Impressive first-quarter financial results from Yamaha reveal a major profitability surge on motorcycles.
Yamaha’s global bike sales revenue in the first three months of 2015 rose by 8% to £1.3bn. And associated operating profit went through the roof, up by 164.2% to £53m.
Overall unit sales volume was down, due to decreases in Asia and Latin America. But strong recovery in the US and Europe, led by higher-priced products, more than compensated for that. Yamaha says its early-season European performance particularly benefited from the MT-09 Tracer launch.
Total group revenue for the period grew by 7.7% to £2.06bn. Operating profit increased by 58% to £186m and net profit improved by 75.5% to £138m.