Cycle path the right one for Halfords

LEISURE products retailer and auto repair centre operator Halfords Group has seen a hike in revenues with the cycling element of its business being the star performer.

In an interim management statement covering the 13 week period to June 28, the Redditch firm revealed total revenue was up by 8.8%.

In like-for-like terms retail was up by 8.8% with cycling up 15.5% and car maintenance up 11.8%.

Halfords’ autocentres business saw revenue decrease by 0.0% in like-for like terms but in overall terms sales were up by 7.8% with seven centres opened in the period.

Halfords said all parts of it cycling operations were up on the year with cycle repair increasing 32.1%.

Online retail revenues were up by 15.5% with cycling making up more than half of that.

Chief executive Matt Davies said: “Our retail performance reflected better trading execution in areas of opportunity whilst we were up against a weak comparative period.

“Autocentres like for like sales reflected an adverse fleet performance but we continued to expand our network as planned. 

“We are in the early stages of our Getting Into Gear 2016 plan as outlined on 23 May 2013, designed to significantly improve our retail customer experience through the friendly expertise of our colleagues and step changes in our store and online environment.

“Our focus is on delivering this plan over the medium term to drive sustainable and profitable revenue growth.”