Yamaha Q1 reflects marine market decline

Yamaha Motor Co Ltd has announced its consolidated business results for the first three months of the fiscal year ending 31 December 2024.

Revenues for the period were ¥642.1bn (an increase of ¥35.6bn or 5.9% compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year) and operating income was ¥78.0bn (an increase of ¥2.1bn or 2.7%). Net income attributable to owners of parent was ¥56.0bn (an increase of ¥6.3bn or 12.7%).

For this first quarter consolidated accounting period, the US dollar traded at ¥149 (a depreciation of ¥17 from the same period of the previous fiscal year) and the euro at ¥161 (a depreciation of ¥19).

In the company’s core business of motorcycles, the continued strong demand in India and Brazil saw higher overall unit sales, and with the higher prices per unit in these markets, revenues grew. For operating income, the effects of higher revenue in the motorcycle business and cost-cutting efforts were compounded by the positives of a weaker yen, and this led to higher profits for the period.

Also, from the first quarter of this fiscal year, the Yamaha Motor group has switched from Japanese Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (J-GAAP) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and as such, figures from fiscal 2023 have been converted to IFRS standards for comparison and analysis.

Marine Products Business

Revenues in the Marine Products division were ¥141.9bn (a decrease of ¥3.6bn or 2.5% compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year) and operating income was ¥25.5bn (a decrease of ¥11.5bn or 31.0%).

In China, Brazil, and other emerging markets, demand continued to be strong in the commercial fishing and tourism markets. Meanwhile, in North America and Europe, concerns of an economic recession led small and midrange outboard motor demand to decrease, but demand for large horsepower outboard motors remained stable. In terms of sales, numbers fell in developed markets and remained about the same in emerging markets and this resulted in lower sales for the outboard business overall.

For personal watercraft, unease about rising interest rates made customers hesitate to purchase and demand decreased. On the other hand, there were heavy inquiries for Yamaha products in the space and unit sales rose. As a result, sales and profits fell for the Marine Products business overall.

In a statement, Yoshihiro Hidaka, president, CEO and representative director of Yamaha Motor Co, says: “In contrast to last year when outdoor recreation was booming (we had strong demand across almost all our businesses, and replenishing inventory was a priority), the business environment has heavily swung in the opposite direction and the first quarter of fiscal 2024 has been marked by concerns of an economic recession and the return of intense competition as market inventories have increased. Amidst these developments, our core business of motorcycles led the way, securing the company higher revenue and profits.

“Fiscal 2024 is the final year of our Medium-Term Management Plan and we expect to record higher revenue and operating income for the fourth year in a row. We also expect to considerably surpass our final 2024 target of over ¥2,200bn in revenue. Additionally, while we have successfully cleared our profitability and efficiency targets over the last two years, the winds are now turned against us and I believe this year will test if we are able to maintain those levels.

“We will continue to keep ‘transformation’ and ‘speed’ in mind as priority themes while adopting a more proactive stance, ie, taking greater initiative and acting independently, and work together as one to reach our next goal of ¥3,000bn in revenue.”