Bicycle maker Merida Industry Co Ltd (美利達) last week reported annual declines in shipments and revenue for last month, as it continued to face shortages of components and shipping containers.
Consolidated revenue last month dropped 24.04 percent year-on-year to NT$1.82 billion (US$64.89 million), while 78,801 units were shipped, a decline of 25.47 percent, the company said in a statement on Friday.
“The supply of components is still very unstable,” Merida said.
Photo: CNA
In addition, “shipping space is limited and the container shortage remains. Thus far, we still have about 15,000 bikes waiting to be shipped,” it said.
The month had fewer working days and Merida is transitioning to a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, which also contributed to its reduced output and decline in sales, the company said.
Merida launched the new ERP system early last month, but the switching from the old system disrupted production, it said, adding that it expects production utilization to improve as the new ERP system is running more smoothly every day.
From January to last month, the company shipped 930,436 bicycles, up 12.49 percent from the same period of last year, while combined revenue over the nine-month period increased 12.87 percent year-on-year to NT$22.76 billion.
Merida’s revenue is expected to rise from NT$7.46 billion last quarter to NT$8.43 billion this quarter, as some shipments would be delayed from last quarter to this quarter, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a note on Friday.
As end-market inventories in the US and Europe are less than one month amid sustained demand, and electric bike demand remains robust in those markets, Merida’s revenue for this year could reach NT$31.03 billion, up from NT$27.07 billion last year, Yuanta said.
Separately, Giant Manufacturing Co Ltd (巨大機械) on Friday reported that its revenue for last month rose 1.09 percent year-on-year to NT$6.52 billion as demand remained strong in the US and Europe.
That brought the company’s cumulative revenue in the first nine months to NT$61.9 billion — an annual increase of 17.83 percent.
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