Halfords FY profit falls 38% despite rise in sales

Halford’s Group has reported that full-year profits have fallen by 38.3% to £51.5m in FY23, despite reporting a revenue growth of 15.3% to £1.5bn.

Despite the profit hit, the group reported a like-for-like growth of 2.4% compared to FY22, with all segments positive despite a backdrop of significant declines in Cycling and Consumer Tyres markets, which were down 24% and 14% respectively compared to the pre-covid period. 

Autocentres revenues reached £614m, growing 15.4% compared to FY22 and now represent 38% of group revenues. 

The group said it also reached its underlying profit of £51.5m despite an estimated £95m of year-on-year cost and market headwinds, investment in price to support customers and continued investment in the company’s transformation.

During FY23, Halfords also launched the UK’s first dedicated Motoring Loyalty Club with over 1.7m members at year end. 

For the year ahead, the group expects year-on-year profit growth with a current analyst consensus of £53.3m underlying profit before taxes.  

Graham Stapleton, chief executive officer of Halfords, said: “In a very challenging year, our focus has been on supporting both customers and colleagues through the cost-of-living crisis. Investment in competitive pricing and the value for money offered by our Motoring Loyalty Club, has enabled us to help more people with their motoring needs.

“Over the year we have also made great progress against our strategy, building a bigger needs-based services business, with over three quarters of our revenue now coming from motoring, and almost half from service-related sales. These results have been achieved despite significant inflation and other macroeconomic headwinds and are therefore a clear illustration of the ever-increasing resilience of our business.”

Stapleton continued: “Despite the uncertain consumer backdrop, I am confident that we will see the current momentum continue across the year, as we develop an even more differentiated proposition.”