PBT margin hit an unprecedented 14.9% as NPAT surged 49.9%

Revenue grew 19.6% to $563.0m (upper edge of the historical range; mean 10.6%), PBT rose 43.7% to $83.9m (above normal range; mean 11.8%) and NPAT rose 49.9% to $59.2m (unprecedented high; mean 8.8%). The lift was margin-led: gross margin expanded 240 basis points to 61.7% from 59.3% on stronger full-price sell-through. Segment mix shifted further toward Glassons Australia, now 57.6% of revenue (up from 53.4%), with New Zealand and Hallensteins shares each contracting.

Cash generation remained strong but working capital absorbed $12.9m of cash in the period even as inventory days fell to 19.7 (below the 23.0-34.8 historical range), which matters because the cash drag sits alongside record profitability rather than confirming it. Capex rose 86.1% to $29.4m, lifting capex intensity to 5.2% of revenue from 3.4%, and total assets rose 35.2% to $312.7m (an unprecedented high); together these point to a materially heavier investment and balance-sheet footprint funding growth, without disclosed net debt or gross borrowings to assess how that investment is financed.

The reported half-year split shows NPAT weighted toward the second half (47.3% in the first half, implying $31.2m in the second half), consistent with the business's seasonal shape, but this is a statutory split rather than an underlying operating signal given no separate underlying earnings measure is disclosed.

Operating cash conversion eased to 139.8% of EBITDA from 145.2% previously; both readings remain comfortably above 100%, so this is a modest deterioration rather than a cash-quality problem in isolation.

Less clear is the working-capital picture: the $12.9m of cash absorbed by working-capital movements sits against falling inventory days and rising trade payables, a combination that needs explanation rather than assumption. The capex step-up to $29.4m and the 35.2% rise in total assets also suggest the profit gain is now being paired with a heavier investment and balance-sheet base whose funding basis is not disclosed here.

This briefing cannot assess leverage direction, net debt, or financing capacity because gross borrowings and net debt figures are not disclosed in the available materials.