Giant has record first quarter but costs eat into takings

First quarter results for the Giant Group have painted a picture of strengthening appetite for electric bikes in the USA, plus an improvement in delivery flow to the manufacturer’s OEM partners.

The progress led to a record first quarter taking of  NT$22.26 billion, up 8% on the same quarter last year. Furthermore, net takings before taxes rose 4.2% to NT$2.6 billion. Currency fluctuations, namely the appreciation of the US Dollar against the Taiwanese Dollar, had a beneficial impact on net profits.

While the USA subsidiary posted low teens percentage growth for its electric bike division, European revenues were not so sharp in the face of supply obstacles and a 10% decline was recorded like-for-like. China’s numbers were broadly flat. Overall, eBikes sales made up 26% of the group’s revenue accounting for both own-label and OE goods.

Gross margins were affected across the group as a result of now well-documented rises in raw material costs, as well as costs of labour and finally a higher contribution of revenue stemming from OEM trade in recent times. The net result of this was gross margins at 22.9%.

At its Annual General Meeting, Giant’s board proposed a cash dividend payment of NT$10 a share.