Sales in Australasia were down 1.9% in constant currency terms or 4.2% in reported terms to $425.7 million (down from $444.3 million in the prior year). After being down 14.0% in the first half, EBITDA recovered in the second half to finish 10.3% lower across the full year in constant currency terms or 11.2% in reported terms to $89.2 million (down from $100.4 million in the prior year). The continued change in regional mix within the Australasian region, combined with weak trading results in Japan, New Zealand and South Africa, saw EBITDA margins drop to 20.9% from 22.6% in the prior year, while gross margins remained steady. On a regional level, sales in Australia were marginally higher across the full financial year but there was a sharp deterioration in trading conditions in the final quarter. This reflected a general consumer slowdown post the cycling of the Federal Government’s fiscal stimulus of the prior year. Continued weak trading conditions, coupled with a retail and consumer focus on merchandise relevant to the soccer World Cup, led to a double-digit sales decline in South Africa. Elsewhere in the region, Group sales in Japan lifted in the second half to finish in line with the prior year in constant currency terms, while New Zealand remained challenging and ended the year down in the mid single-digit range. The Group’s Asian businesses continued to develop, with good initial results from direct operations established in Korea and Thailand. A distributor 5was also appointed in Taiwan through the period and this led to the opening of a retail door in Taipai just after the close of the period. Eyewear brand VonZipper and Tigerlily experienced solid sales growth in Australasia, while DaKine, Xcel and Sector 9 had very strong growth off a lower base. Element experienced a slight decline in sales, as did the Billabong brand as sales slowed in the final three months of the year in Australia, in particular. Despite the retail contraction in the second half, overall inventory levels continued to improve and are expected to further benefit from a move towards more global styles, reduced range sizes and the introduction of a new global product lifecycle management system. Company-owned retail operations in Australasia recorded sales growth of 5.9% in constant currency terms. The number of Company-owned retail stores lifted to 166 (from 143 in the prior year), with 13 doors closed and 36 opened. The majority of new doors were opened in Australia, where the door count lifted to 41 (from 29 in the prior year). Company-owned retail in Australia performed strongly in the first half but sales declined in the double-digit range in the second half, with locations relying on tourism being most heavily impacted. A new Tigerlily store concept was introduced at locations including Chadstone, Melbourne Central and Warringah Mall in Sydney and all performed very well. A new IT system was introduced into the Group’s Australian retail operations and is expected to be progressively rolled out into New Zealand and Asia. Since the close of the financial year, the Group also entered a joint venture with the two door Surfection retail business in Sydney. Surfection will continue to be run by its principal, Chris Athas, and he will drive a planned expansion of the banner. Additionally, the Group today announced a conditional agreement to acquire the 36- door Rush Surf chain, primarily based in regional Queensland. Other planned store openings include a Billabong concept store in the Sydney CBD and a 500 square metre multi-branded store on premises adjoining Billabong’s head office on the Gold Coast. In online retailing, the acquisition of an interest in Surfstitch, Australia’s premier online retailer for the boardsports community, is performing well and is helping the Group satisfy the growing demand for direct-to-consumer sales. The sharp consumer slowdown evident in Australia in the final three months of the financial year created caution within the Group’s wholesale account base and this has been reflected in declines in the range of 20% for summer and hi-summer forward orders, which is also expected to lead to a soft winter order book. It is anticipated many retailers will be short on inventory and will have to chase product in season. The Australian business is expected to benefit from the distribution of the licensed footwear brands DVS and Lakai, the extraction of synergies from the addition of acquired retail banners and the purchase of the RVCA brand. The addition of RVCA is generating excellent interest at retail and significant investment will be made into the brand to ensure it realises its long term potential. Business in New Zealand, while still soft, is showing signs of improvement and the Group recorded positive same store sales in the month of July 2010. South Africa remains a challenging market, while business continues to develop in south-east Asia. The Group has reached agreement to establish a new joint venture in China in preparation for the Billabong brand’s entry into the market. Initial entry is through a series of shop-in-shop concepts, the first of which have opened in the southern China provinces of Shenzen and Guangzhou.