Halfords has reported a flat sales period as the motoring and cycling retailer suggested shoppers are delaying big ticket purchases until after the Autumn Budget.

The group’s H1 like-for-like (LfL) sales were down -0.1% in the six months to 27 September.

This was, however, comparative to a strong H1 last year which saw LFL sales up by 8.3%.

Halfords stated that despite pockets of improving consumer sentiment, the short-term outlook “remains uncertain”. It added that its focus in H2 will be on optimising its platform in the face of “continued wage inflation and end-market variability”, to position itself for future growth.

“While consumers remain cautious in their discretionary spending compounded by uncertainty around the contents of the upcoming Autumn Budget, we have continued to focus on controlling the controllables and I am pleased with our performance in the first half of FY25,” Halfords CEO, Graham Stapleton, said.

“Our services and B2B-led strategy has supported Halfords’ growth despite two of our core markets remaining significantly below pre-COVID levels, enabling us to absorb more than £130m of inflation since FY20 while maintaining a strong balance sheet.”

AJ Bell investment director, Russ Mould, commented that the zero growth from Halfords in H1 “isn’t as bad as it first looks”.

“The company had tough comparative figures to beat from a year earlier, so the fact the business has managed to stand still rather than go into reverse has to be taken as a win,” Mould added.

“Investors have given the performance the thumbs-up, with a small rise in the share price.”

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