Britain's love affair with cycling and Tour de France boost drives first quarter sales for Halfords
The buzz around the Tour de France and Britain’s love affair with cycling has boosted first quarter sales for Halfords.
The car-parts to cycle retailer which owns the Boardman Bike brand saw a 21.3 per cent rise in cycle sales and 25.1 per cent rise in premium bikes costing more than £1,000.
Chief executive Matt Davies expects sales to soar over the summer buoyed by the Commonwealth Games with shoppers using videos of products online to make their orders over the web.
Cycle boost: Interest in the Tour de France, which this year saw its first three stages take place in Britain, has helped drive sales of bicycles.
Overall underlying sales for retail increased 7.9 per cent with Halfords Autocentres seeing a 4.3 per cent increase.
Davies said better promotions and partnerships with suppliers were behind the strong performance in cycling.
‘Our actions resulted in growth across all elements of cycling reflecting our continued focus in the category enhanced by favourable weather and increased interest in the Tour de France,’ he said.
Kate Calvert, an analyst at broker Investec said: ‘Halfords’ first quarter statement is ahead of expectations, with encouragingly positive underlying growth achieved in all categories.
‘Whilst cycling is still expected to be a major growth driver, we expect the Car category to also benefit from range enhancements.’
Halfords shares fell 13.7p to 478.2p in morning trade.
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