The continued uptake of cycling in the UK has helped to offset the impact of a decline in car usage for Halfords (HFD). The retailer of cycling and motoring parts recorded sales growth of 5 per cent over the 20 weeks to 21 August, registering a 59 per cent increase in bike revenues.
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted a collapse in public transport passenger numbers and a drop in car usage. Cycling activity has more than trebled at points during lockdown, and remains above normal levels this month, according to Department of Transport (DfT) data. Meanwhile, car use averaged at around 90 per cent of normal levels between 1-4 September.
These trends have been reflected in Halfords’ latest figures. Its higher-margin motoring revenues are down by more than a quarter on last year. At Halfords’ July results, the retailer said that its car-servicing autocentres, which are separate from its motoring retail operation, had observed that nearly a quarter of drivers hadn’t used their cars in the preceding month. But there are signs of an automotive recovery, and while there remain fewer cars on the road, activity remains far above that seen in spring, which sat at around a third of normal volumes. Halfords’ motor retail revenues were up 7.1 per cent between 1-21 August, with autocentres up 18.7 per cent.
Halfords did warn that an expected decline in revenues from cycling and staycation products, twinned with a troubling economic outlook, placed significant uncertainty on its second half.
