KTM Group - 2021 motorcycle unit sales +23%, buys FELT Bicycles
The PIERER Mobility Group has reported motorcycle sales of +23% for 2021 at 332,881 units with an additional 102,753 in bicycle sales (+40%), some 76,916 of which were e-bicycles (+37%). The Group delivered EBIT of €193.5m (+80%) at a margin of 9.5% and EBITDA of €332.2m (+42%) at a margin of 16.3%.
Sales revenue was up by over 30% despite the supply chain challenges at €2,042m (from €1,530m in 2020), with an EBIT margin of 9.5%.
In the 2021 financial year, around €178.5m was invested in growth, of which approximately €131.1m was invested in product development and tooling and €47.4m in operating facilities and infrastructure, with a record free cash flow of €172.2m, which corresponds to 8.4% of the revenues.
In the past financial year, the number of employees was increased by 663. As of December 31, 2021, the PIERER Mobility Group had a total of 5,249 employees, 4,340 of them in Austria. Approximately 1,000 employees work in research and development (approx. 19% of the workforce).
A total of 249,290 KTM motorcycles were sold, with 60,801 Husqvarna and 22,790 GasGas motorcycles sold in 2021. In the sales regions of Europe, unit sales were around 120,000 motorcycles, with some two-thirds (approx. 210,000) sold outside Europe. Significant growth was also recorded in North America with almost 66,000 units sold (+25%); in Australia sales increased by 26% to about 21,000. The strongest growth potential was seen in South America (+62%) with 32,500 and in Asia (+56%) with 30,000 motorcycles sold.
In other news, PIERER Mobility continued its race success with GasGas, winning its first Dakar Rally in January 2022 with Sam Sunderland delivering the Group's 19th Dakar title in total. In 2021 the three brands won 21 world championship titles in both road and off-road racing.
Having rebuilt its byzantine share ownership structure, PIERER Mobility AG intends to apply for the admission of its shares to the Official Market (prime market segment) of the Vienna Stock Exchange, effective 1st March, 2022. The primary listing of the shares of PIERER Mobility AG (ISIN: AT0000KTMI02) remains with SIX Swiss Exchange.
The Group continued its expansion in the bicycle market with the acquisition of California based FELT Bicycles, marking its entry into the North American bicycle market. FELT has been integrated into the Group's PIERER E-Bikes GmbH division.
Founded in 1991 in California, USA, FELT Bicycles has an established reputation for producing high-performance, drop-bar road, triathlon, track, cyclocross, gravel and adventure bikes. "Always striving for innovation, during its 30-year history, FELT Bicycles has pioneered carbon fibre usage in bike design, set new standards in mountain bike suspension systems, and revolutionised aerodynamic development in the pursuit of the ultimate racing equipment. FELT bikes have been ridden to stage wins at Grand Tours, earned record-breaking triathlon world titles, Olympic gold medals and world championships on various terrain."
Despite the "existing challenges in the supply chain, the PIERER Mobility Group continues to focus on growth in all core areas in the 2022 financial year, both with regard to motorcycles and (e-)bicycles, expecting revenue growth of between 6% and 10% (2021 financial year: approx. €2,041.7m) with an EBIT margin of 8% to 10% and an EBITDA margin between 15% and 17%."
