Halfords HY profits jump 3.3% to £19.3m

Halfords has revealed that it posted profit before tax of £19.3m for the 26 weeks ended 29 September, up 3.3% from the £18.7m it posted in the same period last year.

Overall, Halfords saw its revenue jump 13.9% from £767.1m in the first half of last year to £873.5m in the first half of the current year.

Its retail business was responsible for £516.6m of this revenue, up from £500.5m last year.

The company’s autocentre business also saw a 33.9% increase in revenue from £266.6m last year to £356.9m this year.

Furthermore, the company saw its B2B sales grow 37% in the period and B2B now represents a third of the group’s revenue.

Alongside this, the company posted an underlying profit before tax of £21.3m, an increase of 15.8% on the £18.4m it posted last year.

Moreover, the retailer’s underlying EBITDA for the period was £90.9m, up from £81.4m, an increase of 11.7%.

Halford’s believes that its full-year underlying profit before tax will fall between £48m and £53m.

Graham Stapleton, CEO, said: “Despite the challenging and volatile trading environment and slower than expected recovery in some of our markets, we have made a good start to the year, with substantial sales and profit growth, and increased market share across the business. At the same time, we supported our customers through the ongoing cost of living crisis by delivering great value – when they needed it most.

“In the face of continuing economic uncertainty, we remain fully focused on optimising every element of the business, and I’m particularly pleased with the very strong performance of Autocentres, where we are delivering significantly improved returns. In light of this, we are accelerating capital investment in the garage services operating model and customer experience in ten towns in the balance of this financial year.”