Taiwanese bicycle manufacturers reported robust revenue growth of 40 to 80 percent in the first two months of this year, with some hitting record highs for January and February, the companies’ data showed last week.
Solid growth momentum and strong orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic-driven bicycle boom would boost the industry’s revenue this quarter, analysts said.
Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械), Taiwan’s largest bicycle manufacturer, posted combined revenue of NT$12.19 billion (US$432.5 million) for January and last month, up 40.08 percent from the same period last year, which the company attributed to strong global demand for bicycles amid the pandemic.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Merida Industry Co (美利達), posted cumulative revenue of NT$4.83 billion in the first two months, up 43.74 percent year-on-year, the highest for the period in the company’s history.
Merida, which also sells bicycles under the Specialized Bicycle Components brand, shipped 183,078 bicycles in the two-month period, up 50.05 percent from a year earlier, Merida said in a statement.
Cumulative revenue at Lee Chi Enterprises Co (利奇機械), which produces bicycle components under the Promax brand, surged 81.13 percent to NT$604.02 million in the same period, the company said.
Bicycle chain maker KMC Kuei Meng International Inc (桂盟國際) reported revenue growth of 71.21 percent to NT$1.11 billion, while Topkey Corp (拓凱實業), which produces carbon fiber bicycle parts, reported revenue growth of 52.66 percent to NT$1.29 billion.
Revenue surged due to lifestyle trends amid the pandemic, which raised many people’s awareness of health and physical fitness, analysts said.
Global bicycle demand would remain robust this year, due to governments worldwide promoting cycling and subsidizing bicycle purchases, they said.
“Over the past 25 years, bicycle sales have seen steady annual growth at a single-digit percentage every year,” Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) analysts led by Peggy Shih (施姵帆) said in a note on March 5. “However, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, global bicycle sales volume increased 32 percent year-on-year in 2020.”
Global bicycle orders have doubled or even tripled, and the production lead time is now one to two years, compared with about 60 days before the pandemic, Shih said.
Inventory levels are to drop to record lows amid strong market demand, while strong end-demand has intensified components shortages in the short term, she said.
Delivery times for some bicycle parts have increased to about 300 days, Shih said.
Larger manufacturers such as Giant and Merida have advantages in terms of material and component purchases, and greater bargaining power for finished products, Shih said, projecting that the two firms’ shipments would increase 10 percent and 15 percent respectively this year.
Despite tighter supply, order visibility for KMC’s high-end bicycle chains has extended to the end of this year, she added.
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco), the Saudi state-owned oil giant, yesterday posted first-quarter profits of US$26 billion, down 4.6 percent from the prior year as falling global oil prices undermine the kingdom’s multitrillion-dollar development plans. Aramco had revenues of US$108.1 billion over the quarter, the company reported in a filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange. The company saw US$107.2 billion in revenues and profits of US$27.2 billion for the same period last year. Saudi Arabia has promised to invest US$600 billion in the US over the course of US President Donald Trump’s second term. Trump, who is set to touch
SKEPTICAL: An economist said it is possible US and Chinese officials would walk away from the meeting saying talks were productive, without reducing tariffs at all US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks yesterday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout. In a Truth Social post early yesterday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.” The second day of closed-door meetings between US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) were due to restart yesterday morning, said a person familiar