Halfords Lifts First-Half Sales 7.1% and Holds £55m-£65m Profit Guidance

Halfords Group (LON: HFD), the UK motoring and cycling products and services provider, said group like-for-like sales rose 7.1% in the 26 weeks to the 2nd of October. The trading update came ahead of the London open.

The figure supports the FY27 profit upgrade the company announced with its previous update on the 27th of August.

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Retail like-for-like sales grew 7.7%, with cycling up 8.3% and motoring up 7.3%. The Autocentres business grew 6.1% on the same measure, excluding Avayler.

Halfords put the performance down to momentum across the business as it delivers against its strategic priorities, together with strong demand for seasonal categories through the summer months.

Chief Executive Henry Birch linked the result to execution and the summer weather. He 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.”

Henry Birch, Chief Executive, Halfords

Halfords still expects underlying profit before tax of £55m to £65m for the 2027 financial year.

The split between the halves matters. A strong first half, combined with accelerated investment in marketing and technology in the second, means underlying profit will be weighted towards the first half.

The next scheduled update is the interim results on the 26th of November, when the company expects to give more detail on progress.