"GP margins have contracted and profit declined when your remove...

"GP margins have contracted and profit declined when your remove the gain on sale from the property"

Not sure how you came to the view that GP margins have contracted. I find the opposite.
In fact, one of the standout features of this result is the very strong GP Margin performance, to record levels, no less:




All of the resulting $16m increase in Gross Contribution (and then some, as will be seen below) has been invested in CoDB, with CoDB-to-Sales rising by almost 400bp on pcp:



If, instead of 36%, had the CoDB rate been held unchanged on pcp (32.2%), it would have resulted in a ~$13.5m increase in DH24 PRe-Tax Profit (PBT), which would have resulted in a 16% increase in PBT, instead of the reported 3% decline. Heck, even if JH24's CoDB-to-Sales rate of 33.6% was repeated in DH24, PBT would still have come in almost 10% higher.

Knowing ARB management like I do, I don't think this increase in CoDB ratio is merely accidental or sloppy cost control; instead I think it reflects an intentional and considered investment in enterprise capability that will drive the next step-up in growth.

And this assertion is not made without some precedence to support it. Previously when there has been an uptick in CoDB-to-Revenue (i.e., 2006/07 and 2012/13/14), it has been followed by an acceleration in earnings growth in subsequent years.

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