Billabong has booked a $1.6 million first half loss but the surfwear group is enjoying good vibrations over revenue from its key brands.
Revenue driven by the Billabong, Element and RVCA brands was up 4.5 per cent to $565.4 million, and chief executive Neil Fiske says the company is pleased.
"We don't need to grow sales any more in order to deliver a substantial improvement," Mr Fiske said on Friday.
Half yearly profit margins suffered Mr Fiske said, under forces largely out the company's control.
Firstly, a sharp drop in the value of the Australian dollar relative to the US dollar hit the company's Asia Pacific business hard.
"It happened so fast and it was such a sharp decline," Mr Fisk told AAP.
"There wasn't enough time for products to be re-designed and re-costed.
"We kind of look at (the current exchange rate) as a short term disruption.
"All of our big brands - Billabong, Element and RVCA - grew in this region. (Women's clothing line) Tigerlily was up 13 per cent."
Profit margins also took a hit in the US, where a port strike on the west coast delayed the arrival of stock to stores. The closure of a Billabong store in Times Square, New York, also affected sales.
"We believe once markets adjust and we get our inventories in line, those markets will come back and we'll see a good lift in profitability," Mr Fiske said.
Billabong is optimistic about the second half, saying earnings for January and February 2016 are ahead of the corresponding period.
"That's a good sign, but we know there's still a lot of the half still to come," Mr Fiske said.
The company is banking on the big retail month of June in the Americas, which is equivalent to the purchasing season of December in Australia.
The group is on the tail end of a two-year restructure following four turbulent years of major losses and near-extinction.
A restructure process has seen the company shed loss-making businesses and streamline its processes.
"Just over two years into our turnaround our big brands are stronger. Our organisation is stronger," Mr Fiske said.
Billabong's shares closed down one cent, or 0.64 per cent, at $1.555.
BILLABONG'S HALF YEAR LOSS
* Net loss $1.6m from a $25.7m profit
* Revenue: up 4.5pct to $565.4m
* Dividend: nil, unchanged
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