Halfords revenue increased by around 13% to £1.29bn
Halfords (LON:HFD) cycling sales continued to soar during lockdowns, in addition to its car services, the company said on Thursday as it revealed its results.
Having been considered as an essential shop, Halfords stayed open during the lockdowns. Its revenue for the year ending in April came to £1.04bn, up by 9.4% compared to the year before.
The firm expects its pre-tax profits after IFRS 16 adjustments to come in above £75m during the current year. This is after its profit before tax for the year gone climbed to £64.5m, an increase of 184%. Underlying earnings grew by 72% to £96.3m.
The firm also put forward a dividend of 9p per share, as it predicts that ongoing travel restrictions will boost demand for its products.
Graham Stapleton, chief executive 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,” Stapleton said.
“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.”
