Everybody loves to hate the big guys.

• Techies hate Microsoft… Long live Linux
• Small business owners hate Walmart… Long live Bob’s Grocery
• and a lot of riders hate Shimano… Long live… SRAM?

Good news for the haters amoung us:

After cutting its first-half and full-year profit forecasts, Shimano’s shares fell 6.7 percent. This is the biggest drop since 2001.

The Japanese company reported a decline in first-quarter net income on weaker sales of biking equipment, said a report from Bloomberg. Shimano’s shares trade on the Osaka stock exhange.

In its annual report for 2004, released last week, Shimano president Yozo Shimano said 2004 results showed the company had performed well, recording its highest ever sales.

Net income grew by 59 percent in 2004.

But demand for this year looks to be slowing, forcing Shimano to cut its profit forecasts, from $99m to $86m. The company cited sluggish demand in Asia.

Bloomberg reports that Shimano also lowered its full-year profit forecast by 6.4 percent.

Taken from BikeBiz.com