Halfords shuts up shop for winter with sales slump

The story of the winter for Halfords was one of soaring de-icer sales while shops could not shift children's bicycles.

Sales slumped 6.3% in the three months to January, a result that chief executive David Wild seemed to regard as unavoidable.

"I don't suppose it's much of a surprise," he said. "Children's bikes were a great gift for Christmas last year. This year it did not happen."

Cycle sales fell 16% as parental visions of their offspring skidding across the ice took a toll.

Halfords customers chose instead to stock up for being snowed in. Sales of bulbs, blades and batteries jumped 29%.

Halfords Autocentres — the business previously known as Nationwide which is in the process of being rebranded — is on the up. A marketing push is planned for March, the peak month for MOTs.

Halfords said profits for the full year will be at the "lower end" of City forecasts, which are in the range of £127 million to £135 million.

Analysts mostly accepted the company's explanation of events. One said: "The logic appears to be that many of the stores are out of town and couldn't be reached because of the snow and ice and that consumers were put off buying kids' bikes and sat navs for Xmas, which has a ring of truth to it."

The shares fell 14p to 406p.