KOBLENZ, Germany (BRAIN) — Canyon’s sales in the first half were 398 million euros ($464 million), down about 5% from the first half last year. The company’s largest investor, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), said Canyon sales softened due to market conditions while profitability was affected by discounting and expenses due to a one-time quality issue with an e-bike model.
Canyon’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were down 30% and the company lost 5.0 million euros in the first half, compared to a 0.4 million euro loss in the first half last year.
“As for Canyon, its EBITDA evolution reflects matters that are broadly impacting the sector (oversupply and discounts in certain categories) and a one-off quality issue,” GBL said in a half-year report.
GBL owns 49.9% of Canyon’s shares directly and values its investment at $261 million, the same valuation as on Dec. 31, 2024. At the end of 2024, GBL reduced that valuation from 460 million euros valuation it held at the end of 2023. It made the investment in 2020; Canyon founder Roman Arnold remains a significant investor and chairman of the company's advisory board.
In the half-year report, GBL said its investment case in Canyon remains the brand's position in the “attractive premium bike market,” increase popularity of bikes, especially in the premium category, growth in e-bike adoption, continued focus on D2C sales and strong positioning in Germany, the Benelux region and the U.K.
GBL noted that Europe remains Canyon's largest market by far and said there has been reduced demand for bikes in Asia (especially China) and the U.S. It said the soft U.S. sales were due to tariff uncertainty.
GBL said to enhance performance Canyon is undergoing a comprehensive review of its product lines and taking efficiency measures. Those measures include layoffs in the U.S. announced in April.
The report shows that Canyon held inventory worth 321 million euros on June 30, compared to 351.6 million euros on the same date last year. It also reduced its bank loan balance to 97.9 million euros, from 107.1 million. Canyon also reduced its current and non-current financial liabilities since last year.
GBL’s shares in Canyon represent 1.9% of the group’s total portfolio value. By comparison, GBL owns shares in adidas worth 1.3 billion euros, making up 9.1% of GBL’s total portfolio; GBL owns 3.5% of adidas’ shares. Some of GBL’s other major holdings include SGS, a testing and certification company; Affidea, a European health services company; and Sanoptis, a European eyecare company.
