KTM

KTM posts record results for eighth consecutive year

KTM Industries AG, parent company of KTM Motorcycles, sold 261,454 motorcycles in 2018, which is +10% over 2017 and an eighth consecutive record year as the Austrian manufacturer confirms its position as Europe’s largest motorcycle maker and continues to close in on its previously announced target of achieving production of 400,000 units in 2022.
Sales revenues were +2% on 2017 at 1,560m euro, with EBIT (Earnings Before Income Tax) up by +21% to 161m euro despite making some 184m euro capital investments in its Austrian sites during the year. KTM recorded a 130.5m euro benefit from the sale of the Pankl-Group to CEO Stefan Pierer’s Pierer Industrie Group in June 2018, further strengthening the balance sheet structure and reducing net debt.
The company says it achieved “above average market share increases in the key markets” with both the KTM and Husqvarna brands, with KTM registrations of +21.5% corresponding to a market share of 11.7% at the end of 2018. In the overall declining US market in 2018 (-2.3 %) KTM increased registrations by +8.5% and increased their market share to 8.9% at the end of 2018 – citing the new launches of the KTM middleweight class Duke 790 and the first Husqvarna street motorcycles (401 Svartpilen/Vitpilen and 701 Vitpilen) as proving popular in the United States.
KTM sold 212,899 motorcycles and Husqvarna 48,555 in the financial year 2018.
Of the investments in their Austrian operating sites, around 106m euro was invested in product development (including tooling) for further future growth, and around 78m euro went into plants and infrastructure - including the expansion of the R&D center in Mattighofen. By the end of 2018 KTM’s employee count was up to 4,300, with 3,625 of them in Austria.
For 2019 KTM says it will “continue to focus on organic growth in all core areas. The objective is to further expand market shares in the markets that are important for KTM and Husqvarna - despite the challenging market environment. Shifting the production of the Husqvarna street motorcycles (up to 400 cc) to our strategic partner Bajaj (in India) in Q4/2019 also gives us the opportunity to produce Husqvarna entry-level motorcycles at competitive manufacturing costs, thus further increasing sales in the emerging markets.
“In addition, due to the strong growth of the electric bike joint venture, PEXCO, located in Schweinfurt, Germany, full consolidation is already planned for 2020/21”.