The challenges facing Rapha have been laid bare in its latest financial results, the premium cycling clothing brand posting a £15.6m loss, its eighth year of loss-making in a row. In a move to “demonstrate our commitment to transparency and a realistic valuation”, Rapha’s holding company Carpegna Ltd has also reduced the carrying value of the company by two thirds from £169m to £67m.
In the year to 26 January 2025, Rapha’s turnover dropped to £96m from £110m the year before, contributing to a net loss of £15.6m. It’s the brand’s eighth consecutive year in the red and comes just 12 months after another £19.7m loss. In an unusual move, Rapha invited several journalists to its headquarters to explain its financial predicament and offer more insight into its plans for the future, road.cc among them.
New CEO Fran Millar joined the company in the autumn of 2024, these accounts covering most of the year before she joined and her first four months in charge. As such, Millar is keen to stress everyone at Rapha “knows the things we need to change” and suggested the financial results will “lag behind the huge amount of great work that is already being done to turn the business around”.
With that said, at the meeting Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Michelle Woolaghan communicated news of the impairment, the carrying value of the company reduced by £102m from £169m to £67m, an impairment of around two thirds which Rapha says is now a more “realistic valuation” of where the business is at.
That impairment, while an acknowledgement that things are not what they once were, does not actually change much for Rapha’s day-to-day business and, while the net loss figure of £35m in the past two years is eye-catching, the message from the brand is that it is focusing more on its EBITDA pre-exceptional items, a figure for its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
That’s largely because there is a significant ongoing amortisation figure from when Rapha was sold to RZC Investments in 2017, an investment firm owned by the two heirs to the Walmart fortune Steuart and Tom Walton.
That annual £10m+ amortisation charge will continue to appear in Rapha’s accounts, impacting the net loss/profit for the best part of the next decade, the business’s leadership and financial team preferring to focus on how it is performing on its clothing and cycling performance alone.
While that might be the case, it was a £2.6m loss on EBITDA too in 2024-25, the overall operating loss of the business £17.2m.
CFO Michelle Woolaghan accepted the year had “presented challenges” but suggested the results “reflect our deliberate strategic choices”. Millar’s message was similar, that her leadership is a multi-year strategy to “turn this business around”.
“Our transformation requires short-term reduced profitability to drive longer-term improvement,” Woolaghan told us. “We’ve prioritised quality of earnings over volume, reduced discounting, and increased full-price sales mix – all fundamental to future sustainable profitability. Our customers will start to see the benefit of our investments from now on and we won’t rest until we’re giving them a world-class experience every single time they ride and shop with Rapha.
“Our net profit is significantly lower than our EBITDA, largely due to the amortisation of goodwill and intangible assets from the 2017 transaction. This is an accounting adjustment and does not reflect current performance, nor does it impact our cash flow. As a business we are focused on EBITDA, not net profit, for this reason.”
On the £102m impairment, reducing Rapha’s carrying value by two thirds, the business’s CFO said it reflects “our commitment to transparency and a realistic valuation”.
“We have the balance sheet strength and stakeholder support to execute this multi-year plan with discipline and conviction,” Woolaghan concluded.
Millar, the former Team Sky, Ineos Grenadiers and Belstaff CEO who took the top job at Rapha a year ago, said the business maintained the “full support” of its investors, but accepted there is a need to return to profitability and make changes, suggesting this would focus on “ruthless cost management” rather than cuts.
“I am proud to be leading the change needed and laying the foundations for a new chapter for Rapha,” she said. “We are only one year into a multi-year turnaround, with new leadership and a new business and marketing strategy – we know the things we need to change, the strengths we need to build on, and we are already making bold moves in the right direction.
“What you see in these financial results lags behind the huge amount of great work that is already being done to turn this business around. Everyone at Rapha is united and clear on the path we need to take and we are collectively implementing some tough but important changes that will set us up for success in the coming years.
“Transformation takes time, and we aren’t expecting to see immediate results but the strategic decisions we are taking, including the ones we are announcing today, will enable us to become profitable again as a business and support our vision to use the transformative power of cycling to make a difference to the world.”
Rapha’s new web customers rose from 118,000 in 2023-24 to 126,000 in 2024-25, web customer lifetime spend rising from £600 to £621 too. The aim is to see positive EBITDA by 2027 with profitability in the same period too, the business needing to be self-sufficient despite seemingly enjoying backing from supportive owners, another £15m raised during a funding round earlier in 2025.
It seems likely we’ll see fewer promotional sales and much less heavy discounting from Rapha going forward, the brand clear this is part of its “multi-year transformation plan” to “come off the discounting drug” and concentrate on quality of earnings rather than selling at heavy discounts.
On the product front, focus is going entirely on cycling kit, the lifestyle products no longer a priority and shoe production paused too.
We are also expecting a refresh and boost to the brand’s Brevet range in 2026, something figures admitted was an area Rapha used to excel in but has perhaps lost its way in recent years.
For Millar it is clear the competition Rapha faces in 2025 is a completely different market to when it exploded in popularity in the previous decade, with more brands competing for the custom of riders looking for high-quality cycling kit and willing to pay big price tags.
Reclaiming the market share in the high-end market is a key goal, brands such as Pas Normal Studios and MAAP representing new rivals in an already competitive picture.
Rapha is not alone with its tricky financial situation. Last week we broke the news that Endura had posted a £4.7m loss, the Scottish cycling brand blaming “continuation of challenging market conditions” a year on from its massive £14m loss in 2023-24.
Likewise, in June, Canyon’s Belgium-based holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) — who invested in Canyon at the height of the Covid bike boom and bought over 50 per cent of Canyon Bicycles’ shares at €400 million — said its investment is now worth €261 million, a slump of 43 per cent from the €460 million they were worth in 2023.
“Shaping the next era of cycling on the world stage”
Away from the numbers, Rapha has announced a multi-year partnership with USA Cycling — the hope that the clothing brand can benefit from a potential cycling boom across the Atlantic around the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, in a similar way to the explosion of cycling popularity and the success that followed for Rapha in the UK around the 2012 Games in London.
The announcement comes a fortnight after the end of a seven-year partnership with EF Pro Cycling, Rapha no longer to be worn in the WorldTour after 2025.
Speaking with Millar, the message is clear that the WorldTour door is not necessarily closed forever, just that for now Rapha is happy to explore other disciplines, especially with a US-based Olympics three years away.
Given the Olympic might of the US, it seems almost certain we’ll see cyclists and paracyclists winning medals in Rapha clothing in LA, the four-year partnership starting in 2026 also meaning a renewal of a relationship with Chloé Dygert.
Dygert is no stranger to using her platform, and sometimes her equipment, to express political and personal views. At last month’s World Championships, she raced with a sticker stating ‘I stand for the truth. I stand with Charlie Kirk’ on her bike in the time trial.
Back in 2020, when Canyon-SRAM raced in Rapha’s kit, the clothing brand denounced Dygert’s social media conduct and “wholeheartedly condemned” what Rapha said was her endorsement of racist and transphobic views on social media.
At the time Rapha released a statement saying Dygert’s subsequent apology was “not sufficient”, however new CEO Millar suggested the whole situation could have been dealt with differently and said she would be speaking with the rider ahead of the USA Cycling partnership’s announcement for what was expected to be constructive talks about their relationship in the future.
“Our vision is to make cycling the most important sport in the world by transforming the lives of millions and there is no greater stage for that ambition than when athletes represent their nation,” Millar said.
“This is an intentionally bold move for Rapha, and USA Cycling shares our intention for the partnership to stand for far more than a jersey; it represents a shared dream for the future of the sport.”
The first Rapha + USA Cycling kit will be revealed in January next year with replica kit and a range of merchandise available at the same time too.
30 thoughts on “Rapha slashes valuation by £102m amid £15m loss and eighth straight year in the red, but insists “great work being done” to turn business around”
Could all the white armbands
Could all the white armbands please leve the pool now, your time is up.
??? an epitaph?
??? an epitaph?
I dont know about you, but I
I dont know about you, but I have always seen Rapha as been a bit chavtastic. Nearly every item of cycling clothing I own is Castelli. But I do occasionally buy (if on sale) Assos or Sportful due to knowing the kit is quality and decent looking. Rapha just always looked a bit too hipster or bland. Nothing really inbetween. So much so that I actively avoid it when shopping. Im sure the kit is decent quality and have no reason to suspect otherwise but it just always really turned me off. I cant be the only one of they are getting such big losses.
As I said, I most often buy Castelli. And except for a few jerseys, everything just looks good and functional. Fit for purpose. Maybe thats what most people prefer.
I have to say Castelli, Assos
I have to say Castelli, Assos,and Rapha are all way overpriced but someone has to pay for all that sponsorship!
All three are pretty pricey,
All three are pretty pricey, but Rapha is on another pricing planet.
For example, Assos’s summer jersey costs a salty £135. But Rapha’s equivalent costs £275! From the sublime Swiss quality to the ridiculous Rapha price, it shows that the British brand is out of touch with its value proposition.
I have a lot of Castelli kit
I have a lot of Castelli kit too, reasonable pricés for thé quality. I’ve lot of Rapha kit dating back 8 or 10 years when you could get some good discounts. For me, good quality and styling but today too expensive.
their biggest issue imo was
their biggest issue imo was the quality went out the window, coincidentally Im sure just after 2017, whilst theyve been stacking up price increases ever since.
now youre paying double for something thats only half as good as it used to be.
and its interesting comparing all the other competing brands latest kit releases for AW, who clearly got all got the memo on this years in fashion winter colours, what does Rapha do, release a Froome sunburn tea bag style “high humidity” short sleeve top for £275.
maybe ideal for their Southern Asia customer base, but the northern hempisphere gets the same old stuff theyve been pushing for years, its just not that interesting anymore.
and they come out with stuff like their EF Education mash up as a farewell jersey, like anyone wants that, as opposed to the actual archive of kits they could have released again, as a ltd edn remake and made more money with..
stonojnr wrote:
now youre paying double for something thats only half as good as it used to be.— stonojnr
Indeed. Rapha can’t continue to increase prices while decreasing quality. Plus, prices have become stratospheric, yet we’ve a cost-of-living crisis, reducing Rapha’s customer base.
In addition, PNS and others (MAAP, SYN, etc.) have usurped Rapha’s brand positioning. What is Rapha’s marketing strategy for outmanoeuvring the Copenhagen brand?
stonojnr wrote:
Wouldn’t have thought they’d be the target market for a cycling brand anyway – more likely to be interested in skate gear.
I’d like to blame autocorrect
I’d like to blame autocorrect, but no im just rubbish at spelling
I’ve got this black box, you
I’ve got this black box, you turn the handle and it burns tens of millions of pounds. It’s been doing this consistently for the last 8 years. The box is worth £70 million.
Yup, I don’t understand business!
CFO Michelle Woolaghan wrote:
Translation: Walmart paid waaaaay too much for Rapha back in 2017, and we’ve finally had the balls to write half that cost off as a massive loss.
Chloé Dygert? Gross. Get bent
Chloé Dygert? Gross. Get bent, Rapha.
Surely the impairment will
Surely the impairment will affect cash flow, as it will make it harder or more expensive for Rapha to borrow money against their market value and carry out the kind of investment the brand needs ?
Fran may only have been in the job for 4months of the latest figures, but you cant say the business has exactly turned itself around in the last 10months, which wouldnt give anyone confidence the numbers are going to suddenly go positive.
The impairment is done by its
The impairment is done by its parent company, its reducing the value of rapha on its balance sheet.
Rapha’s borrowing power itself wouldn’t have been based on this valuation, it would be based on future cashflow and risk.
But hasnt that risk now
But hasnt that risk now increased, because if they default on a loan, the company is worth alot less than it was?
It doesn’t seem like a no consequence thing you’d want to do to your business, unless maybe you were hoping lower valuation allows for someone to take it off your hands
Well the hand ringing and
Well the hand ringing and veiled support for Dygert aged well in this thread, didn’t it? https://road.cc/content/news/chloe-dygert-apology-not-sufficient-says-rapha-279093
Turns out she’s also a C Kirk supporter as well as being obviously pretty far right.
She can’t help herself, just a matter of time until the next controversy.
Rapha can do one.
On what basis is she “far
On what basis is she “far right”?
Supporting a fascist.
Supporting a fascist.
open_roads wrote:
Apart from, as Chougher points out, supporting people from the far right she’s re-tweeted and liked some pretty dodgy stuff, e.g. Colin Kaepernick (sp?) Only “grew an Afro and started playing the victim” so that he could “scam the black community out of millions”. Besides which, most political analysts seem to agree that the Trump administration is by any reasonable definition far right and she is an ardent supporter of him/them, so…
Rendel Harris wrote:
They may be far right, and may *think* they’re for right…
(Apologies, we all seem to be on the typo/autocorrect pedantry today…)
chrisonabike wrote:
Picking up on spelling errors isn’t pedantry.
Proof me wrong.
chrisonabike wrote:
As somebody almost said, my post right or wrong, when right to be kept right, when wrong to be put right, corrections always welcome!
I like my Rapha stuff but I
I like my Rapha stuff but I’ve been trying some other stuff like le col recently.
Whilst it’s fair enough to reduce discounting as it’s not good for the business, there’s a reason it needs to be done as their pricing is going too high, focusing on limited edition and super expensive options rather than good quality stuff all.
stopping the casual wear seems mad, it’s an easy way of spreading awareness of the brand and has a high margin as design effort is minimal. This is also likely suffering due to pricing – a t shirt or hoodie is beyond the level even the biggest fan would pay.
finally it may be me but the colour palette has been poor – far too many muted greys and browns. I’m still hoping for a bright orange in the new brevet range.
Miserable looking models
Miserable looking models trying to sell bizarre dull colour pallets do not speak to the vast majority of customers who purchased the kit back when Rapha was the best. Back in the day it was battle hardened rugged looking riders young and old off on great adventures through the alps, inspirational cinematic videos, and kit linked to pro cycling history, Andy Hampsten Gavia, Pantani, Coppi, Tom Simpson, Colombia Calling special edition collections. I could not get enough of it. It has lost everthing that made it special. RIP Rapha.
Crikey. Haven’t checked their
Crikey. Haven’t checked their offering in years (kids) but just checked their newest stuff and barely a drop of neon pink to be found. What happened?
In fairness it seems no more over priced than it ever was, and the stuff I have has lasted well, but whereas they used to have a bit of a corner on the trendy-but-technical market, they are far from alone in that field now and they’re probably neither the coolest or the best quality.
Billington wrote:
How about £300 for a jersey?
https://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/product/mens-classic-seamless-jersey/CGB01XXMUL
Not forgetting the world’s
Not forgetting the world’s best leather cycling mitts. They cost way more than I could afford but severed me well, sadly they have long since gone to the great monochrome mountain road in the sky
jaymack wrote:
Sounds kind of painful to be honest…
How are they still a going
How are they still a going concern?