Its come along way since these were a pair of old boots,just bought today mid 280s,spent a few pounds in there of late,so why not!

Investec Buy 489.05 545.00 560.00 Retains

Canaccord Genuity Buy 489.05 550.00 550.00 Reiterates

N+1 Singer Buy 489.05 540.00 540.00 Retains

Liberum Capital Buy 489.05 600.00 600.00 Reiterates

Cantor Fitzgerald Hold 489.05 500.00 500.00 Reiterates

Trading Statement

Take your pick!

Canaccord Genuity Buy 469.25 640.00 640.00 Reiterates

Cantor Fitzgerald Hold 469.25 565.00 565.00 Reiterates

JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral 469.25 460.00 460.00 Reiterates

StockMarketWire.com

Halfords Group, a UK retailer of motoring, cycling and leisure products and a leading independent operator in garage servicing and auto repair, has announced that for the for the 26 weeks to 2 October 2015 revenue was up 1.8%.

All retail categories grew except cycling, due to weak sales in July and August. Motoring performed well, especially car maintenance with sales up 6.5%.

The interim dividend per share was up 5.66p, up 2.9%. Profit in 2017 is expected to be broadly unchanged on next year, with growth thereafter.

Jill McDonald, chief executive, commented: "In the first half the motoring side of the business performed well and in-store service sales grew strongly, reflecting our focus on this key area of differentiation.

"The Cycling performance in the second quarter was disappointing and, given the seasonal mix towards cycling during the summer, this contributed to the decline in Group profitability for the period. Looking forward, there are plenty of reasons for us to remain confident that the cycling market will continue to grow over the long-term.

"Today I am announcing a new Group strategy called Moving Up A Gear. After three years of investing to stabilise the foundations, improve service levels and grow sales, Halfords is now a fundamentally strong business, operating in markets with good growth prospects.

"However the modernisation process is not yet complete. Under the new strategy we will continue to invest to move from fixing the basics to enabling sustainable growth. There are a number of significant opportunities for further improvement, which include the leveraging of customer data and analytics, relentless innovation, a better shopping experience, enhanced customer service and services, and a fulfilment infrastructure for modern times."



Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

this one proving to be a pain but i wonder if, like WOS, the fall is o'done

Trading Update http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5197239

Liberum Capital Sell 354.65 300.00 300.00 Reiterates

Peel Hunt Hold 354.65 350.00 350.00 Reiterates

Investec Buy 354.65 460.00 460.00 Reiterates

for my sins, i've got this in my sipp where it is (almost of course) nursing a beastly loss
while it's good to see sp bounce 10%, it remains a very long way south of its all-time highs

at least the leisure industry (cycling) is becoming ever more popular

Now at three year low where it bounced of 300p. Trading Statement Thursday so maybe worth a punt initial target 340p then 380p to close gap if not a dead cat bounce.

LATEST BROKER VIEWS

Date Broker New target Recomm.
8 Jul Investec 390.00 Buy
5 Jul JP Morgan... 360.00 Neutral
5 Jul Liberum Capital 290.00 Sell
2 Jun Beaufort... N/A Buy
2 Jun HSBC 480.00 Buy
2 Jun JP Morgan... 380.00 Neutral
2 Jun Citigroup 430.00 Neutral
1 Jun Haitong... 391.00 Neutral
25 May HSBC 490.00 Buy
24 May Canaccord... 405.00 Buy
Broker Recommendations for Halfords Group

A couple of lines in this weeks Shares mag Chris - Drizzly conditions will have been unfavourable for Halfords(HFD) cycling sales, though potentially a boom for its car maintenance categories.

Thanks dc.

Initial target 340p reached, can it push on?

Key points
· Group revenue +2.1%, with Retail +1.5% and Autocentres +5.9%
· Adjusting for the timing of Easter, LFL revenue was Group 0.0%, Retail -0.2% and Autocentres +1.7%
· A robust Motoring performance, with Car Maintenance growth led by bulbs, blades, batteries and new product and service offerings
· Car Enhancement was impacted by a further decline in sat nav sales, partially offset by strong dash cam sales
· Strong performance in Travel Solutions led by double digit growth in child safety seats
· Good sales growth of premium bikes, although Cycling sales overall were impacted by both the timing of Easter and poor weather in April and late June affecting the timing of mainstream bike and PACs purchases
· Tredz performing well since acquisition
· Service-related sales grew by 15%, with growth across all services including 3B fitting and cycle repair
· 11th consecutive quarter of Autocentres LFL growth, aided by sales of tyres and enhanced opening hours, growth in online sales and improved customer satisfaction
· We will report on the 20 weeks to 19 August on 6 September after summer peak

Financial outlook
In June we outlined a net impact of £3m on profit for FY17 at a USD:GBP rate of 1.45. We now have over 75% of our FY17 purchases hedged at around 1.45. If the USD:GBP rate continues to be weaker than 1.45 it may have a small further impact later in this financial year, depending on the extent to which it can be mitigated.

All other financial guidance and the financial targets that we published on 1st June remain unchanged. Much of Halfords' sales are needs-based, we have a strong brand, are leaders in fragmented markets and have a robust balance sheet.

Jill McDonald, Chief Executive, commented:
"This was a solid performance from our motoring categories, which account for around 70% of Group sales, with continued growth in service-related sales, demonstrating Halfords' credentials as a specialist retailer. In Autocentres our sales continued to grow through improvements in the customer offer. We had good sales growth of premium bikes but Cycling sales across the quarter were impacted by both the timing of Easter and poor weather, particularly in April. We look forward to the peak summer cycling season, including our exciting new ranges from Laura Trott and Sir Bradley Wiggins launched ahead of the Olympics. While the recent decision to leave the EU does create uncertainty, we are well-positioned as a business and focused on delivering sustainable long-term growth."

Reporting Calendar
On 6 September 2016 Halfords will report on the sales for the 20 weeks to 19 August 2016, which covers the summer cycling season. In future years Halfords will report on an initial trading period of 20 weeks, rather than a first quarter of 13 weeks, in order to include the summer cycling sales and to spread market updates more evenly through the year.

On 10 November 2016 we will report on the interim results for the 26 weeks ending 30 September 2016.

On 19 January 2017 we will report on the 15 weeks to 13 January 2017, which includes the peak Christmas trading period.

If SP can close above 330p hope springs eternal. Weather hopefully will improve between now and 19th August re cycling sales.

Next target for the bulls prior to Trading Statement 6th September.

decent extended summer weather and olympic success may have helped the cause

Not looking great.

Or is it? Bounced off support previous resistance @ 340p. Trading Statement will need to be a good un. Place your bets.