Halfords Share News (HFD)

(Sharecast News) - Halfords backed its full-year outlook on Wednesday as it hailed "sustained progress" in the first half, with positive like-for-like sales growth.

In a brief trading update for the 26 weeks to 26 September ahead of its interim results, Halfords said LFL sales grew 4.1%, with 4% growth in the retail segment and 4.3% growth in Autocentres.

Reported sales growth was 3.3% for the group and for the retail segment, and 3.4% for Autocentres.

The company, which provides motoring and cycling products and services, said strong cash generation and disciplined stock management further strengthened the balance sheet from the net cash position reported at FY25.

Halfords pointed to gross margin expansion year-on-year, as it said the group was building on the "strong" result delivered in FY25, partly driven by planned cost savings to help mitigate inflationary pressures.

The full-year outlook was unchanged and Halfords said it remains comfortable with consensus expectations for pre-tax profit of £36m to £39.8m in FY26.

Chief executive Henry Birch said: "I am very pleased with our progress in the first half of FY26 and want to thank all our colleagues for their efforts in delivering this performance.

"I am looking forward to sharing our plans for the future at our interim results announcement next month."

At 0935 BST, the shares were up 6.9% at 146.64p.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Halfords finally seems to have fixed its engine. It has reported growth across the board, higher margins, and strong cash generation. That's quite a recovery from the spluttering performance Halfords has delivered in recent years.

"Investors lapped up the news, putting fuel back in the tank for the share price. It's an encouraging update, but not enough for Halfords to upgrade its full-year outlook. Investors might not care as any progress is welcome given the retailer's disappointing track record."