Table of Contents
What changed
- Revenue slipped 1.3% to $12.3m, broadly flat versus HY24's $12.4m.
- EBITDA fell 15.6% to $1.5m, PBT fell 20.2% to $0.7m and NPAT fell 24.5% to $0.4m. The effective tax rate rose to 34.7% from 31.0%, so PBT is the cleaner read on operating performance.
- Operating cash flow collapsed 79.1% to $0.3m from $1.6m in HY24. Capex rose to $0.7m from $0.6m, leaving pre-lease free cash flow at roughly $(0.4)m versus $1.0m.
- Cash reserves halved to $4.4m from $8.9m. Total equity fell 25.4% to $9.3m, and total assets fell 16.3% to $33.0m.
- Inventories rose 29.2% to $0.7m; trade receivables were broadly flat (days out marginally to ~30.8 from 29.8).
- Reported lease liabilities of ~$21.0m sit against $4.4m cash; management still frames the group as carrying "no debt" in the conventional bank-debt sense.
- New Zealand remains ~99% of segment revenue; segment result fell to $0.7m from $1.1m, with international still loss-making on an immaterial base.
What matters
- Cash conversion deteriorated sharply. OCF/EBITDA dropped to 21.5% from 87.0%. The headline earnings decline understates how much harder cash came through the business in HY25.
- Litigation drag is disclosed and ongoing. Management quantified $0.2m (≈$221,688) of costs to defend a shareholder opposition to a proposed return, and flagged that litigation costs have continued into FY25. On a PBT base of $0.7m, that is a material bite and is the single most-named driver of the profit step-down.
- Liquidity runway narrowed. With cash down $4.5m year-on-year, negative pre-lease FCF and continuing litigation spend, the balance-sheet cushion is meaningfully thinner than twelve months ago even before considering the $21.0m of IFRS 16 lease liabilities.
Expectations
No formal earnings guidance or quantified forward-work metric was disclosed in the supplied excerpts, so the release must be judged against shape rather than targets.
FY24 was modestly second-half weighted: HY24 was 47.9% of FY24 revenue but 51.0% of FY24 EBITDA and only 43.8% of FY24 NPAT. Annualising HY25 revenue gives ~$24.6m, roughly $1.4m below FY24's $26.0m, so top-line run-rate is tracking slightly below the FY24 anchor. Replicating the FY24 H2 EBITDA shape would still require a sequential step-up from a lower H1 EBITDA base, and the disclosed ongoing litigation cost works against that.
Quality of result
The result does not look durable in the sense that a one-off has been absorbed and cash conversion will self-correct. Three flags:
- Cash conversion is the standout weakness, not the P&L. A 15.6% EBITDA decline has translated into a ~79% OCF decline, which cannot be explained by inventory build alone ($0.15m).
- The litigation cost is labelled non-recurring but is disclosed as continuing into FY25, so its run-off timing is open.
- Effective tax rate step-up (31.0% → 34.7%) magnified the NPAT decline versus PBT by ~4.3pp.
On the positive side, revenue was close to flat, the New Zealand segment remains profitable, and there is no conventional bank debt. But ROE is flat at ~4.7% only because equity fell in line with earnings, not because returns improved.
Unresolved
- How much more shareholder-litigation cost hits H2, and whether any is capitalised or treated as adjusting.
- What drove the ~$1.3m collapse in operating cash flow beyond the disclosed inventory build — trade payables, tax timing and prepayments are not broken out in the supplied excerpts.
- Why equity fell $3.1m year-on-year when cumulative earnings were positive — capital returns, buybacks or reserve movements are not reconciled here.
- Same-store sales, store count movement and any update on the international segment's path to breakeven.
- Whether the proposed capital return that triggered the litigation is still on the table, and its implications for the $4.4m cash position.
This briefing cannot assess valuation, customer or geographic concentration, NTA per share, or same-store-sales trends, as none of these were disclosed in the supplied data.
Key metrics
| Metric | HY25 | HY24 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12278.1m | $12437.2m | -1.3% ↓ |
| EBITDA | $1545.4m | $1832.0m | -15.6% ↓ |
| Net profit after tax | $438.7m | $581.1m | -24.5% ↓ |
| Net cash inflow from operating activities | $332.5m | $1593.6m | -79.1% ↓ |
| Operating profit | $772.5m | $947.5m | -18.5% ↓ |
| Profit before tax | $672.0m | $842.2m | -20.2% ↓ |
| Cash and cash equivalents | $4444.8m | $8918.2m | -50.2% ↓ |
| Total assets | $32981.2m | $39425.1m | -16.3% ↓ |
Reference: annolyse.ai/briefings/bfg-hy25
Segment breakdown
| Segment | Current revenue | Prior revenue | Current result | Mix shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | $12769.5m | $13062.4m | $697.8m | -0.5pp |
| International | $76.5m | $14.1m | −$25.8m | +0.5pp |
Reference: annolyse.ai/briefings/bfg-hy25
Analytical metrics
| Metric | HY25 | HY24 | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| PBT growth | -20.2% | — | cleaner earnings measure |
| Effective tax rate | 34.7% | 31.0% | — |
| OCF / EBITDA (cash conversion) | 21.5% | 87.0% | deteriorated |
| FCF pre-lease | −$394.2m | $995.0m | −$1389.3m |
| FCF / NPAT | -89.9% | 171.2% | complementary conversion metric |
| Capex % revenue | 5.9% | 4.8% | — |
| Capex | $726.7m | $598.5m | +$128.2m |
| Debtor days | 30.8 | 29.8 | +1.1 days |
| Trade debtors | $2080.2m | $2036.1m | +$44.1m |
| Net debt | $16513.2m | — | — |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 10.70x | — | Weakening |
| Gross borrowings | $20957.9m | — | — |
| ROE (annualised) | 4.7% | 4.7% | Strengthening |
| HY24 share of FY24 revenue | 47.9% | — | Other half was 52.1% |
| HY24 share of FY24 EBITDA | 51.0% | — | Other half was 49.0% |
| HY24 share of FY24 NPAT | 43.8% | — | Other half was 56.2% |
Reference: annolyse.ai/briefings/bfg-hy25
This analysis was generated using Annolyse, an AI-powered tool that analyses NZX company announcements. The analysis is based on available company filings and standard Annolyse calculations. This is general information only and does not constitute financial advice. The analysis may contain errors. Always read the original company filings and consult a licensed financial adviser before making investment decisions.