Cycle retailer Halfords lifts guidance, says supply snags easing

Cycle retailer Halfords Group raised its full-year earnings forecast by up to £15 million on Wednesday and said supply chain disruptions were beginning to ease.

“Moving anything around the globe over the last six months has been particularly challenging,” the company said in a statement, adding that freight costs in some instances have been 10 times the normal rate amid a shortage of lorry drivers in the UK.

Halfords, which has benefited from a boom in cycling amid the pandemic, said demand remains good and the company is comfortable with the current availability of kids bikes and electric bikes as it heads into the Christmas trading period.

The company said it was seeing significant growth in the number of customers choosing electric forms of transport, with sales of e-bikes, e-scooters and accessories growing by more than 140 per cent on two years ago.

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Halfords, which also sells car parts, now expects full-year profit of £80 million to £90 million, compared with its previous guidance of £75 million. – Reuters