99 Bikes parent valuation pummeled after lockdown boom
The value of 99 Bikes-owner Pedal Group has almost halved since the peak of cycling mania during the coronavirus pandemic, as an oversupply of bicycles bites.
Brisbane-based Pedal Group also posted a loss in the 2023 financial year of $12.4 million. It had been minting profit in the previous two years as pandemic lockdown orders triggered massive demand for everything from e-bikes to children’s cycles.
99 Bikes has more than 60 stores across Australia.
The shrinking valuation and loss are the latest examples of how investment prospects are changing for unlisted businesses in the post-COVID-19 world, as higher interest rates smash the valuations of technology start-ups and commercial office property.
“It was a pretty tough year,” Pedal Group chairman Matt Turner said. “The thing that … was a bit worse than expected was just how many orders [of inventory] we had coming.”
Pedal Group is unlisted and 47 per cent owned by travel agency Flight Centre, with Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner owning 22 per cent. His son, Matt, owns almost 15 per cent, while remaining shareholders include employees.
The group includes the 62-store 99 Bikes chain, selling gear from $5999 carbon-frame bicycles to $75 helmets, and wholesale business Advance Traders, supplying both 99 Bikes and independent stores. Pedal Group also has small operations in New Zealand and the UK, which are losing money.
Pedal Group is now valued at about $127 million, following a planned issue of equity to staff at $5.18 a share, according to offer documents exclusively obtained by The Australian Financial Review.
That is down from $10.73 a share in November 2021, which indicated a valuation of $252 million. The company is still valued today at more than it
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