Leading European bicycle company Accell Group has announced that total group net turnover grew by 7.4% to €682.6 million in the first half of 2019, and EBIT (earnings before interest & tax) increased by 8.9% to €46.5 million. Net profit for the group was up 16.5% at €29.7 million in the period.
The company’s core business generated net turnover up 8.8% in the first half of 2019 to reach €650.9 million. The company’s core profits were also up, with EBIT coming in 12.6% higher at €57.8 million in H1 2019.
The non-core North American business decreased by 15.9% to €31.8 million (5% of group net turnover) with EBIT coming in at a negative €11.3 million. This is compared to a negative €8.5 million in H1 2018.
Ton Anbeek, CEO Accell Group said “Our ‘Lead global. Win local’ strategy is paying off with all key performance indicators moving in the right direction reflecting sound growth, stable volumes, margin expansion, a higher EBIT and lower working capital as pecentage of net turnover for both our core business and the total group. Also cost as a percentage of net turnover has stabilized.
“Driven by a better availability of our key products, we have seen double digit growth in most of our core regions. In the Netherlands we’ve reversed the downward turnover and volume trend with double digit growth and strong contributions from our Koga, Sparta and Batavus brands.
In the DACH region, growth was hampered due to delayed Haibike and Ghost innovative new model introductions. In all our other core European regions we saw strong double digit turnover growth in e-bikes. The performance in North America did not improve and in the course of this quarter we expect to complete the strategic review of this non-core business and announce our way forward.
“Our supply chain team is on track with creating efficiencies and delivering the targeted €12 million savings for 2019. The work on complexity reduction and the introduction of our frame platform strategy are also progressing according to plan. Finally, we have started the roll out of our new IT systems which will improve our operational performance and pave the way for our digital roadmap.”
Accell Group’s European core markets continued to show strong growth of +17.3%. This was driven by strong Raleigh and Lapierre sales. The company’s Parts & Accessories business grew by 6.2% with growth of its own brand XLC coming in at 8.0%.
E-cargo specialist Velosophy with its main brand Babboe, which was acquired in August 2018, continued to perform well contributing €17 million in turnover across Europe in H1 2019.
In Europe, Accell Group claims the position of market leader in the bicycle market measured in turnover. Accell Group’s best known brands are Haibike (Germany), Winora (Germany), Batavus (Netherlands), Sparta (Netherlands), Koga (Netherlands), Lapierre (France), Ghost (Germany), Raleigh and Diamondback (UK, US, Canada), Tunturi (Finland), Atala (Italy), Redline (US), Loekie (Netherlands) and XLC (international).
Accell Group and its subsidiaries employ approximately 3,000 people in 18 countries worldwide. The company has production facilities in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Hungary, Turkey and China. Accell Group products are sold in more than 70 countries. The company’s head office is located in Heerenveen (the Netherlands).
