Halfords profits climb by 72% as cycling demand ramps up

A UK motor and cycling specialist has announced that its profits increased by more than 70 per cent over the past year.

Halfords, which has stores across the UK, reported that its underlying profit before tax rose by 72.3 per cent across this financial year, climbing from £55.9m to £96.3m.

Its revenues also climbed, rising by 13 per cent from £1,292.3m to £1,155.1m during the period.

It said that the figures are due to a boom in demand for cycling products, which saw sales rise by 54.1 per cent across the year.

The company added that it is planning to invest in repricing retail motoring products as consumer spending habits change, and accelerate investment in its transformation plans, which it says will position it for “long term success”.

Graham Stapleton, CEO of Halfords, commented: “We are delighted to have delivered a year of very strong financial and operational progress, especially in light of the extraordinary challenges presented by the pandemic. As ever, I would like to thank our outstanding colleagues across the business for their hard work, professionalism, and dedication.

“It was a year in which Halfords’ transformation into a service-led business was rapidly accelerated, and we were particularly pleased to achieve a record revenue performance in the strategically important area of Motoring services. We have continued to increase our scale and capacity in this area and customers can now receive our services at almost 800 fixed locations, or at home from one of our 143 mobile expert vans.

“We have also continued to lead the transition to an electric vehicle future by investing in training and technology. By the end of the current financial year, we will have trained more than 2,000 of our store and garage colleagues to service electric cars, bikes and scooters.

“Demand for our services remains strong in the new financial year, and our touring categories are currently performing particularly well given the trend towards staycations this summer. In the longer-term, we remain confident in the future prospects for the UK’s motoring and cycling markets and our ability to compete strongly in both.”