Harley supremo Jochen Zeitz claimed that his company had delivered “a strong finish to the year, with solid execution of our strategic pillars” in 2022 results. But that had primarily been due to an urgent surge in wholesale shipments combined with price adjustment boosts. Annual retail sales volume actually slumped, adversely impacted by admission of an “inability to replenish dealer inventories in peak riding season” — after production had temporarily ground to a halt in Q2 on the back of faulty component supplies. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
Freshly consolidated annual corporate performance data for Harley-Davidson as a whole now includes relevant elements from the LiveWire electric bike spin-off, in which it holds a 89.4% stake. Not that these currently mean much.
Total full-year revenue rose by 7.9% to £4.7bn. Within that, turnover purely from Harley-Davidson motorcycles, related products and licensing was 8.5% up to £3.98bn. Revenue from the HDFS consumer credit, inventory funding and insurance arm added 3.1% to £670m. Overall operating profit put on 10.4% to £742m. Net profit increased by 14% to £605m.
Global Harley-branded wholesale motorcycle shipments to dealers grew by a modest 2.9% at 193,500 units. But worldwide retail sales were 7.7% down to 178,500. North American retail volume suffered a 12.4% decline to 117,100. The EMEA region, predominantly European countries, slipped by a fairly marginal 1.3% to 30,500. Asia Pacific was mercifully 11.6% up at 27,900. Latin America plunged by 21.7% to just 2900.
Notional full-year 2022 figures for LiveWire, evidently based on historic sparky sales long before its separation, were featured in the results presentation for some light entertainment. Electric steeds shipped to dealers climbed by 29.5% to 597. Associated revenue rose by 30.6% to £38m. And its operating loss extended to £69m, from a loss of £55m in the previous 12 months. So LiveWire’s zero-carbon future appears to be written in red ink.
For 2023, the company forecasts revenue growth of between 4% and 7% for its strictly Harley-Davidson petrolhead motorcycle operations. Operating margin should improve from about 12% in 2022 to between 14.1% and 14.6%. However, operating profit from the HDFS funding arm will decline by 20-25% as consumer debt defaults “normalise” in a worsening direction. LiveWire is expected to ramp up wholesale shipments in a range of 750 to 2000 units, while its annual operating loss increases to around the £100m mark.
$-£ currency translation at forex rates applicable on 2 February.