It includes corporate costs not allocated to segments and investments in group projects and financing costs. The group unallocated costs increased by AUD 28.5 million in the period, reflecting firstly, an increase in project investments of AUD 19 million associated with the transition to the new distribution center in Truganina, and the implementation of our new HR Core and Payroll system, which was completed in the period. Secondly, we had net interest expense, AUD 6.6 million higher, reflecting a lower average cash position following the payment of the FY 2025 special dividend in the first half. Moving to the balance sheet on slide 24. The group has maintained its strong balance sheet position with the net debt of AUD 14 million at year-end, comfortably within our target gearing range.
Total inventory increased by AUD 73 million or circa 8%, reflecting a 2% increase in the store network from new stores, and a 6% increase in net inventory per store. Inventory per store was higher due to, in part, the cost of goods inflation, as well as a tactical investment in working capital, which we signaled in the May trading update. Supercheap Auto increased its inventory holding towards the end of the period to protect against the potential disruptions to supply that was caused by the fuel crisis, and this has contributed to positive momentum in early FY 2027. In response to the challenges in the first half, rebel sought to improve stock availability levels, with inventory per store increasing 11% on a year-on-year basis at June. Inventory quality remains high, with average aged inventory levels within our targeted range. Moving to the cash flow.
Operating cash flow of AUD 593 million was AUD 16 million higher than the prior period, reflecting the increased investment in working capital that I mentioned just a moment ago, which was more than offset by lower cash tax payments. Operating cash conversion of 92% remains strong. The total capital expenditure in the period of AUD 123 million was AUD 42 million below FY 2025. Store network investment was lower due to the more moderated activity at Supercheap Auto ahead of a new Gen 5 format that is in trial and will be launched next weekend. A large format program is also being prepared by the Supercheap Auto team. Macpac continues to pursue a more measured expansion plan following a significant increase in stores in FY 2025.
Other capital expenditure declined by approximately AUD 18 million due to the completion of several supply chain projects that were prominent in the prior year. Moving to returns and capital ratios. The group delivered normalized EPS of AUD 1 in FY 2026, down 2.8% from the prior year. Post-tax return on capital was 16.7% in FY 2026, driven by elevated near-term project expenditure, together with recent large-scale infrastructure investments. Return on capital remains comfortably above the group's cost of capital. The Board is determined to pay a fully franked dividend of AUD 0.33 per share, taking the full year ordinary dividend to AUD 0.65 and representing a payout ratio at the top end of the group's 55%-65% payout ratio. I will now hand back to Paul.
Thank you, David. Moving to slide 28, the corporate strategy. At our investor day in June, we were excited to share with you our new five-year strategy, which outlined the opportunity that we see for growth and how we plan to go about it. We have a AUD 65 billion total addressable market across auto, sport and outdoor, of which we currently generate AUD 4.2 billion worth of sales. Slide 29 outlines how we will deliver on the opportunity that is in front of us, with three clear and focused growth engines for each of our brands. These are supported by group transformation agenda, Project Ignite, which is driving targeted investment to strengthen execution and enable sustainable growth. Our team is highly focused on executing these growth engines, and we look forward to sharing our progress with you. Slide 30, our capital expenditure envelope.
This highlights the evolution of various projects within our capital expenditure envelope over the past four years. Investment in new stores and refurbishments will continue to underpin the CapEx envelope in the short to medium term. FY 2025 represented the peak period of investment in supply chain. With the new DC in Victoria now operational, spend is expected to moderate beyond FY 2026. Investments in our systems and technology associated with our Project Ignite transformation program is anticipated to grow within the capital envelope in the coming years. Turning to our responsible business initiatives on slide 32. As we have refreshed our corporate strategy, we have also reviewed and strengthened our 2030 sustainability framework. This refresh builds on the strong foundations already in place while sharpening our focus, strengthening accountability, and enhancing our ability to deliver meaningful outcomes.
I'm pleased with some of the real progress we're making in terms of continued recognition for WGEA as an employer of choice for gender equality, achieving Green Star certification for our Truganina DC facilities, and remaining on track to meet our target for diverting waste from landfill. Turning to slide 33, you can see the meaningful progress in FY 2026 towards key focus areas of our sustainability framework. Slide 40, trading update. We're pleased to report a positive start to FY 2027 with like-for-like sales growth of 1.5%, a total sales growth of 3.5% for the first seven weeks. Supercheap Auto has experienced a positive start to the year, driven by a strong best-performing oils campaign. rebel generated 1.1% of like-for-like sales growth, with demand normalized post the FIFA World Cup. Positive contributions from footwear, licensed, and equipment were partially offset by softer apparel.
Underlying momentum at BCF is sound in a seasonally low period of the year. Like-for-like growth rates have been impacted by the opening of certain large format and superstores, which are included from the like-for-like calculation are instead shown in our total growth. Macpac continues to be impacted by subdued demand, given ongoing mild winter conditions over the peak trading period. Positive growth in New Zealand is being more than offset by weakness in Australia. I'm very conscious that seven weeks is a short period to provide commentary on. More broadly, I would note again that the group experienced a negative impact from the fuel crisis in quarter four of FY 2026, and while there have been signs of stabilization in the short period since, tensions in the Middle East remain elevated, creating uncertainty around the outlook for FY 2027.
Such as it is in retail, domestic factors such as interest rates, elevated inflation, and pressure on housing markets are also weighing on consumer confidence in the near term. I want to reiterate, this represents seven weeks of a 53-week year. Just before I hand over to questions to the operator, I do want to recognize David's contribution. I think this is your 27th earnings call over the 14 years. Thanks for your commitment to Super Retail Group team and to our customers. The support to me personally over the last seven years, and particularly in the nine months that I've been in the role, I thank you, and I wish you and [Angie] all the best in your retirement, David. Thank you.
Thank you, Paul.
I'll hand back now to the operator for questions. Thank you.
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 a question. As a reminder, analysts, please restrict yourself to two questions and fall back in the queue for more questions. The first question comes from the line of Michael Simotas with Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. I'd just like to echo those comments about David. Always enjoyed our interactions, and all the best. First question from me is on rebel and in particular, the benefit that you got from the FIFA World Cup during the period. You're going to have to cycle that next year. I just want to try and get a sense of how big the benefit was. If we look at the change in sales run rate, it looks to me like it could have been an incremental AUD 15 million or AUD 20 million of sales at what should be a fairly high contribution margin. Any sort of help you can give us on that?
Yeah, thanks for the question, Michael, and your kind words to David. I would say yes, we absolutely had a benefit from the World Cup. What I would say is we increased the volumes from what, four years ago by 70% increase, and that was received really well by our customers. We actually sold out early, so I'm sure we'll be placing an increase on those volumes for four years' time. As I said in the presentation, it's stabilized, but yes, we will cycle it as we have to cycle many sporting activities. The great thing was how our customers really did engage with sport, and I think that gives us confidence in our strategy in truly owning sport in rebel.
Okay. Is that AUD 15 million- AUD 20 million sales boost in the ballpark?
What I would say to that is, we sold out, and we will be increasing our volumes moving forward. I am not going to give guidance. I think our focus is on every single day truly owning sport across Australia, and that is what Jenny and the team are focused on.
Yeah, I think, Michael, you have also got to recognize we had the Lions touring in the prior year. Next year, we will have the Women's World Cup as well. So yes, I would say that it was a very well-executed World Cup with a lot of teams involved, and we got behind it, and the customer got behind it. But, yeah, rebel does have a lot of different events in its calendars.
Yeah. Okay. No, that is good. The second question from me is on the lubricants category in Auto. Just a couple of parts to this. Just interested in how consumers are shopping the category with the material inflation that you have had. Are they staying loyal to their chosen product, or are they trading down? Also, the best performing oils campaign, I think, ran three or four weeks earlier this year relative to last year. Is that a wash when we look at the trading update? So was it wholly in the period for both years?
Yeah. You are absolutely right, Michael. We landed it early, and it resonated really well with our customers. The pressure on inflation in that category, as you will be aware of. It certainly resonated early. So, yeah, and we will continue-
But if we look at it year-on-year over that seven weeks, it is a wash?
It is an absolute wash, yeah.
Okay. Just the trade down vs loyalty to a particular product?
No, not really. We are not focused on what others are doing in that space, and you will have seen activity even last week. We are focused on giving our customers exactly what they need. That is all about the product on the shelf and great value.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Adrian Lemme with Citi. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Paul, and congrats again, David. I just wanted to add to Michael's question on rebel that the GP margin improvement looked like about 170 basis points in the second half, so quite a turnaround. I am just trying to understand how much of that is a one-off benefit from the World Cup and how much is actually sustainable. I would also note, obviously, you talked about mild winter weather. I imagine that would have impacted apparel sales at a higher margin? Thank you.
Yeah, we sold at full price for starters, all that licensed product, which was a benefit to us. I would also take you back to the half-year results when we talked, Adrian, about availability, and if you have the product, that is going to flow through in your margin also. We have not fixed that. We have improved. We are in a better place than we were, but we have a lot of work to do in that space.
Okay. Thank you.
I saw it firsthand even last week over in W.A., and we have opportunity, and it is part of our strategy, actually, in the flow of product to our stores.
Thank you, Paul. Could I ask a question on currency? I know it is always a question of hedging and whatnot, but I mean, is a AUD 0.70 realized rate in 2027 a reasonable expectation based on how the hedging is rolling off?
Yeah, look, we've got some in the first half. Our hedge book has still got a six in front of it. But as we go through the period, we are then getting the benefits in the second half of the hedge book's placement at the current levels. And obviously, we do not hedge everything. So there is some benefits that are building over the course of the year for that to be a tailwind, and certainly, it is a tailwind.
Thanks, David.
Thanks, Adrian.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Tom Kierath with Barrenjoey. Please go ahead.
Morning, guys. Just another one on the rebel gross margin. You talk about improved promotional discipline. Can you maybe just talk through exactly what you've changed there and whether the benefit from that likely continues through 2027?
Yeah. I think I spoke about this a little at the half-year results. We had value even pre-Christmas out in the market. We weren't doing a great job in the discipline of showing that value to our customers. The team have done a really good job post-Christmas to make changes, more so in stores than online, that are benefiting us, and the consumer now can see that value. What I would say, Tom, is we've got a lot of work to do in this space. I was with [Kendall] over in Carousel in W.A. last week, and her challenge to me is we can do a much better job in this space, which was evident on the store visits. I would say that's applicable to all our brands. In these challenging times for consumers, we have to show the great value that we're giving to them.
Secondly, just on stock loss, I don't think you're calling out a benefit there in rebel. How are your trials doing there? Do you think you can get some benefit or some of the margin back that you've lost over the last few years from high stock loss and theft?
Yeah, Tom. Thanks for the question. We've stabilized. I would say we've stabilized. Particularly, we saw the issues down in Victoria. We've implemented activities, everything from gates through to body-worn cameras that's been received really well with our team members to screens that we've got in stores. We're busy implementing that. We'll implement a fair bit pre-Christmas, and then we'll continue that program post-Christmas, and we'll be measuring it very closely. I'm pleased with the progress that the team have put in place, as well as the basic disciplines that I talked about at the half year, which is about inventory discipline, how our stores count product. We're also looking at areas like RFID, and that will be trialed pre-Christmas. I'm pleased with the progress, Tom.
Great. Thanks.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of James Leigh with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hey, team. Thanks for taking my question and echoing the comments around David. My first question is around the growth margin for Supercheap and how we should think about that, and promotional intensity. Note that we are going into, call it, the mix shift has been slightly negative. When do we expect that to kind of stabilize? Then secondly, just around how we are seeing the market. One of our competitors just talked to what, to me, implies kind of a flattish second half of first half 2027. How are you thinking about the market for the first half?
Yeah. To answer your question, James, we are very focused on what the customer wants first and foremost. So a bit like we did with our oils campaign, testing, learning, and we will learn from that. What I would say is, Ben McConnell, the team in Supercheap, are really focused on putting the right range out for our customers. That will have a change, as we did in BCF, a change in mix, but also have an increase in volume. More importantly, meet our customer needs, which the team are on. So it is a balance. The promotional balance, that is Retail 101 for me. But we will be very disciplined in how we re-range and bring those products in. But we are having great success on products like NGK, Rhino-Rack as an example, and that is resonating really well with our customers. So yeah.
That is helpful. Thank you. Then just quickly, on wage costs. I know we have got the EA agreement into FY 2027. How should we think about that cost moving more into 2028?
Yeah. That is always a challenge. You just look at the junior rate. I assume you will be referring to an EA that kicks in the next calendar year. Our role is to make sure that we are reducing costs from the broader business to offset any increases in any areas. We have got an Ignite program, and that is not wage based, but we want to invest in that space, so we are taking cost out of the business elsewhere. I do not know whether you want to add anything, Dave.
Yeah. We've got the EA in place for this financial year, and if you look at the increases that have come through, we will need to, as we go into the 2028 year, have an increase in our EA rates to compensate for the benefit we've had this year. There will be a headwind in 2028. But as Paul's outlined, we're looking at initiatives to try and moderate or minimize the year-on-year impact of that as we go through the 2028 year. We've got a, sort of in some sense, a bit of runway to put those actions in place and be prepared for that slight increase that we're going to have to factor in the 2028 financial year.
Thank you very much.
Thanks, James.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Shaun Cousins with UBS. Please go ahead.
Great. Thank you. Good morning, Paul and David. David, thank you very much for taking my questions over the years. My first question is just around Supercheap Auto. Can you dig into the impact that the Middle East conflict has contributed possibly to softer volume or softer demand, but then also the inflation benefit? Just curious around the inflation benefit you might have got in the second half, or even if there's possibly more inflation than usual in, say, that first seven weeks, 4%, particularly the oils campaign, which I assume has gone up a reasonable amount? Thanks.
Yeah. Thanks, Shaun. Yeah, the mix of product has shifted, especially once we got over the shock of the war and the impact on fuel. Then we saw a change and consumers were probably less in their leisure activity, but certainly taking care of the vehicles they've got. So we've seen a mix shift into other areas like seat covers, et c., as an example. To the margin, yes, there's inflation in that category, but equally, our customers are looking for value. They got value with that best-performing oils campaign that we've just landed. We will be very sensitive to that. Yeah. I don't know whether you want to add anything there.
Yeah, look, we're seeing, obviously, oil-based products have got inflationary pressures coming through, and some of those we just have to eat and to some degree pass on. So certainly lubricants, aerosols, and paints are the key categories we've seen some inflation that you just have to take and some of that the customer's going to take. But as Paul just said, then there's a stronger value orientation and therefore a stronger response to when we do go on promotion.
I'd add to it as well, Shaun.
Great. Thanks, Paul.
We've got good relationships with our trade partners and working together to build your plans out as the consumer changes is very important.
Fantastic. Thanks. My second question, just around the effective tax rate. It was quite low, about 26% in the full year, I think 22% in the second half. How should we think about the medium-term tax rate for the company?
Yeah, I think a good guide would be, we did obviously a true-up of some historical positions we've taken on tax, and we've been able to do that for this financial year, keeping the house in order for Sarah's taking the baton. If you look back and you look through the period, the last five years, we've been between a rate of between 29% and 30%, if you look around the mid-range of that. I think that historical evening out for this period would be something that you could consider in making your determination of what the future could be.
Fantastic. Thanks, David. Thanks, Paul.
Thanks, Shaun.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Craig Woolford with MST Marquee. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Paul and David. Thanks both for all the insights on the business over the years. First question, just around inventory levels. It feels like the company is pleased with better availability. Should we expect higher inventory going forward? I know there was a temporary build associated with concerns around supply chains, but what do you see over the next 12 months on inventory?
I think we have to do both. We recognize we have opportunities in our business where inventory needs to be cleared, for instance, as well as really driving into those key products that consumers want. I saw it firsthand, literally in Carousel in W.A. with [Kendall], which was really clear. We were not giving our customers what they want on the key lines. We have a great opportunity to shift into that space. David, does anyone-
Yeah, I think we outlined in May that we have the balance sheet to take on some additional inventory through the fuel crisis that was occurring at the time. I think we have also got that opportunity to improve availability in rebel, but that needs to be optimized as we go through this year and certainly into 2028. So we have had a fairly consistent historical sort of level of inventory around that sort of 21%- 22% of sales. You would expect us to be returning to those sorts of levels. We have a very active program of work on aged inventory that the merchants get provided against if they do not clear. There are key incentives in there for the merchants to maintain strong stock health. The benefits we will get from Truganina will start to play through at the moment.
Just to be clear, we have gone and got Supercheap Auto in there. The automation is all running extremely well, but it is only running as a regional DC. It is not until we get through this next peak and we get into clear air for this sort of time next year that we are cutting over to be a national DC, we start to get some of the working capital benefits from that operation. We will see that again as a contributor for next year.
Okay, that is very clear. Thank you, David. The second one around rents. If I tally up lease interest and lease amortization, that increased by 10% year-on-year in FY 2026. That was well ahead of sales. If I took out the store count, you are looking at an 8% growth on a per store basis. Can you just explain why it was so large? Could we see that again in FY 2027?
Yeah, we've got obviously quite a bit of store opening and closing activity. You would have seen 16 stores closed in the period. So we'll get the benefits of those passing through on a full-year basis in 2027. We also had duplicate DCs. We've got both the Truganina DC and the Altona DC at the same time. As you bring on, especially something as large as Truganina with the scale of it and the lease it has, you do get a much stronger under lease accounting, much stronger upfront cost on your interest expense as a consequence of that. So that's sort of a large asset that's start of its life vs some other assets which were at the end of their life under lease accounting.
Usually what you'll see, you can see it in the interest costs by brand, which are just all that is lease interest. The lease book tends to be fairly even, but in some cases you'll see something slightly higher, and you're seeing that in rebel as well.
That Altona-
Craig, do you-
Oh, sorry. Go, Paul.
No, go on.
It was just that Altona bit. So the Altona drops out in 2027?
June next year.
2027.
Yeah. Yeah. We deliberately had an extra year in case there was a disruption. We will be out of it by March next year. Still got Macpac in there only because operationally, it is just something we have done. The three major brands are all in Truganina now.
Thanks. Sorry, Paul, you were saying?
Craig, yeah, I was just going to say, that was strategic intent to protect peak trade with the DC. Secondly, on those growth stores, they are in regional locations, which are generally a lower rent rate.
Thank you.
Thanks, Craig.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Bryan Raymond with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Paul and David. David, thank you again for all your help over the years. Hope you enjoy the next chapter. I just want to circle back to rebel. I just want to understand, given the Women's World Cup straddled June and July, and your sales cadence lifted a lot in the last eight weeks on a simple weeks weighted basis up to +9% and then back to +1% over the July/August trading update, did you see much benefit fall into July given the competition was still going and there still would've been some activity, or did it pretty much all fall into June, and we should just think of that as a June centric issue?
Yeah. I do not see it flowing through. We sold out, as I said. We actually could have sold a lot more, my guess would be, and we have increased volumes for four years' time. So that did not flow through.
Okay. So July is a clean number?
Yeah.
Okay. I am sure David would be disappointed if in his last call I did not ask about the rebel Active program. So you guys have called out a 12x multiplier on loyalty points earned. I know you guys are not quantifying the World Cup effect, but if it is in the range of AUD 10 million- AUD 20 million, should we be expecting a pretty high level of sales flow through into first half 2027 in rebel? Because in theory, those shoppers who earned all those incremental points on their soccer kit will be flowing through and coming back in store in first half 2027 to spend it. Is that a reasonable assumption we should be making?
I will take that for David. I think as I have been very close to this one, and working with Jenny and the team, in rebel. What I would say is we are getting really good results from two tiers. So there are premium two tiers. There are a lower number in customer numbers, but very valuable to us. They are performing really well for us. We are just working through now how we get greater benefit from the investment in the next three tiers down. The team are doing a good job on that, in that space. We are learning. I thank David for putting us in a position that we can learn from and drive even greater value from our customers.
Okay, great. Thanks.
Thanks, Bryan.
Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Benjamin Gilbert with Jarden. Please go ahead.
Morning, team. Thanks for taking the questions. Just the first one from me, Paul, just want to make sure we don't get too carried away or excited around this second half rebel margin trajectory, or maybe we can, because just in terms of materiality of World Cup, obviously it was helpful and you got full price, but X that, you still got a pretty material boost in profitability. Must be well in excess of sort of 70 basis points- 80 basis points at the EBIT line. And it sounds like you've still got a lot of work to go. I'm just trying to think about how do we think about that run rate continuing? Because you've peaked previously margins in the mid-teens. Is that still a feasible medium-term aspiration?
Do you feel where you are sitting around loyalty, the benefits you are getting around shrink, stock rates, etc. , this is going to give you an ability to move back towards that sort of number in time?
Yeah, look, probably just because it is a bit of a historical number, I might grab that one. We had a poor H2 last year, and so we would say that rebel should have delivered this sort of outcome. Then we would also call out our H1 for this year. We said we had a high promotional mix in H1. As Paul's outlined, we are seeing the commencement of benefits associated with some operational improvements. Gross margins, big investment in loyalty, which needs to return. Stock loss that has stabilized and we would look to seek value from that over time, and improved promotional execution. Three factors there. All those three factors are opportunities for that management team. I will leave it to Paul in terms of the future.
Yeah, no, I think you summed it up. I think, Benjamin, I will refer back to my last paragraph in the presentation today. The consumer is doing it really tough and we need to absolutely recognize that. Yeah, upside of FIFA, et c., but doing it really tough in that space. I would not be banking too much.
But in terms of the momentum you are seeing around things like theft, to Tom's question, and increased stock rates allowing you to not miss out on those full price sales, those tailwinds should continue into 2027?
Yeah, I think, as I said earlier, we have seen progress in our execution of those activities, and we are feeling some benefit. But we have stopped a downward slide is where we were. I am pleased to report that we have stopped that. Now it is to execute the plan, and then we will measure that on a week-by-week, month-by-month basis as we move forward. I will be pleased to update in the half-year results our continued progress.
That is great. Thanks. Just a final one from me, and David, echo all the comments and appreciate you taking all the questions from us pesky analysts over the years. Just a final one from me, just around costs. It looks like your second half run rate on an underlying or like-for-like CODB basis is probably tracking sub 2%, which is a phenomenal result. Just wondering, how hard did you guys go on costs when you saw some of the Middle East conflict arising? To what extent can we think about annualizing or seeing that benefit flowing through into FY 2027?
Yeah. Look, I will get Paul to answer the actions that we took to do with the crisis, because it was very much a focus and the like. My comment would be, there is this large group unallocated, and so you do need to, in some way, the way we have tried to outline on that sort of waterfall, look at the underlying costs of the business and look through adjusting for that investment in group unallocated because it does slightly skew the CODB. Paul took those actions.
Yeah. What I would say, Benjamin, is we set out in June our strategy. Part of that strategy is further investment in areas like Ignite for our customer, how they show up in search, et c., is really, really important. To do that, you need some investment. To do that, you have got to take cost out of your business. So before the conflict, our role was to remove cost from our business that is not truly adding value to allow us to invest in the areas that are critical for our customers. That to me, is just good retail business, and we will continue to do that moving forward so that it allows us to invest in those key areas, and that is what we have done.
Fantastic. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys.
Thanks, Benjamin.
Thank you. Next question comes on the line of Mac Ross with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Congrats on the results, team, and congrats, David. Maybe just a quick one, conscious of time on Supercheap Auto. Competitor promotional activity continues to look elevated, perhaps aggressive at times. Can you just put some numbers around maybe the breadth, depth, and frequency of the discounting you're seeing vs normal levels? And just curious, does activity at these levels create any concerns within the industry around maybe price establishment and price stability practices, particularly maybe from the perspective of ACCC? Thanks.
Mac, I would just say, as I shared in June and the team shared with you, we are focused on what the customer wants, not what others are doing. How we do that is really important. We have three key drivers in each one of our brands and our Ignite program, and that is what our team are completely focused on. We will continue to focus on until we deliver against, and I am pleased with the progress in that space. What others do, I will leave to them. We are focused on generating value for our customers and for our shareholders. We lost you, Mac?
Yeah. Sorry. All good. I just had the one question. Thanks.
Good. Thank you. We have time for one more question, operator, if there is one.
We are all good.
No, we are all good. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your time this morning. I look forward to spending the next four days with many of you, answering many more questions. Thank you for your support. Thank you for joining the call this morning. Again, thank you to David for your service to our business. We really appreciate it. Have a good day. Thank you.
Thank you. That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.