Sales flat at Halfords as consumers sit on their hands before budget

Like-for-like sales at motoring and cycle retailer Halfords remained flat for the half year to September 27 as consumers reigned in their discretionary spend ahead of the budget.

The Redditch-based national retailer said: "Despite pockets of improving consumer sentiment, the short-term outlook remains uncertain, particularly for big ticket, discretionary purchases. Our outlook for FY25 is unchanged."

Group like-for-like sales were broadly flat (-0.1%) versus strong prior year comparatives (H1 FY24: +8.3%).

Graham Stapleton, Chief Executive Officer of Halfords, said: “While consumers remain cautious in their discretionary spending compounded by uncertainty around the contents of the upcoming Autumn Budget, we have continued to focus on controlling the controllables and I am pleased with our performance in the first half of FY25.

"Our services and B2B-led strategy has supported Halfords’ growth despite two of our core markets remaining significantly below pre-Covid levels, enabling us to absorb more than £130 million of inflation since FY20 while maintaining a strong balance sheet.

"In this environment we are focused on optimising the existing platform to drive near-term returns, while accelerating our investment in the Fusion concept to position us for growth in the coming years.”

Halford's Project ‘Fusion’ is being rolled out on 25 towns. Project Fusion is an initiative the business launched last year to improve the customer experience.

Initially trialled in Colchester and Halifax, it has invested in the in-store and in-garage experience, improved the layout and design of the stores and enhanced the ways in which the business operates in a town, such as fulfilling service jobs at the most cost-effective location.