OSAKA, Japan (BRAIN) — Shimano pointed to weak sales in Southeast Asia, Japan, China and South America as contributors to another steep decline in bike product sales. The company’s sales through the first nine months of this year were down 18.8 percent according to figures released this week. Operating income for the company’s bike-related businesses declined 29.4 percent.
The company stuck to its earlier forecast of a 14.2 percent decline in total net sales for the fiscal year.
Shimano said that in North America, retail sales of bikes in the third quarter were “somewhat weaker than in the same period of the previous year. However, distributor inventories of bicycles were adjusted to a lower level than in the same period of the previous year.”
The company said good weather in Europe has helped reduce distributor inventories there.
Net sales for the bike division for the first three quarters was 192,939 million yen ($1.84 billion); operating income decreased to 43,236 million yen.
Shimano’s other major business, fishing, saw a 0.8 percent decrease in net sales in the first three quarters, to 48,443 million yen.
