Accell Group N.V. told its shareholders Thursday that sales and profits improved in the first months of 2014 compared with the same period of 2013 as favorable weather in Europe stimulated sales of its bicycles.



“We have seen a positive start to the year 2014,” Accell Group NV CEO René Takens tol the company's shareholders at their annual meeting meeting. “Revenues in most markets developed positively. Electrically-assisted bikes continue to be popular and they are gaining popularity in countries where the market is still in its infancy, including the United States. Furthermore our sports bikes are also proving highly popular.”

 

Takens affirmed the Dutch company’s previous forecast for 2014, which calls for increases in sales and profits over 2013, when the company had sales of €849.0 million.


Takens said integration of production facilities for its Batavus and Sparta bike brands at its headquarters facility in Heerenveen, The Netherlands, is progressing according to plan. He also disclosed the company will invest in an automated warehouse system for the spare parts deliveries of Juncker, Batavus, Sparta and Koga. This new system will be based at the company’s facility in Apeldoorn and become operational in January, 2015.

 

Accell booked a profit of €3 million on its €20 million sales of its Hercules brand to the German buying group Zweirad-Einkaufs-Genossenschaft eG (“ZEG”) during the quarter.

 

Takens said the company's subsidiaries, which include manufacuturing operations in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Hungary, Turkey and China, have considerably reduced their working capital compared to 2013 by reducing inventories. The sale of Hercules, meanwhile, reduced debt.

Accell Group N.V. design, manufactures and markets mid-range and premium bicycles, parts and accessories and fitness equipment in more than 70 countries and is Europe's largest seller of bikes, parts and accesories in terms of revenues. It is also a major supplier in Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, where Kent, WA-based Accell North America (ANA) markets Raleigh, Diamondback and Lapierre bikes.  ANA is preparing to launch its first electrically-assisted sport bikes under the German Haibike and French Lapierre brands this summer. 


Accell Group and its subsidiaries employ approximately 2,900 people worldwide in eighteen countries. The company has production facilities in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Hungary, Turkey and China. Accell Group products are sold in more than seventy countries. The company’s headquarters are located in Heerenveen (the Netherlands). The Accell Group shares are traded on the official market of NYSE Euronext in Amsterdam and are included in the Amsterdam Midcap index (AMX).