Harley-Davidson has delivered higher revenue, improved profitability and bike sales growth in the first quarter of its current financial year to 31 March 2014.
Revenue from sales of motorcycles and related products rose by 11.1 per cent to £934m. Associated operating profit was up by 25.6 per cent to £206.5m. However performance at the company’s consumer credit and dealer inventory funding arm HDFS declined marginally. Revenue from this financial segment fell by 1.7 per cent to £91.7m, with operating profit 12.2 per cent down at £37.6m.
Overall operating profit climbed by 18 per cent to £244.1m. Net profit improved by 18.6 per cent to £158m.
Quarterly wholesale bike shipments to dealers worldwide grew by 7.3 per cent to 80,682 units. Retail sales by those dealers increased by 5.8 per cent to 57,415 units.Â
Harley’s US domestic market was three per cent up at 35,730 units while export markets stacked on 10.9 per cent to 21,685 units. Best result came from the Asia Pacific region, up by 20.5 per cent. Europe bounced back with an 8.2 per cent rise. Latin America added 8.9 per cent. Only Canada let the side down, with a 2.4 per cent fall.
For the second quarter of 2014, Harley expects to distribute between 92,000 and 97,000 motorcycles into its global network, compared to 84,606 in the same period last year — anticipated growth of up to 15 per cent.