Bike Europe has reported Halfords’ financial statement demonstrating that cycling sales have dropped to pre-covid levels.
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
The article reports that, in 2021, Halfords saw its annual cycling sales double and stocks dry up. However, by the middle of 2022, it says, warning signs were appearing as inflation and supply chain constraints but pressure on sales.
One category which did report a good performance in the third quarter was kids’ bikes, with stronger year-on-year availability and Christmas gifting demand driving revenue up 4.6% compared to the financial year just ended. Adult bikes, on the other hand, performed weaker than expected, down 12.0%. The Cycle2Work scheme, a government initiative to encourage cycling, saw sales grow 20.1% compared with the financial year ending in June 2022.
“We have seen strong revenue growth in what are exceptionally challenging circumstances, and we have continued to grow our market share whilst also tightly managing our costs, inventories and cashflows,” commented Graham Stapleton, Chief Executive Officer.
“Consumer demand for our services and needs-based categories, which now account for the majority of our revenue, continues to grow.”
The company acknowledges that consumers continue to face inflation, and therefore it does not expect a significant short-term recovery in high ticket, discretionary spending. Considering this, the company has revised down its underlying pre-tax profit for FY23 of between £50m and £60m, down from previous guidance of £65m to £75m.