Halfords posts flat sales as consumer outlook remains uncertain

Halfords like-for-like sales remained broadly flat falling 0.1% as compared to a growth of 8.3% at the same time last year.

Like-for-like retail sales fell 0.7% following “the UK’s wettest spring since 1986. The retailer said motoring products proved more resilient than expected while leisure cycling “remained challenging, albeit with a positive reception for our new premium bike ranges, and Performance Cycling continued to outperform”.

The retailer’s autocentres delivered a growth of 0.8% in like-for-like sales as compared to 18.0% growth in H1 FY24.

Halfords said despite the short-term uncertainty in consumer outlook, it’s guidance for the year is unchanged and that it was “prioritising investment where we have high confidence in strong near-term returns”.

Graham Stapleton, chief executive officer, Halfords, said: “While consumers remain cautious in their discretionary spending compounded by uncertainty around the contents of the upcoming Autumn Budget, we have continued to focus on controlling the controllables and I am pleased with our performance in the first half of FY25.

“Our services and B2B-led strategy has supported Halfords’ growth despite two of our core markets remaining significantly below pre-Covid levels, enabling us to absorb more than £130m of inflation since FY20 while maintaining a strong balance sheet. In this environment, we are focused on optimising the existing platform to drive near-term returns, while accelerating our investment in the Fusion concept to position us for growth in the coming years.”