(Adds details)
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 ($46-53
million).
Halfords cautioned that "significant uncertainty" remained
for the second half of its 2020-21 year.
"Given the natural fall-off in the relative strength of
cycling and staycation products during winter months, alongside
a difficult economic outlook, H2 FY21 profit before tax could be
significantly lower than H1 FY21," it said.
Halfords highlighted sales of electric bikes and scooters,
up 230% year-on-year, and a strong performance in overall online
sales, up 160%.
Shares in the group, up 9% so far this year, closed Monday
at 184 pence, valuing the business at 370 million pounds.
($1 = 0.7607 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey, editing by Louise Heavens and David
Evans)