Halfords lifts full-year profit outlook, shares surge

(Sharecast News) - Halfords shares surged on Thursday after the motoring and cycling products retailer lifted its profit outlook for the year, having been boosted in part by unusually warm weather. Based on a "strong" performance in the year to date, the company now expects FY27 underlying pre-tax profit of between £55m and £65m, ahead of current consensus of £52.6m and a range of range of £48.9m to £55.1m.

"Building on the strong current trading noted in our FY26 results announcement, Halfords has continued to outperform over recent months," it said. "This reflects momentum in the underlying business as we continue to deliver against our strategic priorities alongside a very strong performance in seasonal categories, in part reflecting unusually warm summer weather."

Halfords estimated that this heightened seasonal demand resulted in incremental profit in the mid-single digit millions of pounds.

"Reflecting the factors set out above, we now expect FY27 performance to be further weighted towards the first half of the year as we accelerate investment in technology and marketing in the second half," it said.

At 0900 BST, the shares were up 10.4% at 266p.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: "Halfords shares have really climbed in recent months, and today's numbers seem to confirm that this wasn't just due to over-inflated expectations.

"Not only was guidance boosted significantly, but the whole forecast bracket sits above previous expectations. The risk now is that the end of the long hot summer will see appetite for getting out and about start to dim, but a pickup in marketing should help offset that to a degree."

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