Halfords and Dunelm report strong Christmas sales uplifts

Halfords recorded an 11.5% rise in group sales in the 13 weeks to January 1, comprising uplifts of 7.7% and 30.5% across its retail and autocentre divisions respectively.

On a like-for-like basis, sales were up 9.8% across the retailer’s retail division, driven by a 35.4% jump in cycling sales as demand for adult mechanical bikes, as well as e-bikes and e-scooters, offset “global container shortages and port congestion impacting availability”.

Halfords’ performance cycling business Tredz posted a 51.2% rise in like-for-like sales during its third quarter, while the retailer’s autocentres delivered like-for-like sales growth of 21.1%.

Motoring sales declined 8.4% on a like-for-like basis during the period, which Halfords hailed as resilient performance against the backdrop of UK traffic volumes being down 25% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Halfords said latest lockdown measures meant it was not “appropriate” to provide full-year guidance at this time and it was reviewing its “position with respect to business rates relief and the coronavirus job retention scheme”, but it would update the market on both counts in March.

Chief executive Graham Stapleton said: “We are pleased to have delivered a strong performance under hugely challenging circumstances, including our best ever Christmas week. Despite a large reduction in traffic on the roads, our strategically important Autocentres business saw significant growth, with particularly strong demand for the services of our growing fleet of Halfords Mobile Expert vans.

“We are currently carrying out over half-a-million services and repair jobs on cars and bikes each month, and therefore continue to play an essential role in keeping the UK moving during this pandemic.”

Dunelm’s total sales rose 11.8% to £360.4m in the 13 weeks to December 26, up 10.8% on a like-for-like basis.

The homeware retailer’s online revenue accounted for 40% of overall sales during the period, nearly double the 21% it accounted for during the same period the previous year.

Dunelm has been impacted by store closures due to local and national lockdowns during the period, but said that when stores were open it “performed significantly ahead of the market [as] consumer demand for homewares remained buoyant”.

Click and collect was also a strong driver of sales, and accounted for approximately 30% of comparable sales during periods of closure in the quarter.

Dunelm’s gross margin increased 10 basis points year on year “as lower discounts earlier in the quarter and sourcing gains were offset by lower seasonal sell-through as a result of store closures later in the quarter”.

The retailer said it expects gross margin to be flat year on year provided that store closure restrictions do not extend beyond the current financial quarter.

Dunelm’s 174 stores are closed due to non-essential retail regulations and it said current restrictions and lack of clarity around when they would be lifted meant it was not able to provide full-year guidance at this time. 

Chief executive Nick Wilkinson said: “Our strong performance continued into the second quarter, whilst we adapted to the various restrictions and resulting store closures across our estate.

“Beyond this near term uncertainty, we’ve never felt more confident about the future. Our scalable proposition combines an in-store and digital offer which, with agile technology, we will continue to develop at pace. As our homes play an increasingly important role for all of us, we are well placed to build even closer relationships with our customers and extend our market leadership.”