Canyon revenue adds 30% to hit €416 million, new CFO joins

German direct sale bike brand Canyon has reported a record revenue for the past fiscal year, adding 30% and reaching €416 million in sales.

The results capped a year of change at Canyon within which investment firm Grouppe Bruxelles Lambert took a 40% stake. GBL was joined by fellow investor Tony Fadell, a former head of Apple’s iPod division.

The winds of change have now seen the firm recruit a new Chief Financial Officer, Winfried Rapp, who will take over the position as of July 1st.

Rapp joins from Cologne’s cable network Unitymedia where he has developed the business’s profitability since 2013. From 2018 he held the role of CEO, playing a role in a merger with Vodafone. In addition to her professional skills, Rapp is also a cyclist.

“I have been following the Canyon Bicycles success story for many years. I honestly can’t say what fascinates me more about Canyon: the outstanding products and incredible brand, or the unique, sustainable way the company is growing. As the future CFO of Canyon and a cycling enthusiast, I feel an equally strong passion for the bikes and the sport, as well as for the business and its expansion. I am really looking forward to my new role, getting to know my new colleagues, and experiencing the passion of a brand like Canyon,” explains Rapp.

The change fills a gap left by the now retiring Lothar Arnold,  who joined the company’s management board in 2015, steering the label through international growth, the expansion into electric bikes and launch of the Koblenz-Rübenach factory. Finally, Arnold was instrumental in guiding the business through both the TSG Consumer Partners era into the new deal with GBL.

Canyon CEO Armin Landgraf thanks the departing CFO and outlines some of the changes now on the table for the year ahead, stating: “I would like to thank Lothar from the bottom of my heart for the great collaboration we enjoyed on the management board over recent years. Under a management team also featuring Roman Arnold – founder of Canyon and now Chairman of the Advisory Board – Canyon has become one of the world’s most successful and popular bicycle brands, as well as a major digital player. I am very much looking forward to building on this successful platform together with Winni. His extensive experience, engaging personality, and huge passion for biking and the Canyon brand made an impression on us right from the start. Together with the advisory board and the entire Canyon Crew, we will continue to take advantage of numerous growth opportunities open to us and write the next chapter of Canyon’s success story.”

Canyon outlined within its statement that near term improvements will focus on ramping up digitisation, and sustainability, as well as a range of unspecified service offerings.

Lothar Arnold states: “The successful development of Canyon in recent years is, and remains, a unique achievement. I am incredibly happy and proud to have been there during this exciting time, and to have helped shape it together with the great team at Canyon. I am equally excited now about entering my retirement, and I’m looking forward to starting a new phase of my life, with plenty of equally exciting and relaxing private time to enjoy moving forward. I am convinced that Winni, as the new CFO, together with the management team, will lead the company into a new successful chapter. There couldn’t have been a better time to make this change.”