Tour de France fever boosts Halfords as Britain gets on its bike

CAR parts and leisure retailer Halfords has had an impressive first quarter, largely on the back of a surge in bike sales.

The Redditch-based firm – which also operates in the auto repair market – saw total revenue increase by 7.9 % in the 13 weeks to June 27 (the first quarter of the firm’s full year 2015).

In an interim management statement issued this morning, it revealed retail revenue was up 7.7% and Autocentres by 9.4%.

But the star performer for the group has been bike sales which, on a like-for-like revenue basis, are up 21%.

Premium bike sales actually increased by 35.1% during the quarter.

Matt Davies, chief executive, said: “Halfords continued to drive top-line growth in the quarter, with the cycling category delivering another exceptional performance.

“Our actions resulted in growth across all elements of cycling, reflecting our continued focus in the category, enhanced by favourable weather and increased interest in the Tour de France.

“Against a challenging comparative, car maintenance sales were satisfactory whilst significant levels of clearance in car enhancement in the prior year comparative were negated by our continued success in car cleaning. Our customer-centric approach delivered further growth in travel solutions.
 
“The acquisition of Boardman Bikes and the launch of Car Parts Direct had a negligible effect on the sales performance but are illustrations of our intent to grow our authority in cycling and auto.”