// Halfords reports underlying pre-tax profits of £29 million for the six months to September 30, down from £57.9 million a year ago
// The retailer is also launching a recruitment drive to fill 1,000 new automotive technician roles and will see it prioritise over-50s, women and disadvantaged young people for the roles
Halfords has seen its interim profits halve as under-pressure consumers cut back on non-essential spending amid the rising cost of living but the retailer revealed it is recruiting 1,000 technicians to boost its successful car servicing offer.
The car parts and bicycle retailer reported underlying pre-tax profits of £29 million for the six months to September 30, down from £57.9 million a year ago, with the previous year’s results boosted by £9.2 million of business rates relief.
Revenues increased by 10.2% to £765.7 million over the first half but retail like-for-like sales were 6% lower year-on-year as Brits rein in spending on bikes, where sales plunged 12.5% as it came up against strong trading the previous year.
Subscribe to Retail Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest news straight into your inbox each morning
The cycling specialist said that a switch-up to selling more “needs-based” items was key as the firm must become less “reliant and exposed to the volatility of more discretionary product markets.”
The retailer had continued to see “resilient” sales in its more needs-based categories but had clocked a “softening” in less essential areas.
While it was “challenging” to predict what consumer confidence would be like for the rest of the 2023 financial year, Halfords said it didn’t expect the challenges facing businesses would “dissipate soon.”
It warned it was expecting its full-year underlying profit before tax to be at the lower end of our £65m and £75m range.
In addition to revealing financial results, Halfords said it was launching a recruitment drive to hire 1,000 new automotive technicians across its autocentres business over the next 12 months.
The move will see it prioritise over-50s, women and disadvantaged young people for the jobs.
Chief executive Graham Stapleton said: “We are hoping to attract retirees back into the workforce as well as increasing the number of women in technician roles.”
He added: “In such a volatile macroeconomic environment, our strategy of focusing on the kind of predictable and recurring revenue that comes from motoring services and needs-based products has never been more relevant.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
