Halfords half year LFL sales jump 4.1%

Halfords has revealed that its like-for-like group sales rose 4.1% for the half year ended 26 September 2025.

Alongside this, the company saw its retail sales grow 4% LFL while its autocentres sales grew 4.3% LFL.

As a result of this positive momentum the company revealed that its full year outlook remained unchanged and it remained comfortable consensus expectations for a pre-tax profit of between £36m and £39.8m.

Furthermore, the company stated that it had seen gross margin expansion year-on-year, building on the strong result delivered in FY25, partly driven by planned cost savings to help mitigate inflationary pressures.

It also stated that it had strong cash generation and disciplined stock management further strengthening the balance sheet from the net cash position reported at FY25.

Halfords confirmed its interim results will be published on 27 November and be accompanied by a more detailed group strategy update.

Chief executive Henry Birch said: “I am very pleased with our progress in the first half of FY26 and want to thank all our colleagues for their efforts in delivering this performance. I am looking forward to sharing our plans for the future at our interim results announcement next month.”

Halfords most recently saw its underlying profit before tax rise 6.4% to £38.4m for the year ended 28 March 2025, above the previously guided £32m to £37m range.

Alongside this, its group sales rose 2.5% on a like-for-like basis while its overall revenues inched up 0.1% to £1.72bn.

However, the company did post a reported loss of £30m primarily due to a non-cash goodwill impairment driven by the impact on discount rates of an increase in UK gilt yields over the last 12 months, as applied to revised forecasts which incorporate changes to National Insurance and minimum wage rates through the forecast period.