Ruslan Kogan
Analyst · the incrementality from the AI initiatives coming through to cost benefits on a growth basis. Obviously, that data hasn't been provided. But could you give maybe a couple of practical examples of how AI has been used strategically in the business other than recording your voices for this results presentation
Thanks, David. Before getting into the details, I'd like to briefly explain our strategy and operating model and how the different parts of the business work together. Our strategy is built around 2 complementary engines, the product division and platform-based sales. Within products, our exclusive brands give us end-to-end control to deliver great quality and value, while our third-party range leverages global sourcing to provide unique and compelling offerings to our customers. Platform-based sales, marketplaces, loyalty subscriptions, verticals and advertising allow us to offer incredible choice and value through capital-light revenue streams. FY '26 demonstrated how powerful these 2 engines can be when they work together. At Kogan.com, where this model is most established, revenue grew 16%, while adjusted earnings grew even faster at 22%. That creates a reinforcing cycle. Compelling value drives more customers and sales. A larger and more engaged customer base creates more opportunities across our platform-based businesses. And the resulting earnings growth allows us to continue investing in value and growth. That is the Kogan.com twin engine. And FY '26 was a strong demonstration of it working. It is the operating model we continue to strengthen at Kogan.com and progressively apply across Mighty Ape. This slide really demonstrates the operating leverage we are seeing across Kogan.com. Strong revenue growth is translating into even stronger earnings growth as it moves through the profit and loss statement. We are generating better gross margins through scaled sourcing and sales mix while maintaining discipline across distribution, marketing and our fixed cost base. Importantly, revenue grew at around twice the rate of fixed costs, allowing more of that growth to be reinvested in the customer offering and also to flow through to the bottom line. The result is the growth cascade you can see on the right. Gross profit grew faster than revenue, adjusted earnings faster again and adjusted EBIT faster again. That is operating leverage in action, growth of the top line being amplified as it moves through the profit and loss statement. Mighty Ape has undergone a significant operating reset over the past 2 years. In recent times, we introduced Mighty Mobile, migrated the business onto the new platform, launched marketplace, integrated the team under the One Global Team and One Group strategy, accelerated the inventory clearout of nonperforming products and rationalized the warehouse footprint. By 30th of June 2026, inventory had reduced to approximately $10 million from $21 million a year earlier, creating room for fresher and more in-demand products. Fixed costs reduced 13% across fiscal year '26. The fourth quarter delivered slightly positive adjusted earnings. This represents encouraging progress following the reset, but there is still work to do. Mighty Ape is operating from a materially lower sales base, and our focus in fiscal year '27 is to build on the operational improvements made, maintain cost discipline and progressively establish a stronger and more sustainable earnings base. AI is becoming increasingly embedded across the way we operate the business. AI itself is not new to Kogan.com. We have been using earlier forms of AI and automation for some time, particularly across areas such as marketing and engineering to improve targeting, automate processes and help our teams work more efficiently. What has changed is the capability of the technology and the breadth of opportunities now available to us. We are increasingly building AI capabilities across the entire operating model from customer care and logistics through to purchasing, engineering, marketing and finance. We have already made meaningful progress in a number of areas, including customer care, engineering and marketing, while other opportunities are at an earlier stage of development. Importantly, for us, this is not simply about reducing costs. Operational efficiency ultimately needs to translate into better outcomes for our customers. Better purchasing decisions means better products and more value for our customers. Smarter management of our logistics partners means faster, more reliable delivery, more effective marketing means more relevant offers. And automation across customer care and our internal functions allows our teams to spend more time on the things that add the most value. So while we are still at the early stages of what we believe AI can ultimately deliver, we are not starting from scratch. We have already made meaningful progress and see significant opportunities to build on that foundation across the group. Ultimately, our objective is simple: use technology to operate more efficiently, make better decisions and turn those benefits into greater value for our customers. Moving now to our trading update and outlook for FY '27. July trading showed continued strength at Kogan.com, while Mighty Ape remains in the earlier stages of its recovery. July trading has provided an encouraging start to FY '27. Kogan.com gross sales increased 13% in July. Revenue increased 18% with the higher revenue growth benefiting from the timing of end of financial year sales made in June that were dispatched and recognized in July. At Mighty Ape, our priority in FY '27 is to build on the operational improvements made in fiscal year '26 with a continued focus on cost discipline and progressively establishing consistent sustainable profitability. Overall, group gross sales increased 9% in July, providing a solid start to FY '27. Our priorities are straightforward. At Kogan.com, we will continue to pursue earnings growth through product sales at strong margins, further growth in platform-based sales and disciplined marketing investment. At Mighty Ape, the priority is to build on the FY '26 reset. We have a cleaner inventory position, a lower fixed cost base and growing platform-based sales, but we remain focused on proving sustainable profitability before assuming a stronger growth trajectory. While we are optimistic about the coming period, we are also mindful of the significant uncertainty in the broader economic environment. For the group, we reaffirm our previous guidance of progressively growing adjusted earnings margins in the medium term towards 12%. We will continue to prioritize disciplined profitable growth. Our longer-term road map remains unchanged, and this slide shows where we are today against those aspirations. Platform-based sales continue to demonstrate the attractive economics of these businesses with FY '26 margins already around the levels we are targeting over the medium term. The FY '26 results reflects the impact of the accelerated Mighty Ape inventory cleanse. And with that inventory reset now largely complete, we see scope to progressively improve the economics of the products business. At the group level, we finished FY '26 within our medium-term margin range with further upside dependent on continuing to grow our highly profitable platform-based sales and improving product economics. That is the road map from here: grow the platform, improve product profitability and allow that combination to drive further operating leverage across the group. So FY '26 demonstrated the earnings strength and operating leverage of Kogan.com, while Mighty Ape finished the year with encouraging signs following a substantial reset. Our focus for FY '27 is disciplined execution, continuing to grow Kogan.com earnings, building on the progress at Mighty Ape and maintaining a strong approach to capital allocation. Before we finish, I want to take a moment to thank the entire Kogan Group team. There has been an enormous amount of work behind the results we have presented today. Our team has continued to innovate, find better ways of working, deliver great value for our customers and embrace significant change across the group. David and I are incredibly grateful for the energy, dedication and hard work of everyone across the Kogan Group. Thank you. On behalf of the Board and our team, thank you all for your interest in Kogan.com today. We look forward to meeting with many of our shareholders over the coming weeks. And as you've heard, we're finding practical ways to use AI across the business. Today's presentation has been another example, including the AI-generated versions of our voices you've been listening to, but AI isn't taking the questions just yet. David and I are here live to do that ourselves, so please stay with us for the Q&A.