Heerenveen, The Netherlands – Accell Group have announced financial results for the first six months of 2017. While net turnover increased by 0.7% to € 634 million, net profit was just € 26.3 million—a fall of 22.7% compared to the same period last year.
Additionally, while net turnover from bicycle sales remained at a similar level to last year at € 491 million, the quantity of bike sold was 753,000, over 17% down from the 908,000 bicycles sold in the first half of 2016. In a press release issued by the company, Hielke Sybesma, Interim-Chairman of the Board of Directors stated, "We noted a particularly strong increase in sales of e-performance bikes for active recreation and sports and these now represent about 40% of our turnover in e-bikes. Turnover in regular bikes lagged expectations in various countries, in which mainly conditions in North America, the Netherlands and Turkey played a role.”
Although the company noted strong sales in Germany with a first-half turnover of € 191 million largely due to the higher sales of e-MTBs from Haibike and Ghost brands, sales of regular bikes were lower than the first half of 2016.
Accell Group Net turnover (€ millions)
|
|
H1 2017 |
H1 2016 |
% Change |
|
The Netherlands |
123 |
136 |
-10% |
|
Germany |
191 |
160 |
+19% |
|
Rest of Europe |
248 |
238 |
+4% |
|
North America |
57 |
73 |
-22% |
|
Other countries |
16 |
23 |
-31% |
In the Netherlands, Accell first half turnover fell by 10% to € 123 million, which Accell put down to traditional dealer channels coming under pressure amid a change in consumer purchasing behavior.In the rest of Europe, Accell noted that the popularity of e-MTBs led to higher sales of e-MTBs in almost all European countries, while sales of regular bikes were lower in most countries.
The Accell press release noted that turnover in North America came in lower; partly due to the sale of the parts & accessories activities last year. Accell Group made significant adjustments to its distribution strategy in North America, and made a clear choice for omni-channel sales. In the first half of 2017, the US bicycle market saw a drop in the sales of bikes via the specialist retail trade. The number of multi-sport retail chains has reduced. Sales via other channels are growing, but this was not yet enough to offset the decline in sales to multi-sport retail chains.
