In the first three months of its 2016 financial year, Yamaha’s previously steady recovery stumbled owing to a variety of factors. Revenue from motorcycles during the quarter declined by 7.3% to £1.465bn. Associated operating profit was savaged, 34.6% down to £48.5m.
In the developed world, the company attributed this reversal to a combination of later new model delivery timing and planned distributor wholesale inventory reduction. European bike sales volume fell by 5.3% to 54,000 units. North America suffered a bigger 20.8% drop to 19,000 units. The Japanese domestic market was dead flat on 27,000 units.
Volume was actually up overall in emerging regions, with improvements in India, Vietnam and the Philippines offsetting decreases in Brazil and Indonesia. Combined Asian sales rose by 4.7% to 1.011 million units. Other countries, principally in Latin America, were 11.5% down at 108,000 units. However, attributable revenue fell owing to the impact of local currencies depreciating against the yen.
The power products business, which mainly consists of quadbike and side-by-side ATVs, claimed a 21.8% revenue rise to £244m with operating profit 37.4% up to £12.1m. A major surge in North American sales was responsible for that. Â
Yamaha’s entire revenue for the period dropped by 1.7% to £2.441bn. Bikes accounted for 60%, against 63.6% in the equivalent quarter last year. Power products improved from 8.1% to 10%. Operating profit was 11.8% down at £205.8m. Net profit fell by 19.7% to £132.3m.
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