Step One (STP) is the ASX listed on-line marketer of tight fitting, environmentally friendly bamboo undies. STP’s likeable CEO Greg Taylor was on Strawman in August of last year.
Yesterday STP released the following trading update:
“Based on year-to-date trading, including estimates for December, Step One expects its 1H26 financial results to fall within the following ranges: • 1H26 revenue is expected to be between $30 million and $33 million, which represents a decline of between 31% to 37% on the prior corresponding period (1H25: $48.1 million) • 1H26 EBITDA is expected to be a loss of between $9 million and $11 million (1H25: $11.3 million profit), including a $10 million provision for inventory obsolescence”.
Since the announcement you could almost see and smell the skid marks as the STP share price crashed from 48 cents to 27 cents. Earlier in the calendar year STP was selling for around $1.40.
In August Greg caused an earlier smaller share price skid with the announcement:
“We anticipate moderate revenue growth, led by the UK market and supported by new product launches. Earnings performance is expected to soften in the near term; however, we remain confident that these measures will enable Step One to navigate current market conditions effectively and establish a stronger foundation for sustainable, profitable growth as conditions improve. FY26 EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $10 to $12 million”
Maybe Greg was pooing his bamboo pants as he uttered the above words, since it was likely by that time he had a pretty fair idea how badly sales were deteriorating. Or maybe the sales decline just happened very suddenly when on Thursday he disclosed the horror 30% revenue decline. Either way Greg with 57% of the business has seen his net worth drop by over $100m since the start of the year. Which nearly made Scoonie shit his pants and he doesn’t even have any bamboo undies or STP shares.
Years ago the STP Chair David Gallop was for a decade CEO of the National Rugby League. Older followers of the sport will remember the period when almost every month David Gallop was fronting up on the TV news trying to defuse another episode of player misbehavior. Usually, the trouble was related to alcohol or sexual misconduct or both. Matty Johns being one of the more high-profile players gaining a lot of unwanted attention. Like Matty, many NRL players seemed to have difficulty keeping their pecker insider their undies. So maybe Step One with their super tight fitting and tough-to-get-out-of bamboo underpants, David spotted a market opportunity no one else did.
Anyway, full marks to CEO Greg for getting the Step One business off the ground and to sales of nearly $90m a year. Anyone who had the genius to achieve this with a garment that looked like it had floated off the set of Downton Abbey deserves applause. If you had got caught wearing what looks like your granny’s undies at the PE change rooms at any NSW public school in the 1970s you would have had the bamboo beaten out of you. Now the kids not only wear this stuff but boast about it on social media.
