Britain’s prolonged hot and dry summer has helped retailer Halfords upgrade its annual profit outlook after it said the unusually warm weather boosted demand for seasonal ranges.
The car parts to bicycle chain said the “heightened seasonal demand” for products such as bikes, camping and air conditioning services had delivered extra profits of around £5 million.
It adds to ongoing efforts to ramp up trade and offset rising costs across its garage business and the retail arm.
Halfords now expects current financial year underlying pre-tax profits of between £55 million and £65 million, up from £45.4 million in the 52 weeks to March 27 and ahead of previous guidance for £48.9 million to £55.1 million.
It said: “Halfords has continued to outperform over recent months.
“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.”
The profit upgrade comes after it saw sales jump 4.8% on a like-for-like basis in its previous financial year as it modernised its garages and tapped into demand for e-bikes.
Halfords saw trading across its consumer garages business – which includes car repairs and MOTs – lift in 2025-26 after opening of dozens of Fusion garages, which integrate retail and garages together.
It has opened more than 100 of these garages and is aiming for another 35 this year.
The firm has been taking steps to make its workforce more efficient and reduce labour costs in the face of higher wages and national insurance increases, including redeploying staff to busier garages and reducing reliance on more expensive agency workers.
Halfords has also made efforts to modernise the network by bringing in specialist electric vehicle servicing equipment into most sites and is planning to give staff tablets to support vehicle inspections.
Retail experts at Peel Hunt said: “We sense that staycations have been more of a ‘thing’ this year than normal, but we have no doubt that this is a market share gain for Halfords.
“It is highly reassuring to see it executing well and reaching its sales potential when demand is high.
“Of course, this may be difficult to replicate next year, when presumably the weather will normalise, but it is in the bag for this year now.”