Evans Cycles makes further losses

Evans Cycles’ latest accounts show further operating losses before tax, amounting to just shy of £1.7 million for the year ended October 28th, 2017.

With a new chief executive in place since May of this year, who replaced Andy King after a turbulent 17-month spell for the business, accounts filed yesterday do show some improvement, yet will be of little comfort to shareholders whose pot decreased by £2.4 million year-on-year.

Turnover like-for-like remained similar, improving marginally to £138 million from £135 million the year prior.

Over the past year there has been some reshuffling within Evans Cycles store portfolio, with two openings coming in Havant and Sutton Coldfield. Meanwhile, the Clapham store was relocated. Canary Wharf and Birmingham both underwent refits to modernise the stores. However, the business did close its Cyclepoint  presence at the Leeds City Railway Station.

Up front of yesterday’s strategic report Evans said: “The directors remain confident about the medium and long-term prospects for the UK cycling market noting that UK adult cycling participation is still significantly below European averages, especially in cities, while new products such as e-Bikes continue to expand the addressable market and the Government continues to invest in improving national cycling infrastructure. In support of this, Evans has recently reconfigured a number of stores to expand the range of e-Bikes available for sale and trial.”

Owned by private equity business ECI Partners since 2015, Evans operating profit has been falling in recent years with Companies House filings showing a decline to £2.2 million for the year ended October 29th, 2016 from around £4 million the prior year.