HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (BRAIN) — Accell Group saw sales growth of 53.1% in June, helping the Dutch bike company record a first-half sales increase of 4% despite European retail shutdowns in March and April.
The company owns the bike brands Raleigh, Haibike, Winora, Ghost, Batavus, Koga, Lapierre, Sparta, Babboe and Carqon, and the P&A brand XLC. Last year the company sold about 943,0000 bikes and had sales of over 1.1 billion euros.
Accell's 2020 first-half sales were 677 million euros ($787 million).
"The strong demand for bikes and P&A across Europe continues," said Ton Anbeek, Accell's CEO, in a statement. "With all countries and shops fully reopened in May and June we have been able to offset the decline of March and April leading to increased net sales in H1. In response to the virus outbreak our focus has been to manage for cash, reduce working capital and mitigate disruptions in the supply chain. While this led to some pressure on margins, we are pleased that the overall result of focusing on cost and cash in combination with a rebound in sales have led to a strong positive cash flow."
He continued, "The pandemic has boosted interest from consumers and governments in cycling across Europe as an alternative means of healthy, safe and green mobility. We expect this to positively benefit our business on the mid to long term. For the short term, it remains uncertain which direction the pandemic will take. While our first priority remains the health of our people, we are working actively to enhance product availability in H2 and secure a strong supply base in early 2021 for a good start of the next bicycle season. We will do so while maintaining our focus on strict cost and cash control."
