Total sales of $594 million

 Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) of $99.5 million  Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) of $30.3 million

 Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) of $14.8 million

 Earnings Per Share (EPS) of 2.73 cents

 An interim dividend of 2.50 cents per share (fully franked)

 Digital sales up 47.9% to 31.2% of sales

 Inventory levels in line with expectations, and aged stock levels clean

 Available liquidity including cash on hand and undrawn debt facilities of 192.6 million,

Accent Group Limited (ASX: AX1) today reports EBIT of $30.3 million and NPAT of $14.8 million for the half year ended 26 December 2021.

Accent Group CEO, Daniel Agostinelli, said “Trade in the first half of the year was severely impacted by the COVID related disruption and lockdowns that occurred across Australia and New Zealand. At times through the months of July to October more than 55%, or 400 of the groups 700 stores were required to close due to government mandated lockdowns. In this context I am pleased with the results that have been achieved along with the continued progress the group has delivered against its growth plan objectives. The continued focus on VIP (our loyalty customers), Vertical and Virtual, along with our integrated digital and store operating model, has enabled the group to grow online sales, continue to grow its customer database and loyalty programs and successfully trade through our inventory. Key achievements for the half include opening 104 new stores, growing our customer database by a further 600,000 customers, signing a 10-year distribution agreement for Reebok and continuing to drive our key growth business. I would like to thank our team, suppliers and landlords for their efforts and resilience and our customers for their continued loyalty.”

 H1 FY22 OPERATING REVIEW

• Total online sales3 of $159.8 million were up 47.9% on the prior year and represented

31.2% of total retail sales.

• Contactable customers grew by 600,000 to 9 million customers.

• The Group opened 104 new stores during the half and closed 4 stores where required rent outcomes could not be achieved. Total store numbers now 738 stores

• Owned Retail sales of $443.3 million, (management estimated impact of COVID lockdowns and disruption on owned retail sales of at least $95m)

• Wholesale sales of $81.9m up 47.7% on prior year. Acquired a new 10-year exclusive distribution agreement for Reebok in Australia and New Zealand

• Sales of vertical owned brands and products continue to grow strongly. The group now has 10 owned vertical brands.

• Stylerunner: 19 stores now trading (15 stores opened in H1 FY22) Strong growth in Stylerunner The Label, driving vertical mix.

• Glue store turnaround and growth strategy. 5 new concept stores opened (4 new stores and 1 refurbishment) with the new concepts performing well. Momentum and performance across the Glue business in November and December with all stores open was strong.

I believe NPAT expectations were $15.7M so they’ve missed that. They’ve been heavily affected by Omicron but the market hasn’t been kind to retailers that’ve missed

Disc: Held IRL so hopefully the market shows some mercy!