Harley-Davidson’s second quarter and half-yearly financial results to 30 June show healthy growth in revenue, profit and retail motorcycle sales.
In the quarter, revenue rose by 3.5 per cent to £1.17bn. Net profit was up by 9.9 per cent to £177.3m. For the first six months of 2013, Harley revenue grew by 6.6 per cent to £2.2bn. Net proft increased by 18.3 per cent to £323.7m.
Global retail bike sales improved by 5.2 per cent to 90,193 units in the second quarter. In the US, dealers posted a 4.4 per cent improvement to 58,241 units. Export markets gained 6.7 per cent to 31,952 units. Europe was up by one per cent, the Asia Pacific region put on 12.3 per cent, Latin America racked up 39.2 per cent and Canada 3.6 per cent.
However, total Harley half-year sales were marginally down by 0.6 per cent at 144,447 units. This was attributed to extreme first-quarter winter weather in the US and Europe, knocking sales in those markets down by 2.7 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively — although all other regions turned in positive results for the period. Wholesale shipments into Harley’s worldwide dealer networks were 1.3 per cent up to 84,606 units and 8.2 per cent up to 159,828 units for the half-year.
Commenting on these results, Harley chairman, president and chief executive Keith Wandell said: “Harley-Davidson again drove strong financial performance in the second quarter, reflecting the many improvements in operations we have made throughout the company over the past few years as well as our brand strength globally. We completed our first year of seasonal surge production at York with great success.”
Wandell added: “We also surpassed a milestone for international growth. With the opening of a dealer in Salvador, Brazil on 29 June, we have added 104 dealerships outside the US since late 2009, achieving our goal to add 100 to 150 international dealerships by the end of 2014.”