Shimano racks up 49.6% net sale increase in year to September

The third quarter financial update from Shimano has illustrated the world’s largest bicycle component supplier’s rush to fill a void in supply, with net sales in the nine months to September up 49.6%.

That acceleration of trading saw the firm’s operating income rise 97% to 106,973 million Yen over the same period and an earnings per share making similar progress at 928.36 Yen, versus 509.51 Yen over the same period last year. The company is likely to pay a 235 Yen dividend per share for 2021, down on last year when the business opted to mark its centenary year with an additional 200 Yen payment.

Covid dictated the pace at times, with well-reported factory shutdowns forcing the manufacturer’s hand and the statement suggests further progress could have been made.

“In this environment, some of the Shimano Group’s factories experienced tightening of global logistics and temporary shutdown due to lockdown. However, interest in and demand for bicycles and fishing continued to be high, and the Shimano Group increased production capacity at the factories in Japan and overseas,” wrote Shimano.

Ordinary income increased 93.8% to 113,724 million yen, and net income attributable to owners of parent increased 82.1% to 86,024 million yen.

By region, Europe demand remains high and inventory low despite the acceleration of trade, something Shimano attributed in part to the construction of cycling infrastructure, something that has been shown to stimulate demand amongst a broader demographic of people.

Over in North America, South and Central America, and Oceania Shimano says “signs of a lull” are present, though demand remains ahead of supply at this time.

“Under these market conditions, while production was further increased in response to high demand, two top-end models of the fully redesigned road bike components, DURA-ACE and ULTEGRA, were enormously well-received by customers,” said Shimano on its product refreshes.

As a total for the bicycle segment only, net sales increased 56.0% from the same period of the previous year to 319,007 million yen, and operating income increased 103.4% to 89,764 million yen.

Forward looking Shimano has revised upwards its expectations for net sales by 3% to an estimate of 515,000 Million Yen.

In the process of trying to meet enhanced demand Shimano has invested, recently outlining a $179 million Singapore construction.

The supplier has also been in the news this week warning of fake websites purporting to sell its goods.