Brompton’s profit plunges to less than the price of a single high-end bike

Brompton Bicycle’s profit before tax plunges below the cost of its top-end folding bike amid a 5% dip in sales, rising costs, and industry-wide challenges. Learn how the British bike maker is responding with premium models and expansion plans. Read more: Brompton’s profit plunges to less than the price of a single high-end bike

Jan 3, 2025 - 22:00

Brompton’s profit plunges to less than the price of a single high-end bike

Brompton Bicycle’s profit before tax plunges below the cost of its top-end folding bike amid a 5% dip in sales, rising costs, and industry-wide challenges. Learn how the British bike maker is responding with premium models and expansion plans.

Brompton Bicycle has warned of another difficult year ahead after its profit before tax slumped to just £4,602 in the 12 months to the end of March — a staggering fall from the £10.7 million it made the previous year.

The company now finds itself recording a total profit smaller than the retail price of its premium T Line Explore 12 Speed foldable, listed at £4,749 on its website.

Annual sales also took a hit, slipping by 5.3 per cent to £122.6 million. Brompton sold 84,899 bikes in 2024, down from 91,875 the year before, a decline it attributed to ongoing global economic uncertainty, inflated inventories across the cycling industry, and higher staffing and marketing outlays.

Despite the tough conditions, Brompton emphasised that exports accounted for 80 per cent of its turnover, up from 74 per cent in 2023. It also reported a significant swing towards its higher-margin T Line and P Line models, which helped offset some of the lost revenue from fewer total sales.

In early 2024, Brompton raised £19 million from BGF, securing about 8 per cent of the company for the fund and valuing the business at £200 million, including the new investment. The extra capital was intended to support growth and the planned relocation from its current Greenford facility in west London to a new, elevated factory in Kent, initially slated to open in 2027. Planning setbacks have delayed those ambitions, although the company says the new site will help regenerate local wetlands and encourage more cycling and walking in Ashford.

Brompton reached a milestone last November by producing its one-millionth bike. Founded by Andrew Ritchie in 1975 while overlooking London’s Brompton Oratory, the firm joins other British bicycle brands grappling with tougher trading conditions after the pandemic boom subsided, with notable collapses in the sector including Mercian and Orange Mountain Bikes.