Trading 'excellent' ahead of interims
Halfords has bucked the sector trend, revealing positive sales growth in its latest trading update.

Sales at the bicycles-to-car-parts retailer increased by 4.7 per cent and like-for-like sales were up 2.6 per cent in the 26 weeks to September 30. However, growth was slower than the 10.6 per cent like-for-like sales increase that Halfords achieved in the same period last year.

Halfords chief executive Ian Mcleod said: 'This is a challenging retail environment, but our resilience in the fist six months continues to give us confidence for the second half.'

Investec retail analyst Mark Charnock said: 'This is the result of strong in-car entertainment sales, aggressive trading of the business and the impact of mezzanine installations.'

Halfords was floated in 2004 and operates 398 UK stores and three outlets in the Republic of Ireland. The group is to report its interim results on November 24.