Full year profits upgrade for Redditch headquartered Halfords Group as sales and profits surge
Halfords Group, the Redditch based motoring and cycling products and services retailer, has upgraded its full year profits to £80M-£90M after seeing strong revenue growth of 19.2 per cent on the previous year and a growing market share in retail motoring and autocentres, where revenues were up 7.7 per cent and a massive 88.8 per cent respectively. Revenues in its cycling offer grew 8.8 per cent, despite major disruptions in its supply chain.
Underlying profit before tax is £57.9 million, up 91 per cent on the previous year and the outlook is positive for next year, the company said.
Graham Stapleton, Chief Executive Officer, said:"We are delighted to have delivered a strong H1 performance, driven by market share gains in Motoring products, Garages and our mobile services business, which now account for more than two thirds of our revenue. We also continued to see a significant contribution from areas of strategic focus, with revenue from Group Services, Online and B2B, all growing by more than 75% on a two-year basis. In cycling, demand levels remain good, and we are pleased with the current availability of kids bikes and e-bikes as we head into the Christmas trading period. We have carried good sales momentum into H2 across our business, supported by the easing of supply chain disruption. This has enabled us to increase our FY22 underlying profit before tax guidance to between £80m and £90m.
"We are seeing significant growth in the number of customers choosing electric forms of transport, and we continue to have a market-leading position in the servicing and repair of electric vehicles. Sales of e-bikes, e-scooters and accessories grew by more than 140% on two years ago, and servicing for electric cars in our garages was up 120% year-on-year. We have already invested in the training of more than 1,300 electric technicians and are on track to train 2,000 by the end of FY22, equating to more than two per store or garage. This number will double next year."
"There is good momentum in our existing business, the strategically important area of Motoring Services continues to grow strongly, and our recent acquisitions are all performing well. As a result, despite the challenging trading environment, I am very excited about our future growth prospects."
