KOBLENZ, Germany (BRAIN) — Privately held Canyon Bicycles announced Monday that its year-on-year sales increased 23% in the first nine months of 2023. According to a statement from Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, which acquired Canyon in 2020, the bike brand's sales in the first nine months of 2023 were 621 million euros ($670.5 million at today's exchange rate), up from 506 million euros in the same period of 2022.
Despite higher sales volume, Canyon's EBITDA growth declined 6% in the period. GBL said the EBITDA performance was due to "higher discounts on certain bike categories and a supply shortage of high-demand bikes due to issues at one of its suppliers." The supplier issues affected the availability of Canyon's road and gravel bikes in the third quarter and have since been resolved, according to GBL.
Canyon recorded a loss of 1.3 million euros in the nine-month period (200,000 euros attributable to GBL and the rest to non-controlling investors), compared to a net profit of 13.5 million euros attributable to GBL in the same period last year.
According to GBL, Canyon's net asset value (NAV) increased by 12 million euros over the period. Canyon accounted for 15% of GBL's private assets at the end of the period, up from 10% at the start of the year. Canyon's employee count rose from 1,400 at the end of 2022 to 1,695 at the end of the third quarter 2023.
GBL called out Canyon's U.S. operations for contributing significantly to the overall performance, noting that Canyon's U.S. competitors had engaged in heavy discounting over the period.
GBL's stock is traded on the Euronext Brussels exchange under the code GBLB.BR.
Canyon also released a press release that touted the success of its sponsored athletes, its new headquarters and Innovation Lab in Koblenz, its net-zero emissions target, and a recent award for being a Top Employer in Germany.
"While high inventory levels and high discounts are at play in the bicycle industry, 2023 still saw the company continue its strong growth trajectory," Canyon's release said of the sales increase. "Canyon's innovative approach, proven by our athletes and pro sports teams, as well as the benefits of our direct-to-consumer business model, are crucial success factors. Given the challenging global economy, our performance this year was significant and it indicates the continued high demand for Canyon's premium bicycles."
The release noted that athletes on Canyon bikes won 13 gold medals at the UCI World Championships earlier this year, while also winning the Gravel World Championships, the E-Enduro World Cup overall, and the Triathlon World Championships.
The release noted that this fall Canyon opened its fourth brick-and-mortar service center, in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Canyon also works with almost 300 affiliate service partners; in the U.S. that includes VeloFix mobile service vans and about 17 brick-and-mortar retailers, a Canyon spokesman told BRAIN.
Finally, in the release Canyon promoted its titanium-powder 3D-printing research project in partnership with IperionX this year.
Canyon, the release said, "is steering towards a successful close of the 2023 business year."
