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Shimano saw its performance slide in both its tackle and cycling divisions in the last financial year amid continuing weak markets for the Japanese giant.
The group saw its total net sales decrease 4.9% from the previous year to 450,993m yen with the larger bicycle business suffering a 5.2% decline to 345,553m yen and the fishing tackle sector showing a fall of 3.9% to 104,990m. It reported that this was despite the global economy starting to show moderate growth on the back of subsidised inflation.
It added: “Uncertainty about the outlook increased due to the rising tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East, the stagnant Chinese economy and changes in leadership in various countries.”
It reported that demand for fishing tackle, which had been overly strong globally, cooled down in 2024 and sales remained weak, adding that adjustments to market inventories – a problem since the end of the pandemic – started to show signs of improvement.
In its home market, it said: “Buying motives among fishing enthusiasts were firm and sales of high-priced products were strong. However, sales were generally lacklustre as adjustments of market inventories continued.”
Overseas, sales in its key North American market were strong, backed by stable demand and inventories progressing towards an appropriate level.
In Europe, sales regained momentum and inventories started to show signs of progress. Asia continued to deliver weak sales that were affected by ‘sluggish’ personal consumption and adverse weather conditions. Inventories also remained at a high level.
Backed by good weather and fishing conditions, sales across Australia remained at a favourable level.
Shimano also reported its launch of the VANFORD spinning reels has been well received and that order taking for the TWIN POWER reels and POISON ADRENA rods (pictured) continued to be brisk.
“Although the global economy is expected to follow a moderate recovery trend, rising resource prices stemming from geographical risks, such as the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East, and supply chain disruptions cause by stagnation of logistics, as well as changes in government policies resulting from the national elections conducted across the globe in 2024, may put downward pressure on the global economy.”
With this in mind, Shimano expects sales of 470,000m yen in 2025 – an increase of 4.2%.
