Halfords lifts FY profit expectations, shares surge
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 28 Jan 2025
(Sharecast News) - Halfords surged on Tuesday as it lifted its full-year profit expectations, having traded well over the peak period.
The company said like-for-like sales growth in the third quarter was positive in both Retail and Autocentres.
It said Retail traded well over the peak period as its product and promotional proposition "resonated well" with customers, mainly in Cycling, where Christmas gifting contributed to LFL sales growth of 13.1% in December.
Meanwhile, Autocentres saw a strong performance in the more profitable and strategically important Services, Maintenance and Repair (SMR) market, where LFL sales growth in consumer garages reached 10.3% in Q3.
Halfords said current trading has benefitted from the colder weather in more recent weeks, with Motoring Product delivering LFL sales growth of 5.5% this month.
"In the interim results announcement published in November we noted ongoing market volatility through the first half of FY25 and indicated that we expected this to continue through the second half of the year," it said.
"In recent months we have seen an improvement in trading alongside continued progress on a number of key initiatives, including our pricing and promotion strategies and cost reduction measures. Cumulatively, these factors lead us to expect FY25 underlying profit before tax of £32m to £37m."
In its interim results in November, Halfords had said it was "comfortable" with FY25 consensus, which was for underlying pre-tax profit of £28.3m.
At 0830 GMT, the shares were up 18.4% at 149.20.
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