Sales jump at Halfords on bike lift
THE boom in commuter cycling and stay-at-home holidaymakers yesterday boosted Halfords as it reported sales growth for the successive quarter.
The bike, camping products and car maintenance retailer yesterday reported sales rose by 3.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to last Friday. And like-for-like sales made a 2.2 per cent jump, up from a rise of 1.3 per cent in the first quarter.
Chief executive David Wild said: “While we remain cautious about the macro-economic environment in the balance of the year, we have a solid foundation from which we are very well positioned to deliver further profit growth in the second half and sustainable increases in earnings over the longer-term.”
Halfords, which currently sells one in three bikes in the UK, said that it was confident it would be able to deliver half-year pre-tax profits of between £59m and £61m as more consumers bought bikes and tents.
Charles Stanley analyst Sam Hart said: “Halfords has been amongst the most resilient retailers in the current consumer downturn and we expect it to remain so. It has market leading positions in each category, exposure to a number of structural growth markets and a sustainable balance sheet.”
The group’s shares lifted yesterday by seven per cent to 390p.