Halfords’ customers remain cautious ahead of autumn Budget
Halfords has posted a small drop in sales in the six months to 27 September as its customers remain cautious about spending ahead of the autumn Budget.
In a trading update, the retailer said group like-for-like sales dipped by 0.1% against strong prior year comparatives when there was growth of 8.3%.
Like-for-like sales at Halfords’ autocentres business edged up 0.8% in the period following strong growth in the services, maintenance and repair categories. However, trading in the tyres category was less buoyant as price-conscious customers downgraded to budget ranges.
Meanwhile, retail sales declined by 0.7% after motoring products proved more resilient than expected and trading in the leisure cycling category remained challenging following the UK’s wettest spring since 1986.
Graham Stapleton, chief executive of Halfords, said: “While consumers remain cautious in their discretionary spending compounded by uncertainty around the contents of the upcoming autumn Budget, we have continued to focus on controlling the controllables and I am pleased with our performance in the first half of FY25.
“Our services and B2B-led strategy has supported Halfords’ growth despite two of our core markets remaining significantly below pre-Covid levels, enabling us to absorb more than £130 million of inflation since FY20 while maintaining a strong balance sheet.”
Halfords said its short-term outlook remains uncertain, particularly for big ticket, discretionary purchases, although its outlook for the full year is unchanged.
Stapleton added: “In this environment, we are focused on optimising the existing platform to drive near-term returns, while accelerating our investment in the Fusion concept to position us for growth in the coming years.”
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