November 13, 2003
Bologna, Italy - Reporting financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2003, Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A., Bologna, Italy, says it sold 6,865 motorcycles during the period, an 18.8% increase over the same period in 2002 and the highest number of motorcycles ever sold by the company in a third quarter.
Total revenues for the period were Euro 75.3 million, up 24.7% excluding foreign exchange effects, over the same period in 2002. Third quarter revenues from motorcycles increased 26.6% to Euro 55.9 million and represented 74.2% of revenues. Motorcycle-related products – spare parts, technical accessories and apparel – increased 17.7% to Euro 18.9 million over the comparable period in the previous year. Gross margin was 37.7% of revenues versus 41.4% in the period, mainly due to a negative motorcycle mix and foreign exchange effects, the company said.
EBITDA was Euro 6.7 million versus zero in the period of the previous year, and pre-tax loss was Euro 5.4 million versus a loss of Euro 11.1 million last year. Ducati says the improvement of Euro 5.7 million was mainly due to higher EBITDA and lower financial charges.
While third quarter unofficial Ducati worldwide registrations, a measure of retail sales, were up 10% versus the same period last year, it proves to be a notable recovery after declines of 18% and 4% in the first and second quarter of 2003, respectively.
For the first nine months, unofficial Ducati worldwide registrations were down 5% versus the comparable nine-month period in 2002, with the U.S. down 20%, the U.K. down 11%, Japan down 11%, France down 7%, Germany down 2% and Italy down 1%. Registrations grew 6% in the Benelux Countries and 8% in non-subsidiary importer countries.
Accordingly, Ducati’s first nine months of 2003 revenues were Euro 284.6 million, down 0.7% versus the same period in 2002. EBITDA was Euro 37.8 million versus Euro 38.8 million in the first nine months of 2002. At EBT level, there was a loss of Euro 7.0 million versus a gain of Euro 3.7 million in the 2002 period mainly due to adverse foreign exchange, restructuring and depreciation costs.
"After the slow start to the year and the subsequent recovery, the outlook for 2003 remains challenging," Enrico D'Onofrio, Ducati Chief Financial Officer, said in a prepared statement. "Our ability to meet our targets will largely depend on not further deteriorating and the sustained growth of our relevant market."
