TAIPEI, Taiwan (BRAIN) — Giant Group reports that its operating profits declined 60% last year as it wrote down NT$1.9 billion ($57.6 million) in inventory provision losses, recognizing the decline in inventory value due to discounting. The company said it expects to see a profit recovery in 2025.
Giant filed full-year provisional revenue numbers in January with the Taipei Stock Exchange, showing a 7.4% decline in sales, but didn’t release profitability numbers until Friday.
The company said its own branded bikes continued to be affected by a reduction in demand in the U.S. and Europe.
Giant Group’s net profit after tax came to NT$1.26 billion, an annual decline of 62.8%. Earnings per share was NT$3.22, down from NT$8.68 last year. Giant’s board approved a cash dividend NT$2.2 per share.
Giant also reported fourth-quarter 2024 figures showing an 8.5% decline in consolidated sales, year-over-year, to NT$13.59 billion.
After reporting strong sales in the Chinese market in recent quarters, Giant said fourth-quarter sales in China were “soft” and combined with heavy discounting in Europe and the U.S. The company recorded an operating loss of NT$1.04 billion in the quarter and a net loss before tax of NT$920 million in the quarter.
As for the 2025 outlook, Giant said, “as the over-inventory situation continues to improve, consumers are demanding new fresh products, it is Giant Group’s belief that, after the underexpectation performance in 2024 Q4, will see profit recovery in 2025.”
Preliminary sales figures for the first two months of 2025 showed some improvement. January sales were nearly flat, down 2.24% from the year prior, but February revenues of NT$5.4 million were up 31% over the same month last year. Year-to-date for the first two months, Giant’s revenues were up 13.11%.
