LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - British retailer Halfords
said on Tuesday underlying sales of cycling goods surged 59.1%
in the 20 weeks to Aug. 21, as people continued to shy away from
public transport during the coronavirus pandemic.
It said group like-for-like sales rose 5.0%, with the strong
performance in cycling partially offset by a 28.6% fall in
motoring products sales, with car journeys limited by the
crisis.
Assuming expected demand levels in September and stability
in the relative value of the U.S. dollar, first-half underlying
pretax profit was forecast to be 35-40 million pounds ($46-52.6
million).
($1 = 0.7607 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey, editing by Louise Heavens)