The cold and wet weather didn’t deter Britain’s cyclists, with strong bike sales helping to boost winter trading at Halfords PLC (LON:HFD).
The retailer saw total revenues rise 3.2% in the 15 weeks to 12 January compared to the same period last year.
READ: Halfords upgraded by Deutsche, as foreign exchange headwinds ease
Within that, sales of bikes and cycling accessories jumped 7.8% despite buyers having to shell out more for models made overseas on the back of the weaker pound.
Even with the price inflation, Halfords said it managed to sell more bikes, with volumes “up marginally year-on-year”.
Sales of sat navs weren’t nearly as strong – down 4.1% as more and more people either use their smartphone or built-in GPS system to guide them on their journeys.
Record Black Friday
“We are pleased with the overall performance of the Group in the 15 week period given the difficult UK retail environment,” said chief financial officer Jonny Mason.
“We achieved record sales for Black Friday and Christmas thanks to great planning and execution and compelling product and service offers.
“Particular highlights included the growth in fitting services for car parts, cycle repair and increased sales of bikes, electric bikes and dash cams.”
Subdued UK retail environment expected
Despite the strong trade over the winter months, Halfords expect the UK retail environment to “remain subdued” for the rest of its financial year at least.
The FTSE 250 company said its FX mitigation plans remain on track and that it expects full-year profits before tax to be “broadly in line with current market expectations”.
Analysts are excepting Halfords to deliver a pre-tax profit of around £73.9mln, according to FactSet.
Halfords share were 0.5% lower in early trading at 349.8p.