Whyte parent’s profits near quadruple on Covid boom

ATB Sales, the Hastings based distribution parent company to Whyte Bikes, has near quadrupled its pre-tax profits, reaching £1.9 million over last year’s £533,736.

Now the focal point of the business, Whyte Bikes drove the progress with the prior year’s forecasting meaning the distributor sat on a large stock as the Spring ‘bike boom’ gathered momentum. A natural evolution into the electric bike space also paid dividends for the business with its Bosch-powered electric mountain bikes cited in the trading update as particularly strong sellers.

Revenues climbed 35.8% to the year ended October 31st, 2020 and the directors believe the momentum could well continue, citing warming sentiment in Government and environmental concerns as likely drivers for a continued transport and leisure boom for cycling.

With demand still running at a high in the trade the forward order book is described as “encouraging” with further investment into the youth category planned in as part of the company’s growth. Likewise the electric bike category will be bolstered with additions to the full suspension catalogue for which the company has enjoyed several years of strong performance and plaudits for its UK conditions centric design.

One chink in the armour comes in the form of the much complained about 11th hour Brexit deal that has seen “serious delays” at the docks in Felixstowe where the firm’s containers land. 11,000 additional containers of PPE arriving are cited as a central factor of delays in Q4 of 2020, though deliveries are expected this month.

No reference was made in the accounts to the prior year’s legal dispute with Rich Energy, for which Whyte came out on top in a dispute over a copyright infringement on its logo design.

ATB Sales are contactable on +441424 753566 for stock enquiries.