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Accell Group has reported a like-for-like turnover increase of 19 per cent to €445.6m in the first half of 2012 (€373m in first half of 2011).
The Raleigh takeover unsurprisingly provided a significant slice of that increase – two per cent of the increase was classed as ‘organic’. Other acquisitions playing a part in the increase were of Currie Technologies in the US and Van Nicholas in the Netherlands.
Accell’s other brands include Koga, Lapierre, Ghost, Haibike, Winora and XLC, among others.
The six month period saw lower turnover in the Netherlands and France offset by higher turnover in both Germany and Asia. The financial statement also noted high levels of rain affected sales in May and June (‘substantially lower than expected’).
Raleigh: increasing Accell’s UK presence
The Raleigh acquisition has given Accell a stronger foothold in the US and the UK. It said: "The acquisition will enable Accell Group to realise significant synergies in the field of logistics, sourcing in Asia, sourcing benefits through increases in scale and the intensification of distribution of the Accell Group and Raleigh Cycle brands in their respective markets…
"The acquisition of Raleigh has given Accell Group a key market position in the United Kingdom and another strong boost to its position in the United States, after the earlier acquisitions of SBS and Currie Technologies."
Drilling further into the figures, Accell revealed the Raleigh acquisition boosted the number of bikes sold to 942,000 from 709,000 in the first half of 2011 – also reducing the average bike price to €352 from €410 in 2011.
Rain dampens sales, Netherlands consumer confidence down
“Cycling continues to gain in popularity both in Europe and beyond, however new bicycle purchases in a number of countries were at a lower level in the first half of 2012 compared to the previous year," explained Accell Group CEO René Takens.
"The ongoing uncertainty about economic developments is having a marked impact on consumer spending. Many people are choosing to postpone purchases of expensive goods such as bicycles. In most of the European countries where we are active, the weather conditions were also very much against us in the traditionally important second quarter of the year. Despite this, we managed to increase turnover organically still; the results were lower due in particular to lower turnover in the Netherlands, exchange rate effects and extra discounts.
"We expect the new annual collection and, once again, a great number of innovations to contribute to an increase in turnover and net operating result in the second half of the year compared to the same period in 2011. Whether this will be sufficient to result in a year-on-year increase in the full-year result will depend among others on the economic developments and the weather conditions. Based on the current state of affairs, we anticipate that the net operating result for the full year 2012 will not exceed that of 2011.
"In the longer term, Accell Group expects a continuation of growth in turnover and net operating result.”
