Halfords posted underlying pre-tax profit of £55.9m, down 4.9% on the previous year but better than had been anticipated “despite the late impact of Covid-19”. Excluding acquisitions and the effect of the pandemic, Halfords said that would have been “in line with last year”.

Halfords’ sales inched up 0.3% over the year to £1.1bn.

Overall sales at Halfords’ retail division fell 2.7%, or 2.3% like for like, over the year where a strong performance in cycling could not fully offset a tough market in motoring products.