Member Article

Halfords revenues boosted by summer of sport

The Tour de France and the Olympic Games boosted cycling retail sales for Halfords, according to its interim statement.

Halfords Group posted a 14.7% rise in quarter two for its bike revenues, and put this down to sporting events over the summer, and an improvement in the weather.

The second quarter was particularly successful for the car and leisure business, with total revenue rises of 6.2%, and nearly a 20% increase in autocentre revenues.

The company’s autocentres carry out MOTs and car maintenance, and Halfords enjoyed the strongest performance in this unit since February 2010 when it was acquired.

Dennis Millard, Chairman, commented: “We continued to be encouraged by the performance of Autocentres. Our second-half planning assumptions, however, remain cautious given the prevailing pressures on the consumer as we approach the important winter and Christmas trading periods.

“By continuing to build on our service ethic and investing further in training and support for our colleagues, we aim to improve the quality of service for our Retail customers and thus drive sustainable medium-term growth.

“The management team continues to focus on active trading, cash generation, prudent cost management and executing against material opportunities to drive long-term value.”

Mr Millard also reported a recent recruitment drive to employ 450 new staff, and a new training initiative which aimed to grow sales in the firm’s “wefit solutions” retail section.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .