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!

Excellent run for the past 7 sessions.

3 June 2011

Halfords Group plc

Non-recurring charge relating to lease guarantees

Halfords Group plc, the UK's leading retailer of automotive and leisure products and leading operator in garage servicing and auto repair, announces that;

Following the decision by Focus DIY to enter into administration and the subsequent announcement of the closure of stores, Halfords will recognise a non-recurring expense of GBP7.5m in the year ended 1 April 2011. This non-recurring expense relates to the creation of a provision for the potential liabilities arising from guarantees provided by Halfords prior to July 1989. An estimate of the potential liability relating to these guarantees was previously disclosed as a contingent liability. The guarantees were provided to landlords of properties leased by Payless DIY (now part of Focus DIY) when both Halfords and Payless DIY were under the ownership of the Ward White Group. It is anticipated that the cash outflow relating to the guarantees will be incurred over the next three years. The Group is taking mitigating actions to reduce these liabilities.

Final Results.

Financial highlights
Group revenue up 4.6%, following the first full year of the Autocentres integration

Underlying profit before tax up 7.2% driven by improved gross margin and strong cost control

Underlying earnings per share up 8.8% at 43.2p (FY10 39.7p)

Total dividend up 10% to 22.0p (FY10 20.0p).

Continued strong cash generation with net debt down 52.3m to 103.2m

75m share buyback programme underway; c.20.7m of cash returned to date



Business Highlights
Resilient performance in Car Maintenance across the year

Strong growth in wefit jobs, a record 1.91m jobs during year

Significant growth in Halfords.com, now 9% of retail sales

Autocentres rebranded and relaunched with positive sales uplift

Substantial infrastructure progress through colleague scheduling and new DC

Completed exit from Central Europe to focus on UK/ROI opportunities

Just closed an intraday short +20.

Interim Mangement Statement.

HIGHLIGHTS

-- Cycling LfL sales up 11.5% driven by premium and new entry-level bikes

-- Wefit 3Bs penetration increases to 22.4%, and Audio fit sales up 38%

-- Retail online sales up 9.2% with 86.7% collected in store

-- Autocentres sales growth continues, +7.4% with LfL sales up 2.1%

RETAIL

Conditions for the UK consumer remain difficult. Within this environment Halfords cycle sales have grown strongly, particularly in our premium brands; Boardman, Voodoo and Carrera, the latter benefiting from promotional activity in preparation for a new range launch in July. Our new Trax Bikes are successfully delivering our entry-level cycle strategy. Within Car Maintenance the growth in penetration of our fitting services continues, and in Car Enhancement we are growing market share. Product promotional activity has also proved popular and supported the delivery of gross profit.

As referenced at the Preliminary Results announcement, appropriate investments are being made in margin to maximise profits. This, together with the mix effect from the strong sales of lower margin premium and Trax ranges (notwithstanding that it is still early in the financial year), is anticipated to deliver a gross margin reduction of at least 100bps for the full year.

AUTOCENTRES

Despite the challenging environment for the garage sector, Halfords Autocentres' revenues have continued on a positive and improving trend since relaunch. Halfords brand is gaining traction in car servicing as we help motorists with quality service at affordable prices. We are investing further in marketing to drive even greater awareness.

CAPITAL RETURN AND DIVIDEND

The company remains in a sound financial position. To date we have purchased 8.4 million shares for GBP32.4 million at an average price of 385.9 pence per share through our share buyback programme that commenced on 7 April 2011. The final dividend of 14 pence per share will, subject to shareholder approval at the AGM on 2 August 2011, be paid on 5 August 2011.

340 firmly broken.

AGM Statement.

RNS Number : 1953M

Halfords Group PLC

11 August 2011

11 august 2011

Bill Duffy to Lead Halfords Autocentres

Halfords announces the appointment of Bill Duffy as CEO of Halfords Autocentres from 12 September 2011.

Bill has been Chief Operating Officer at Halfords Autocentres (previously Nationwide Autocentres) since February 2006. He has huge experience of the automotive market and garage-servicing sector from his thirty years in the industry and is well qualified to lead the operation through the next phase of its growth.

In his new role as Chief Executive, Bill will continue to grow Halfords Autocentres' market share by offering motorists dealership quality service at affordable prices. He will also oversee the expansion of the chain to 400 Autocentres over the next 5 years.

Duncan Wilkes will leave the business, following a handover to Bill, after five and a half years as CEO having decided to look for new challenges. Duncan led the MBO of the Nationwide business with Phoenix in 2006, managed the growth which followed, the sale to Halfords and its rebranding as Halfords Autocentres which was completed in March.

David Wild, Halfords Group Chief Executive commented:

"Duncan has been a fantastic colleague. I'd like to thank him for his immense contribution to the growth and development of our Autocentres business through its transition from a private company to Halfords ownership. We wish him well with his next projects.

"I'd like to welcome Bill to his new role. He and I have already been working closely together in his capacity as COO. He knows the business inside out and has the ideal experience and leadership qualities to drive the next phase of the growth strategy."

280.2 touched earlier - yield @7.68%

New lows today 274.3 atm. yield 8%.

269.1 atm - yield 8.09%

Strong today - maybe perceived as 'safe'. yield 7.17% at current levels.

Trading statement tomorrow and struggling today !

Trading Statement.

Q2 HIGHLIGHTS

Cycling LFL sales up 5.7%

Wefit penetration of bulbs, wiper blades and batteries (3Bs) increases to 22.1% compared to 20.2% in Q2 last year

Online sales penetration 8.4%

Autocentre sales growth of +10.6% with LFLs +3.1%

Great results.

I assume divi mid dec '11? Not seen how much yet though.

Interims on 10th November(provisional) and ex dividend 21st December. 8p last year.

Half Yearly Report.

Highlights

Underlying* Group revenue down 0.1%

As predicted, Retail gross margin declined in our drive to maximise cash returns

Cycling sales continued to outperform, boosted by the launch of the new Carrera range in July and strong sales of accessories

In the Car Maintenance category, sales of the Halfords range of wefit services were particularly strong

Full-year management guidance on Retail gross margin and operating costs remains unchanged

Autocentres like-for-like revenues up 2.7%, with a gross margin improvement of 36 basis points

Material cash generation and a well-funded balance sheet facilitate both the share buyback programme and maintenance of a strong dividend

UBS have a sell 270 - ex dividend 21st December 8p.

These have been on my radar for years - current yield @6.89 (ex dividend 21st December 8p) however, I think it could be time to consider a short - any views?