Digest: Triumph Motorcycles' great escape from losses

Steve McQueen with his Triumph at a race in Germany in 1964 (Dieter Demme)

Triumph Motorcycles’ great escape from losses

Triumph Motorcycles has swung back into the black despite a fall in sales, after cutting out some overseas wholesale merchants.

The British bike maker, which is owned by the Derbyshire-based billionaire John Bloor, recorded a £10.1m pre-tax profit in the year to last June, according to accounts filed at Companies House. It lost £12.3m before tax in the year before.

Triumph sold 51,400 motorcycles, down from 57,900 — although it made higher margins after launching new models and reducing the amount of stock sent to wholesalers. Triumph said it expected the market for bikes to “remain challenging” but that it is planning to launch new models and poised to expand into Thailand.

Triumph was founded as a bicycle maker in Coventry in 1887, launching its first motorcycle in 1902.

Bloor, 72, has made most of his fortune in housing. He bought Triumph out of liquidation

Digest: Triumph Motorcycles" great escape from losses