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.
Never Miss a Retail Update!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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