Halfords reported strong first-half trading, with like-for-like sales up 7.1%, confirming the profit upgrade it announced in August.
The motoring and cycling retailer said retail like-for-like sales rose 7.7% in the 26 weeks to 2 October, with both its motoring and cycling categories growing strongly, up 7.3% and 8.3% respectively.
Its autocentres business also grew. The company said the performance was supported by momentum across the business and strong demand for seasonal products over the summer.
But despite reiterating its full-year guidance of underlying pre-tax profit between £55m and £65m, it said profit would be weighted towards the first half as it steps up investment in marketing and technology in the second.
The market did not take this well, and shares were down 8% at the time of writing.
Henry Birch, Chief Executive of Halfords, said: “The business continued to perform positively through the first half as we benefited from good execution against our strategic priorities and strong sales of seasonal categories through the warm summer weather. We move into the second half with confidence and look forward to sharing more detail on our progress at our interim results announcement later next month.”