Having radically refreshed its motorcycle model range over the past couple of years, Yamaha is clearly enjoying the benefits — as illustrated by excellent results in the first nine months of its current financial year.
Although overall bike sales volume fell by 11.5% to 3.886 million units during the period, substantial growth in developed countries and a move to higher-priced products in emerging markets easily offset the reduction in numbers across parts of Asia and Latin America. Revenue from motorcycles rose by 6.5% to £4.17bn. Operating profit from the sector soared, up by 63.7% to £156m.
Europe improved by 10.4% to 170,000 units. North America stacked on 21.4% to 68,000 units. And while Asian sales dropped by 13.4% to 3.17 million units, the company says increases in Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan overwhelmed losses in Indonesia.
The brand’s power products division also cashed in on the back of new side-by-side ATV models in North America. Revenue increased by 14.1% to £598m with associated operating profit up 64% to £49m.
Overall revenue grew by 8% to £6.57bn, some 63.5% of which was attributable to motorcycles. Operating profit climbed by 40.8% to £540.7m. However, Yamaha has been caught with its pants down by US authorities over transfer pricing scams to minimise corporation tax and had to account for an anticipated £189m one-off additional taxation hit. This hammered the bottom line and net profit was down by 6.6% at £264.9m.