The group confirmed on Thursday that the sales momentum from the December half had continued into January.
Rebel’s performance fuelled the overall numbers,with year-on-year sales up 13 per cent to $682million for the half,and profits before tax up 23 per cent to $84 million.
Heraghty said the resurgence of organised sport after the pandemic is helping the brand,while the group’s new “RCX” (Rebel customer experience) store formats are offering a more interactive experience focused on more popular global sports brands in football and basketball.
“The key thing is what we’ve been able to do is partner with global brands to ensure the products we’re giving customers is,frankly,the cool stuff,” he said.
The company’s basketball goods sales were up 126 per cent compared with before the pandemic in 2019,and now make up 8 per cent of all sales. Rebel’s football goods segment has grown by 60 per cent since 2019 and now makes up 9 per cent of total sales.
“We’ve caught the zeitgeist in terms of the basketball trend,” Heraghty said.