Shares in Halfords (LON:HFD) rose over 19% on Wednesday after the group announced sales that exceed the firm’s own expectations.
Sales for the four weeks to 1st May were 23% lower than in the same period last year on a like-for-like basis, beating company estimates.
The stronger than expected performance meant the company said it now expected profit to be towards the upper end of their previously guide £50-55m profit before tax.
The strength was seen in the company’s cycling business as key worker commuters changed their travel arrangements through the coronavirus pandemic.
Cycling has been a big theme for Halfords in 2020 as they actioned plans to close Cycle Republic and focus on their online business Tredz and the core in-store Halfords offering.
Graham Stapleton, CEO of Halfords, commented on the update:
“The health and safety of our colleagues and our customers remains our top priority. I am immensely proud of all our colleagues for their continued hard work and dedication to help keep the country moving.
“There may be less journeys now but those that are undertaken are even more important. As the UK’s largest provider of motoring and cycling products and services, we take our responsibility to keep the country moving seriously. We remain focused on providing essential services during lockdown, supporting key workers, including serving over 21,000 NHS front line workers so far, as well as the wider population who need to travel. Cycling has provided commuters with an important alternative to public transport and consequently we have seen significant growth within our Cycle2Work programme, cementing our position as the market-leading business in this segment.”
“Whilst trading since our last update at the end of March has been better than anticipated, driven by a strong performance in cycling, considerable uncertainty remains and as such we continue to take all necessary measures to preserve cash and protect our financial position. I am confident the actions we are taking now will put the business in a strong position when we emerge from the crisis and enable us to continue to deliver on our strategic transformation in the medium term”.