The electric motorbike market is beginning to take off and ASX-listed scooter maker Vmoto is seeing benefits.
Vmoto (ASX:VMT) revenue was up 11 per cent last year to $8.7 million. Factoring in the cost of sales, profit rose to $1.4 million, up 36 per cent on the previous year.
The improved financials come at a crucial time for Vmoto, with the electric two-wheeler market picking up speed.
The latest edition of the International Energy Agency‘s Global Electric Vehicle Outlook estimates that 2017 sales of electric two-wheelers reached 30 million, taking stock levels to 250 million.
The bulk of those — more than 99 per cent — come from China.
Earlier this year Vmoto’s sales fell 82 per cent after it sold its holding in Shanghai Jiye in December. The company is still earning revenue from China however, after leasing its Nanjing facility to Super Soco for rent of about $160,000 a year.
Electric two-wheelers are expected to undergo significant growth thanks to increased adoption in Europe, according to the Global EV Report.
Almost 40 per cent of two-wheeler sales are expected to be electric by 2030.
That’s also good news for ASX-listed battery maker Ultracharge (ASX:UTR) which recently inked a deal to supply its lithium-ion batteries to electric scooter maker Blitz Electric Motors.
(It’s also news that will please ASX miners producing battery metals and electric motor materials such as lithium, cobalt and graphite).
While Vmoto’s year-on-year sales took an 85 per cent hit thanks to exiting the Shanghai Jiye to “focus on selling higher margin, higher value electric two-wheel vehicle products into western international markets”, sales did pick up on the March quarter, rising from 2,159 to 2,862.
During the quarter Vmoto also signed a number of international distribution agreements in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Scandinavia, Mauritius and Mexico, as well as ramping up its marketing efforts.
Vmoto has been asked for comment.
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Full-year loss for the company was $767,000, a 33 per cent improvement on the prior year, and they had $4.9m in the bank, well up on the $2.7m it had at the end of 2017.
Shares in the company rose 5 per cent to an intraday high of 5.8c before falling back to 5.5c.