Localised market growth bucks expected static year for Bike24

European online cycle retailer Bike24 has seen an overall decline in revenues related to cycling, but with some growth successes in localised markets.

Q1 saw an overall 10.5% decline in revenues to €55.3 million (2022 Q1: €61.8 million), with the now very familiar overcapacities in inventories and slow-to-arrive spring having a negative impact on margins. Among the positives, however, were specific markets, with Spain, France and Italy having an average 109% growth compared with the same period last year, to €8.7 million.

Bike24’s strategy of localised online shops saw it launch in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg in February 2023. A new Barcelona-based logistics site is progressing according to schedule, said the retailer. Bike24 noted “ongoing subdued consumer sentiment in the DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) region.

Full year 2023 is expected to see sales growth between 0-10%, and adjusted EBITDA margin of 0-3.5%.

“As expected by us and other industry experts, we have started into a challenging first half of 2023. In addition to the cautious consumer sentiment, we are also feeling the effects that spring is taking longer to arrive this year,” reports Andrés Martin-Birner, co-founder and CEO of Bike24. “However, we can already see that the overall situation is slowly improving, and we expect to return to our growth path in the second quarter of this year. The cycling trend is intact throughout Europe and we expect it will continue to evolve as the sustainable mobility revolution progresses.”

Timm Armbrust, CFO of Bike24, added: “In a market environment characterized by depressed consumer sentiment, we succeeded in reducing old inventories and improving our liquidity management. At the same time, we have added attractive new merchandise to our range and are now ideally equipped for the upcoming cycling season. With our steadily growing customer base and offers tailored to individual markets, we are in pole position to benefit over proportionately from the expected recovery of the sector.”

Bike24 which was once part of the Wiggle-CRC empire, was founded in 2002 and has some focus on the premium part of the cycle market. That’s an area that is reportedly not being hit as hard as other parts of the market reliant on consumers with less disposal income after the inflation seen on household essentials like food and energy.