BIKE24 reports strong and profitable growth for fiscal year 2021 - More than 25% increase in revenue, adjusted EBITDA margin exceeding 12%

BIKE24 reports strong and profitable growth for fiscal year 2021 -
More than 25% increase in revenue, adjusted EBITDA margin exceeding 12%

• Active customers up 18% to 821 k (2020: 694 k), number of orders grew by more than 20% to 1.8 million
• High demand for parts, accessories and clothing almost fully compensated for temporary supply challenges of full-bikes
• Expansion across Europe is progressing: Southern European logistics center in the Barcelona area to be up and running in H2 2022, country-specific web shops in France and Italy showing good momentum
• Further significant revenue increase between 10% and 17% expected for 2022 despite uncertain environment with underlying adjusted EBITDA margin of between 9 and 10% reflecting growth investments
• Revenues projected to almost triple by 2026 with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 10% to 12% from 2023 onwards
• Trend towards cycling remains intact in BIKE24's 20th anniversary year as mobility costs are rising and sustainability awareness keeps growing

Dresden, March 31, 2022. BIKE24 has successfully concluded its first year as a publicly listed company. Even in a challenging environment, the leading European e-commerce platform for bicycles succeeded in significantly increasing revenues and earnings. Revenues rose by 25.6% to EUR 250.2 million. Adjusted for extraordinary items, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted EBITDA) improved by EUR 3.9 million to EUR 30.6 million. This corresponds to a margin of 12.2% (2020: 13.4%). Utilizing its IPO proceeds, BIKE24 is now pushing ahead with its international expansion strategy and intends to almost triple the business volume during the next five years. For the ongoing fiscal year 2022, the company anticipates a further revenue increase of 10% to 17% on the back of unbroken demand for cycling-related products, despite the uncertain macroeconomic environment. The adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to range between 9% and 10%.

"2021 turned out to be a very successful year, not just because of our IPO. We increased our sales by around 26% and gained additional market share even though the economic environment was tough. We managed this by leveraging our 20 years of industry experience and our long-standing supplier relationships. This enabled us to counteract supply challenges and offer our customers a wide range of products, whereas the shelves were often left empty elsewhere," Andrés Martin-Birner, co-founder and CEO of BIKE24, concludes. "With our web shop relaunch, our consequently pursued international expansion strategy and also our comprehensive brand campaign, launched this spring, I am convinced that we are now in an excellent position to further develop our leading role in Europe's booming bicycle market."

BIKE24 continued to increase the number of active customers in 2021 by 18.2% to 821 k (2020: 694 k), with a correspondingly beneficial effect on top-line performance. At the same time, the number of orders grew by 20.1% to 1.767 million. The e-commerce specialist also recorded an improvement of the average order value to EUR 140 (2020: EUR 136). On average, each active customer placed 2.2 orders per year with BIKE24 (2020: 2.1 orders per year). At 74.8% (2020: 73.0%), as many as three out of four orders came from existing customers, demonstrating the high level of customer satisfaction with BIKE24's offerings.

Profitable growth and strong momentum for parts, accessories and clothing

Accounting for 90% (2020: 91%), parts, accessories, and clothes were the main driver behind the EUR 250.2 million sales. BIKE24 could have sold a much higher number of full-bikes if the supply chains had been intact. As a result of the difficult market conditions, full-bikes thus made up 10% of total revenues in 2021 (2020: 9%). While demand continues to remain at a high level, it is expected that the prevailing energy crisis will enhance it even further, as commuters increasingly decide to switch to bikes. The fact that the availability of e-bikes, for example, has already improved to some extent as of the beginning of 2022 is expected to have positive effects as well.

The DACH-region remains the largest market, with sales up 24.4% to EUR 170.2 million. Once again, BIKE24 recorded particularly rapid growth in Spain, where revenues increased by 137.8% to EUR 4.7 million. Sales in the other European economic areas rose by 31.5% to EUR 54.4 million. Revenues in the rest of the world (including the UK), totaled to EUR 20.9 million, an increase of 9.7% versus the previous year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) fell by EUR 3.7 million year-on-year to EUR 20.3 million (previous year: EUR 24.0 million), mainly due to one-off effects related to the IPO. Adjusted for exceptional items of EUR 10.3 million, which in addition to transaction costs for the IPO also comprise share-based remuneration and bonus payments, adjusted EBITDA rose to EUR 30.6 million, compared with EUR 26.7 million prior-year. This corresponds to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 12.2% (2020 13.4%).

Set-up of the Southern European logistics center is progressing swiftly

With the relaunch of its web shop, BIKE24 successfully passed another milestone in Q4 2021. It features a fresh and modern design and an enhanced shopping experience for customers with new functions, an optimized check-out process as well as advanced search and filter options. Soon after the launch, positive effects in terms of increased retention time, lower bounce rates as well as better SEO performance became apparent. The 360 brand campaign, launched in mid-March as part of BIKE24's marketing professionalization efforts to attract attention on various social media channels, billboards and in print media, has also increased traffic to the web shop noticeably.

The company is consistently pushing ahead with its international expansion, which commenced in summer 2020 with the first localized web shop for the Spanish market. This was followed by the establishment of a subsidiary in Spain in May 2021 and the construction of a new logistics center in the Barcelona area, scheduled to commence operations in H2 2022. Customers in Spain and other Southern European countries will be supplied from this location soon. Furthermore, BIKE24 launched two further country-specific web shops serving France and Italy in early 2022, in line with planning.

Sustainable growth trends remain unbroken

The bicycle industry has already been on the upswing for several years, partly due to growing environmental and health awareness. This positive momentum will probably be further enhanced by the current energy crisis. Also, e-commerce has benefited noticeably from the general shift from offline to online, which has accelerated because of pandemic-related restrictions. Both facts are boosting BIKE24's business model, so that the company expects demand for full-bikes and equipment to remain elevated or even to increase over the next years, along with additional growth of its customer base.

Timm Armbrust, CFO of BIKE24, on the growth strategy: "We expect the high demand for full-bikes and accessories to continue, providing us with strong tailwind going forward. Thus, we are anticipating to almost triple our revenues by 2026, with an annual growth rate of around 25% from 2023 onwards. While our business expansion efforts will weigh slightly on earnings this year, we are planning to return to a double-digit adjusted EBITDA margin between 10 and 12% afterwards."

In 2022, the opening of the logistics center near Barcelona, Spain, will allow for an expansion and enhancement of the supply to customers in Southern Europe. However, the effects of the current geopolitical situation and rising inflation cannot be assessed completely and finally yet. Although shipments to Russia and Belarus have recently been discontinued, management expects a further increase in sales of 10% to 17% for the current year. The number of active customers and orders are expected to grow at a similar level. Further investments in growth initiatives and in personnel will slightly affect this year' s profit. The adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to range at a high level of 9% to 10% for 2022.

The full annual report including the consolidated financial statements can be found here:

https://ir.bike24.com/websites/bike24/English/3000/publications.html

BIKE24's FY 2021 earnings call will take place today at 3:00 pm CEST. The following participation options are available:

Webcast: https://www.c-meeting.com/web3/join/M83CVPWDCR7BJD

Phone: International dial-in by phone available after registration via link.
Unaudited condensed consolidated P&L (adjusted view)

Media contact:
Bettina Fries
E-Mail: [email protected]
+49 172 2976 243

Investor contact:
Moritz Verleger
E-Mail: [email protected]
+49 151 2414 0166

About BIKE24
BIKE24 is one of continental Europe's leading e-commerce bike platforms. The online retailer with a focus on the premium segment is the central contact point for the fast-growing community of bicycle enthusiasts and thus promotes green mobility. Founded in Dresden in 2002 by CEO Andrés Martin-Birner, Falk Herrmann and Lars Witt, responsible for Legal & Own Brands, the company has quickly developed into one of continental Europe's leading companies as well as a globally active online retailer in this fast-growing market. The web shop offers customers 77,000 products from more than 800 brands. This gives BIKE24 the widest range of branded products in the sector in continental Europe. The online bike platform is already present with five local web shops in Germany (bike24.de), Austria (bike24.at), Spain (bike24.es), France (bike24.fr) and Italy (bike24.it) in continental Europe. In addition, the international shop (bike24.com) supplies customers all over the world.