Supply chain disruption hits Halfords’ cycling business, retailer ‘remains confident’ on long-term outlook

Halfords has announced its trading performance for the 20-week period to 20th August, with cycling down 22.8% LFL compared to FY21.

“The first 20 weeks of FY22 delivered a strong trading performance against a hugely challenging backdrop,” said Graham Stapleton, chief executive officer. “Our motoring business now represents 65% of our revenues and continues to go from strength to strength, driven by the increased scale of our autocentres business, the ongoing demand for our Halfords Mobile Expert Vans, and by recent staycation trends.

“Although our cycling business is currently impacted by the considerable disruption in the global supply chain, as the UK’s largest cycling retailer we are well-positioned to adapt and to serve our customers, and we remain confident in the long-term outlook for the cycling market. The strength of our overall performance is a clear illustration of the relevance of our service-led strategy and gives us the confidence to continue with our investment plans. We remain positive on our prospects for FY22 and beyond.”

When compared to FY20, cycling was up 24.2% LFL, with electric mobility up 115%. The global cycling supply chain continues to experience ‘considerable’ capacity constraints, the retailer said, leading to low availability of bikes throughout the period.

Whilst kids and electric bikes have fared better, availability has been ‘especially low’ in the adult mechanical category, Halfords said, contributing to materially lower growth rates towards the end of the period.