Rewarding the confidence of investors who have been steadily lifting its share price on Milan’s Borsa Italiana, nine-monthly results to 30 September from Piaggio Group displayed all the right numbers. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
Total Piaggio revenue for the three quarters of 2017 to date grew by 2.5% to £931.9m. A 12.4% rise in global powered two-wheeler sales volume to 299,400 scooters and motorcycles generated £680.3m of that, the sector improving by 5.7%. Group operating profit climbed by 14.3% to £60.9m. Net profit was 31.2% up at £22.1m. Net debt was reduced by 8.3% to £379.6m.
Piaggio maintained PTW leadership in Europe, with its total market share rising to 15.2%, and had a North American scooter market share of 20%. Most notably, the Vespa brand has enjoyed worldwide sales growth of 11.4% — 16.5% up in Europe and 31.3% in India overwhelming a decline in Vietnam. The Aprilia and Moto Guzzi motorcycle brands also achieved positive performance.
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