Yamaha collapse in the first half of the year. Despite Jorge Lorenzo's excellent performances in MotoGP, the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer does not raise its sales and accuses a net profit halved versus a year earlier to 14,5 billion yen (145 million euros) and operating profit down 49,9% to 20,8 billion on revenues down 4,7% to 632,2 billion yen. This was communicated by Yamaha itself, which reduced the 1.200 turnover target to 2012 billion yen, from the 1.400 billion initially envisaged, and to 34 billion that of operating profit, compared to the previous 47 billion.
Instead, the expectations of a net profit of 17 billion were confirmed (-37% compared to 2011). Yamaha attributed the decline in results to declines in motorcycle sales in Asia, Central and South America and Europe and charges of 32,6 billion yen linked to the appreciation of the yen which led to a 4,7% decline in sales. By the end of the year, Yamaha expects a climate "still extremely difficult with a yen exchange rate that will remain high, a continuing economic crisis in Europe and a gradually decreasing growth rate in emerging markets".
