Kogan.com just getting started: Ruslan Kogan The Australian...

Kogan.com just getting started: Ruslan Kogan​

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• The Australian​
• 12:00AM February 23, 2018​
• David Swan
• ​

Retail heavyweight Ruslan Kogan is lapping up his company’s “watershed period”, as Kogan.com’s share price rocketed nearly 20 per cent yesterday after strong half-yearly results.
Listed online retailing powerhouse Kogan.com managed to avoid the Christmas carnage faced by bricks and mortar retailers like Myer, lifting revenues 45.7 per cent to $209.62 million for the six months to December 31.
Founder and CEO Ruslan Kogan told The Australian that while the website may be 12 years old, he feels he is just getting started, adding that while he was happy with the results they were insignificant compared to his grand vision for the company.
“We are going through a watershed period. There is a change in the trajectory of the business,” he said, pointing out Kogan.com is now expanding into areas such as health insurance, life insurance and its proposed fixed-line NBN broadband service, in partnership with Vodafone.
“We are an e-commerce company with a diverse portfolio of businesses which make decisions using data analytics and metrics. We are a statistics company masquerading as an e-commerce company. “
Mr Kogan would not comment on why Myer had done so badly while Kogan had done so well. “I don’t know much about their business,” he said. “The word ‘retail’ is fairly broad. We’ve got a unique long-term strategy we’ve been enacting for many years.”
But he told The Australian he felt positive about Amazon’s launch in Australia. “We’re excited by Amazon’s launch, and anything that can be done to increase the online shopping experience (in Australia),” he said.
The company’s first-half profit leapt fivefold to $8.3m, from $1.5m in the prior corresponding period, as revenue soared 45.7 per cent to $209.6m.
Kogan lifted its fully franked interim dividend up 76.9 percent year-on-year to 6.90 cents per share, and said revenue growth had further accelerated at the start of the second half.
Kogan.com shares closed up $1.37, or 18.95 per cent, at $8.60.​