Halfords improves as sales bounce back

Retailer Halfords saw bike sales continue to bounce back as demand notched up a gear.

The car parts to bicycles chain said like-for-like bike sales rose 1.9% in its fourth quarter to April 1, marking its second quarter of growth in a row.

But a dire performance last summer left like-for-like bike sales 0.9% lower over the full year.

Halfords is still expecting to meet its full-year pre-tax profits expectations for between £78 million and £82 million thanks to robust trading in its car maintenance arm.

The group, which runs 463 Halfords stores, posted a pre-tax profit of £81.1 million last year.

Shares leaped 8% higher on the strong fourth quarter trading.

Recently-hired boss Jill McDonald is spearheading a new turnaround plan to get the retailer’s performance back on track, including a renewed push in the bike sector, with Olympian and Tour de France champion Sir Bradley Wiggins signed up to launch a new children’s range.

Sir Bradley will help design eight bikes as part of his drive to get more children into cycling, with the range due to hit stores in July.

The group is also being boosted by impressive trading at its Autocentre garages.