Shimano released its financial results for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2024 on October 29, 2024, showing that Shimano is facing many challenges in the global market, especially in the bicycle segment.
On a company-wide basis, Shimano's revenue for the first nine months of fiscal 2024 was 334.879 billion yen ($2.185 billion), down 10.8 percent from the same period in 2023. Operating income for the period was 50.651 billion yen and net profit was 41.343 billion yen, down 30% and 31%, respectively.
Net sales of Shimano bicycle products fell 12.3 % to 253.861 billion yen, while operating income fell 26.1% to 41.342 billion yen. This decline was driven by several factors: global economic uncertainty, including war, geopolitical risks, and economic stagnation in China; High inflation, though moderating, is still having an impact on consumer spending; Unfavorable weather conditions impacted sales performance in Europe; Despite progress in inventory adjustment, sales in North America continued to weaken.
Although Shimano bicycle products are not performing well globally, the Chinese market is still a bright spot. According to the report, China's bicycles, especially road bicycles, continue to maintain strong retail sales. The popularity of bicycles in general continues to rise, with retail sales of road vehicles in particular performing particularly well. Compared with other markets, the demand in the Chinese market is relatively stable.
Shimano's performance in the bicycle segment reflects the complexity of the current global economic environment and the diversity of market demands. Globally, Shimano had to deal with high inventories, weak market demand and adverse weather factors. However, the strong performance of the Chinese market provides some relief for the company, which also indicates that differentiation strategies in different regional markets may be an important direction for the company in the future.
In addition, Shimano is also adjusting its financial expectations, especially in terms of non-operating expenses, mainly due to the appreciation of Asian currencies relative to the weak US dollar. This adjustment demonstrates the company's flexibility and adaptability in responding to global economic uncertainties.
The first nine months of fiscal 2024 have been challenging times for Shimano, but bright spots in the Chinese market provide some signs of optimism. In the future, Shimano needs to continue to pay attention to the changes in the global market and develop a more flexible and differentiated market strategy to cope with the changing economic environment.
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