Six months into the 2024 fiscal year, Harley-Davidson posted a modest overall turnover increase, but its bottom line shrank. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
Total revenue in the period grew by 3.8% to £2.62bn. The HDMC contribution from motorcycles and related products was 2.5% up to £2.205bn. Harley’s HDFS consumer credit and inventory funding arm added £399.8m, a 10.5% rise. The LiveWire electric bike spin-off wasn’t much help, though, with a 24.6% revenue decline to £8.7m.
Profitability was a less enticing story. HDMC operating profit fell by 17.7% to £339.9m. HDFS operating profit did better, thanks to a 6.7% lift to £97.6m — aided by higher interest income and a reduction in bad debt provisions. LiveWire booked an operating loss of £44.7m, worsening slightly from a £44m loss in the first half of last year.
Overall operating profit finished 14.7% down at £392.5m. Net profit attributable to Harley-Davidson Inc. as a whole was 6% lower at £352.9m.
Across the two quarters so far this year, HDMC has shipped 73,911 motorcycles to US domestic dealers, and shipments worldwide have reached 107,332. These featured 64,701 touring machines, including trikes, 30,101 cruisers, 9057 bikes in the “sport and lightweight” category and 3473 adventure tourers. In addition, LiveWire wholesaled 275 electric bikes.
Harley’s global six-monthly retail sales fell by 1.7% to 89,403. Within that, US domestic sales rose by 2.7% to 57,984. Canada was 6.5% down to 4339. The EMEA region, which means predominantly Europe, dropped by 5.4% to 13,279. Asia-Pacific suffered a 14.2% decline to 12,356. Latin America boasted a 1.3% gain to 1445 — precisely 18 more bikes rolling out of some Brazilian showroom.
Concentrating on Q2 figures in an associated commentary, Harley-Davidson chairman and chief executive Jochen Zeitz said: “Despite a challenging market, we are pleased with our second-quarter performance, in which we grew our US share in a declining market, with notable growth of more than 11% in the important core category of touring. We continue to be focused on executing our Hardwire strategy and leveraging our innovation and product pipeline, while delivering on our cost and productivity goals.”
$-£ currency translation at forex rates applicable on 29 July