OSAKA, Japan (BRAIN) — Shimano saw a slight increase in sales in its bike division through the first nine months of 2017, up 1.4 percent to 196 billion yen ($1.7 billion) over sales in the same period last year. Operating income in the division decreased nearly 5 percent over the period however.
In a 3Q report released Tuesday, Shimano described a somewhat lackluster market for its bike components in North America, Europe, China and Japan.
"In North America, retail sales of completed bicycles were approximately the same as the previous year's level and distributor inventories continued to be somewhat low," the company said.
It said European sales were "somewhat soft," China sales were "lacking vigor," and sales in Japan "remained lackluster."
It did say that retail sales of complete bicycles in South America showed "signs of recovery."
"In these market conditions, there are high expectations for the next season in Europe because of diversification of bicycle types, including e-bikes. 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 (electronic shifting system) and disc brakes released in August 2017 were well received in the market," the company said.
Company-wide, Shimano reported a 1.8 percent increase in net sales for the first 9 months, with sales totaling 246 billion yen, up from 242 billion yen in the first 9 months of 2016. Operating income in the period was down 4 percent however.
Shimano's fishing business saw a 3.3 percent net increase in sales, to 50 billion yen, as well as an operating income increase of 1.9 percent.
For fiscal 2017, Shimano is forecasting net sales of 330 billion yen, up 2.2 percent from last year, with operating income of 63 billion yen, which is down 2.4 percent. The net sales forecast is unchanged, but the company revised down its ordinary income forecast by 3.2 percent, to 57 billion yen. It revised its basic earnings per share to 437.9 yen, down from the previous forecast of 454 yen.
