Kathmandu’s boss Peter Halkett is hoping for some bracing winds and icy conditions to improve the troubled outdoor clothing retailer’s profits.

Kathmandu on Tuesday reported a 43 per cent slide in net profit of $NZ5.98 million ($A4.70 million) for the six months to January 31, 2012.

While sales rose 15.4 per cent to $NZ146.7 million ($A115.19 million) thanks to a slew of promotional sales, gross margins fell and operating costs were higher.

Disappointed investors pushed the retailer’s shares down 24 cents, or 16.4 per cent, to $1.25 in Australian trading – their lowest point since December 2010.

Mr Halkett shied away from giving any specific guidance on future earnings, blaming the difficult retail conditions.

But he said there were a number of factors that would impact on the second half earnings, including the weather.

“Generally colder is certainly preferred,” Mr Halkett told analysts and journalists on Wednesday.

“I think we are unlikely to see any significant change, and by change I mean improvement, to the current retail conditions, certainly in the second half.”

Despite his downbeat assessment for Kathmandu, whose main customers are campers and hikers, same store sales had showed signs of improvement since late January.

“But two of our three largest promotional events of the year are still to come which impact the possible range for the full year result,” Mr Halkett said.

Kathmandu is targeting a minimum of six new store openings in the second half, and expects to have between 11 and 15 new permanent stores by the end of fiscal 2012.

The retailer said its Australian stores, which generated about 60 per cent of the group’s total sales, lifted revenue 18 per cent to $NZ86.7 million ($A68.07 million).

The company declared an interim dividend of three NZ cents per share, fully franked.