Canyon suffered a net loss of €38 million (£32m) last year, with the investment company who bought just over 50 per cent of the business in 2020 for €400 million (£337m) now saying their shares are worth 43 per cent less than in 2023 and 35 per cent less than what they invested five years ago.
Bike Europe broke the story having viewed the 2024 financial statement for the Belgian holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) who invested in Canyon at the height of the Covid bike boom, buying over 50 per cent of Canyon Bicycles' shares at €400 million, which it now says is worth €261 million, a slump of 43 per cent from the €460 million they were worth in 2023.
Canyon highbar helmet3 (credit: Canyon)Describing the bike industry as having "remained difficult" in 2024, GBL admitted that Canyon will not deliver its short to mid-term investment return, but "thanks to solid brand equity and a good performance in certain segments, the group's sales were nearly stable".
Canyon's net loss of £32 million is up from €14 million (£11.8m) in 2023, with revenue almost the same as the year before (€792m vs €793m). Like many brands, Canyon has battled inventory challenges in the years since Covid. Last year it managed to reduce its inventory from €417.9 million to €351.6 million, something the brand says it will continue to tackle this year. It's worth noting that in the time since GBL invested, Canyon's revenue has risen from €408m to last year's figure, even if the loss has grown from last year to this.
"While the economic situation in the bike industry is still strained in 2025 and key industry associations are forecasting another challenging year for the bicycle industry, we are taking a cautious approach to business planning this year, avoiding building up excess inventory for example," a spokesperson told Bike Europe.
2024 midrange bike vs superbike canyon ultimate climbing road.cc kit (credit: road.cc)"However, we are continuing to invest in key areas for long-term success. In particular with the launch of new programmes such as MyCanyon, which launched in the US and APAC region earlier this year and will launch in Europe in July, we're offering customers the option to configure individual components such as saddles, drivetrain, wheels, and the artwork of their bike, further inspiring a premium audience.
"Our growth curve in 2024 was flatter compared to previous years, but it depends on the product category: some segments performed better than others, especially in 'performance road' and 'performance gravel' segments. In contrast, the demand for regular mountain bikes without electric drive systems has declined significantly.
"We will carry on to expand our local presence with a primary focus on our core markets in Europe, Asia, China and the United States. We're pursuing an offline strategy through global partners and, in some cases our own stores, such as in Koblenz or our recent Munich Store opening. We've invested in further Canyon Factory Service locations such as in Madrid (Spain), and a new team in Shanghai to support our growing sales in China, plus new Experience Partners and new Authorized Service Partners, and a new Canyon Campus will come to Koblenz in 2026 featuring a new dedicated e-bike show room and test area."
2024 Canyon SRAM TDFF Canyon Aeroad (credit: Canyon)GBL commented: "Sales were stable in a challenging market environment characterised by oversupply in certain categories and aggressive discounting, particularly in electric and non-electric mountain bikes and city bikes.
"Canyon's sales and profitability were impacted by increased discounting across the sector and quality issues in certain electric mountain bike models, forcing Canyon to temporarily suspend sales of these models. Canyon is addressing the situation with the utmost urgency and expects to resolve the issue by Q2 2025."