Halfords targets EV market as profits soar

Halfords, the provider of motoring and cycling products and services, has posted impressive full-year preliminary results this morning (June 17).

The firm’s profits have risen more by more than £40m to £96.3m after it grabbed larger slices of market share on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Revenues also climbed, by 13% to almost £1.3bn.

Graham Stapleton, chief executive officer, said: “We are delighted to have delivered a year of very strong financial and operational progress, especially in light of the extraordinary challenges presented by the pandemic. As ever, I would like to thank our outstanding colleagues across the business for their hard work, professionalism, and dedication.

“It was a year in which Halfords’ transformation into a service-led business was rapidly accelerated, and we were particularly pleased to achieve a record revenue performance in the strategically important area of Motoring services. We have continued to increase our scale and capacity in this area and customers can now receive our services at almost 800 fixed locations, or at home from one of our 143 mobile expert vans.

“We have also continued to lead the transition to an electric vehicle future by investing in training and technology. By the end of the current financial year, we will have trained more than 2,000 of our store and garage colleagues to service electric cars, bikes and scooters.

“Demand for our services remains strong in the new financial year, and our touring categories are currently performing particularly well given the trend towards staycations this summer. In the longer-term, we remain confident in the future prospects for the UK’s motoring and cycling markets and our ability to compete strongly in both.”