BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
In its latest finanical report Shimano said earnings fell by 46.3 percent in the first nine months of the year. This was due to a weak cycling market across the globe. There was only a slight increase in sales in its bike division, up 1.4 percent to 196 billion yen (£1.2bn) over sales in the same period (Jan–Sept 30th) last year.
Shimano’s earnings of 28.1 billion yen were down from 36.9 billion yen in the same period last year.
European bike sales were "somewhat soft," said the bellwether brand. Sales were static in North America and "distributor inventories continued to be somewhat low."
Cycle sales in China were "lacking viguor" and sales in Shimano’s home market of Japan were "lacklustre."
Looking on the bright side, Shimano forecasted that "in these market conditions, there are high expectations for the next season in Europe because of diversification of bicycle types, including e-bikes."
The company added: "Sales of both the Deore mountain bike components released in May 2017 and the Ultegra road bike components released in June 2017 remained robust, and the additional Ultegra Di2 and disc brakes released in August 2017 were well received in the market."
