Kathmandu Holdings says a cold snap last month in Australia and New Zealand helped generate more sales than anticipated when the outdoor apparel and equipment retailer announced a profit warning in June. The shares rose 5.1 per cent.
The Christchurch-based company said earnings before interest and tax was $62.5 million to $65.5 million in the year ended July 31, from $63.4 million the year earlier. That would be between a decline of 1.4 per cent and a gain of 3.3 per cent from the year earlier, an improvement from the company's expectation on June 24 that ebit would likely fall 10 to 15 per cent as warmer weather crimped sales of winter products.
"It is pleasing to have delivered a better full-year result for FY14 than we were anticipating a few weeks ago when warm winter weather had significantly reduced customer demand," chief executive Peter Halkett said.
"The improvement in sales and earnings in July once colder winter weather became established has resulted in a satisfactory outcome from our key winter sale event."
Shares in Kathmandu jumped 17 cents to $3.50, one of only two stocks to advance on the benchmark NZX 50 Index in morning trade.
