According to its financial results statement for the nine months of 2014 to 30 September, Yamaha’s core motorcycle division is displaying sustained improvement in most of its operations.
Net revenue from bikes for the period grew by 4.1 per cent to £3.96bn. Related operating profit almost trebled, up by 188.4 per cent to £97m.
Unit sales volume in developed markets — principally Europe, the USA and Japan — increased by 14 per cent. The success of new products such as the MT-09 and MT-07 were cited as largely responsible, with the Tricity three-wheeled scooter launch in Europe and Japan also playing a part.
As for emerging markets, where lower prices and margins are balanced against much higher volumes, the story was mixed. Despite growth in Indonesia, South-East Asia was down due to declines in Thailand and Vietnam. However, India made up for that with a 28 per cent surge and Brazil was positive too.
Overall, global volume was up and a more profitable model mix featuring larger quantities of bigger-capacity machines helped to boost earnings, as did favourable foreign currency translation during the third quarter.
Yamaha’s power products division, majoring on quadbike and side-by-side ATVs, also did well. Its sales volume has doubled year-on-year, contributing a 15.3 per cent revenue rise to £530m and operating profit up by 30.3 per cent to £30m.
For the company as a whole, revenue was up by 7.3 per cent to £6.15bn. Operating profit climbed by 68.4 per cent to £388m and net profit stacked on 99.2 per cent to £287m.