The owner of Kathmandu, Rip Curl, and Oboz, KMD Brands, has published the details of its capital raise, along with its half-year financial results and the news of its chairman’s resignation.

A long-awaited earnings update for the ASX and NZX-listed company has arrived, with half-year sales across the group recording a year-on-year increase.

The 7.3 per cent increase took the group’s sales to $421.5 million, at a gross margin of 58.6 per cent. Led by Rip Curl, which recorded $243 million in sales, Kathmandu recorded $146.8 million, while Oboz recorded $31.7 million.

These figures, however, did little to negate the company’s losses, which grew to $10.9 million after tax. KMD said its net debt as of January 31 was $78.4 million.

KMD Brands was first scheduled to release its results on March 25 before announcing a six-day pause in trading while it sought to raise capital. The details of this capital raise have since been released; a $54.4 million deal including a nearly 70 per cent discount in its per-share price to five cents.

Both Goldman Sachs and Forsyth Barr are underwriting the capital raise.

At the same time, David Kirk – the group’s chairman – announced his resignation.

“With the balance sheet now strengthened through the debt refinancing and the launch of the equity raise, KMD Brands is well-positioned to continue executing its next level strategy,” Kirk said.

“Having worked closely with the board and management through this critical phase, and been on the board for 13 years, I believe this is the right time to signal my intention to step down as chairman in the coming months.”

Going forward, KMD Brands said it will focus on assessing its costs, including its store network, while reducing its inventory across each brand.