Soggy summer bogs down Halfords
CYCLING, leisure and car maintenance retailer, Halfords has seen revenue rise for its latest quarter, despite bad weather impacting footfall at its stores.
For the 13-week period to July 1, 2016, total group revenue was up more than 2% with the retail arm of the business seeing growth of 1.5% compared with the corresponding period last year.
However, the star performer was again the car maintenance operation, which was up almost 6% for the quarter.
Nevertheless, like-for-like revenue was down 0.6% and the retail operation as a whole down 1.2%. Cycling was the hardest hit, with revenues down 4%.
Car maintenance, led by bulbs, wipers and batteries, was up, as was the Autocentres vehicle servicing operation, which saw its 11th successive quarter of growth. Travel Solutions saw double digit growth in child safety seats.
Jill McDonald, chief executive of the Redditch-based business, said: “This was a solid performance from our motoring categories, which account for around 70% of group sales, with continued growth in service-related sales, demonstrating Halfords’ credentials as a specialist retailer.
“In Autocentres our sales continued to grow through improvements in the customer offer. We had good sales growth of premium bikes but Cycling sales across the quarter were impacted by both the timing of Easter and poor weather, particularly in April.”
The company is hoping for a strong summer cycling season, buoyed by British Olympic and Tour de France success.
On Brexit, Ms McDonald said: “While the recent decision to leave the EU does create uncertainty, we are well-positioned as a business and focused on delivering sustainable long-term growth.”
