Halfords Group PLC: Preliminary Results for the 52 weeks to 28 March 2025

25 June 2025 

Halfords Group plc  

Preliminary Results for the 52 weeks to 28 March 2025 (“FY25”) 

A strong financial performance with underlying PBT ahead of expectations

High returning Fusion motoring services roll out continues at pace

Halfords Group plc (“Halfords” or the “Group”), the UK’s leading provider of Motoring and Cycling services and products, today announces its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 28 March 2025.

*Alternative Performance Measures (“APMs”) are defined on page 13. **Headline measures for FY24 include results for the discontinued Viking and BDL tyre and wholesale operations consistent with the presentation in FY24.   The statutory measures exclude these discontinued businesses as reported in the FY24 consolidated financial statements. The narrative below is based on headline measures, as these include the ongoing cost of running the discontinued tyre supply chain which is now outsourced. 

FY25 highlights

• Strong financial performance with Group sales up 2.5% on a like-for-like (“LfL”) basis and 6.4% growth in underlying PBT to £38.4m, above the previously guided £32m to £37m range.
• 250bps of gross margin expansion YoY, £35m of cost savings and £43.0m of free cash generation (FY24: £29.4m) as momentum grew through H2. Ended the year with balance sheet net cash.
• Total dividend increased by 10% to 8.8p, in line with policy.
• 50 Fusion locations are now trading and are on track to double garage-level profitability at maturity with an average payback period of c.2 years, improving the garage experience for customers and colleagues and more closely linking the motoring assets within a town.
• Membership of the Halfords Motoring Club exceeded 5m customers.

Henry Birch appointed as Chief Executive Officer in April with new Managing Directors appointed to run the Retail and Autocentres businesses.

Henry Birch, Chief Executive Officer of Halfords, commented: 

“I am very pleased to be announcing a positive set of results for Halfords. The business has delivered a strong financial performance, made good strategic progress and has a clear plan in place to tackle external inflationary forces. Halfords has a unique combination of retail stores, garages and mobile vans, a trusted brand, scaled omnichannel infrastructure, and access to valuable proprietary data. It is an exciting time to be joining and I see significant potential to optimise and grow this fantastic business.”

Strong financial performance

• FY25 Group LfL sales up 2.5% YoY (reported sales up 1.1%) with Autocentres up 3.7% (c.40% of sales) and Retail up 2.1% (c.60% of sales). Motoring now represents c.80% of sales.   
• Gross margin up 2.5 ppts YoY to 50.7% (FY24: 48.2%), accelerating vs. H1 (H1 FY25 gross margin up 1.6ppts YoY), with further gains from Better Buying, pricing optimisation, mix into higher margin services and favourable hedged FX rates.
• Delivered cost savings of c.£35m, offsetting c.£33m of inflation (mostly due to increasing labour costs as a result of a c.10% increase in the minimum wage and maintenance of an appropriate differential for skills).
• Underlying PBT of £38.4m (FY24: £36.1m), above the top end of previous guidance and up 6.4% YoY. Reported loss of £30.0m (FY24: profit of £38.8m) primarily due to a non-cash goodwill impairment driven by the impact on discount rates of an increase in UK gilt yields over the last 12 months as applied to revised forecasts which incorporate changes to National Insurance and minimum wage rates through the forecast period.
• Autocentres underlying EBIT (ex-Avayler) up 21.2% to £18.3m, reflecting Better Buying, strong growth in Service, Maintenance and Repair (“SMR”) and productivity gains. Underlying Autocentres EBIT (inc. Avayler) was £15.7m and reported Autocentres EBIT (inc. Avayler) was £1.2m due to the impact of non-cash non-underlying items as detailed in the CFO report which follows.
• Retail underlying EBIT of £39.0m (FY24: £41.1m) slightly down YoY, with strong gross margin progress and tight cost control offset by higher wage rates and colleague reward. Reported Retail EBIT loss was (£14.9m) primarily due to the non-cash goodwill impairment noted above.

Resilient balance sheet

• Strong cash generation with a free cash inflow of £43.0m, up £13.6m YoY (FY24: £29.4m), driven by the increase in underlying profitability and disciplined working capital management.
• Continued progress on inventory with stock down £12.3m YoY supporting an increased average cash position which resulted in lower interest expense YoY.
• Ended the year with net cash (pre-IFRS16) of £10.1m, an improvement of £18.2m YoY.
• Final dividend of 5.8p declared taking the total FY25 dividend to 8.8p, an increase of 10.0% (FY24: 8.0p). 

Current trading and outlook[1] 

• Trading in the early weeks of FY26 is in line with expectations.
• As previously indicated, we plan to offset another year of elevated inflation in FY26 through a combination of pricing, buying and cost opportunities. We continue to be somewhat cautious on the outlook for consumer spending.
• We remain committed to a strategy emphasising motoring services across our unique combination of Retail and Autocentres, the successful execution of which will enable significant value creation in future years.
• Accordingly, we will make further progress towards our target of c.150 Fusion garages, delivering at least 60 in FY26 and the balance in FY27 with average capex of c.£200k per site.
• In FY26 we will continue to invest in Halfords Motoring Club, our digital customer experience and contact centre technology, and systems and leadership capability across the business.

Investor and analyst meeting: 

A presentation for analysts will take place at 10am at Peel Hunt, 7th Floor, 100 Liverpool St, London EC2M 2AT. To join the live webcast of this presentation please follow this link:  

 Halfords Group plc FY25 Preliminary Results - Webcast  

A recording will subsequently be uploaded to www.halfordscompany.com. 

 For further information: 

Notes to Editors 

Halfords is the UK’s leading provider of motoring and cycling services and products. Customers shop at 373 Halfords stores, two Performance Cycling stores (trading as Tredz), 542 garages (trading as Halfords Autocentres, McConechy’s, Universal, National Tyres and Lodge Tyre) and have access to 280 mobile service vans (trading as Halfords Mobile Expert and National) and 504 commercial vans. Customers can also shop at halfords.com and tredz.co.uk for pick up at their local store or direct home delivery, as well as booking garage services online at halfords.com. Through its subsidiary Avayler, Halfords also sells the Group’s bespoke, internally developed software as a SaaS solution to major clients in the US, Europe and Australia. 

Cautionary statement 

This report contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations, and businesses of Halfords Group plc. These statements and forecasts involve risk, uncertainty and assumptions because they relate to events and depend upon circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made only as at the date of this announcement. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast. Except as required by law, Halfords Group plc has no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to correct any inaccuracies therein. 

CEO Review

Strong business performance

I would like to begin by thanking every single Halfords colleague for their truly exceptional efforts in delivering the FY25 results that we are announcing today. These results represent a fantastic outcome against a challenging backdrop, which included a 10% increase in the National Living Wage, low consumer confidence driving elevated savings rates and weak discretionary spending, and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. Despite this backdrop, we delivered like-for-like sales growth of 2.5%, a 250bps increase in our gross margin and a further £35m of cost savings. Combined, these results have enabled underlying profit before tax to increase by 6.4% to £38.4m, even after the reinstatement of performance-based colleague incentives, reflecting the strong progress made during the year. We have converted 28 garages to our Fusion format since our interim results announcement, taking the total number of Fusion garages trading to 50, and acquired our 5 millionth Halfords Motoring Club member. And we have invested significantly in leadership capability, positioning us for further success in the years ahead.

Halfords’ differentiated eco-system

In my first set of results as chief executive of Halfords, I wanted to outline what attracted me to this fantastic business. As the leading provider of motoring and cycling products and services in the UK, Halfords offers customers an unmatched level of service, expertise and convenience through its national network of retail stores, autocentres and mobile vans. It is this combination of assets which makes the business truly differentiated as a motoring services provider, with the benefits clear to see in the first wave of Fusion towns delivered over the last 12 months. Halfords’ trusted brand, developed over more than a century, is instantly recognisable to millions of customers who in turn provide us with data on nearly half the UK car parc. This combination of category leadership, a strong and trusted brand underpinned by a responsible approach to doing business, a scaled physical and digital operating infrastructure, 12,000 committed colleagues and unrivalled data is what makes us both unique and, I believe, capable of significant growth and value creation. 

I have spent my first 10 weeks getting under the skin of the Halfords business: spending time in our stores, garages and distribution centres to experience our operations in action, conducting deep dives into each business unit, and understanding what makes Halfords really tick. I have been made to feel very welcome by every single colleague I have met to date, and it’s clear that our people are at the heart of what makes Halfords so unique – through their passion, expertise, and commitment to serving our customers to the highest possible standard, every single day. This gives me a great deal of optimism as I look to the future of Halfords as a truly data-driven, digitally enabled business with the needs of customers at our core.

The strategy, put in place by my predecessor Graham Stapleton, remains the right one, and I would like to pay tribute to him for the critical role he played in taking Halfords from a traditional, store-based retailer to a business deriving more than half of its revenue from services, with an emphasis on less-discretionary B2B and motoring categories. My priority is to optimise the Halfords business by leveraging its unique strengths to drive profitable growth and enhance returns for shareholders, while continuing to create value for all stakeholders which includes our strong commitment to our ESG agenda. While there is more to do to realise these benefits to their fullest potential, I can already see significant opportunities in the business and would like to thank all our colleagues for their ongoing support through this journey.

Optimising garage services

The results of the investments we are making in both strategic initiatives and operational excellence are becoming apparent in the profitability of our Autocentres business. The Autocentres segment delivered a 21.2% increase in earnings before interest and tax compared to last year[2] as the Fusion roll out has accelerated and learnings from the programme have informed our approach to talent acquisition and colleague development more broadly across our garage estate. We have continued to profitably grow our presence in the highly fragmented and strategically important Service, Ma