Car parts and cycles retailer Halfords is revving up to acquire more businesses after full-year figures showed the business is motoring.

Chief executive David Wild said Halfords is “keeping a list running” of possible targets. “When the right deal comes up we will pounce, but not at the expense of our core business,” he said.

Halfords aims to deliver profit growth of 15% a year on average for the next three years.

Pre-tax profit soared 26.7% to £117.1m in the year to April 2, when revenues climbed 4.6% to £831.6m. Underlying Easter-adjusted like-for-likes increased 0.7%. Wild said: “It’s a good set of numbers. We’re cautious about the consumer, but the key thing is we have a resilient core business.”

Nationwide Autocentres, which it acquired in the period, is “on track”, he added. Cycle like-for-likes climbed 15%, led by kids’ and premium product. Car maintenance like-for-likes increased 8% and multichannel sales advanced 34%.

Singer Capital Markets analyst Mark Photiades described the results as “strong” and increased his pre-tax profit forecast 3% to £152.5m for next year.

Topics