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!

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.

Perhaps it will be good, with the couple of months good weather we have had. ( Don't know about Scotland's weather? :-)) )Board members have re-invested shares as well.

Yep noted that re board members dc. Weather in Scotland LOL!! Fortunately for me spent most of back end of July and beginning of August in England. Fine people though. I have been promoted, no longer an English Bastard just a Scouse Bastard now LOL!!!

:-))

Another non exec has re-invested.

Proactive investor -

Investors to home in on Halfords and housing

16:07 05 Sep 2016

Warm summer may have boosted sales at car and bike accessory retailer

Car outside Halfords

Analysts reckon Halfords's car maintenance sales should have been steady




Investors will hope customers at Halfords PLC (LON:HFD) have spent the summer on their bikes ahead of a trading update tomorrow.

Numis Securities reckons the cycle and car accessory chain should report a strong, potentially double-digit performance from the cycling arm, which also may have benefited from increased popularity of the sport during the Olympics.

This would help to make up for a lacklustre showing from the bike business during the spring, which took a hit from the late timing of Easter and wet and cold weather in April and June.

The group’s car maintenance business should have turned in a relatively steady performance, while sales of car enhancement products are likely to have softened given some tough comparisons with a year ago.

“Halfords remains a mature retailer with a somewhat defensible position but limited growth opportunities – we see a discount multiple to the sector as appropriate,” Numis analysts said in a note.

Key points
· Group revenue +4.8%, with Retail +4.8% and Autocentres +4.6%
· Strong service-related sales growth of 13.9%
· Robust Motoring sales against strong comparatives
· Car Maintenance growth driven by bulbs, blades and batteries and new motorcycle ranges
· In Car Enhancement, dash cam sales growth remains strong, but was offset by the continuing decline in sat nav sales
· Travel Solutions delivered good growth across the category, particularly child safety seats and roof boxes
· Strong Cycling sales during late July and August, helped by new ranges and a deeper promotion, which more than offset the slower sales earlier in the year. Premium bikes in strong growth throughout the year to date
· Total cycling sales across the Group grew by 11%, reflecting Cycle Republic store openings and the addition of Tredz, which continued to perform well since acquisition. Improved parts, accessories and clothing ('PACs') performance with Group sales up 6%
· Continued progress in Autocentres led by growth in servicing and tyres

Financial outlook
All guidance for the full year remains unchanged.

Jill McDonald, Chief Executive, commented:
"I am pleased to report a solid year-to-date trading performance, with Group sales up 4.8% and service-related sales in double-digit growth as we continue to strengthen Halfords' position as the first choice for customers' journeys. Motoring sales were robust, driven by car and motorcycle parts, roof boxes and child seats. Good growth in Cycling sales during the peak summer period was supported by new ranges, strong promotional activity, good weather and the success of Halfords' Olympic cycling heroes. We continue to make good progress on our strategic initiatives; we can now match 25% of our Retail sales to specific customers compared to only 3% last year and in recent weeks we have successfully piloted contactless payments and also launched the new Cycle Republic website."

Halfords shares keep pedalling north
By Lee Wild | Tue, 6th September 2016 - 14:23
Share this
Halfords shares keep pedalling north A year ago, Halfords (HFD) had a stinker. Persistent rain and stiff competition hit the bikes business, teasing a profits warning from the car parts and cycles chain. Pedal forward 12 months, and the combination of a great end to the British summer and our most successful Olympics ever has been a massive boost to second-quarter sales. Halfords' Alps-like climb may not be over.
There wasn't a massive amount to cheer at the first-quarter results in July, when sales at the cycles business were hit by heavy rain in April and late June. It's why management has decided not to report these numbers in future. First hint we'll get of how well things have gone next year will be results for the 20 weeks, to allow inclusion of summer cycling sales.

This time, much was pinned on new ranges from Laura Trott and Sir Bradley Wiggins, and their gold medals in Rio would have put a smile on the faces of Halfords' PR team. Like-for-like sales at the cycling division jumped by 12.5% in the seven weeks to 19 August, offsetting the 4% drop in first-quarter to give a 20-week improvement of 1.9%.

graph 1

Opening more Cycle Republic stores and the acquisition of Welsh bike sellers Tredz and Wheelies in May helped, with total cycling sales up 11% for the 20 weeks.

That meant a sharp uptick at the core retail business. Quarterly like-for-like sales there jumped by 5% following a 1.2% slip at the start of this financial year. That's much better than forecast and means the increase of 1.1% for the 20 weeks is in line with expectations. Overall group LFL revenue rose 1.2%.

Of course, the motoring business is the big fish here, chipping in around three-quarters of operating profit. Growth was steady versus the first quarter, up by 0.6% again, driven, says chief executive Jill McDonald, by car and motorcycle parts, roof boxes and child seats. That offset a further drop in sales of satnavs and wiper blades.

Halfords shares slumped from a high of 562p in August 2015 to less than 300p briefly during early July. But they're up over a quarter since, and now sit just 6% below their price before the Brexit vote.

However, even now the shares trade on a forward price/earnings ratio of 11.7 times, a discount to both peers and the long-run sector average of around 14. "The shares look fair value given a slightly cautious outlook for FY 2018 but income investors might be cheered by the cycling recovery," says Scott Ransley at broker Stifel.

But while analysts seem broadly happy with Halfords shares where they are, the dividend is well-covered by forecast earnings and could well continue to generate buying interest.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Trading Statement

Strong sales growth, investment in TyresOnTheDrive.com, special dividend

Key points
· Group revenue +11.4%, with Retail LFL +7.0% and Autocentres LFL -0.6%
- Growth in all Retail categories as we continue to execute our "Moving up a Gear" strategy
- Strong LFL service-related sales growth of +13.7% and Group online sales LFL of +16.3%
- Promotional activity as planned and similar year-on-year, gross margin in line with expectations
- In Motoring, continued growth in fitting services alongside strong performances in batteries, dashcams and child seats
- In Cycling, sales growth in both bikes and PACs4 helped by new ranges. Cycle Republic and Tredz continued to grow strongly
- In Autocentres, we continued to enhance our customer proposition through extended opening hours and new technician pay grading, reflected by improving customer metrics
- Further strategic progress with the first "Store of the Future" concept store opened in Derby, continued improvements in customer data and the Dayforce IT project roll-out, to improve the efficiency of shop colleagues
· Operating agreement signed with TyresOnTheDrive.com alongside a minority investment
· Special dividend of 10 pence per share to be paid in February 2017

Financial outlook and guidance
There is no change to our expectation of Group Profit Before Tax for the current financial year, which is in line with market consensus. We anticipate that, following the investment in TyresOnTheDrive.com ("TOTD") and the special dividend announced today, net debt to EBITDA will be circa 0.8 times at the end of this financial year. We have developed detailed plans in response to the increase in costs from adverse FX movement and we are confident that we will be able to fully mitigate the impact over time.

Investment in TyresOnTheDrive.com
Halfords today announces that it has entered into an operating agreement with TOTD, a UK mobile tyre fitting business, to develop opportunities together to leverage each others' capability and expertise. The agreement includes projects to deliver certain sales and cost synergies and the opportunity for Halfords to trial a broader mobile delivery proposition for its motoring services. In parallel with the agreement, Halfords has acquired a minority stake in TOTD for up to £8m.

Capital structure and special dividend
Having expanded the Group's capabilities in both motoring and cycling in recent months, through the Tredz, Wheelies and TOTD investments, the Board does not expect to undertake further acquisitions in the near future. Accordingly the Board has approved a special dividend of 10 pence per share, totalling approximately £20m, as part of our progress towards our previously stated net debt target of 1 times EBITDA. This special dividend will be paid on 17 February 2017 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 27 January 2017.

Jill McDonald, Chief Executive, commented:
"I am very pleased with the strong sales performance across our business in the important third quarter of the year. We continue to make good progress implementing our "Moving up a Gear" strategy which will enable us to capitalise on the long term growth opportunities in our markets. We benefited from growth in new ranges, our unique "wefit" services and great execution by our colleagues over the busy peak period."

Trading statement https://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=6271895

Down -22%

Liberum Capital Buy 225.40 380.00 Reiterates

Down 62p today to 217p after update...


Key points for the 14-week period

· Group revenue -1.7% LFL, with +1.4% growth in Autocentres offset by -2.2% LFL in Retail, reflecting the impact of mild weather and weak consumer confidence

· Retail Motoring sales -3.4% reflecting declines in weather-related and discretionary products and services, partially offset by growth in non-weather-related motoring consumables

· Retail Cycling sales were broadly flat at -0.3% LFL on a strong comparative of +8%. Growth in cycle accessories and children's cycling was offset by a decline in the more discretionary and bigger-ticket adult bikes

· Autocentres LFL +1.4%, reflecting broad based growth in services and maintenance work. Continued good progress on operational improvements

· Group online sales, which represent 20% of total sales, grew +7.5% with over 80% of Halfords.com orders collected in store

Financial outlook

Operating costs and gross margins have been well controlled. However, reflecting the impact on revenue of the mild weather and weak consumer confidence, we now anticipate FY19 underlying profit before tax to be in the range of £58m to £62m.

At this stage, we believe that consumer confidence could remain weak into next year and therefore anticipate FY20 profit before tax to be broadly flat on the revised FY19 expectation. Evidently, however, we are in an uncertain environment and will provide an update alongside our preliminary results in May. The Group remains cash generative and has a strong balance sheet. We expect free cash flow for the full year to be up on last year and we remain confident that we will grow free cash flow over the medium term, supported by good early progress in our cost and cash efficiency programmes. This, combined with positive longer-term prospects for the Group, gives the Board confidence to maintain its dividend policy.

Graham Stapleton, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"This has been a challenging third quarter for the business, driven by exceptionally mild weather and ongoing weak consumer confidence. Together, these factors have led us to reduce our profit expectations. Whilst this has been a difficult period, we have managed costs and margin well and our free cash flow remains strong. Halfords is a robust business and we firmly believe that the strategy we outlined in September is the right direction for the business."